News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 371 - 29/02/2024
In [Snippets 370] it was reported that the business case for Waterbeach's new railway station has been delayed. On 15th February 2024 the Cambridge Independent newspaper reported that Waterbeach's new railway station is now not expected to be completed until 2026, according to the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) which has taken over responsibility to build the new station in order to support new 4,500 new homes. It had been hoped that the station, which would replace the village's existing station, would open in 2025. See news story, which includes a recent timeline of the station project.
Mid-February 2024 saw Network Rail reach a major milestone on the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) with the renewal of signalling infrastructure commissioned on the East Coast Mainline (ECML) between Welwyn and Hitchin, with 'overlay' signalling now in use. This means that some trains will use in-cab signalling whilst others will use the conventional 'lights on sticks' signals, with the latter eventually to be removed. The ECML was closed from Saturday 17th to Tuesday 20th February.
On 17th February 2024 the Eastern Daily Press (EDP) reported that Norfolk County Council had been urged (by Green Party members) to buy farmland adjacent to the railway for two new stations at Long Stratton and Hethersett. It would likely cost £1.25m to buy 140 acres of land (currently on the market) on both sides of the Great Eastern Mainline near Forncett St Mary for Long Stratton station. The council could do something similar in the Hethersett/Cringleford area to serve places such as Norwich Research Park, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the University of East Anglia. The EDP mentioed that Railfuture had called for such a station in 2020, saying it could cost about £15m and improve rail access for thousands of people. See news story.
On Saturday 2nd March 2024 the Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) will be holding its Model Railway exhibition. There will be a number of layouts, demonstration stands and traders at Dereham Memorial Hall (a five-minute walk away from Dereham station), which will be open from 10.00 to 16.00, and the Marquee next to Dereham station. Entry to exhibition is £6, MNR Members & Concessions £5 (accompanied children are free). The MNR is are also planning to run passenger trains with the BR Pacer railcar.
The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR), which runs between Dereham and Wymondham, recently appeared in The Telegraph's list of the "20 best holidays to transport you back to the golden age of rail". For Easter 2024 it will be staging a completely new event: "Alice on the Wondertrain", which is an immersive theatrical live train experience, engaging audiences in a fantastical story to meet the array of marvellous characters from Alice in Wonderland as never before. It will be performed by the same theatre company that the MNR uses for its annual Polar Express ™ trains. Tickets are £15.00 per person
On Monday 12th February 2024, Cambridgeshire County Council closed the shared path from the entrance of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway at Hills Road bridge to Long Road bridge in order to start work on safety measures to allow the Busway to return to full two-way operation. One of the two buses tracks has been out of use for around two years (February 2022) following two fatal accidents, where a pedestrian and a cyclist were killed by a bus. The other track will continue to be used whilst some of the work (costing £960k) to provide an 'innovative busway safety measure' (a fence with removable sections to allow for safe evacuation of buses along 1.2k of the busway route) is taking place. It should all be completed by the end of March 2024, allowing both busway tracks to reopen permanently. See announcement.
The postponed MARPA AGM will be held at 14:00 on Saturday 23rd March at the Friends Meeting House, St John's Street, Bury St Edmunds. The guest speaker will be Alan Neville, Customer Engagement Manager at Greater Anglia, who will outline current and planned developments on the Mid-Anglia route, including an update on progress with the long awaited Community Rail Partnership.
On Tuesday 5th March 2023 from 18:00, Charles Calvert, Chief Engineer at Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions, will talk to the Cambridge University Railway Club (CURC) about Vanguard's transport sustainability projects, including their work in converting a Class 319 to run on hydrogen and making it the UK's first mainline hydrogen train. The presentation will be held in the Timmy Hele Room in Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
ROLLING STOCK
Greater Anglia to retrofit its Stadler Class 720 trains used on Stansted Experess to have tables
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
Beginning in 2024 for completion at the end of 2025, Greater Anglia (GA) is to fit tables in the bays of four seats on its Stansted Express trains (units 745101-745110), which are also used at least once a day on the London Liverpool Street to Norwich route as well (because of the need to send them to Crown Point depot in Norwich). In fact, the trains are being used on the Great Eastern Mainline more than originally envisaged, hence the pressure (following passenger feedback) to improve the customer expereince on longer journeys, enabling passengers to work more easily, use their laptops, and place papers. The trains already have fold down, seat-back tables on most seats.
News: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/tables-to-be-installed-on-gas-stansted-express-trains/.
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Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 371 - 29/02/2024
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