Issue 179 Sep 2018

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk

Issue 179 ● Sep 2018

www.railfuture.org.uk/East+Anglia

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Railfuture campaigns for

better services over a bigger

railway (passengers + freight)

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• New timetable brings chaos

• Accessibility at stations

• More passengers wanted at

Cambridge North station

• Modern ticket machines

• Ticketing anomalies

• East Midlands franchise

• Rejuvenating Great Yarmouth

• Whittlesford Area Masterplan

• Bad weather railway

• Felixstowe capacity works

and Werrington ‘dive under’

Inside this edition of RAIL EAST...

Railfuture trusted railway to

implement biggest timetable

changes in ages — we were

wrong. Next change must work.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 2

GOOD NEWS FOR RAIL USERS — BUT BAD TIMING

BY NICK DIBBEN, CHAIR, EAST ANGLIA BRANCH

When the last issue of RAIL EAST (number 178) was put together in

the spring of this year, we were looking forward to a major milestone

in the Thameslink project, which would see through services running

from Peterborough and Cambridge to Croydon, Gatwick Airport and

beyond. By the time the newsletter was delivered, the new timetable

had been introduced – and, oh dear, what a mess! An adjacent

article illustrates the scale of disruption experienced at three stations

served by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).

Formal investigations are underway to find out what happened but it is clear that

there are lessons to be learnt in all parts of the rail industry. Firstly, the

Government needs to set realistic franchise specifications and ensure that it makes

decisions in a timely way — both these aspects were lacking in the GTR case. Train

operators and Network Rail must become much better at delivering what they

promise and not be afraid to speak up if things start to go wrong. Once again the

information available to passengers on the ground was terrible. As an example

passengers returning from London might be able to catch a train from either King’s

Cross or the low level platforms at St Pancras, yet staff and the train displays were

not able to give this guidance. When Railfuture East Anglia met GTR managers in

July they promised that would be done but a few weeks later, as I write this, there

is still no sign of it being done. The July revised timetable appears to be much more

robust and let’s hope that the missing trains will be restored in the coming months.

See an article on the Railfuture website by our Policy Director, Ian Brown:

https://www.railfuture.org.uk/article1797-Murder-on-the-Thameslink---Northern-Express-

Whilst the effect that this matter will have on public perception of the railways

remains to be seen, the basic concept behind the Thameslink project remains valid

and is the best way to increase capacity and through journeys at the same time.

Accessibility and Easy Stations

One of the key aims of Railfuture is to make train travel as

easy as possible. At the present time, for passengers with

disabilities or with luggage or small children, it is anything

but easy. We heard at our Ipswich Meeting in June 2018

about the problems at Needham Market station caused by

the lack of suitable access between the platforms. In this

issue we include articles outlining the scale of the ongoing

accessibility challenge at stations in East Anglia and how

funding from the Department for Transport currently deals

with that challenge. Our Norwich meeting in September

will also focus on accessibility issues, with the guest

speaker addressing the issue of how the railway can best

accommodate passengers experiencing dementia. To

encourage train operators to improve stations for the

benefit of all passengers, the Branch has its “easy station”

awards to recognise improvements. If your local station

has seen recent improvements to make it better for

passengers, do let us know and we will consider giving it

an award.

As RAIL EAST was about to be sent to the printers, we heard that the opening of

Crossrail is being delayed by some months. It appears that one of the key issues is

the signalling. In such cases, the criticisms and ambitions of politicians should be

ignored - the safety of passengers is the top priority.

It is not just public areas

where the railway has

accessibility issues. At

Ipswich Railfuture was

invited into a Greater

Anglia office and faced

steep and narrow stairs.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 3

MELDRETH, SHEPRETH AND FOXTON TIMETABLE MELTDOWN

GTR WOES — BY SUSAN VAN DE VEN OF THE LOCAL USER GROUP

Until 20 May 2018 the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group’s concerns

for its three stations were about accommodating a steady increase in footfall, which

was set to intensify with half-hourly off-peak services and an overall step change.

Now as the summer draws to a conclusion the organisation’s concerns are instead

about the regularised peak-time gaps that make rail commuting unworkable; unfair

anomalies and limitations in GTR’s compensation programme that exclude claims

against those gaps; and seeking an assurance that the sacrifice of our three

stations for the bigger picture will be temporary and short-lived. We look forward

to a September meeting with senior GTR staff to discuss these issues.

It’s hard to overestimate the impact of what has been a catastrophic timetable

failure. Not only have local people been financially hit by the cost of additional

modes of transport to access Royston station with its slightly-better services, but

some have reported being financially penalised for late arrival to work, local

businesses have lost staff owing to unworkable commutes and the daily lives of

travellers and their families have been turned upside down with everyone involved

in dealing with the fall-out of absent trains. The (weekday) photo below of

Meldreth Station car park tells its own story.

Many people have told our RUG they’ve decided not to bother with rail anymore,

and have discovered other modes of transport, including private cars and private

drivers – even travelling to London via chauffeur on a re-arranged working

schedule, at overall lower cost.

We’d like to thank our local GTR staff who we know have been working flat-out to

assist passengers in extraordinary circumstances. Compliments have been sent to

us about Bern Parsons at Meldreth station ticket office, for his daily dissemination

of live updates via the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group Facebook

page; and Karen Gregson for ensuring that school children travelling home from

Cambridge get into taxis when trains have been cancelled – and personally

speaking to their parents to update them as to their children’s whereabouts.

Our 27 June Rail User Group meeting was attended by about 70 people – the

largest number since the group’s inception nearly ten years ago when previous

operator First Capital Connect announced measures to reduce booking office hours

together with a spike in student fares and parking charges, all of which sparked

community action. We’d like to thank our rail users this time for helping us to feed

back to the industry and Department for Transport on all points of concern.

