October 2002 Newsletter

WARM Works Continue

The impact of the latest phase of the West Anglia Route Modernisation works to reach completion has been warmly greeted by one of WAGN�s drivers with a chant of �Green Lights! Green Lights! Green Lights!�

As the work progresses, more of the signals, barriers and points on the line from Stansted M�tfitchet to L�pool Street are being renewed and rewired, to be operated by the �Automatic Route Setting� control system at Liverpool Street. Well, if this results in fewer delays for passengers, this will be good news indeed.

The latest performance figures from the SRA pre-date this recent change, but do not make good reading. They show that over the period Apr-Jun 2002, WAGN had the worst peak performance of any London & South East operator at 73.6%. The all-day figure of 79.8% still leaves much room for improvement.

Sunday services will be subject to bus replacement whilst the signals, points, track circuits and crossings on the Harlow-Broxbourne stretch are renewed, as described on the WAGN web-site.

All Change Please

We are about to enter an era of unprecedented change. Some of it will be for the better, some worse. There are four major exercises currently under way: a major review of fares and ticketing policy, re-franchising of WAGN, a major review of the service timetable and a study of options for Stansted Airport expansion.

Each of these is likely to have an effect on local services, some as early as 2004.

SRA Fares Review

On the 19th July, the SRA started a major debate on fares policy. Costs in the rail industry have spiralled since privatisation, and there is a growing gap between infrastructure spend and fares revenue. As a result of this, Mr Bowker has started a debate on fares policy which is likely to lead to a radical shake-up.

Some TOCs have stated that they are willing to increase fares for commuters well above the rate of inflation, that the linkage of fares to RPI-1% is a factor in the current overcrowding. Do they think people commute for pleasure?

Areas being addressed by the consultation include:

� the link between fares and RPI-1%
� the link between fares and overcrowding
� the link between fares and operator performace
� is there too much or too little fares regulation
� the case for railcards and ticketing complexity

The introduction to the consultation and the full consultation document can be read at on the SRA�s web-site http://www.sra.gov.uk/ You can see our response to the consultation here.

The SRA will be publishing their findings in 2003 and the new policy will take effect from 2004. Have your say through the forum.

WAGN Franchise to End in 2004

In 2004, the WAGN franchise will cease to exist and the current areas covered by Anglia, Great Eastern and the West Anglia part of WAGN will be merged into a larger franchise which will be called Greater Anglia. One of the prime drivers here is to allow more flexible operation at Liverpool Street, a prime bottleneck on our local network.

If you have strong views about what you would like to see in the new Greater Anglia franchise and want to share these with WAGN, send your comments along with your name, address, tel no & e-mail address using the following 4 subject headings as a guide: Trains, Stations, Services, Other Areas to:

Steve Thompson, Greater Anglia Franchise, National Express Group PLC, Hertford House, 1 Cranwood Street, London EC1V 9QS.
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