News Archive  March - April 2010                      Back to News Archive index

National Network

Cambridge to get new island platform

A long-awaited island platform for southbound trains is to be built at Cambridge station.  Capable of holding a 12-car train, and to be designated Platforms 7 and 8, it will be joined to the main station building by a footbridge and lift. 
At the moment Cambridge is unusual in having just one through platform, 470m long.  A scissors crossover midway allows a train from either direction to pass one already stopped there, and still call at the platform. There are also bay platforms at each end of the station.
Network Rail plans to start work on the scheme next January and to complete it in time for the December 2011 timetable change. 

 

Longer Liverpool to Norwich trains – but not over here

East Midlands Trains has secured funding to bring in improvements to the busy Liverpool – Norwich route from May 2011.

Four Class 156 dmus, which are currently in use on Northern services, will transfer to EMT, allowing refurbished Class 158 units to be cascaded to the busiest section of the Liverpool – Norwich route, where they will strengthen ten weekday trains from two to four carriages; but only between Liverpool and Nottingham.

For East Anglians the cascade will bring two small benefits: the 13:52 Liverpool – Nottingham will be extended to Norwich, and the 05:50 Norwich – Liverpool will be formed throughout of four carriages, providing additional capacity for this busy commuter service.

From December 2012, EMT plans to operate all services between Nottingham and Liverpool as 4-car trains. 

 

Norwich – London passengers go Wi-Fi

NXEA is to introduce Wi-Fi computer facilities on its Norwich – Ipswich – Colchester – London InterCity route before the end of 2010.  The company formally announced the plan at Norwich station on February 9, having secured a grant of £346,000 from the East of England Development Agency and Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils towards installation of the equipment. It is expected that Wi-Fi will be available for a small charge in standard accommodation and free in first class.

 

Bittern Line trains augmented for NNR crowds

On March 11 the Bittern Line handled many more passengers than usual because of the inauguration of the 'new link' at Sheringham (see Joined at Last! below).  Two-car Turbostars nos. 170272 and 170273, normally on Cambridge duty, were used on all six Norwich – Sheringham services from 09:45 to 13:45, with standing passengers on most trains.  Faced with returning the crowds to Norwich after the event, NXEA allocated three-car trains to the 15:46, 16:49, 17:48 and 18:49 Sheringham departures. They consisted of no.156416 with no.153335 attached at the Cromer end (i.e not accessible to passengers on the two-car-length Sheringham platform), and no.170206, each performing two round trips before the normal Class 156s resumed in the evening. Road coaches were also summoned to Sheringham to help, one of which ran non-stop to Norwich. 

 

Engineering overrun hits GN-line services

Early-morning commuters from King's Lynn and Cambridge faced disruption on Monday February 22 after an overrun of weekend engineering work in the Hitchin area.  With no trains allowed through Hitchin, an all-stations train left King's Lynn each hour from 04:52 and terminated at Royston; customers for London were advised to change to a Liverpool Street service at Cambridge.   Trains between Cambridge and King's Lynn did not return to normal until after 09.00.

 

Lowestoft station to stay put?

The controversial suggestion that Lowestoft station should be moved 450m inland for redevelopment purposes appears to have been dropped.  Regeneration company 1st East has issued a revised plan in which shops and offices surround the station and the area becomes a transport interchange.

Meanwhile the refurbished station is being offering to restaurateurs or retailers on a five-year lease. 

 

Beccles loop appears early!

Two years before the long-campaigned-for passing loop is due to be laid, a second track has appeared at Beccles station.

It appears that during recent track relaying work on the East Suffolk line the old track in Beccles station was not taken away but relaid on the 'up' formation.  It has been bolted up and is reasonably level, but whether it will be used for the loop remains to be seen.

 

Campaigners demand 'Norwich in Ninety'

A campaign which calls for the new Greater Anglia rail franchise to incorporate faster and more reliable rail journeys has been launched in Norwich.  Business and council leaders are urging travellers to join the 'Norwich in Ninety' movement and press for a number of improvements, in particular to the Norwich – London Liverpool Street service.

Campaigners point to the 115-mile journey from London to Norwich taking around 1hr 50mins, compared to Birmingham, a similar distance from London, but reached by train in just 1hr 23 mins.  They want the new franchise to include:

• A ninety-minute journey time between Norwich and London.
• More reliable services.
• New Inter-City style trains which maintain the new wi-fi service and prove an 'office on the move' for business people.
• Increased train capacity to overcome peak hour crowding,but without downgrading to commuter-style carriages.

Industry observers have commented that 90-minute journeys could only come about if many Metro services were scrapped, or track quadrupled between Chelmsford and Shenfield, and freight was barred from the Felixstowe branch.

An on-line petition can be signed at www.gopetition.com/petitions/norwich-in-ninety.html. 

 

Breckland line closures

Between February 13 and 21 buses replaced trains over part of the Breckland line while more than four miles of track between Thetford and Wymondham were renewed.

  Buses were again brought in over the weekend of February 27/8 so that the rubber road panels at Croxton level crossing near Thetford, where a Class 170 dmu derailed in 2006, could be replaced by concrete slabs.

