New Trains for Old
Ever since I’ve lived in West Suffolk, the trains between Ipswich and Cambridge have been on their last legs. But these last few weeks with the cold weather has been a bit of a nightmare, with possibly the worst day shown here. Some days the trains haven’t been able to keep to the timetable because of cold weather, suicides and mechanical problems. On possibly four occasions, the trains have either not turned up or been very late at Dullingham. To make matters worse some journeys out of Cambridge have been very crowded to say the least.
But all was supposed to change today, as larger, faster, more comfortable and very much newer Class 170 have been cascaded onto the service from the Cambridge to Norwich service.
This video shows the first train arriving at Dullingham, exactly on time at 10:06.
And here’s the train at its destination in Cambridge.
The First Ipswich-Cambridge Class 170 at Cambridge
Coming back I did have a problem at Tottenham Hale getting the train to Cambridge, but after diverting to King’s Cross, I arrived at Cambridge to get the on-time 17:12 to Newmarket for a taxi home.
There is only one problem with the new timetable and that is after just getting used to the old one, I have to look up each train to find out their times. But after today’s experience with the new service, it is to be hoped that the timetable will be what happens and not what is supposed to.
Can We Reverse Multiple Sclerosis?
It would appear according to this report, that scientists at Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities have made a major breakthrough in the understanding of multiple sclerosis, which may lead to a treatment that could reverse the disease.
Surely the way to save money in future years in the caring and health industries, is to invest in science now!
Travels in the Snow
I had to go to London today, to see the man, who is decorating my new house and make sure everything was OK.
I was dropped at Whittlesford and the trains were running very much to time. As a fallback, I checked that the new Holiday Inn at the station was open, so if I needed to wait for my taxi, then I could do it with a coffee in the warm. It was, so that was probably an omen that I wouldn’t need it.
I didn’t take my normal route to Highbury and Islington from Tottenham Hale, but instead took a bus from Seven Sisters through Stamford Hill and Stoke Newington to the Essex Road. It worked and I had a much shorter walk than I normally do.
Everything was going well, so because of the weather I checked on a few things and walked to Carluccio’s in Upper Street for some lunch. After an excellent risotto, I walked to Highbury and Islington to get back to Totteham Hale.
I won’t say my troubles started there, as compared to many others, I didn’t suffer much. The Cambridge trains weren’t running, so it was suggested by staff that I go to King’s Cross and get a train from there.
Now the company that goes out of Kings Cross is First Capital Connect, which is a different one to that out of Liverpool Street. So I was worried that my ticket might not be valid!
By 16:30, I was in Cambridge, only to find that there were no trains to Newmarket, so I took the bus to the main Cambridge bus station, intending to get a bus to ether Newmarket or Haverhill. It actually doesn’t matter which as there are good taxis home from either, but the ones from Haverhill are slightly cheaper, as the town is closer. There was a large crowd waiting for the Newmarket buses, so as one was just leaving for Haverhill I took it. Unfortunately, it was a slow one, so I had an extensive tour of the many estates that surround the town before I got a taxi home.
If there is anything positive about today, it is that public transport must be flexible and that tickets must be interchangeable, if one service fails. Except for the taxi, which I would have had to pay for, wherever I returned home from, everything was covered by my day retiurn and Travelcard from Whittlesford or my bus pass.
Except for my walk too, everything was clean and warm and as I sat upstairs in the front of the bus from Cambridge to Haverhill, I was able to complete the Sudoku from the Times.
The one thing though that would have improved my journey would have been the unopened Cambridge busway, which surely will make getting from Cambridge station to the city centre aot easier. Or it might do in the future, if has been designed properly. And on that subject, shouldn’t the busway and the trains interface properly with buses that go to inaccessible towns like Haverhill?
Incidentally, it appears that the trains from Tottenham Hale are now running to time, so perhaps my diversion to King’s Cross was unnecessary.
It also seems that the overhead electric trains to the north of London are much more reliable than those to the south using a third rail for power. My engineering knowledge would suggest that overhead electric trains perform better in snowy weather, but I’m happy to be corrected. If this is true, it is rather strange that some railways south of the Thames were electrified using overhead cables, which were then changed for thrd rail. But the history of railway electrification in the UK is as complex as you can get, with innumerable systems, changes of policy and objectives. Read a simple history in Wikipedia.
The Cost of the Cambridge Busway Climbs Again!
