Chairman’s Notes

 

Lots of “thank-you’s” to say this time - firstly to you, our members, who have or are about to renew your membership without which we couldn’t continue, and also to Angie and David for all they have done recently to make the Potters and the Isle of White tours run. But we can’t let John‘s final edition as Editorship of our Newsletter pass without giving him a huge “vote of thanks” for all that he has done as Editor for so long. So “Thank you John and best wishes from all of us“. Richard

Secretary’s Notes:

John Woollan reminds you that our next meeting is the Spring Meeting on Tuesday, 14^th February (yes, it’s St. Valentine’s Day!) and, as usual, it’s an afternoon meeting, starting at 2.30 p.m. Please come with your cheque book and Tours Booking Forms where Gwynneth Esmarch will be waiting to take bookings either by full payment or deposits. Our Guest Speaker is Joseph James, Programme Manager of Felixstowe Futures. This will be illustrated and should prove to be of great interest for we are sure that a lot of you will have strong views about the future of our town.

 

I have been your Editor for the past 21 years and, having had my 80^th birthday last year, have decided that this is the last Newsletter that I shall edit. So this is where you come in – please consider taking over from me. The next Newsletter calls the AGM in May so must be written in April. I will be pleased to show you the ropes and work alongside you for the next edition. Remember, the Editor rarely writes anything, just solicits and receives articles and puts the whole thing ‘to bed’. I look forward to hearing from you or please contact any of the committee members, some of whose details appear at the foot of this Newsletter. THANK YOU.

Ken Tricker, Life President, comments:

Progress.

Members who use Peterborough Station to change for the Midlands and the North will be pleased to hear that preliminary work on the major improvement there has begun: clearance of the land to the west of island platform 4/5, where trains from Ipswich arrive and depart, has started so that there will be room for the planned new island platform (6/7). Completion is hoped for in December 2013. If this target date can be met, then we can expect improvements to connections at Peterborough, especially if Abellio, the new franchisee, can be persuaded to put on the long-promised hourly service to Peterborough. One hopes that the local authorities who were pushing for this and were promising financial support will keep their nerve in spite of the nation’s current straitened circumstances.

Nearer to us, remember that December 2012 should see the introduction of the promised hourly service on the East Suffolk Line throughout to Lowestoft. Again, some preliminary enabling work has been done.

Membership renewals

Now is the time to renew your membership for 2012. The fees are £3.00 for individuals and £4.00 for families (+ £1.00 if you would like your Newsletters posted to you or if you live outside our hand delivery area which extends as far as Trimley St. Martin). You may renew at the February meeting or now by sending the appropriate cheque, with a stamped, addressed, envelope please, to Mrs. Jean Leitch, 104 St. Andrew’s Road, Felixstowe, IP11 7ED

 

Btyan Frost, Chairman of our Piublic Transport Committee says:

Farewell National Express – welcome Abellio

On 5 February, the train operator on the Greater Anglia franchise, which includes our local and intercity routes, changes from National Express, which has been the incumbent since April 2004, and passes into the hands of Abellio, which is owned by Dutch Railways. Abellio also operates the Northern and Merseyrail franchises, but Greater Anglia represents a considerable challenge to this operator, as it includes a mix of busy commuter and intercity lines, together with more rural routes across the region. The major challenge facing Abellio during the course of its short franchise (which expires in July 2014) will be the handling of the extra traffic generated by the forthcoming London Olympics and Paralympics, which will impose considerable extra strain on the ability of rolling stock and infrastructure to cope with the increased numbers.

Nearer to home, it would be good to see some improvements in service levels, leaving aside the question of extra rolling stock – provision of which is not possible during the course of this short franchise.

So we wish Abellio the very best of luck in meeting the challenges which lie ahead.

Fares rise yet again – Yes it’s January

The usual rail fares increase at the start of the year has provoked a great deal of media attention this year, no doubt as a result of the initially very high proposal for fares to rise by 3% more than the rate of inflation. This lead to the Government reining back the increase to 1% higher than inflation – still enough to produce average rises of an eye- watering 5.9% in the tough economic times.

An increase such as this is keenly felt (and strongly resented) in this part of the country, as it never appears to be accompanied by an increase in standards of service, particularly in connection with reliability and punctuality.

One mantra which is regularly heard to justify this level of fares rise is the need to shift the burden of rail investment and financial support ‘from the taxpayer to the fare payer’.

A moment’s pause for thought shows the fallacy of this argument, as in most cases fare payers are also taxpayers. No doubt this is more diplomatic for the politicos than admitting that taxpayers are effectively paying ‘through the nose’ for their rail service, but it does not assist in reducing the cynicism which accompanies this whole process

It is of course accepted that UK rail fares are high in comparison to our European neighbours, and that investment in our system is sorely needed, so what is the solution?

Although there are no easy answers to this one, perhaps a clue to a better outcome could lie in the fact that a survey a few years ago revealed that the UK invested less than half the proportion of its Gross National Product in its rail system as did France and Germany, where fares can be appreciably lower and standards of service often higher than here… just a thought, perhaps.