To see our responses to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), Parliamentary Select

Committee and other correspondence during the timetable meltdown, please visit

our website, www.meldrethsheprethfoxtonrail.org.uk.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 4

MAKING OUR STATIONS ACCESSIBLE

PETER WAKEFIELD LOOKS AT GREATER ANGLIA IN THIS ISSUE

We all know that wheelchair users often need

help on and off trains (see photo, right, from

Ely station) but stations need to be suitable

as well, not just for them but all users.

It is an odd thing that here we are well into

2018 – and yet five of our main stations still

have major accessibility problems that

affect a large number of people who might

want to use the railway.

On inspection, it is obvious they cannot be

used by independent wheelchair users, but

they also present huge obstacles to those

with young children in buggies/pushchairs,

people with any amount of luggage, as well

as those with mobility impairment being brought on by the ageing process and

general ill health. Even those of us who keep an active travel life going find having

to lug a bicycle, a suitcase, a buggy, up and down steps daunting. The main

obstacle to access to all are high, steep-stepped

footbridges that everybody has to use for one part of a

return journey whether fit as a fiddle or not. They are a

real impediment to those who can just about use them

as well as off-putting for an untold number of people

who certainly cannot use them. Even trying to use the

railway becomes impossible. It is ironic that at urban

stations when accessing escalators and the like, we are

admonished if we try to do the acrobatics associated

with our travel paraphernalia on them...”use the lift!”

the signs and staff scream.

Recently two members of Railfuture East Anglia’s

committee had a day out looking at the five problem

stations. We travelled to Kelvedon, Marks Tey,

Stowmarket, Diss (see photo of steps, right) and

Whittlesford Parkway, which between them have a

footfall of around 3.6m users a year.

We witnessed a woman going slowly up the steps backwards, bumping up a large

suitcase step by step to the top; a not-so-elderly man slowly hauling himself up by

the handrail, frequently taking time to get his breath; a woman slowly pushing/

lifting her cycle up and down with great difficulty; a family with suitcases and a

buggy with strapped-in child taking the up and down in relays. A single mum with

child and luggage trying this leads to all sorts of safety issues and stress...and so

on.

Two of the stations are important junctions with a lot more passengers using the

station (and footbridges) than indicated above...and the connections have to be

completed quickly or there is always at least an hour to wait before the next train.

All five stations have car parks on either side of the tracks so a trek over the

footbridge is always needed on leaving or to retrieve the parked vehicle. Most users

currently accept this and can cope but any person with a mobility issue will find this

awkward or impossible. Level access from the opposite platform to the car park

varies from inconvenient at all stations to virtually impossible at Diss, Marks Tey

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 5

and Whittlesford. Whilst recognising that the problem is less acute at Kelvedon,

the growing numbers of passengers using this station suggest that it ought to be

on the train operator’s priority list for access improvement.

The implications for our region’s economy are huge too. What is the damage being

done to the tourist industry, and commerce generally, by this poor access to the

main public transport network?

All five stations need lifts now

To get the funding for these, the Department for Transport, Network Rail and

Greater Anglia (GA) have a fund for improving access to the railway network – see

the article summarising Access for All on page 6. It is administered in a

complicated scattergun manner and seems to be handed out on footfall based

case by case manner. Little thought seems to be given to the actual on the ground

conditions at a station. For a large segment of

our population the railway is unusable if

travelling independently. All our five listed

stations are railheads for a wide rural catchment

area and in the case of two of them, also

important junctions. And in common with all

larger settlements in East Anglia, all five, with

the many villages in their immediate hinterland,

are bound to expand their populations over the

next decade as house building proceeds at an

inexorable rate. The problems caused by poor

accessibility will only get worse.

One package

So we say, deal with all five stations in one package to get the benefits of scale in

pricing...give the contract to one trusted contractor to get on with the job and do

what you have done before. All five footbridges are of a standard design used

when the lines were electrified. They are all of the same design as the footbridge

at GA’s Waltham Cross station (photo, above right), where GA successfully

installed lift towers either side of the existing footbridge at a cost much less than a

new bridge and all the hugely expensive possession costs.

All the five footbridges “land” slightly differently owing to particular site conditions,

but during our inspection we felt there was no show stopper at any site. During

our recent meeting with the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (see article

on page 17) we raised the question whether it could help with a project such as

this. The reply was that it will have funds available in the autumn and maybe GA

ought to have a proposal to put forward. But there could be no promise at this

stage.

So Greater Anglia, let’s be creative in solving this problem once and for all. Your

bottom line is suffering because potential passengers cannot get to the train and

as importantly, a very large number of users are denied their right to move

around independently and safely.

Note that we also inspected the stations at Needham Market and Wymondham. At

both places there is a serious accessibility issue. However, the issue there could be

solved by some less expensive solutions.

In a future RAIL EAST we will look at making our stations accessible on Govia

Thameslink Railway at Meldreth.

On the next page we continue the important theme of accessibility.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 6

FUNDING/POLICY TO IMPROVE STATION ACCESSIBILITY

BY PETER FEENEY

The previous article highlights a necessary but unappealing truth – too many

stations suffer from historical design deficiencies that act to discriminate against

many people who want to use the railway. In practical terms, as identified above,

enabling prospective passengers to enjoy step free access to trains is generally

accomplished by installing lifts to existing footbridges or subways or more

infrequently (as at Ipswich) building a new footbridge with integrated lifts on either

side. The engineering required to upgrade such infrastructure doesn’t come cheap.

