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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 236 - 31/12/2012

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

Railfuture News Snippets 236 - 31/12/2012

Derek Haynes, Chairman of the Holt, Melton Constable and Fakenham Railway, has agreed to talk to the Railfuture East Anglia branch AGM about the Norfolk Orbital Rail project. The AGM is to be held in the Friends Meeting House in Bury St Edmunds on 23rd February 2013, starting at 14.00. Anyone wishing to give financial support to their "Return to Holt" project can click on 'Donate Online Now' at https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/project/17274.

On Friday 1st February 2013 at 19:30 Dyan Crowther, Operational Services Director at Network Rail will be giving a talk to the Cambridge Railway Circle. The venue is Arbury Road Community Centre, Cambridge.

The Cambridge University Railway Club will have talks by Dominic Lund-Conlon, Principal Development Officer at Essex County Council, on Friday 25th January 2013 about accessible rail travel, and by David Horne, East Midlands Trains Managing Director on Friday 8th February.

The second part of the Ely-Norwich re-signalling (between Harling Road and Trowse Junction) went live on Monday 3rd December at around 15:30, about 12 hours late because the independent testing to ensure safe operation of trains had not been completed. The first train from Ely was a goods train going to the LaFarge sand terminal at Trowse and the first passenger train was the 15:40 Norwich-Cambridge.

Wymondham signal-box, along with the others on the Ely-Norwich route, has closed, It is to be handed over to the Mid-Norfolk Railway for use as a museum, being left in its current condition as a fringe one way to a mechanical box and the other to a PSB with a mix of ancient and modern equipment. Contrary to earlier plans, the signal-box is not going to be moved but will be fenced off from the live railway so that the public can visit it safely via a new path from the end of the down platform, across the MNR's track.

The first passenger trains passed each other using the £4m Beccles loop on Monday 10th December 2012. It was witnessed by various VIPs. Guy McGregor, the Suffolk County councillor with responsibility for transport, said he was delighted the new loop had been completed, but the opening should only be seen as the start. "This is a great day - the first hourly service we have seen on the East Suffolk Line. But we need to now press for the line speed to be improved and for the number of level crossings to be reduced." The 46 miles from Lowestoft to Ipswich takes 90 minutes by train, which is not competitive with rail outside peak hours.

Greater Anglia will be running an FA Cup third round football special train from Norwich (calling at Ely) to Peterborough for just £15 (£7.50 for children) on Saturday 5th January 2013.

The fourth year of Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys television series returns to BBC-2 on Monday 7th January 2013 at 18:30. There are 25 editions in this series. Meanwhile, the first of three editions of "Locomotion: Dan Snow's History of Railways" is on BBC-2 on Tuesday 15th January 2013 at 21:00-22:20.

In 2013, the year of the 50th Anniversary of the Beech Reporting, follow @Railfuture on Twitter as it celebrates #50YearsRailwayDevelopment, highlighting the positive achievements of Britain's railways since Richard Beeching published his report in 1963.

At the Railfuture East Anglia branch committee meeting on 8th December 2012 the 58-page Sizewell C stage 1 consultation document was studied. It is suggested that at peak construction, 100 workers per day would travel by train on the East Suffolk Line out of a total of 5,600. It is proposed to run of 4-5 construction freight trains per day along the Sizewell branch.

The London and South East branch of Railfuture will be holding a meeting at the Friends' Meeting House in Chelmsford on Saturday 2nd February 2013 at 10:30.

First Capital Connect says it has frozen the majority of its super off-peak weekend fares for the second year running and car park charges will increase by no more than 4%. Its regulated fares will increase by an average of 4.2% in line with the RPI+1% formula reflecting revenue raised that is imposed by the government. ATOC claims that figure equates to 3.9% of regulated fares if not weighted by the number of passengers and route length. Meanwhile, in Scotland the government has promised that off-peak train fares will rise 1% below inflation from 2016.

The Greater Anglia class 379 Electrostar fleet used on Stansted Express, along with all other rolling stock owned by the Lloyds Bank Group has been acquired by the Macquarie Group, which has launched a new rail business, Macquarie European Rail.

Patrick O'Sullivan of the East West Rail Consortium will be giving a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session at the District Local Area Forum meeting, which begins at 19:00 on Thursday 17th January 2013 at the Winslow Centre.

On 12th January 2013 the 'Enigmatic Logistician' rail charter was intended to cross the Bletchley Flyover and travel as far as Swanbourne Sidings on the East West Rail route. However, because of extended Network Rail engineering works in the area this will not now happen. It would have been almost a year since the last charter to do so, UK Railtour's second Concrete Cow on 28th January 2012.

