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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 185 - 21/12/2008

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

Railfuture News Snippets 185 - 21/12/2008



It has been confirmed that the £50 million revamp of Peterborough station, which will see the addition of a western entrance, will still go ahead despite the 'credit crunch'. Meanwhile the East of England Regional Assembly will be discussing transport priorities at its meeting on 30th January 2009. One of the schemes is the proposed Chesterton Interchange station, currently estimated at £19.8 million.

The Railfuture East Anglian branch committee will be writing to Suffolk County Council to stte the need to protect the Leiston Branch to Sizewell, which has not carried traffic since 3rd October 2007.

The new timetable on 14th December 2008 will see an increase in the number of passegner trains operated each week that will return to the level last seen in 1965 when there were just 865 million passenger journeys. Nationally there will be an increase of 7.6% trains on Sundays, 5.2% on Saturdays and 3.4% on weekdays.

The DfT has confirmed that a decision on the Intercity Express Programme trains, which may run in East Anglia, had been deferred from 19th December 2008 until the New Year.

In 2009 the PlusBus scheme will be introduced to the following Eaat Anglian stations: Arlesey, Biggleswade, Sandy, Huntingdon and St.Neots.

Questions and answers for the FCC 'Meet the Directors' forum held on Wednesday 10th December can be found at: http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/Main.php?iCmsPageId=233. Whilst the answers are 'on message' and not particularly enlightening, the questions do appear to be uncensored.

The Mid-Norfolk Railway has announced that their next Easter sponsored walk will be on 10th April 2009 - see http://www.mnr.org.uk/events/walk. Meanwhile, on 28th February 2098, the 50th anniversary of the closure of the M&GN railway, the embrionic heritage railway based at Whitwell and Reepham station will be opening its doors to the public. That weeend will also see the North Norfolk Railway's biggest ever gala.

Railfuture members actively campaigning for rail reopenings will be cheered by news that a survey of the new Stirling-Alloa rail link has shown the number of passengers exceeded all expectation. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7778181.stm.


RAIL SERVICES
Short-term repreive for some of the restaurant cars on London-Norwich trains

National Express East Anglia has responded to criticism of the ending of its restaurant car service by delaying the full closure until its alternative buffet service has had a chance to settle in. Whilst the cars will ended on Friday 19th December as planned, they will resume on some services on Monday 5th January on some trains whilst passengers are evaluating the buffet service, which will be tweaked according to customer feedback. However, NXEA expects that this will be complete by March 2009 when the last restaurant cars will be removed. It claims that "the current restaurant car service does not cover its costs and is not a committed franchise obligation. It is used by less than 1% of the number of customers who use the route."

Nine 24-seat restaurant cars that work NXEA's route. The dining service had the highest reputation on the network. Anyone with a ticket can dine there, as long as they spend more than £10.95 each on food. National Express's routes. Customer service excelled with passengers being asked where they are alighting to ensure the prompt arrival of their meal - a courtesy not offered on NX's sister East Coast operation.

National Express has revealed that growth on it services into and out of Liverpool Street was only 5.5%, compared to 6% previously, whilst its East coast services grew by 9.5% compared to 11% in the previous year. Its premium payments to the government were base on continual growth.


STATIONS
First part of East West Rail reopening as Aylesbury Vale Parkway station opens two years ahead of schedule

Keywords: [EastWestRail]

The new Aylesbury Vale Parkway ataioin, nearly 5km north of Aylesbury station, on upgraded track, opened on 14th December 2008, two years ahead of the original planned date. With only very basic facilities it is presently just a platform in the middle of a building site. The station building is a long way from being completed and there is no shelter for passengers. The Berryfields development that the station was primarily built to serve is now on hold owing to the state of the economy but it is hoped that in the meantime the station will be used as a railhead for the villages north of Aylesbury and the northern suburbs of the town itself. Car parking is free for the first year.

The station has led to 5km of the freight-only line from Aylesbury to Clayton Junction being reopened to passengers. with plans to provide a through service to Milton Keynes it is the first stage of the reopening of the western section of the East West Rail Link. The EWRL consortium have, as yet, failed to capitalise on this landmark by mentioning it on the http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk website.


RAIL ROUTES
Major project to replace unreliable OHLE on Great Eastern Mainline planned for 2009

Keywords: [GreatEasternMainline]

The Great Eastern Mainlune is scheduled to be closed for 40 weekends between Shenfield and Stratford during 2009. This will allow a £150 million project to replace a large amouunt of overhead lines (much dating back to the 1960s) to be brought forward so as not to disrupt the Olympics in 2012. The work, which commences during Christmas 2008, will also include track and signalling renewals. No date has been published for the renewal of the wires between Shenfield and Chelmsford.


GUIDED BUSWAY
First business casualty of Cambridgeshire guided busway works

Whilst Cambridgeshire Counnty Council now believes that the financial crisis (see [Snippets 184]) will not be as bad as feared, Builders' merchanges Bishops of Histon, which backs onto the former down platform at Histon station, will be closing after 75 years. As well as the econcomic situation, Managing director Matthew James, blamed the construction of the guided busway telling the Cambridge Evening News: "Our business has been disrupted by the construction work for the guided bus. We have had roadworks outside our front entrance for months, and the main road was closed for a year."

The busway construction has seen all of the level crossings closed for many weeks. Of course, had the railway been refurbished, the level crossings would only have been closed for a weekend. Cambridgeshire County Council has refused compensation to all businesses along the route.

Meanwhile Cambridgeshire County Council is defiant about he expected success of the busway, with Coun. Matt Bradney saying "Even before Northstowe is built it is expected 3.5 million trips will be made on the busway each year. That will rise to over six million once Northstowe is completed.


WEBSITES
Angry commuter fights back with First 'Crapital' Connect website

Responding to a question about the existence of the http://www.firstcrapitalconnect.co.uk highly-critical website on its Meet the Directors' forum, FCC said "We are aware of this unfortunate website. We are taking steps to remove it as it infringes copyright laws. Frankly such ill-informed sites do nothing for the credibility of those who create them."

South Eastern launches website to promote new high-speed service starting in December 2009

South Eastern railway, which will commencing running domestic services on the High Speed 1 line (shared with Eurostar) from December 2009 has launched a website to promote the service: http://www.southeastern2009.co.uk.

Group tries to save Folkstone Harbour railway line from closure and destruction

Despite closure being expected for several years, the steeply-gradee Folkstone Harbour line is still clinging onto life, kept alive by several charters each year and an objection to closure by EWS upon which the DfT will adjudicate. However, it still seems only a matter of time before a plan to demolish the Harbour station, the station master's house, signal box and viaduct in order to build a marina, university and at least 1,400 houses takes place. Campaigners against the closure have set-up http://www.theremembranceline.org.uk to campaign for continuation of charters and daily trains to London.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 185 - 21/12/2008

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