In its recently published policy document The Inclusive Transport Strategy:

Achieving Equal Access for Disabled People, the Department for Transport (DfT) sets

out the aim of achieving “equal access for disabled people using the transport

system” by 2030 – although this comes with the qualification of “assistance if

physical infrastructure remains a barrier” (p.9). One of the funding commitments

made in this strategy statement is to a continuation of the Access for All (AfA)

scheme into Network Rail’s Control Period 6 (2019 – 2024). This is the scheme

through which improvements in accessibility are currently made to the rail

infrastructure. The scheme has been in operation since 2005 with investment

nationwide of £500 million – the result so far has been major work (involving lifts

etc) at just over 200 stations on the national network, with more modest access-

related works at a further 1500 stations. In East Anglia AfA has been responsible

for contributing significant funding to schemes at stations such as Manningtree,

Audley End, Huntingdon, Peterborough and Billericay – as well as Ipswich mentioned

above.

The AfA process begins with train operating companies nominating stations in order

of priority. AfA employs a set of five criteria, although whether they are formally

weighted is unclear:

• Passenger footfall as measured by ORR passenger counts

• Incidence of local disability as measured by official census information

• Local circumstances – e.g. proximity of hospital, school for disabled children, or

stations with a high percentage of interchange passengers

• Availability of third party funding - i.e. are local authorities ready to contribute?

• Addressing network accessibility gaps – will implementation mean disabled

travellers can avoid a lengthy taxi journey to the nearest step-free station?

For CP6, train operators

received guidance in July

2018, with a deadline for

submissions back to DfT of

November 2018 and funding

decisions to be announced in

April 2019. The DfT

guidance adds that “priority

will be given to stations that

currently have no access to

and between platforms over

stations where this is

possible, even if the existing

route is not ideal”.

The funding commitment to

AfA for CP6 is approximately

£300 million – as part of

In Germany’s second largest city, Hamburg, this section of its S-

Bahn (directly east of the central station) shows 31 out of the

40 stations are accessible. If the political will is there the railway

will truly be available for all to use. Photo Jerry Alderson.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 7

Network Rail’s overall budget for the period it is not a large sum (less than 1%),

given the costs of accessibility enhancement and the scale of the need. Just to put

that capital sum in perspective, we know for example that £985 million has been

allocated in CP6 for the significant infrastructure work needed to make phase 2 –

the central section, Bicester to Bedford – of East West Rail a reality (see further on

this the article on page 14). Hopefully one of the fruits of that level of investment

will be that passengers using all stations served by the central section will enjoy

step free access to trains. The DfT policy statement includes the statistic that

whereas in 2005 only half of rail journeys were accomplished via step-free stations,

in 2018 this had grown to 75%, which is evidence of substantial improvement. But

as Peter Wakefield’s article about the current situation in East Anglia highlights, five

major interchange stations urgently require the infrastructure upgrade necessary for

a wide range of prospective passengers – not confined to those with a permanent

disability – to access trains. Given the size of the national funding pot, it is hard to

see all five benefitting from such work over the coming five years.

The DfT strategy for inclusive transport can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/

government/publications/inclusive-transport-strategy/the-inclusive-transport-

strategy-achieving-equal-access-for-disabled-people

WHITTLESFORD PARKWAY STATION AREA MASTERPLAN

PROGRESS IS BEING MADE, SAYS PETER WAKEFIELD

The East Anglia Branch conducted a station audit of this important station in South

Cambridgeshire in 2017. We revealed that successive attempts to manage its

growth have led to a muddled look and feel to the station for its users. Above all its

very poor accessibility for all types of users was stifling further growth. (The audit is

available on the Railfuture website at http://www.railfuture.org.uk/east/docs/

Railfuture-East-Anglia-2017-01-16-Whittlesford-Parkway-Station-Audit-

Report.pdf ).

Progress 1 In response to the highlighting of the inadequacies Railfuture is pleased

to report that Greater Anglia is installing 200 extra cycle stands grouped on both

the up and down sides of the station. Cycle parking will be removed from under the

Cambridge-bound platform canopy, allowing increasing number of travellers to use

it for its proper purpose. The muddled signage will be studied carefully and a new

start made in its provision.

There is huge growth taking place in the broader area around the station, with large

numbers of existing jobs and more to come in the various science parks, which

include Wellcome Genome Campus/Sanger Institute, Babraham Research Campus

and Granta Park. There will be increased housing to cater for this too. GA would like

to expand the existing large car park and the County Council and Highways Agency

are leaving their respective road maintenance depots adjacent to the station for

possible redevelopment into new housing and other developments. There is a much

prized listed heritage building in the midst of all this, plus the easily overlooked

needs of existing housing and other

properties. Road access to the two

sides of the station is muddled,

confusing and very inconvenient.

Photo, right, is of eastern side. The two

sides of the station are linked only by a

footbridge with no lifts. It is not

possible to have a much needed proper

bus interchange either.

Progress 2 With this disparate activity

Railfuture felt here was an opportunity

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 8

to bring all the relevant partners together to plan the land use around the station

into a masterplan meeting the requirements of existing and future station users,

residents in the immediate station area as well as those from villages in the wider

area. The needs of the local science parks must be met so that their workforce can

travel to and from work sustainably, as should those to and from the nearby

Duxford Imperial War Museum – which is currently inaccessible by public transport

on a daily basis. The listed historic monument in the form of the medieval Duxford

Chapel should be the focus of any new plan for the station – highlighting the fact

that this site has been used by travellers for many hundreds of years.

On 16 April 2018 Railfuture East Anglia hosted a meeting with various interested

groups including the Whittlesford Rail User Group, Greater Anglia and parish

councillors. We hope from the positive feel to the discussion that the very helpful GA

representatives will be able bring all these disparate parties with differing priorities

together, enabling a masterplan to be constructed that makes the site work for

everybody. This coincided with the publication of a “Whittlesford Parkway Station

Masterbrief” by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP). We had already

presented our Station Audit to the GCP. It is evident that it has had some influence

on the brief.

