Kelvedon Commuter Swaps The Trains For A Car

The new December timetable being introduced by National Express East Anglia has persuaded Maureen Browning to give up on the railways and commute by road instead.  The new timetable sees the number of trains to Chelmsford calling at Kelvedon drop from four to two.  The only alternative for Mrs Browning is to catch a train and change at Witham, effectively doubling her journey time.

Dissatisfied with the response from NXEA to her concerns, Mrs Browning has purchased a second hand car and has calculated that she will be spending about the same on fuel as she would have done on fares.

Mrs Browning got a reply from Essex County Council which said: “The original intention in the timetable was to provide through services at 0743 and 0815.  However, Network Rail has not consented to these services stopping at Kelvedon as the power supply for the route is insufficient to accommodate all the additional services to be operated.”

Another indication that the infrastructure on the Great Eastern Mainline is not up to the job.