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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 214 - 26/02/2011

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

Railfuture News Snippets 214 - 26/02/2011



Branch chairman Peter Wakefield will be representing Railfuture at the Station Access Meeting in Ely in the first week of March.

The Royston Local History Society has announced a change of speaker to talk about the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway at their meeting on Thursday 3rd March 2011. BAM Nuttall's Peter Pascall, who they had hoped would give an illustrated talk about the Construction and Logistics of the busway, has been replaced by Cambridgeshire County Council's director Graham Hughes. The meeting will be held in the main hall at Royston Town Hall from 20:00. There will be a £2 charge for non-members.

The Bure Valley Railway Volunteers' Open Day will be held on Sunday 6th March at Aylsham, Norfolk, NR11 6BW. See http://www.bvrw.co.uk for details.

The Bramley Line Heritage Railway Trust will hold its AGM on Saturday 26th March in the Upper Room at St Peter's Church Hall, Wisbech from 14:00. Vegetation clearance of the mothballed March-Wisbech line by the trust members has moved from Sundays to Saturdays, with the Wednesday work unchanged.

As part of its financial review process, which was driven by a shortage of funds, Norfolk County Council has abolished the post of Community Railways Officer, previously held by Ian Dinmore (he is now a travel planning officer), and has decided to stop providing its annual £40,000 grant to support the Bittern and Wherry Lines community rail partnerships.

In February Ian Dinmore became Chairman of the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, succeeding Railfuture's Peter Lawrence.

Signalling Solutions has been awarded the £21m contract to replace the existing, largely semaphore, signalling on the Ely-Norwich line with new modular signalling.

Chris Maddison, the station adopter at Beccles, would like to hear from anyone willing to help him tidy the island platform at Beccles by clearing weeds and litter during the next six weeks. He hopes eventually to have gardens and seats there. his contact details are: 01502 715970 or [black.magicnc at hotmail.co.uk].

First Capital Connect is promising that the customer information screens at King's Cross will be enhanced from 21st March to show more than one future service from a platform. This will allow services to be advertised to earlier to passengers. FCC also promises from summer the introduction of train displays in the Underground concourse so that passengers will know whether their train will depart for the main trainshed (platforms 0-8) or the suburban platforms (9-11).

According to its 2011 publicity brochure the embryonic Whitwell and Reepham Railway attracted more than 10,000 visitors in 2010. It first opened to the public on 28th February 2009, the fiftieth anniversary of the closure of the M&GN Railway.

Channel 4 will be broadcasting a Dispatches programme on 21st March about the problems passengers face on the railway. It will be presented by actor Richard Wilson with input from Christian Wolmar.


STATIONS
Funding secured for passing loop at Beccles station

Keywords: [BecclesStation]

On Friday 18th February Suffolk County Council, in a meeting of the full council to set the 2011/12 budget, confirmed their £1m contribution towards the funding of Beccles Loop, which was essential for the 'once in a generation' scheme to go ahead. Rail campaigners had feared that the money would not be forthcoming as the public transport budget (mainly sponsored bus services) was being cut from £4.2m to around £2m, according to the local media. This means that an hourly Ipswich-Lowestoft service can be introduced in 2012, effectively lengthening the Ipswich-Saxmundham trains introduced in December 2010.

Increased car parking for Wickham Market and Melton stations on the East Suffolk Line

Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]

At Wickham Market station there is now car parking for 30 cars on the north side of the station forecourt. The existing car park now has bicycle racks and motorbike stalls. Meanwhile, at Melton station where there were only four parking spaces the conversion of land adjacent to the station provides space for 25 vehicles. Parking at both stations is currently free.

Cambridge City Council gives go-ahead for new island platforms at station

Keywords: [CambridgeStation]

On 8th February, nearly a week after the decision was made, it was announced that Cambridge City Council had given Network Rail permission to construct an island platform at Cambridge station. The planning application related to the covered footbridge and lifts to connect the platform to the rest of the listed station. Network Rail did not need permission to construct the island (which will consist of two 270m bi-directional platforms) or remodel the tracks as that is covered under Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Part 11 'Prior Approval' that relates to powers granted in the railway's original act. The scheme's total cost is £16.7m.