The off peak Felixstowe to Ipswich rail fare is now £4.90, which is 50p cheaper (or should that be less expensive) than the bus fare, and the One day Anglia Plus fare is now £16 – usual railcard discounts apply, reducing for example the cost of the Anglia Plus to £10.55.

BUSES

Meeting with First

We had a very useful meeting with First shortly before Christmas last year, which gave us the chance to air a number of current issues in a constructive manner. Principal amongst these is the continued non- appearance of newer vehicles in the Ipswich area, a situation which the former Managing Director had promised to rectify.

There is some hope (but no promises) that the situation may improve later in 2012, but there always seem to be insuperable problems which prevent the introduction of a more modern fleet in this area. We quoted the figure that in Norwich in 2011, there was just one vehicle in the First fleet which was over 14 years old, whereas in Ipswich, with a smaller allocation of vehicles, there were no fewer than 19! The principal reason for this is that Norwich has very stringent emission controls in the City Centre, which effectively forces the operators to use modern vehicles. Yet Suffolk claims to be the greenest county!

Alighting from the train at Norwich Station, one is greeted with a modern array of double- deckers ready to whisk you into the City Centre - a welcome contrast with the situation hereabouts, although it must be said that some of the independents such as Beestons and Anglian Coaches, as well as Ipswich Buses, do supply more modern buses on local routes. .A sad comparison with the days when the Ipswich to Felixstowe route received some of the most modern vehicles in the fleet!

However, to redress the balance a little, over the past year there has been a noticeable improvement in time keeping on services 75-78, and the 15 minute frequency of service on offer during the daytime is one which can only be envied elsewhere in these straitened times. Credit is due to First for maintaining this level of service.

Restrictions on use of bus passes

The imposition of a time restriction of 09.30 before senior citizens and disabled persons’ bus passes are valid was never going to be a popular move, and it is cold comfort that until this restriction was introduced in April 2011 as part of Suffolk County Council’s cuts, users of these passes enjoyed an advantage denied to residents in other areas of the country.

Whilst it clearly makes sense to ensure that peak hour services are not overcrowded by pass holders possibly denying a place to commuters, there have been several instances of the first services after the 09.30 watershed being overcrowded with pass holders, sometimes resulting in their being left behind, a situation which has caused no little inconvenience for those relying on the bus to travel to medical and other appointments.

In view of the small extra cost which a relaxation to an 09.00 validity would incur, we urge SCC to revisit this restriction as it would make life easier for the more elderly and disadvantaged members of the community.

Fares for those without bus passes from Felixstowe to Ipswich and return have been increased to £4.60 single and £5.40 return.

TOURS

Enclosed with this Newsletter are 2012 Tours Descriptions and Booking Forms. You will note that we have planned twelve tours this year, one of which has already taken place. We do hope that you will find a number that appeal to you and that you will book up and join us. Because we make group bookings, the tours are reasonably priced and, where a modest profit is made, they keep our membership fees among the lowest in the town. Please feel free to bring your family and friends; they will be made most welcome and maybe they will wish to join our association in their own right afterwards.

Peter Meades

Media Manager

National Express East Anglia,

contributes:

Although we’re now into mid-January as I compose this update I must first take the opportunity to wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2012. The year ahead promises to be a notable one especially with the London Olympics now just a few months away, and who can fail to have been impressed by the amazing transformation of the Stratford site that those of us who regularly travel into Liverpool Street have been privileged to witness over recent years.

If any of you have been lucky enough to obtain tickets for the Games, here’s hoping that you enjoy the experience. Coming through Stratford just the other day, I noticed that the athletes’ warm-up area – adjacent to the Olympic Stadium – has now been laid out and is clearly visible from the train, helping to bring home how close the Games now are.

As well as the forthcoming Olympics, as most of you will be aware the imminent rail franchise change is now almost upon us with the new Greater Anglia franchise commencing on Sunday, 5th February.

Looking back over the current franchise, there have been a number of key developments. Despite the challenges presented in operating one of the busiest mainline routes in Western Europe, overall the annual average train service performance for NXEA services has improved from 85% at the beginning of the franchise in April 2004 to a current annual average of 91%.

Locally we have seen some positive milestones especially the completion last year of the installation of the new footbridge and passenger lifts at Ipswich station which is something that we have worked towards over a number of years. We’ve increased the frequency of train services operated on most routes and the introduction of the hourly service to Saxmundham precedes the anticipated full introduction of the hourly service when the work to install a passing loop at Beccles is completed. As someone who can readily recall the changes to the Lowestoft to Ipswich line in the mid-1980s it feels like we have almost come full circle on that.

Regular readers of this column will know that I have previously touched on the ever increasing use of new and modern technology and social media as a means of communicating effectively with our customers. Last autumn we began a twitter account to engage with rail passengers who follow twitter and this has proved extremely popular. Our team try and respond to customers’ ‘tweets’ as quickly as possible especially in responding to questions concerning real-time train running information, and if its current popularity is anything to go by it seems that the medium of twitter will continue to grow in the future.