SENRUG’s next public meeting will be on Thursday 21st April, 19.30 at Morpeth Town Hall. The guest speaker is Neal Smith, Head of Communications, East Coast Trains.
East Coast is significantly increasing the number of services to and from Morpeth from the 22nd May timetable change. It will now be possible to get to London from Morpeth by 09:40 each weekday, and to return at 18:30. I guess it'll be important to use these new services if we want to keep them.
Times of local trains are changing slightly as well and there will now be an hourly pattern throughout the day, with the long gap in southbound services between 09.32 and 10.50 eliminated. But the morning peak hour train at 08.32 from Morpeth moves to 08.49, though there will additionally be a retimed CrossCountry service at 08.14. So still only a 35 minute gap. There'll also be a better distribution of morning services to Newcastle rather than the current situation where the 07.49 (NT) and 08.02 (XC) arrive at Newcastle at virtually the same time. From 22nd May Morpeth will have services to Newcastle at 06.35, 07.07, 07.54, 08.13, and 08.49.
Showing posts with label rail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rail. Show all posts
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Piece for SENRUG
Although I didn't get an invite to the SENRUG hustings - I have been asked to supply a piece for their 'elections newsletter' - along with the Red, Yellow and Blue candidates. This is what I've sent them - note it was written before the Yellows made their policy announcement about funding the railways. I think it just points up my last paragraph about parties 'stealing' our policies, though as usual they don't have the nerve to do it properly....
We need major investment in public transport – and in rail even more than buses – to encourage people to switch from using cars. Apart from the carbon emissions argument, good quality rail travel is healthier, less stressful and more sociable than car travel. The Green Party proposes to reallocate the £30bn earmarked for road building over the next 10 years to investment in public transport, which incidentally will create considerably more jobs. At the very least, transport budgets ringfenced by mode makes no sense if you are trying to develop an integrated transport network.
Locally, this re-allocation of investment would allow:
• opening of the ABT line to passengers including links to Morpeth and Woodhorn
• opening up of the Leemside line
• and various other loops to increase the capacity of the ECML
Increased capacity would enable improvements both in local and long distances services, and in also intermediate services such as direct links to Durham and Hexham. I am also keen to see a new semifast service between Newcastle and Edinburgh stopping at all the principal stations. There would also be investment in rolling stock to make best use of the capacity of the existing network.
We also need considerably increased capacity if there is to be any significant shift of road freight back to rail. Again, rail freight and railhead freight depots will create more local jobs than road freight does.
Public transport overall needs to be more coherent, with simpler, more transparent – and integrated – fares. It may be that the only way to do this effectively is to follow Green Party policy to re-regulate bus services and return the railways, both track and operations, to public ownership. At any rate, successive governments’ use of fare increases to manage demand must end.
I realise that I am rather unlikely to be elected as MP for Wansbeck, but the other parties have been stealing policies from the Greens since we were first formed. A strong Green vote would encourage them to steal these policies too.
We need major investment in public transport – and in rail even more than buses – to encourage people to switch from using cars. Apart from the carbon emissions argument, good quality rail travel is healthier, less stressful and more sociable than car travel. The Green Party proposes to reallocate the £30bn earmarked for road building over the next 10 years to investment in public transport, which incidentally will create considerably more jobs. At the very least, transport budgets ringfenced by mode makes no sense if you are trying to develop an integrated transport network.
Locally, this re-allocation of investment would allow:
• opening of the ABT line to passengers including links to Morpeth and Woodhorn
• opening up of the Leemside line
• and various other loops to increase the capacity of the ECML
Increased capacity would enable improvements both in local and long distances services, and in also intermediate services such as direct links to Durham and Hexham. I am also keen to see a new semifast service between Newcastle and Edinburgh stopping at all the principal stations. There would also be investment in rolling stock to make best use of the capacity of the existing network.
We also need considerably increased capacity if there is to be any significant shift of road freight back to rail. Again, rail freight and railhead freight depots will create more local jobs than road freight does.
Public transport overall needs to be more coherent, with simpler, more transparent – and integrated – fares. It may be that the only way to do this effectively is to follow Green Party policy to re-regulate bus services and return the railways, both track and operations, to public ownership. At any rate, successive governments’ use of fare increases to manage demand must end.
