News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 344 - 30/11/2021
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Expanded car park opened at Attleborough station
- Trimley station building remains at risk of demolition after 10-year fight to save it
- Norfolk County Council to discuss new Broadland Business Park station
- RAIL MEETINGS [all issues]
- WEBSITES AND APPS [all issues]
The next Railfuture East Anglia branch meeting will be on Saturday 4th December 2021 at 14:00 in Cambridge. This is at a new venue: the Signal Box Community Centre. The guest speaker will be Matt Brennan, Network Rail's sponsor for the Anglia Route. He will be mainly talking about the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement (EACE) scheme. See the flier, including directions from Cambridge station, here.
Railfuture's three-page submission to the second of three parts of the second consultation by Network Rail to the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement (EACE) can be read at https://www.railfuture.org.uk/display2871. Whilst supporting the proposals Railfuture, like many respondents, says that they do not go far enough: "Ely junctions must in our view be made future-proof and have much more capacity than is currently being proposed". A Railfuture Tweet said: "If Werrington warrants a dive-under, Ely expects a fly-over for future growth needs."
In late November the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) released the passenger usage statistics for April 2020 to March 2021 for all stations in Britain. Obviously, they were heavily reduced owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a total of 388 million rail journeys in the 12 month period (the lowest since before the time series began in 1872), compared to 1.74 billion in the previous year, which was only affected by COVID-19 for about a month. See news story. Other research issued by the ORR showed that rail fares income in Great Britain dropped by £8.6 billion to £1.8 billion. Usage for most stations were between 75% and 80% down. Cambridge had just 2.3m passengers, and dropped to 40th busiest in Britain, but became one of the 10 most used stations outside of London for the first time. When the previous year's figures were released in November 2020, Berney Arms in Norfolk was declared the least used station, but very unfairly as it was closed for almost all of the year covered whilst the Wherry Lines were re-signalled. As a result, it has achieved the biggest percentage increase of any station compared with the previous year: up from 42 entries and exits to 348 in 2020-21.
A Network Rail press release on 8th November 2021 announced that following recent renewals of 30 wheel timbers across four bridges near Manea, in a project lasting 20 months that also saw 57 pairs of wheel timbers replaced in 2020, the speed restriction on the line between Ely and Peterborough has now been raised. Trains are now able to travel at up to 75mph. An inspection had found that 115 timbers on the four bridges needed to be replaced – final work will take place in 2022.
The Werrington dive-under was used by the first revenue-earning freight train on Monday 29th November 2021 (around 15:05) in the down direction on a GB Railfreight train from Felixstowe to Tinsley. The first train in the up direction was on Tuesday 30th November (around 10:36) by a GB Railfreight train from Doncaster Iport to Felixstowe.
The government has anounced that, following a public consultation on possible options, in spring 2022 penalty fares will be increased from double the single fare to the next station (minimum of £20) with the single fare plus a surcharge of £100 (reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days, excluding any 'stop the clock' period during any appeal process). See news story.
On Friday 26th November 2021, the performance of Grater Anglia's Class 755 three-car bi-mode trains received a Golden Spanners award, which are presented for the most reliable trains in each category at a national event that celebrates the work of train maintenance and engineering teams across the British rail network in achieving good train reliability. The four-car sister trains received a Silver Spanner for the most improved performance. Both are manufactured by Stadler, which is also involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the trains.
Because of concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19, from Tuesday 30th November face masks are once again mandatory on public transport in England (they had remained mandatory in Scotland and Wales along with TfL services in London).
The timetable change on Sunday 12th December 2021 will see more train services reinstated. In particular, East Midlands Railway will be returning its Norwich-Liverpool service to (mostly) hourly, with seven extra trains per day.
On Tuesday 9th November 2021 there was a live Outside Broadcast, from GB Railfreight's Peterborough depot, on BBC-1's 'Breakfast' programme. This was during the second week of COP26 and talked up the benefits of using a freight train, as opposed to using a lorry.
A public consultation on developments around Cambridge North station will be held at the adjacent Novotel on Wednesday 8th December between 16:00 an 20:00 and Thursday 9th December between 12:00 and 16:00. Details of the proposals and consultation can be found at https://consultation.cambridgenorth.co.uk/. Last date for sending feedback is 22nd December.
The North Norfolk Railway announced at the beginning of November 2021 that it had carried almost 115,000 passengers since Monday 12th April 2021 (a whole week after Easter), when it commenced limited operations after lockdown was eased. Following the ending of all COVID-19 restrictions on 19th July, its visitor numbers for late summer and autumn have been higher than in 2019. Its Santa Special trains started running from 27th November.