It now looks that the cost of the infamous Cambridge guided busway is climbing again according to this article. Possibly to as much as £181million. That looks like a 56% overspend, by my simple accounting methods, but I know politicians use other methods, that spin things in a better light.
To Norwich in the Snow
The train from Dullingham to Cambridge was a few minutes late but for once in the last few weeks, it was actually two coaches, so it was fairly comfortable. The Cambridge to Norwich train was a three coach, Class 170. It has been promised that the two coach version of this train will be used on the Ipswich Cambridge line after December 12th. But hopefully, I’ll have moved before I need to use one.
The train sped through the snow, as this picture shows.
Through the Snow to Norwich
It reminds me off the old joke about the old lady who’d been on a train journey on a very snowy day and asked the conductor, “How does the driver know where he’s going, when he can’t see the rails.”
Norwich incidentally, is the only town in East Anglia with a proper railway station, with enough platforms laid out so that trains can be despatched efficiently.
Inside Norwich Station
But is it not to be expected that East Anglia, the forgotten part of the UK, has such awful stations, as there are always more important places to buy votes, especially when Labour is in power. Norwich station seems to have slipped through the financial net or it could be that it is East Anglia’s only terminal station and was built properly in the first place.
But think of the others.
Bury St. Edmunds is best described as a building in keeping with the ruins of the Abbey.
Cambridge is effectively one long platform, which is the third longest in England, where trains are shunted, coupled and decoupled to try to run an effcient service. At least it is going to be upgraded with a new long platform. Hopefully, this will allow, Ipswich, Norwich and services to and past Peterborough to be expanded.
Ely is a busy junction station that works, but it is not the best place to connect between north-south and east-west services. It could do with a proper bridge and/or lifts so that passengers can transfer easier and a lot more car parking.
Felixstowe is a halt in the car park of a shopping centre.
Great Yarmouth is a low cost industrial building with a few facilities.
Ipswich is really a two platform halt on the main London to Norwich line, with additional platforms for the branches tucked along the sides.
Newmarket is a single platform with a shelter
Cambridge Ipswich Trains
At last something is being done, but it will be too late for me!
From December 10th, there will be modern two coach, Class 170 trains, with extra services at night.
But last night it was cramped as the 18:43 out of Cambridge didn’t run due a train failure and the 19:43 was just one of the awful single carriage Class 153 trains, which struggled to accomodate all of the passengers.
A Crowded Cambrdge Ipswich Train
The picture shows just how bad it was. It was lucky, as I only had two stations to go.
Roll on December the 10th!
Is the Cambridge Busway Britain’s Worst Transport Project?
It may not be Britain’s as the Edinburgh Tram will take a lot of beating. But it is certainly England’s, especially if you read this report in the Hunts Post.
Here’s a flavour of the report.
Building the St Ives-Cambridge guided busway is now expected to cost nearly two-thirds more than the target price – an overrun of well over £50million.
Cambridgeshire County Council, which is promoting the scheme, expects construction to have cost £142m.
When the cost of land, the county council’s own costs and those of its engineering consultants Atkins are added, the total cost of the project looks set to reach £170m before the High Court decides who pays the final bills.
When originally proposed in the early 2000s, the scheme was costed at £56m. After a few modifications, a lengthy public inquiry and Government approval, the bill had risen to £116.7m. The Government promised to chip in £92.5m, with the balance coming from developers who would benefit from the project.
As with many of these fiascos, it’ll be the lawyers who make the real money.
The Sting in the Tail
There always is, isn’t there!
I’d decided that the best way to get home from the hospital, would be to take a bus to Haverhill and then take a taxi.
As I left the hospital the 13 bus was there, so I ran to get on it. I may have had a stroke, but I can still run ande walk a few hundred metres or so.
I assumed that the bus would go straight to Haverhill Bus Station, as the previous one had done a couple of weeks ago. But this one did an unguided tour of all the delightful estates and I ended up being dumped in a place I did not recognise. It hadn’t helped that because of the rain I couldn’t see out of the bus in the dark.
So it was a long walk to the Bus Station and then I couldn’t get a taxi without half-an-hour’s wait.
So something that should have been easy, made me late!
I get more fed up with the countryside every day.
Cambridge Bus Chaos
After lunch I had to virtually walk halfway to Addenbrooke’s as Cambridge city centre is all dug up and the buses have been diverted. I was nearly at the station before I found one going to the hospital.
Let’s hope it all gets better when and if the Busway opens!
The Anonymous Widower 