Progress 3 On 3 July meaningful progress was made when GCP’s consultants, WYG,

held a Whittlesford Masterplanning Project Stakeholder Workshop. Railfuture

East Anglia was represented along with parish councils and other groups. Many

interesting ideas were put forward and if adopted will go long way to solving the

problems identified above. It is to be hoped that the GCP will adopt the consultants’

eventual findings and fund the improvements needed to solve the muddle around

Whittlesford station and turn it into a model sustainable travel hub for its region.

VIRTUAL TRAVEL AGENTS — ARRIVING AT GA STATIONS

BY PETER FEENEY

In June 2018 Greater Anglia (GA) gave details of imminent plans to equip nearly 30

smaller stations with state-of-the-art ticket vending machines (TVMs). The Farego

ViTA machines, manufactured in Germany by Scheidt & Bachmann, incorporate a

24/7 audio link enabling passengers to talk, if necessary, with a GA ticket agent. GA

is the first English operator to roll-out "virtual ticket agents" technology across its

network – a franchise commitment to upgrade station facilities at the same time as

introducing a wholly new train fleet. Photos below show progress at two Mid-Anglia

line stations – work at Elmswell (left) to install cabling and the concrete base for the

new kit, and alongside it the finished phase 1 at Dullingham (right). Work at all

sites is scheduled to be complete by the end of summer 2018. The machines

involved in this facilities upgrade will join the current deployment of just under 200

similar machines across the GA network. However, experience of existing TVMs at

stations such as Newmarket has shown them to be prone to teething problems, so

let's hope the equipment being installed in this scheme will prove to be more reliable

and a real improvement in the passenger experience at these unstaffed stations.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 9

CAMBRIDGE NORTH STATION — THE FIRST 15 MONTHS

THE NEED TO ACTIVELY PROMOTE USE OF IT, BY JERRY ALDERSON

The one question everyone wants to know is how well is Cambridge North doing?

So, how many people have used it, are now using it, and is it on target?

Greater Anglia (GA) has told Railfuture that “A total of 590,000 journeys have been

made to and from Cambridge North – an average of around 10,000 journeys a

week [since it opened]” and that these figures are from their revenue analysts.

Railfuture doesn’t disbelieve GA, but it does wildly differ from their previous press

releases on the subject, and GA has been unable (or unwilling) to explain why.

It previously stated “East Anglia’s newest railway station has welcomed 320,000

people during its first year” and before that quoted “more than 75,000” for the first

six months. No-one is suggesting that patronage rose to 270,000 in 12 weeks,

which is 22,500 a week. So these figures must be counting apples and oranges.

Railfuture thinks that the latest figures are “journeys” and the earlier ones were

“people” using the station. If one assumes about 1.5 journeys to or from the

station per person per day then it makes sense.

The third-year target is 800,000 (one direction) journeys per year, and with a

rolling 12-month figure of almost 600,000 this target will be reached, but probably

only just, unless something changes. It’s worth mentioning that the controversial

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway only hit 99.5% of its third-year target, although its

figures were deliberately inflated by including bus journeys made solely on roads.

Despite the ‘only just enough’ patronage, the railway says that the new station has

been a “success”, a statement fully deserving the Mandy Rice-Davies riposte “well,

they would say that, wouldn’t they?” But usage is now definitely picking up:

Eddie the Eagle Edwards was the best ski jumper in Britain, but on a world stage he

was, depending on your point of view, either a hero or a joke. Like poor Mr

Edwards, some would describe the 800,000 journeys target as a “joke”. Being the

minimum needed to pass the cost-benefit analysis test, it was a very pessimistic

estimate, and assumed a 2013 opening. It has not been increased for the four

years of continued growth in north Cambridge. With substantial business, education

and residential areas in the north of the city, it was ludicrous to imagine that it

would attract just one twelfth of the passengers at Cambridge “Central” station. A

year three figure of 2.5 million should not have been impossible, but it is now.

Here are three examples of how Cambridge North’s patronage has not lived up to

the expectations of commercial concerns, not just Railfuture’s beliefs:

• The car park three-month opening offer, which was extended by three more

months to November 2017, is still in place 15 months later (there have never

been more than 180 cars in the 450-space car park at one time)

• The bus service to the station was reduced very soon after opening. Many buses

still have no passengers boarding or alighting, and often don’t bother stopping

• The Co-op has abandoned plans to open a shop at the station, despite having

spent money on vinyls outside to advertise it, and the shop remains “to let”.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 10

There have been own goals such as kicking out an entrepreneur who provided a

popular coffee service nearly four months before Costa Coffee finally opened. Car

park users buying tickets from the TVM in the station now have to arrive earlier to

walk to their car and back as GA will no longer record car registration numbers. For

the first few weeks it was not possible to buy a paper ticket — only online/phone.

But let’s be positive. Cambridge North is going to be a rip-roaring success. It is no

Stratford Parkway or East Midlands Parkway. What is disappointing, however, is

that this much-needed station, and one that Railfuture has been campaigning for

since the late 1980s, did not get off to a good start and this has set back

patronage for several years. Intervention is needed to get it back on track. We

shouldn’t wait for the hotel, offices and apartments to come to its rescue.

The disappointing patronage is down to a lack of promotion,

leading to a lack of awareness that it exists or where it’s located,

and the unwelcoming almost sterile environment and ‘never again’

negative experiences of people using (or trying to use) the

station. If retailers don’t want to be at the station then why should

passengers — let the shop space ASAP, please!

There remains a perception that the station has a bad train service. Initially trains

were infrequent or slow, with no direct train to King’s Cross on Sunday, but now

there is. However, there has been no railway publicity to tell people how it has

improved, and apart from a few weeks around the opening, Cambridge station

hasn’t displayed a single poster telling people about the new station.

There is no single organisation to blame. Several parts of the rail industry

(Network Rail and its contractors, Greater Anglia, Govia Thameslink Railway and

Cross Country) all share responsibility as do Cambridge County Council, South

Cambs District Council, the parish councils and the bus companies.

