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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 169 - 28/12/2007

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News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.

Railfuture News Snippets 169 - 28/12/2007



On 12th November 2007, just three days after National Express Group's new subsidiary took over the East coast franchise, it was announced that, as National Express would change the brand name of its Greater [East] Anglia franchise from 'one' to National Express East Anglia. This is part of a group-wide re-branding exercise, and will come into effect on 27 February 2008. It will see a common livery on all of the group's train, coach and bus services. This rebranding is easier now that the group has only three rail franchises, where once it had nine (its Central, Silverlink and Midland Mainline franchies have just ended).

Following the unveiling of train liveries to promote the Bittern Line and Wherry Lines earlier this year, on 3rd December 'one' unveiled a Class 156 unit at Ipswich station with East Suffolk Line branding.

On the night of 25th/26th November the Grade II-listed signal box at Hoveton and Wroxham, unused since the Norwich-Sheringham line was resignalled in 2000 (when control was transferred to Norwich Trowse), was slid a few metres off Network Rail's land and onto that of the Bure Valley line where there are plans to restore the signalbox and open it as a working museum. The move is necessary is because the signal box is obstructing visibility of the colour-light signal and moving it out of the way will enable a speed restriction to be removed.


RAIL ROUTES
New £9m Great Ouse bridge outside Ely opens after six-month closure following freight train derailment

On 21st December Network Rail opened the brand new double-track railway bridge across the Great Ouse that is just south of Ely station on the single-track line to Soham. The line from Chippenham Junction to Ely had been closed for six months (having been taken out of the 'Sectional Appendix') following the derailment of an EWS ballast train on 22nd June, with wagons falling through the bridge and depositing their load in the water below. It had taken Network Rail a week to clear the wagons, inspect the bridge and decide that a replacement bridge would be required.

The new bridge's 30-metre centre span was craned into place over the weekend of 15th/16th December and new track was then laid. The installation of the £9m steel-decked bridge was complicated by Network Rail having to create a works site (not easy when solid ground as five metres under the fen) and construct road access to the bridge. The lack of firm ground required the creation of independently-piled reinforced concrete abutments. The bridge lift required the use of the second biggest crane in Europe.

The route between Ely and Soham has never had double track, although the trackbed was constructed to support it, and the original bridge was also wide enough for double track. Some rail campaigners hoped that Network Rail would take the opportunity presented by the long closure period to double track the route - as will surely be necessary to support increased freight traffic - but this was not to be. Railfuture will continue to press for the route to be doubled.

The return of passenger trains has seen the end of rail replacement buses between Bury St Edmunds, Ely, March, Whittlesey and Peterborough.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 169 - 28/12/2007

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