Fen Line Users Association

Waterbeach ticket machines

The machine on the up platform, for trains to Cambridge and London, has been destroyed by thieves breaking in to it, and it isn't expected that a replacement can be installed until February at the earliest. The machine on the other platform does not take cash, so we can hope it provides less temptation for them. People from the village arriving on foot or by bicycle will need to remember to buy a ticket before crossing the tracks.

Ely area capacity enhancement

This important project includes upgrading Ely North Junction to allow the 11 train paths per hour that are needed now to support the all-day half-hourly service to King's Lynn, and to move more of the freight from Felixstowe off the A14 and onto rail. It would also enable future projects to increase capacity further. Funding for the next stage of the design process was applied for in March 2022; once the design is done there needs to be a further application for funds for actual construction. More information on the project here.

The government has now announced (here) that some of the money previously earmarked for HS2 phase 2 will be allocated to it. That funding is not planned to be available until 2029 -- it covers the period 2029-2040. So there'll be a delay of 15 to 25 years compared to when the half-hourly service was originally promised. That's simply not good enough.

GBR

Among the recent announcements of plans for the railways (see above) there was a conspicuous lack of mention of any progress towards implementation of the recommendations in the Williams report. However, we have now been told that "the pace of work to deliver GBR will be expedited" and to expect a long-term strategy developed by GBR-TT to be published by the end of 2023.

Cambridge South

This new station will give travellers from Fen Line stations direct access to Addenbrooke's and Papworth hospitals and to employment on the Biomedical Campus. Preparatory work has begun and funding for the main part of the project applied for, but the station is not expected to open until the end of 2025. There is more detail on the project here and pictures of work at the site here and here.

Cambridge area resignalling

There are two parts to this project (detail here). Mainly it is concerned with replacing life-expired signalling equipment, which we support in the hope that it will reduce the number of signalling failures.

However, it also includes work on a number of level crossings; there are six that are proposed to be converted from half barriers to full barriers, to improve safety although level crossing fatalities in Britain are only one seventeenth of the European average. This will result in them being closed to road traffic for much longer than at present, which could be a particular problem at Waterbeach station, preventing passengers crossing the line to catch their trains, as already happens at Downham Market and Shepreth. We raised our objection at the public inquiry (documents here) and await the outcome.

Ticket office closures

The consultation attracted three quarters of a million replies, and the proposals have now been withdrawn.

Our view at the time was that the proposals are a distraction from the reorganisation that the railway needs, like replacing the fridge when really you need a new kitchen. The urgent requirement is to implement the recommendations of the Williams report, which will bring far more efficiency savings and allow the railway to be responsive to passengers' needs without requiring cumbersome formal consultation processes.

One of the Williams recommendations was simplification of the fare structure, and that, at least, needs to be implemented before changing the way tickets are sold. Otherwise, a lot of money will be spent on training gateline staff for a system that is then replaced.

However, if ticket office closure is to go ahead under the current regime, we consider the following to be requirements:

• passengers need to be able to get at least the same help they would have got through the window
• the changes must not be used as a cover for withdrawing staffing or shortening hours
• staff selling tickets need somewhere to sit, with heating and ideally a work surface so they can process railcard applications, delay repay vouchers etc
• ticket machines need to be able to do everything the machine behind the window can, so staff don't have to carry portable machines around
• some ticket office staff won't be comfortable being out among the crowds; they need to be treated sensitively, e.g. by being found back office roles

There are some positive aspects to the change:

• more staff on the concourse
• "multiskilled" roles can be expected to be more satisfying and better paid
• it should be easier for passengers to get extra help when buying a ticket, such as being guided to the platform