A major problem was the inability of Network Rail and its contractor to be confident

of an opening date. Partly because of planning agreement issues, it slipped from

May 2015, to May 2017, with several interim dates along the way. When Railfuture

visited the site three months before opening, much of it was still a muddy field. It’s

understandable that Greater Anglia was unwilling to promote the station heavily

until it was sure when it would be able to occupy the station, install equipment and

train its staff. However, zero publicity was entirely the wrong approach. It seems

incredible that prospective customers of the station would learn of their future

travel possibilities though the Cambridge News and Railfuture East Anglia’s Twitter

account. Even now, there have been 20 positive Railfuture tweets about the station

for each from the rail industry. We can’t remember the last time @GreaterAngliaPR

tweeted about the station. Is there nothing to say?

Railfuture East Anglia has worked well with GA management to get small

improvements, such as moving or enlarging signage and notices to be more

visible, moving obstructions to allow cyclists to use the stair gutter and, most

recently, providing copies of the Metro newspaper each day. But this is tinkering.

The problem is the lack of a controlling mind to manage promotion and appeal of

the station, with authority and funds for changes. Greater Anglia, appoint one now!

A Cambridge Science Park shuttle taxi runs in the morning and afternoon but

where is the sign at the station? Drivers entering Cowley Road don’t know whether

to turn left or right. The road sign on Milton Road is obscured by vegetation. No

notice in Milton village (30 minutes’ walk to the station) of the existence of the

station or at the foot of the A14 overbridge, or in shops in the village. In fact, no-

one in Milton remembers having received any publicity through their letterbox.

Railfuture East Anglia is willing to do its bit to promote the £50 million station. Rail

industry, please give us something worthwhile to help promote it.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 11

TICKETING FRUSTRATION AND ANOMOLIES

EXPERIENCES OF CAMBRIDGE NORTH STATION, BY ALAN MAYES

Having discussed 15 months of Cambridge North, it seems appropriate to identify

one aspect of train operator practice where the dots have yet to be joined up…

On 10 May 2017 the Rail Delivery Group issued two easements for Cambridge North

• 700713: Customers travelling to Cambridge North, from Waterbeach, Ely,

Littleport, Downham Market, Watlington and King’s Lynn are permitted to double

-back via Cambridge. This double-back easement applies in both directions.

• 700714: Tickets to/from Cambridge are also valid at Cambridge North and

tickets to/from Cambridge North are also valid at Cambridge. This easement

covers all tickets, including season tickets, except Advance tickets

Easement 700714 means that a single, return or season ticket to or from

Cambridge Station is also valid for Cambridge North station and vice-versa. This

gives flexibility to rail passengers to end their outward journey at Cambridge

Station and start their return journey at Cambridge North station or vice-versa and

they can buy a ticket to Cambridge to travel to Cambridge North.

This should mean ticket prices are the same for the two stations. However, for a

few stations, including Shelford, Whittlesford Parkway and Newmarket, Greater

Anglia set fares to Cambridge North higher than to Cambridge before the easement

was published. For instance a seven-day season ticket between Cambridge North

and Shelford costs £15.50 compared to £14.00 between Cambridge and Shelford.

Greater Anglia confirmed that the easement applies so tickets to Cambridge

including the £14.00 one from Shelford to Cambridge can also be used to travel to

Cambridge North. Greater Anglia have committed to re-pricing the tickets so that

the fares are the same for Cambridge and Cambridge North. Until then, buy a ticket

to Cambridge to travel from these stations to Cambridge North to avoid paying the

higher fare set for Cambridge North. I purchased online for £14.00 a seven-day

Shelford-Cambridge season ticket for my Greater Anglia smart card, uploaded it at

the barriers at Cambridge North Station and used it to travel between Cambridge

and Cambridge North Stations. Cambridge and Cambridge North are both Greater

Anglia stations with smart card readers at the barriers but it is not yet possible to

buy a smart card season ticket Cambridge-Cambridge North because the fares for

travel between these two stations are set by Govia Thameslink Great Northern.

As Cambridge North Station does not have a ticket office,

single, return and seven-day season tickets can be purchased

on the ticket vending machines, but monthly, period and

annual season tickets have to be purchased online or at a

station with a ticket office such as Cambridge or Ely.

However, I confirmed it is quick and easy to purchase a

season ticket online and upload it on to a smart card at

Cambridge North Station as I did with my Shelford-

Cambridge season ticket. It is currently only possible to buy

smart season tickets from Cambridge North to Greater Anglia

stations on the line to Liverpool Street. The Department for

Transport has promised that train operators will accept each

other’s smart cards in future. It will then be possible to

upload season tickets onto smart cards for travel between

Cambridge/Cambridge North and stations on the Fen Line to

King’s Lynn and the route to King’s Cross.

Jerry Alderson writes: “As a regular Cambridge North station user, I’ve bought

tickets that were invalid for my journey. Selecting London Bridge it sold me a ticket

for London Terminals, and buying a ticket from City Thameslink it did the same.”

Ticketing has not put

people off using Cam-

bridge North station,

presumably because

they do not realise

the fare or validity is

wrong.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 12

RAIL AND REGENERATION — GREAT YARMOUTH

BY IAN COUZENS

The rail revolution of the

last 20 years, with a

doubling in passenger

journeys across Britain,

seems to have passed

Great Yarmouth by. In

fact, Yarmouth (station

pictured right) has seen a

decline of around 10% in

station entrances and

exits over the five-year

period to 2016/17, to

around 400,000. This is

pretty much back to

where things were in

1997/8 when the data

series began - a very low footfall for a town with an urban population of about

75,000, and another 25,000 in the borough’s satellite communities.

Why is Yarmouth standing still, when most East Anglian stations have seen a

healthy growth in footfall?

