November 2001 Newsletter

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Pickett’s Lock Stadium Bid Collapses

On the 3rd October, the government announced that the bid to build a new national athletics stadium at Pickett’s Lock had collapsed. Reports on national radio attributed the collapse to the escalating costs of the stadium venture itself, and also the cost of upgrading the capacity of the Lea Valley routes, from Cheshunt to Stratford and Liverpool Street, to meet the expected demand. Railtrack were seeking £100M from the government for the upgrade.

The Harlow Rail User Group will be seeking a meeting with Julian Drury, Director of the West Anglia route within WAGN, raising the concern that without the aforementioned line capacity improvements, overcrowding and reliability issues are unlikely to be resolved.

Railtrack Forced into Receivership

On Sunday, 7th October, the government sought and obtained a court order, placing Railtrack into the hands of administrators, Ernst and Young. The government had been approached by John Robinson, Railtrack chairman, in July, seeking an additional £700M, in order to meet this year’s commitments. The government refused to bail Railtrack out.

The West Anglia Route Modernisation, replacing the life-expired signals and points on the West Anglia route, is continuing on a day-to-day basis, but the work plan goes out as far as 2004. The Harlow Rail User Group will be seeking information about the impact of the collapse of Railtrack on local services at the earliest opportunity.

The Opportunities Ahead

The collapse of Railtrack brings new opportunities...

The removal of the perverse regulatory regime which placed bigger fines for punctuality than safety breaches. The reduction of the conflict between profit and good maintenance. The chance to reintegrate the engineering work force and reduce the expense incurred with sub-contracted labour. No shareholder dividends to be paid. The chance for the train operating companies and passenger transport executives to have a voice on the Railtrack-II board.

We await Railtrack-II with hope. Why not let us know what you would like to see in the new Railtrack-II in the HRUG forum on yahoo?

Train Protection and Warning System

Work is progressing well in the installation of the TPWS system, designed to stop trains passing red lights. Informed sources reveal that most of the WAGN fleet of Class 317 vehicles (used for both the Stansted Express and Harlow services) are now equipped with TPWS in the cab and that much of the route between Cambridge and Cheshunt is now also TPWS protected. Liverpool Street station will also soon be equipped.

Flood Alert

WAGN’s emergency response strategies were thrown into the spotlight on October 22nd, when the line at Roydon was submerged and subject to a 5 mph speed limit. The track bed was washed away at Shelford to the north. Services were inevitably rearranged, the Stansted Express sent instead to Chingford during the rush hour, allowing what capacity remained to be used for local passengers.

How do you think they coped? Let us know through the HRUG forum.