NXEA station staff have questioned the lack of any toilet facilities on the new platform (or even any expansion on the main platform to cope with the increase in passenger numbers) but there is insufficient funding even to provide water pipes for toilets to be constructed in the future. The canopies will only be constructed to the south of the footbridge. Apparently there is no point in even creating footings now because a future contractor would probably refuse to accept that the work had been done properly. It is not intended to provide refreshment facilities on the island either.

Construction can commence in April allowing for the platforms to be used by the December 2011 timetable change and will see the return of 12-car trains to Liverpool station after an absence of more than a decade. The first work should see platform 5 shortened and the four-foot filled in to support the base of the new footbridge followed by the lifting of the electrified goods lines where the platforms will be built and the two reception lines. Passenger services will be disrupted over several weekends during construction.

East Cambridge District Council receives grant to pay for Soham station feasibility study

Keywords: [SohamStation]

Cambridge Horizons has given East Cambridge District Council a grant of £37,000 to pay for a feasibility study to investigate the rebuilding of a station to serve the town of Soham, on the line between Ely and Bury St Edmunds. The study, which will be carried out by Network Rail, will examine the costs, timescales and scope of the project and report back in spring 2011. Although Soham has grown in size since the station was closed in the 1960s, one of the obstacles to the viability of the station is the current two-hourly train service passing the town. With most people likely to want to go to Cambridge or London a change of trains at Ely would be required. The station would not open for at least five years, by which time the aspiration by Railfuture and train operators for an hourly service might have become a reality.

New footbridge for Huntingdon station by end of 2011

Keywords: [HuntingdonStation]

A new footbridge at Huntingdon station connecting the two platforms across the four tracks is to be installed during 2011. This will include lifts, for the first time, and will replace the existing footbridge.

Buildings around Bedford railway station demolished as part of the station improvements

Keywords: [BedfordStation]

Bedford station is crucial to the East West Rail Link and it must be fit for purpose to take an increased number of passengers for the eventual new link as well as the 12-car Thameslink trains that will be introduced soon. The Focus store building next to the station has recently been demolished along with buildings next to it. Railfuture is eager for more space to be allocated to the station and car park to create a station that is visible from the road bridge rather than being 'hidden away in a side street'.

CPRE campaigner calls on Network Rail to remove litter at Cambridge station to improve city's image

Keywords: [CambridgeStation]

On 14th February best-selling author Bill Bryson, who is also president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), launched legal battle against the filthy state of rail stations, tracks and sidings.

Mr Bryson said: "Organisations responsible for public land are required to keep it clear of litter. If they're not taking this responsibility seriously, we all have the power to compel them to do so. The first impression for a visitor arriving in a town is often formed by their view from a train carriage, and it is a disgrace that that view is so often a degraded and dirty one that suggests a lack of care or pride in the area."

If no reasonable action is taken within five days of notification, (LAO) can be sought from the courts.


ROLLING STOCK
Fen Line stations will not be served by new Thameslink trains

Keywords: [ThameslinkProgramme]

When Thameslink opens in 2019 the stations north of Cambridge will not be served by the new trains that the DfT intends to procure according to the government. The reason is primarily due to the infrastructure limitations, mainly the limited power supply between Ely and Littleport and then to King's Lynn. which can only support five units (i.e. 20 carriages). The new trains are expected to be eight or 12 carriages long rather than units of four.


RAIL ROUTES
Cambridgehsire County Council endorses Wisbech-March railway reopening in new Local Transport Plan

Keywords: [WisbechBranch]

Cambridgeshire County Council's draft LTP did not mention reopening the mothballed Wisbech-March railway line, as proposed by ATOC in its 'Connecting Communities' report, or the East West Rail Link, which the council had supported for many years. Although the consultation ended in December 2010 (which is earlier than most authorities), rail campaigners have successfully lobbied councillors from all the parties to inserted both schemes into the Cambs LTP, subject to cabinet approval. A reply from a leading county councillor to a Railfuture member said "Officers accepted that the draft was deficient in properly explaining the County role in being an advocate of rail. The draft would be amended to refer to opportunities both within the County and with adjacent Counties including the engagement with the rail industry." The LTP is a 'living document' so its contents are not frozen at the point it is adopted.