We know that rebalancing its economy from its tourism heyday has been difficult

and this will be an important factor. Deprivation levels in the town are high and so

demand for travel suppressed. Yet other large seaside towns with similar problems

have done better, including its neighbour Lowestoft, so there are likely to be other

reasons. Here are some possibilities:

• The line has been reduced to branch status with all services terminating at

Norwich. It takes 2 hours 40 minutes to get to London

• The train frequency is not good enough so local travel to Norwich has been won

over by buses which provide a 15-minute interval service

• The station is sited on the edge of the town and doesn’t feel connected to it. The

lack of bus integration at the station make matters worse

• While the train service hasn’t changed in a generation the road network has got

steadily better

By contrast, Lowestoft has seen a 9% improvement in footfall over the last five

years. While like Yarmouth, London timings are poor, the town will have benefited

from increased frequencies on the East Suffolk Line. It is also likely that the longer

road journey from Norwich compared to Yarmouth means that bus competition is

less damaging.

It is very timely that Greater Anglia is introducing the new Stadler bi-mode trains

from 2019. These trains should provide a step change in quality and hopefully an

improvement in journey times. Railfuture hopes to see the decline in footfall at

Yarmouth arrested and then start moving upwards. But the new trains in

themselves may not be the whole answer.

There are also plans to radically improve pedestrian access to Yarmouth station

from the town centre. Many would feel uneasy taking the current route in broad

daylight, let alone at night. The new plans have financial backing from NALEP, the

Local Enterprise Partnership, and when complete the image of the station as linked

and accessible to the town centre should be transformed.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 13

In the longer run Railfuture continues to press for additional improvements:

• Half-hourly service — to benefit local travel and connect into the half-hourly

London service at Norwich. As London trains get faster, then Yarmouth timings

would improve too. With Norwich in 90, could a case be made for Yarmouth in

120 as the East Norfolk Transport Users Association (ENTUA) is calling for?

• Extension of some journeys to destinations beyond Norwich.

The best chance of achieving both objectives lies with East West Rail. In its study

on the potential for the eastern section (Cambridge to Ipswich/Norwich),

consultants Atkins made a strong case for extending East West services to both

Yarmouth and Lowestoft, and they could envisage two additional services on each

line. The Atkins report considers that improved connections with other towns and

cities along the route would assist regeneration in both east coast towns.

Finally, bus connections for Yarmouth station have to be improved to get the most

out of any upgrade in rail services and offer maximum access to Yarmouth

residents. This is difficult to achieve when there is no guiding authority to bring

this about, but it has to remain a key objective.

Yarmouth once had three terminal stations and a mix of long distance and local

services from all of them. Excessive maybe, even by Victorian standards, but it

gives a measure of the importance that was placed upon the town. It would be

good see better rail services helping once again to improve the town’s fortunes.

(On the potential scope for further developing services from Great Yarmouth, see

Peter Wakefield’s article on the East Midlands Trains refranchise, page 16.)

IMPACT OF “BEAST FROM THE EAST” ON THE RAILWAY

BY TREVOR GARROD

Railfuture and at least two local users' associations made input to Network Rail's

review of its policy in the event of severe weather – such as at the end of

February/beginning of March 2018, when for six days no trains ran to Great

Yarmouth, Lowestoft or Sheringham owing to the impact of “the beast from the

east”. Railfuture was concerned that no attempt was made to run trains on the

secondary routes, though on some days at least some buses were operated by First

East Counties along main roads.

Network Rail's initial response was not very positive, but a further response

received on 31 July from Matt Brennan, Public Affairs Manager for the Anglia

region, stated, "I am pleased to confirm that there will now be a series of key route

strategies which will enable us to open more of the unaffected network during

future forecast events and the criteria for implementation of these strategies have

been modified.”

The response continues, "We are also working closely with the Train Operating

Companies to develop off-the-shelf timetables based on the revised key route

strategies and to provide better information for passengers."

Railfuture had urged the introduction of an emergency timetable in the event of

heavy snow – fewer or slightly slower trains would be better than none at all. Let

us hope that lessons will have been learnt if there is severe weather next winter.

We made certain other suggestions, such as basing the snowplough at a more

central location than March and checking it every November. We do not yet have

Network Rail's reaction to these. (Points relating to snowplough logistics made in

Railfuture’s initial letter to Network Rail have similarly not so far been addressed.)

See the report in the RAIL EAST issue 178 (pages 16-17) containing Network Rail’s

initial response, as mentioned above, to weather-related service disruption.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 14

EAST WEST RAIL—DEVELOPMENTS EAST AND WEST

BY PHIL SMART

West: Network Rail submitted a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application

for phase 2 of the western section in July 2018, and the closing date to respond was

7 September. In lay person’s terms, the TWAO is the legal mechanism that permits

the building of a new railway or tramway in England and Wales. However, the East

West Rail Consortium alerted its member local authorities and supporters of the

project, including Railfuture, to submit supporting representations to the DfT, and

many cc’d their responses (below). Railfuture Thames Valley branch led the

preparation of Railfuture’s submission: https://www.railfuture.org.uk/display1844.

East: The East West Rail Consortium of local authorities held its 2018 AGM in

Bedford on 14 June. A draft ‘prospectus’ for the eastern section was discussed at

length. It was agreed that a separate meeting of eastern section authority officers

would undertake further work on this prior to sharing with the rail industry. To cut a

long story short, this meeting evolved into an ‘Eastern Section Board’ involving

elected members which held its first meeting on 12 July. The meeting was given a

presentation describing works needed east of Cambridge to accommodate both

passenger and freight services. This included several works Railfuture has proposed

or supports such as doubling the line between Cambridge and Newmarket (including

reinstatement of the ‘west curve’), passing loops for freight at Bury, platform

capacity improvements at Cambridge, Newmarket, Norwich and Ipswich as well as

schemes in the pipeline from Network Rail at Soham, Ely, Trowse and Haughley.

