Modern Railways GA piece this month

[dk1]

Silly idea but if it went to 2tph, 1 could be extended to Yarmouth... There's probably a market Yarmouth to Stansted via Norwich and Cambridge without changing trains.

Would be interesting to see October/Novembers passenger numbers, I reckon they'll not be far off 2019 levels given the busy trains I've seen.

For some reason, in the last 25 years through trains in East Anglia have never really been a thing which is completely the opposite in other parts of the UK. Our only exceptions are one daily return service from Harwich International to both Cambridge & Lowestoft and the odd marginal time Peterborough-Ipswich that extends to/from Colchester.

Yarmouth has been a huge loser over the years with no trains now operating beyond Norwich.

 

[Class 170101]

For some reason, in the last 25 years through trains in East Anglia have never really been a thing which is completely the opposite in other parts of the UK. Our only exceptions are one daily return service from Harwich International to both Cambridge & Lowestoft and the odd marginal time Peterborough-Ipswich that extends to/from Colchester.

Yarmouth has been a huge loser over the years with no trains now operating beyond Norwich.

The GA (pre covid) bid included through Lowestoft services to come back, 4 trains per day or something like that.

The interesting thing is now of course they have Bi-mode trains, so in theory at least, it would be easier to provide such services to / from London.

 

[Adrian1980uk]

For some reason, in the last 25 years through trains in East Anglia have never really been a thing which is completely the opposite in other parts of the UK. Our only exceptions are one daily return service from Harwich International to both Cambridge & Lowestoft and the odd marginal time Peterborough-Ipswich that extends to/from Colchester.

Yarmouth has been a huge loser over the years with no trains now operating beyond Norwich.

It's true and the 1 daily returns isn't really going to attract customers as it's not something you can promote and generally be usable

 

[dk1]

The GA (pre covid) bid included through Lowestoft services to come back, 4 trains per day or something like that.

The interesting thing is now of course they have Bi-mode trains, so in theory at least, it would be easier to provide such services to / from London.

Zero chance of that happening now from what I can see/hear.

 

[Essex Express]

Would using the 755/3 on the Harwich shuttle plus the Walton to Colchester duties this would free up more class 720 for mainline and Stansted. None of these branch lines need a 5 car 720. So you could leave a small number of 755/3 at Colchester for the Walton, Sudbury, Harwich lines. Plus on Sundays one could cover the Braintree line as this is again a shuttle service. Also you could use the maintance shed at Clacton which is too short for a class 720 but a Class 755/3 would fit. This would again save dead trips back to Norwich Crown Point.

 

[dk1]

Would using the 755/3 on the Harwich shuttle plus the Walton to Colchester duties this would free up more class 720 for mainline and Stansted. None of these branch lines need a 5 car 720. So you could leave a small number of 755/3 at Colchester for the Walton, Sudbury, Harwich lines. Plus on Sundays one could cover the Braintree line as this is again a shuttle service. Also you could use the maintance shed at Clacton which is too short for a class 720 but a Class 755/3 would fit. This would again save dead trips back to Norwich Crown Point.

I was under the impression we will end up with more 720s than we originally needed.

755s already have fuelling/sanding/CET at Colchester.

 

[ScotGG]

I know it's very unlikely in the near term but 2tph between Norwich and Cambridge would be a big boost in an area of growth in years to come. Wymondham station has seen hundreds of homes built and being built near the station and new bus route from them to the station started last month.

At Attleborough around 4,000 homes are being built near the station with work set to commence 2024. See story here:

Start date revealed for work on 4,000 new homes which will double size of town

Work on a major 4,000-home development which would double the population of Attleborough is to begin next summer.

www.edp24.co.uk

There's already very busy trains. More services would bring out latent growth and cater for new residents. Much scope for very healthy loadings on 2 tph.

 

[Adrian1980uk]

I know it's very unlikely in the near term but 2tph between Norwich and Cambridge would be a big boost in an area of growth in years to come. Wymondham station has seen hundreds of homes built and being built near the station and new bus route from them to the station started last month.

At Attleborough around 4,000 homes are being built near the station with work set to commence 2024. See story here:

Start date revealed for work on 4,000 new homes which will double size of town

Work on a major 4,000-home development which would double the population of Attleborough is to begin next summer.

www.edp24.co.uk

There's already very busy trains. More services would bring out latent growth and cater for new residents. Much scope for very healthy loadings on 2 tph.

This is going to be major driver for the Ely junction improvements but I can see capacity issues on the Norwich to Cambridge line in the next few years until the improvements happen as the 755s are the longest units the line can handle so improved frequency is the only way. I've always seen that line as having many potential passengers.