ATOC costed the March-Wisbech reopening at £12m, making use of second-hand track from the mainline. Like all routes proposed in the report the track was walked from end-to-end as part of the research.

Hunstanton Town Council will not give up on reopening of railway line from King's Lynn

Keywords: [HunstantonBranch]

In 2010 Railfuture branch chairman Peter Wakefield gave a presentation in Hunstanton about how early the railway line could be reopened but hopes were dashed when the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk announced its intention to remove protection of the trackbed. The town council has invited former ATOC director Chris Austin, who wrote its 'Connecting Communities' report, to come to Hunstanton and talk to them about reopening the line. He has agreed to meet them in late February. Hunstanton has a population of only 5,000, although it attracts many thousands of tourists, and the road to King's Lynn suffers immense congestion in summer time. The ATOC project looked at communities of more than 15,000 people without access to the railway.

High Speed 2 could help East West Rail Link according to Greengauge 21

Keywords: [EastWestRail] [HighSpeedRail]

According to a report from Greengauge 21 the construction and subsequent opening of a high-speed railway from London to Birmingham would release sufficient capacity on the West Coast Main Line making it easier to operate trains from Oxford to Milton Keynes, which is three miles north of Bletchley.

Greengauge 21 director Jim Steer was reported as saying that "Services which simply cannot be fitted on today's network will become viable once HS2 is built. Non-stop inter-city services from the North of England and the Midlands to London will transfer to HS2, making space on the West Coast main line for more freight on rail and more local passenger services. So, East West Rail becomes possible."

Passenger trains last ran between Oxford and Bletchley in 1967. Freight services continued until the early 1990s but the line has been mothballed since then between Bletchley and Claydon Junction, east of Bicester.


GUIDED BUSWAY
County Council announces replacement contractor for BAM Nuttall but certificates delayed yet again

 

Cambs CC under siege
Cambridgeshire County Council faces four challenges with little room for movement

Cambridgeshire County Council has announced that Jackson Civil Engineering has been appointed to resolve all outstanding 'defects' that BAM Nuttall does not address. However, the council is still waiting for BAM Nuttall to provide the final completion certificates, which have been delayed from the first week of February (which was many months late already) to 4th March. In fact BAM is only offering to provide "a number of design certificates" (some of which are re-issued) rather than all of them by that date. The council has suggested that the contractor may be "obstructing progress" and therefore "frustrating" is progress, according to a report in the Cambridge News. The council says that it is taking legal advice on the possibility.

The Hunts Post, which seems to take a less sycophantic stance that the Cambridge News, suggests that "even August is starting to look unlikely" for buses to start operating.

As the graphic on the right shows, the County Council is under immense pressure (although it doesn't publicly admit this). It is facing a court battle with BAM Nuttall; Stagecoach is threatening not to run buses on the busway; there are heavy interest payments on loans in excess of £50m to cover the overspend and the non-appearance of of developer contributions (especially Northstowe). Finally there will be the local authority elections in May 2011 with electors increasingly angry about the so-called 'white elephant'. Not shown on the graphic is the government funding cuts which will see savage cuts to bus subsidy in the next five years - hardly likely to encourage patronage of the busway.


WEBSITES
French website has unique London Underground map showing track layouts

A brilliant Quail-style London Underground route map, which is geographic rather than diagrammatic, and shows the number of tracks along with terminus turning circles can be found at http://carto.metro.free.fr/documents/CartoMetroLondon.v1.0.pdf. This http://carto.metro.free.fr French website also contains many track maps of tramways and railway lines in France.

Mid-Cheshire Railway Association now has dedicated website for its successful rail tours

The Mid-Cheshire Railway Association, which was formed in 1987, has its main website is at http://www.mcrua.org.uk. It has been organising rail tours for around 22 years and has now set-up a dedicated website to promote these. See: http://railtours.mcrua.org.uk.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 214 - 26/02/2011

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