There was general support for these incremental schemes which would see both

Ipswich and Norwich enjoying two trains per hour to Cambridge, both ‘fast’ and

‘stopping’, with the fast services extending towards Oxford. It is intended to launch

the prospectus to MPs in autumn 2018.

Westminster Policy Forum

I would not expect many people to pay to attend conferences but the Westminster

Policy Forum which organises regular seminars for MPs and opinion formers is

holding one on ‘Maximising the benefits of East-West Rail’. As you might expect,

some keynote speakers have been invited to address the seminar, including Rob

Brighouse of the East West Rail Company. Other speakers have also been invited.

The conference date is 13 December 2018, with a central London venue. Further

information is available at: http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/conference/

Cambridge-Milton-Keynes-Oxford-Corridor-2018

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 15

VITAL FELIXSTOWE LINE CAPACITY WORK UNDERWAY

BY PHIL SMART

Works continue on the Felixstowe branch to increase capacity for freight trains

serving the Port of Felixstowe. The current quoted capacity for the branch is for 24

freight trains each way per day ‘within reliable operating margins’ in addition to the

passenger service. Careful timetabling has permitted this figure to rise to 33 trains

per day. This has generally worked well although occasional delays are experienced

when trains run out of course.

When the line was built in the 1870s sufficient land was acquired for the branch to

be a double track railway except for the single-track viaduct over Spring Road in

Ipswich. The line was only ever laid as single track with passing loops at Derby Road

and the former ‘Orwell’

station (now a private

dwelling) at Levington.

There is room to provide a

second track along most of

the branch but the nature of

funding for rail projects

means that only a bit is

done at a time. The urgent

priority is to raise capacity

to 45 trains per day,

although it is estimated the

port could easily fill up to

60. Providing for this would

be premature, since the

rest of the network cannot

yet absorb them until

capacity is increased at Ely!

The greatest capacity advantage can be achieved by creating a 1.6km loop at

Trimley, permitting the storage of two trains. Although this is at the Felixstowe end

of the line, it is roughly half way in journey time between Derby Road and the port.

The photo above shows an engineering train at Trimley on 20 May 2018.

The estimated eventual demand for freight trains from the Haven Ports to 2043 is

shown in the following table.

With franchise passenger commitments for additional trains to Norwich and

Peterborough, together with future aspirations for a second hourly service to

Cambridge eating into line capacity north of Ipswich, further works will be required

to accommodate this future demand.

Total Via London

Via Bury St.

Edmunds

Current (approx.) 33 17 16

After CP5 works at Trimley (2019) 42 17 25

After Ely North Junction works CP6 45 17 28

After ‘further works to Felixstowe

branch’ in CP6? (2024)

60 17 43

If Mayor of London restricts use of North

London Line to night time only?

60 5-10 50-55

If Hutchison develop Bathside Bay? 90 5-10 80-85

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 16

WERRINGTON — ANOTHER PIECE IN THE EAST COAST

MAINLINE JIGSAW ALMOST IN PLACE

BY PETER WAKEFIELD

Following on from the construction of the Allington Chord in 2005, the Hitchin

Flyover 2013, the extensive upgrade of the Peterborough to Doncaster via

Spalding / Lincoln line completed in 2015 and new works in Yorkshire, the grade

separation at Werrington Junction, five kilometres north of Peterborough, has been

granted its Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO).

This time the grade separation will take the form of a dive-under. It will be used

mainly by the freight trains that travel across East Anglia from / to Felixstowe on the

line that comes into Peterborough from Ely and March under the East Coast Main

Line (ECML) on the west side of the station, convenient for the major freight flows

that make for the Midlands. But a significant number of trains are heading for

Yorkshire and the North East and most are routed once more on that upgraded line

via Spalding and Lincoln to Doncaster. This means they have to cross back over the

ECML to its east side, this time at grade, time consuming and limiting the number of

high speed passenger trains running between London King’s Cross and the North.

Railfuture East Anglia supported Network Rail’s TWAO application so it is very

pleasing to see this successful outcome, setting another key piece into the ECML

jigsaw. According to Network Rail, together these six pieces of new infrastructure

will enable a 33% increase capacity throughout the ECML.

There are some missing pieces – including reinstatement of the slow lines north of

Huntingdon and the granddaddy of them all, four tracking the Welwyn Viaduct.

EAST MIDLANDS TRAIN FRANCHISE

BY PETER WAKEFIELD

Currently the Stagecoach owned East Midlands Trains (EMT) Franchise operates an

hourly service from Norwich to Ely, Peterborough, Nottingham, Sheffield,

Manchester and Liverpool. This franchise will soon end as the DfT is seeking to

appoint a new franchisee. The preferred bidders are Stagecoach, Arriva and Abellio.

Railfuture has met with the lead members from the three preferred bidders to

discuss with them our concerns for the service and how it might be developed. The

talks must be regarded as confidential but here are set out the topics we discussed.

1. Railfuture East Anglia backs Liverpool to Norwich and disputes the assertion that

only 4% of passengers on a train arriving at Nottingham continue “across” that

station. However, we recognise the DfT is set to ignore our and the public’s

concern! In that event we made the case for the Norwich to Nottingham train

continuing on to Derby, Uttoxeter, Stoke on Trent and Crewe. The DfT has

indicated in its invitation to tender that it wants the latter route upgraded with

better rolling stock. Most towns on that route are large and have particularly poor

connectivity with East Anglia.

2. Railfuture East Anglia wants priority given to fast transits between Norwich and

Peterborough...fast as possible for ECML connections. Apart from current “peak

hour” stops we not want more station stops en route. (We understand that the

afternoon peak stops out of Norwich as useful and in terms of the greater good.)