RAIL ROUTES
Great Eastern Mainline Capacity Study suggests increasing linespeed to 125mph

According to the Great Eastern Mainline (GEML) Capacity Study produced by consultants Atkins, which was recently published, the maximum speed of trains on the GEML could be increased from 100mpgh to 125mph on the southern end of the route if major investment to upgrade it takes place. This would allow journeys between Ipswich and London to take just 55 minutes - at the moment 60 minutes is just an aspiration - and this would naturally reduce London-Norwich journey times as well. The report also suggests a new three-track section (i.e. an additional track) along with replacing the trains. Of course, none of these will happen unless the government decides to spend significant sums on the route, so it is necessary to make the case to politicians. Managers at Greater Anglia, which has operated the franchise since 5th February 2012, have been talking about it to representatives from Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk county councils.

News item: http://www.chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk/news/10120439.125mph_train_service_plan_through_Chelmsford/.

Cambridgeshire County Council publishes Stage 1 Report of March - Wisbech Rail Study

On 7th December 2012 Cambridgeshire County Council published the 50-page "Stage 1 Final Report" of the March-Wisbech Rail Study that consultants Atkins had produced for it. This evaluated the business case, and considered the potential revenue and patronage that may arise from reintroducing passenger services on the line, with an assessment of the operational costs. It looked at three types of service:

  1. An hourly service between Wisbech and March (heavy or light rail)
  2. An hourly service between Wisbech and Cambridge, calling at March, Manea, Ely, Waterbeach and Cambridge Science Park (heavy rail only)
  3. An hourly service between Wisbech and Peterborough, calling at March and Whittlesea (heavy rail only).

The defined study area comprised zones that cover the following rail stations: Peterborough, Whittlesea, March, Wisbech, Manea, Ely, Waterbeach, Cambridge Science Park (working name) and Cambridge. The business case showed that if hourly heavy rail services between March and Wisbech began in 2016 then there would be five years of initial losses; revenue would exceed costs from 2021 onwards and by 2027 the initial losses would all have been recovered. It found an hourly light rail service to be positive as well. However, it believed a rail service between Wisbech and Cambridge would be loss making - Railfuture was highly suspicious of this claim, and it was unclear what kind of service was proposed to give these results and where it considered revenue would be generated.

There will be two further stages of the study: 2) an estimate of the capital costs of reopening the line and 3) whether the capacity of the rail network is sufficient to provide direct services between Wisbech and Cambridge or Peterborough.

Report: http://www4.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/1457/march_to_wisbech_rail_study_stage_1.

STATIONS
Designs revealed for 2,850-space cycle park at Cambridge station

Keywords: [CambridgeStation]

Construction of Cambridge station's £2.5 million 3,000-space three-storey enclosed cycle park, which will be the largest of its type in Britain, should begin in October 2013 and completed by December 2014. Designs for the secure cycle park, which will be free to use, be covered by CCTV and locked during the night when trains are not running, have been revealed. The cycle park will be located in the existing station car park, and should provide double the current cycle capacity.

News article: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Cycling-into-future-with-3000-spaces-at-station-06122012.htm.

Greater Anglia will introduce free Wi-Fi at 100 stations after signing agreement with The Cloud

Greater Anglia will be using facilities provided by The Cloud to introduce free Wi-Fi (for email access, web browsing etc. with much faster browsing times than previously afforded by 3G) at 100 stations in East Anglia. The Cloud, which is owned by BSkyB company, builds and operates Wi-Fi networks across Europe providing access at sporting venues, pubs, restaurants and so on. Commencing with the larger stations such as Cambridge, Norwich and Stansted Airport the service will be rolled out over the several months.

In a statement Greater Anglia said "We recognise that the internet is a vital part of people's everyday lives. We are seeing a huge number of passengers using mobile devices and wanted to provide them with a fast, reliable Wi-Fi so they can work, shop or browse easily...to make a positive impact on our customers' journeys." Users will be limited to one hour a day free but BSkyB customers will have free unlimited access.

News article: http://www.greateranglia.co.uk/about-us/news/2012/11/greater-anglia-to-introduce-free-wi-fi-at-100-stations.

GUIDED BUSWAY
Pedestrian struck by guided bus sustains serious injuries a day after bus passenger's hand is injured

Keywords: [BuswayAccident]

According to the Cambridge News, at 19:30 on Friday 21st December 2012 a pedestrian suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a guided bus on the tracks of the guided busway between Histon and Oakington. He was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital. None of the passengers or the driver were injured. The Histon stretch of the busway was closed after the accident. The buses travel up to 56 mph and there is no fence between buses and people walking on the maintenance track (aka bridleway) right next to the guideway.