On 15th November 2021 the Cambridge Independent newspaper reported that the Greater Cambridge partnership had decided, as a result of feedback to its consultation in September 2021 (in which respondents said the A10 crossing was "unsafe", of "poor design" and "poor for vulnerable users"), to scale back its plans for the Foxton Travel Hub. Instead of 500 car parking spaces and 150 cycle parking spaces it would be reduced to 200 and 100 respectively, although the "revised design and access to the site could be re-engineered to increase its capacity should demand increase". See news.
On 12th November 2021 the Suffolk Times newspaper published a report of Railfuture's failed attempt to obtain Restoring Your Railway (RYR) funding for government funding to commission a business case study to reopen the railway line between Cambrdge and Haverhill See: news story.
On 5th November 2021 the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) uploaded to YouTube a six-minute video of drone flying over March and Manea railway stations to show the work taking place – major renovation of March station buildings plus a new car parking area and the new 100-space car park at Manea. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvEpZWi2Zhk. The CPCA is funding the work.
On 5th November 2021, CrossCounty Trains uploaded a YouTube entitled "Why not travel mid-week with CrossCountry?" as part of its 'Return to Rail' campaign - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwWbcW9mQ0g.
In mid-November a Greater Anglia train stopped at Soham station for testing purposes. Photos of it at the platform were released by the CPCA (see story) to help promote the new station, which technically opens on Sunday 12th December 2021, although because of engineering works the first train will call the next day.
A 47-metre mural by illustrator Carli Pfurtscheller now lines the footbridge at St Neots station. It is one of 200 works of art at GTR stations. In September a series of mural panels created by artist Steve Messam were installed on the disused platform at King's Lynn station; it was inspired by the iconic Campbell's soup tin — the company established its first factory outside the USA at King's Lynn in 1959 - see news story.
Network Rail (NR) has released a list of the most bashed rail bridges in Britain. The Coddenham Road bridge on the B1078 at Needham Market in Suffolk takes the top spot after being struck 19 times in 2020/21, which amounted to £41,331 in train delay and cancellation costs. The other "big hitters" in East Anglia on the list include Stuntney Road at Ely in Cambridgeshire (15 strikes) and Ipswich Road at Manningtree in Essex (10 strikes). The Station Lane bridge in the Abbey Farm Estate at Thetford came 20th with six strikes. The total cost to NR across Britain was £5.5m. Network Rail has urged professional operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and look out for road signs warning of oncoming bridges. Those who don't are at risk of losing their driver's and operator's licences. Network Rail looks to recover the entire repair and delay costs from the driver's employer. NR's 'Wise Up, Size Up' posters will be displayed at motorway service stations across Britain, urging drivers to check the size of their vehicles and their routes before setting off.
On a Zoom meeting with local rail user groups in late November, GTR MD Tom Moran said: "The take up of the flexi-season has not been as good as had been hoped...currently it is not cutting the mustard." He also mentioned thay at some of their stations, they have seen car parks slightly more used than trains, which might be because they are a useful place to park in certain towns.
In early November 2021 the train and track from the Wells Harbour Railway was loaded onto a truck and taken away (see story). It had run along Beach Road to the Pinewoods Holiday Park for 45 years, since 1976. Holkham Estate, which owns the land but had decided not to renew the lease on the land to railway Gary and Alison Brecknell (who had operated the railway for 21 years), has pledged a "replacement service" for the 2022 visitor season but has not provided any details.
The Norfolk Railway Society will be holding a public Zoom meeting about East West Rail on Thursday 2nd December 2021 from 19:00 to 20:30, including questions. The guest speaker will be Phillip Holland of Laing O' Rourke. Phil is the Project Leader for the current construction of the section, Bicester to Bletchley. For information on how to join the presentation, please contact Andy Wright by email at [norfolkrailwaysociety at gmail.com].
On 7th November 2021, the Eastern Daily Press included a profile of Charlie Robinson, chairman of the Mid-Norfolk Railway. The article looked at the successful visit of the Flying Scotsman steam locomotive, and also promoted events planned for Christmas 2021, including the highly-successful Polar Express, and special events in 2022.
STATIONS
Expanded car park opened at Attleborough station
Keywords: [AttleboroughStation]
The official opening of the extended and improved car park at Attleborough station was perfofmed by the Mayor of Attleborough, Cllr Philip Leslie on Monday 8th November 2021. The new car park (on the northern side of the railway line) was opened on 29th September with fees set at £3 for all-day parking. The work was delivered through a partnership project with Norfolk County Council, which contributed £400,000 towards the £900,000 project. It now has 81 spaces, up from 30 in the old car park, including five accessible parking spaces, as well as designated parking for five motorcycles and future provision for electric car charging, as well as LED lighting and CCTV. Additional space for parking was achieved by removing two dilapidated buildings, as well as some tree stumps and vegetation creating a new wall boundary. A self-service Amazon locker will also be installed so that people can collect Amazon parcels. Areas have been set aside at the edge of the new car park for wildflower planting which will be managed by the station's team of volunteer adopters.