3. Norwich station is relatively remote from many of the new developments in the

city, which are away to the northwest and west of the city. The railway towards

Ely runs relatively close to the science park and other developments compared to

Norwich station and so, notwithstanding the comments about fast transits to

Ely, Wymondham station or a new and better sited station could offer improved

access to northwest Norwich, especially for Norwich science park.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 17

4. Norwich to Ely...move to a standard half-hour interval in the new timetable, for

example at 10 (EMT) and 40 minutes (GA) past the hour from Norwich.

5. The current Sunday timetable offers no service until late morning. Railfuture

says it should be the same as Monday-Saturday, i.e. hourly from early morning.

We spoke at length about the need to serve Great Yarmouth with a better train

service, one that linked it to its tourist hinterland again. Given that the current

service from Norwich to Nottingham will be redesigned, a study should be

undertaken as to whether the new train diagrams and crew rosters would have

flexibility to make Great Yarmouth the eastern terminus rather than Norwich.

RAILFUTURE EAST ANGLIA MEETING WITH THE

NEW ANGLIA LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP

BY TREVOR GARROD

LEPs are government-funded bodies which are able to

provide funding for infrastructure projects, including in

public transport. It is therefore important that

Railfuture has dialogue with them, and so in May 2018

we submitted a four-page document responding to the

recently published New Anglia LEP (NALEP) strategy for integrated transport in

Norfolk and Suffolk. This was followed up by a meeting on 23 July with Ellen

Goodwin, Infrastructure Manager at NALEP, attended also by David Cummings of

Norfolk Count Council. Railfuture was represented by Trevor Garrod, Ian Couzens

and Peter Wakefield.

Ms Goodwin explained that NALEP was looking for "value for money” – for

example, what a new project would deliver in terms of jobs and homes. Railfuture

raised the case for improved train/bus integration for people arriving in both

Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, stressing the need for coastal communities to

welcome visitors – whether for leisure or on business – by making it easy for them

to complete their door-to-door journey. We discussed the interchange

arrangements at both towns, but it was pointed out that, while public bodies could

fund bus facilities, they could not force bus companies operating commercial

services to actually use these.

We were advised that NALEP occasionally helped finance feasibility studies, such as

for the Ely Area Improvement Work, which would benefit rail passengers; but it

was very unlikely that it would subsidise services.

Railfuture representatives put the case for improved accessibility at certain stations

(such as Needham Market, Stowmarket, Diss and to some extent Wymondham)

and for new stations in the Norwich area. Some concern was expressed, however,

that DfT rules could now require the promoter of a new station to underwrite

operational costs for an unlimited period. Subsequent enquiries revealed that this

was not a general rule, but had occurred in one case outside East Anglia.

We were informed that NALEP would contribute to work to improve the capacity of

the Felixstowe branch and could potentially fund a feasibility study to improve line

capacity to Stansted Airport – though in the latter case such a study would have to

be promoted jointly with neighbouring authorities.

Organisations like ours should urge and support local authorities and other bodies

to put forward evidence-based projects that NALEP can consider helping to fund.

The NALEP’s integrated transport strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk can be found at

https://newanglia.co.uk/publications/. Railfuture’s response can be accessed at

http://www.railfuture.org.uk/east/docs/Railfuture-East-Anglia-Norfolk-Suffolk-

Integrated-Transport-Strategy-response-May-2018.pdf

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 18

EAST ANGLIA BRANCH MEETING — 29 SEPT 2018

GUEST SPEAKER: LIZ WITHINGTON ON DEMENTIA AWARENESS

Liz Withington (pictured right) is a dementia

champion leading on Sheringham Dementia

Friendly Community and Deputy Mayor for the

town. The main aim of SDFC is to make all

aspects of the town as dementia accessible as is

possible in order that those living with dementia

can continue to access the services, organisations

and social groups they always have. People should

be able to live well with dementia. In working

towards this, SDFC realised dementia accessible

public transport has an important role to play.

Initially Liz as the town council representative on

the Norfolk Bus Forum arranged and ran dementia

awareness training for all the bus drivers who work

in North Norfolk and helped to develop an

induction training module for all drivers.

Inspired by the positive response by the bus company, Liz then took on rail as a

challenge. As the Community Rail Partnership representative for the town council

she initiated a project to make the Bittern line dementia friendly. Greater Anglia has

received this warmly and has been working enthusiastically to move this project

on. Her presentation on 29 September will look at the reasons why those living with

dementia may struggle with public transport - but also how simple and inexpensive

changes can make an enormous difference.

More info at: https://www.facebook.com/SheringhamDFC/

A flyer for our meetings is always at: https://www.railfuture.org.uk/east/meetings

This includes a map of the venue and directions from the station.

Some parts of the railway are making strides to become dementia friendly as this

BBC news item about Northern Rail shows. Find out more at our meeting. It’s always

good to have a full room

so please join us.

The Friends Meeting

House, Upper Goat Lane,

Norwich, NR2 1EW is a

minimum of 20 minutes’

walk from the station.

If taking the bus from

the station, it’s the no.

25 bus to the Castle

Meadows stop.

Walk across the road

and down towards the

Market Place.

Cross this towards the

top left-hand corner to

St Giles Street and then

right into Upper Goat

Lane...only five minutes'

walk from bus stop.

RAIL EAST 179 — SEPTEMBER 2018 Railfuture East Anglia www.railfuture.org.uk 19

CONTRIBUTIONS FOR RAIL EAST

RAIL EAST is what you make it. Railfuture couldn't campaign effectively without the

news and information provided by its members, along with other rail users.

Please send articles for possible inclusion in RAIL EAST to Peter Feeney, who

collates all submissions and prepares them for the newsletter. Good quality photos

are appreciated, and really are essential in order to make RAIL EAST visually

attractive. No need to crop them. Email items to raileast@railfuture.org.uk.

All submissions by 5 November 2018, please, but articles covering late news will

be considered a few days prior to sending to the printer two weeks later.

Rail East is formatted by Jerry Alderson.

NEWS IN BRIEF