Although one of the more serious accidents, this was by no means the only accident on the busway. Only a day earlier (on 20th December 2012) a 60-year-old man suffered severe muscle damage and bruising after he took a tumble and hit his hand on a rail he was trying to grab. The cause was the bus pulling away before he sat down, which happens because the bus drivers often fail to check that everyone is seated despite having internal mirrors for views both down stairs, the stairway and upstairs. Of course, bus drivers are under pressure to keep to the timetables.

Seemingly as if the Cambridge News has no other subject to report, on 24th December 2012 it reported that yet another car had got stuck on the busway.

Guided bus driver interviewed under disciplinary procedures after bus passengers thrown onto floor

On 20th November 2015 (as mentioned in [Snippets 235]) bus passengers felt a violent bump and according to the Hunts Post newspaper, a 67-year-old passenger thrown onto the bus floor clung onto a vertical pole to stop herself rolling around on the floor while other passengers also fell out of their seats and said "I only suffered bruising but was shaken up afterwards. It was horrifying." It has since reported that the bus driver interviewed under Stagecoach's internal disciplinary procedures and Cambridgeshire police force has also been investigating the incident.

Further investigation work undertaken on southern section of Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

It appears that the recent repairs to the southern section of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway (see [Snippets 235] may not have cured the problem of the concrete beams moving out of alignment. In late October 2012 a stretch of around 10 beams on the "wobbly beam" part north from Shelford Road overbridge had been dug out, about a foot either side, including removal of tarmac etc. There is speculation that this was done to take a closer look as what is causing the beams to go uneven. Since then, on 2nd December 2012 (Sunday: the day when guided buses do not run) a pair of beams was jacked up by about 6" giving access to the rubber support pads underneath so that they could be replaced. This was achieved by a set of four lifting jacks attached to the lifting points at each end of each beam. Observers reported that considerable effort had gone into digging out both sides of the beams including removal of tarmac and kerbstones.

More than 100 official complaints about Cambridgeshire Guided Busway in first 16 months of operation

During its first 16 months of operation, having opened in August 2011, the guided busway has attracted more 105 complaints, mainly about high fares, ticketing problems and driver behaviour according to a Freedom of Information Request response to the Cambridge News. Thirteen complaints were about signs and 12 about ticket machines it revealed. In this respect, the bus service is little different from the railway in attracting complaints. Cllr Ian Bates, the council council's transport chief, said the complaints equated to one for every 30,000 journeys.

Cambridgeshire County Council spends £95k to make busway maintenance track fit for cycles and walkers

A long-standing complaint about the maintenance track (aka bridleway) adjacent to the guided busway used by both cyclists and walkers is that there is no lighting, unlike on roads, leading to cyclists occasionally crashing into each other and women feeling unsafe in the dark. Councillors have now approved spending £95,000 to install solar-powered stud lights on the track alongside the guided busway at Trumpington, Orchard Park and King's Hedges. It will consider lighting other sections of the busway maintenance track. The advantage of the solar studs is that they have no ongoing cost for the council. Installation work will begin towards the end of January 2013 and will take about eight weeks.

Critics of the guided busway say that this is yet another example of busway expenditure by stealth - deliberately omitted from the original construction in order to keep down the cost of the politically controversial busway that destroyed the Cambridge to St Ives railway line.

WEBSITES
New web-site set-up by individual to make international rail travel easier

The http://itinerail.com web-site, set-up by Tim Robins after nine months of research by travelling across Europe, claims to be an independent and objective guide to the European high-speed rail for people travelling from the UK. It aims to save travellers both money and time. It contains information on rail travel, including connection times and fare comparisons, to Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Volunteers from the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway help the embrionic Bramley Line group prepare a siding at Waldersea

Keywords: [MarchWisbechLine]

The Bramley Line group wants to reopen the March-Wisbech line for heritage years. Despite having existed for nearly a decade it has achieved very little on the ground (other than some initial attempts at vegetation management), mainly through a lack of volunteers and money. According to its December 2012 newsletter, on Sunday 18th November 2012 some members of the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway came over to help their volunteers to move some rail in preparation for continuing the construction of a siding at Waldersea. This work is adjacent to the track-bed and therefore would not be affected if the March-Wisbech line reopens to passengers, which Railfuture East Anglia has been campaigning for.

Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 236 - 31/12/2012

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