 

'Fix Great Yarmouth Station', urge local Tories

Every few years a campaign is launched to smarten terminally-dismal Yarmouth station.  The latest is 'Fix Great Yarmouth Station', organised by Brandon Lewis the town's prospective Conservative candidate. The campaign's website, http://fixourstation.com, illustrates the area's rubbish, neglect and lack of facilities. According to one supporter, local restaurateur Miriam Kikis, many customers who arrive by train find the station cold and unwelcoming.

 

 

Heritage, Narrow-gauge and Miniature

 

Joined at last!  Cromwell does the honours at Sheringham

Hundreds of spectators crowded on to every possible vantage point on March 11 to witness the first passenger train for 46 years steam slowly across Station Road in Sheringham.  They were rewarded by the sight of Britannia 4-6-2 no. 70013 Oliver Cromwell hauling five carriages across the tramway-style level crossing, marking the triumphal fruition of a £140,000 project to reconnect the North Norfolk Railway to the national network.

70013 steams across Station Road. Photo: Richard Dixon

37194 on the reinstated crossing. Photo: Steve Allen

Four days earlier, on Sunday March 7, a smaller crowd had gathered when news spread that the the reinstated crossing was about to welcome its very first locomotive: DRS no.37194, which ran as 0Z37 11:45 Norwich – Norwich via Holt to test the new crossing.      

The reopening was followed by a three-day Celebration Steam Gala on March 12-14.  Taking part were N2 0-6-2T no.1744, 56xx 0-6-2T no. 5619, N7 0-6-2T no. 69621, J15 no. 65462 and 0-6-0ST Ring Haw.

As part of the restoration of the rail link, which could bring up to a dozen steam excursions to Sheringham each year, two M&GN-style gates with vertical strengthening bars have been erected.  The gates, produced by Sleaford cabinet maker Ian Stark, prevent access to the railways, but are not wide enough to act as conventional level crossing gates. When a train crosses, road traffic is halted by removable cones and chains, as well as a flagman – and sightseers, of course!

 

WWLR hires first engineering employee

Engineering student Thomas Jones, 19, from Weybourne has secured an apprenticeship at the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway. Thomas works four days a week on the line, where he assists with building the line's second Garratt loco Norfolk Heroine. He also studies one day a week at the College of West Anglia in King's Lynn.

Four separate organisations (boiler, engine, tanks and cab, and pony trucks) are constructing Norfolk Heroine, which is due to be delivered this autumn. Thomas's recruitment follows the award to the WWLR of £38,300 towards the loco's cost (NRS Newsletter Nov/Dec 2009). To qualify for the grant, the WWLR has to raise £10,000 from its own sources, and it has launched an appeal for donations to be sent to:

Brian Landale, WWR Support Group Treasurer, Westgate Farm, Great Walsingham, Norfolk NR22 6DY (Tel. 01328 820250).

 

Replica Blyth starts to takes shape

The Southwold Railway Trust has begun constructing a replica of 2-4-0T no. 3 Blyth, which ran on the 3ft-gauge Southwold Railway until closure in 1929.  It is planned that the loco will operate on the Steam Park at the end of Blyth Road, Southwold, which received planning permission in 2009.

The project is expected to take three years. The first parts have been made by by Aldeburgh metalworkers Sam and Dennis Pegg.  The Trust has raised £27,000 but needs £120,000 to pay for all componenets.  It has launched the '2-4-0 Club' to generate funds by seeking sponsorship in £240 units relating to specific components.  Sponsors will receive a certificate of donation, have their name on a plaque and receive benefits such as footplate tuition.  For more details see www.southwoldrailway.co.uk or tel. 01502 725422.

 

Sulzer power at Dereham Gala

There was a real treat for fans of Sulzer traction at this year's Mid-Norfolk Railway Spring Diesel Gala.  The three-day event, on March 19-21, saw no less than four Sulzer-engined locos power trains between Dereham and Wymondham Abbey in various combinations.  The visitors were two 'Peaks', nos. 45133 and D182 (46045), no. 26007 and no. 47580 County of Essex, last seen on the MNR in Winter 2008/9.

The quartet travelled to the MNR on March 17. No. 47580 left Tyseley as 0Z47 Tyseley – Dereham, collected no. 26007 from Barrow Hill and the brace of 'Peaks' from Butterley, and arrived at Dereham at 2015.

During the Gala a few trains ventured beyond Wymondham Abbey as far as the signal protecting Wymondham South Junction, and one or two as far as the MNR/Network Rail boundary. MNR-based nos. 20069, 50019 Ramillies and 73210 Selhurst also worked certain services.

  The visiting locos left the MNR on March 23.

 

Away from the Tracks

 

New mugs feature Southwold tank 

Just arrived at the Southwold Railway Shop – where you can see a ‘full-sized replica Southwold Railway coach’ – is a new range of pottery mugs.  There are three different designs featuring Sharp Stewart 2-4-0T no.3 Blyth.
The Southwold Railway Shop, at 27 High Street, Southwold, is open from 10 am - 1 pm on weekdays, and from 10 am - 4 pm on Saturdays.