A new tenant is required for the station house, which Greater Anglia has been renovating since 2018 (investing £300,000), helped by a £70,000 grant from the Railway Heritage Trust.
Trimley station building remains at risk of demolition after 10-year fight to save it
Keywords: [TrimleyStation]
The Victorian station building at Trimley has been out ever since it was closed in the late 1960s and has been deteriorating. In 2019, Network Rail stated its intention to demolish the building - thought to be the sole surviving country railway station constructed by the Great Eastern Railway in Suffolk — but agreed that Trimley Station Community Trust could take on the lease if enough funding was secured. Local residents have spent 10 years raising funds to renovate it but has failed to obtain the estimated £350,000. Its second Heritage Lottery bid having been turned down in February 2021.
News: https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/trimley-railway-station-no-current-demolition-plans-8503288.
Norfolk County Council to discuss new Broadland Business Park station
On Monday 6th December 2021 Norfolk County Council's cabinet will discuss commissioning a new feasibiity study (costing around £250,000) for a new £20m two-platform railway station at Broadland Business Park on the line between Norwich, Cromer and Sheringham. It could be included in the Norfolk Strategic Infrastructure Delivery Plan blueprint for infrastructure and transport schemes over the next decade.
In 2016, Broadland District Council spent £140,000 to explore the possibility of a new station at the park, whcih was expected to cost £6.6m and attract around 190,000 passengers each year. Based on these figures, the feasibility study had found a "strong" business case for the work and warranted further research.
News: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/local-council/new-railway-station-for-broadland-business-park-8522358.
RAIL MEETINGS
Brief summary of rail news revealed at FLUA AGM
Keywords: [FLUA]
On Saturday 27th November 2021 the Fen Line Users Association (FLUA) held their in-person AGM in Waterbeach, with some members joining remotely via Zoom. There were five speakers from the rail industry: Alan Neville from Greater Anglia (GA), Charles Baker from Network Rail (NR), and three people for Great Northern (GN) - Charles Salter, David Hughes (stations) and Karen Gregson (Area Station Manager for GN North).
Concern was expressed that Greater Anglia was still only running one train a day to King's Lynn, rather than three, as per pre-COVID. This enables it to maintain driver route knowledge. GA cannot reinstate the trains without agreement from the Department for Transport (DfT) as they control expenditure. It needs to be confident that there will be sufficient passengers before reintroducing services. GA is operating 94% of the pre-COVID timetable but there are still only 65%-70% of journeys overall, although leisure travel is almost 100% (in summer 2021 more Young Person's Railcards were sold than in the equivalent period in 2019). Responding to calls for additional services, a GN speaker said, "cost is now the planning tool".
A Waterbeach resident asked why the station was being moved — a controversial matter! The NR speaker explained that it was not a proposal by the railway, but a local authority planning condition. The housing developer had originally promised to pay for the station, but they now say that they cannot afford to pay for it, and the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) has confirmed that will be paid from public funds (if it goes ahead).
A few snippets of rail news were revealed:
- Bins will be procded on GA's class 720s trains. Units delivered by Alstom in Derby will have them, and they will be retrofitted to units already in service
- Ely concourse will be expanded — it was not stated whether this was being done to allow barriers to be installed
- The long-promised secure cycling at Cambridge North station will be implemented
- GN speakers said that they would be continuing to make small improvements to Fen Line stations in the next year or two
- The opening ceremony of Soham station will take place on Monday 13th December 2021 from 11:00 to 12:30.
WEBSITES AND APPS
Real-time bus map covers the whole of Great Britain
The https://bustimes.org website provides a real-time bus map that covers the whole of Great Britain. You can click on a stop to see the timetable from that stop, and from there click on a route, then 'map' to show a map of the route and if available the location of the buses running on that route (the stop they have just left). What information is shown depends on whether the bus company makes the real-time information available. A specific area can be bookmarked, e.g. for Cambridge buses, use https://bustimes.org/map#13/52.204/0.132.
The government passed "bus open data regulations" in July 2020 requiring operators to provide location information and simple fares information by 7th January 2021 - but as is usual for public transport initiatives by government little if anything actually happened - and almost a year later plenty of services running around without this.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 344 - 30/11/2021
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