Tuesday 29 November 2011

Fare Increases Reduced

In his Autumn Statement the Chancellor has announced that rail fare increases in January will be capped at 1% above inflation, down from 3%.  This still means an horrendous increase of 6.2% but is better than the 8.2% previously planned.

Friday 25 November 2011

December Timetable Changes - Extra Services

December 11th sees the introduction of the winter timetable with the following amendments affecting our region:
  • An additional 06.47 service from Colchester Town to London, calling at Colchester, Marks Tey, Witham, Chelmsford and Stratford. 
  • The 07.05 Clacton-on-Sea to London service will call additionally at Kelvedon.
  • The 07.29 Witham to Liverpool Street service will call additionally at Stratford.
  • The 07.18 and 08.17 Liverpool Street to Clacton services will call additionally at Marks Tey
  • There will be additional 09.09 Marks Tey to Sudbury and 09.29 Sudbury to Marks Tey services.
  • An additional 08.06 service from Liverpool Street to Ipswich, calling at Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Hatfield Peverel, Witham, Colchester and Manningtree
  • An additional 09.30 service from Ipswich to London, calling at Manningtree, Colchester, Marks Tey, Witham and Chelmsford.
  • The 16.44 Liverpool Street to Clacton-on-Sea/Harwich Town service will call additionally at Stratford 
  • An additional 19.32 service from Liverpool Street to Harwich International, calling at Stratford, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester and Manningtree.
  • An additional 21.05 service from Harwich Town to Colchester, calling at Dovercourt, Harwich International, Wrabness, Mistley and Manningtree.
There are also a number of minor changes to train times in the December timetable and passengers are advised to check their travel details in advance.

Thursday 24 November 2011

Greater Anglia

Confirmation possibly that the new franchise will be called Greater Anglia and the new corporate colour is red.  Click here.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

MP Wants New Rail Franchise To Be Blocked

Colchester MP Bob Russell has urged the government not to proceed with the new Greater Anglia rail franchise until claims that the winning bidder, Abellio, may be reducing the size of the train fleet are fully investigated.

Full story here.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Cable Theft - Government Petition

If your journey has been made a misery this morning following the cable theft in Suffolk you may wish to sign this government e-petition in support of a Private Members Bill being put before Parliament next Monday by Graham Jones MP, which aims to reform the outdated Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964

Wednesday 2 November 2011

No Response Yet From Abellio Re Train Reduction Plan

Pressure is mounting on Abellio to make public their plans to reduce the size of the train fleet they will be inheriting when they take over the East Anglian rail franchise from NXEA next year.  Reports suggest that up to 15 class 317 trains will be sent back next year resulting in the loss of 4,700 seats.

Official statistics show train use is increasing year on year across the region so reducing the number of available trains to reduce costs to the operator seems peverse in the extreme.