I realise that I am rather unlikely to be elected as MP for Wansbeck, but the other parties have been stealing policies from the Greens since we were first formed. A strong Green vote would encourage them to steal these policies too.
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Rail Service Disruptions
Thanks to Trevor Watson for drawing this to my attention - despite him having to cope with the aftermath of flooding...
Planned maintenance work on the East Coast Mainline mean that no intercity trains will be running direct between Newcastle and Edinburgh on weekends from Sat 27th Sept to Sun 2nd Nov inclusive
That's on weekends 27th-28th Sept, 4th-5th Oct, 11-12th Oct, 18th-19th Oct, 25th-26th Oct and 1st-2nd Nov:
National Express East Coast services will be diverted between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Carlisle on an hourly service. Coaches will replace trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Berwick-on-Tweed.
Northern Rail only runs services on Saturdays (though I hope they'll be running Sunday rail services through December like last year). During these planned works, they'll have buses replace services between Morpeth and Chathill every weekend. Trains between Morpeth and Newcastle will run normally except on Sat 18th Oct when they'll be replaced by buses.
CrossCountry services: Coaches will replace trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Berwick-on-Tweed
All the information is on the National Rail timetable website if you look hard enough.
Planned maintenance work on the East Coast Mainline mean that no intercity trains will be running direct between Newcastle and Edinburgh on weekends from Sat 27th Sept to Sun 2nd Nov inclusive
That's on weekends 27th-28th Sept, 4th-5th Oct, 11-12th Oct, 18th-19th Oct, 25th-26th Oct and 1st-2nd Nov:
National Express East Coast services will be diverted between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Carlisle on an hourly service. Coaches will replace trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Berwick-on-Tweed.
Northern Rail only runs services on Saturdays (though I hope they'll be running Sunday rail services through December like last year). During these planned works, they'll have buses replace services between Morpeth and Chathill every weekend. Trains between Morpeth and Newcastle will run normally except on Sat 18th Oct when they'll be replaced by buses.
CrossCountry services: Coaches will replace trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Berwick-on-Tweed
All the information is on the National Rail timetable website if you look hard enough.
Friday, 14 December 2007
Unusual Christmas Presents - No 112
An advert coming by way of SENRUG
The North Eastern Tile Company of Pickering in North Yorkshire can now supply a complete set of tiles for a North Eastern Railway Map of the type still seen on the walls of Morpeth station.
The Craven and Dunnill factory of Ironbridge which made the originals has been defunct since the Second World War, but the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has started up a tile museum through which limited production of the originals is now possible.
They are all hand glazed, and to quote from the brochure
"the glazer`s skill still dictates whether or not all the map tiles have exactly the same glaze tint, and they still work to a metronome`s rhythm to achieve such perfection."
A three quarter size map is recommended for the average house, though no doubt you could get the original size in a large bathroom!
The address is Foundry Cottages, Wrelton, Pickering, York YO18 8PF.
The North Eastern Tile Company of Pickering in North Yorkshire can now supply a complete set of tiles for a North Eastern Railway Map of the type still seen on the walls of Morpeth station.
The Craven and Dunnill factory of Ironbridge which made the originals has been defunct since the Second World War, but the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has started up a tile museum through which limited production of the originals is now possible.
They are all hand glazed, and to quote from the brochure
"the glazer`s skill still dictates whether or not all the map tiles have exactly the same glaze tint, and they still work to a metronome`s rhythm to achieve such perfection."
A three quarter size map is recommended for the average house, though no doubt you could get the original size in a large bathroom!
The address is Foundry Cottages, Wrelton, Pickering, York YO18 8PF.
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
You can't get to Morpeth Station
Transport 2000’s recent “Weakest Link” survey found rail passengers in the North East citing poor bus links, difficult-to-cross roads, insecure cycle parking and a lack of cycle paths as barriers to using their local train station.
Morpeth Station was particularly highlighted.
It has seen an 8% growth in passengers in the last year with Virgin XC and GNER InterCity services stopping and is increasingly popular with commuters.
However, the car park is full by 8:30am and there are no cycle storage facilities at all.
And the northbound platform is notoriously inaccessible for wheelchair users.
Dennis Fancett, the Chairman of SE Northumberland Rail User Group said:
“The southbound platform has a bus turning circle marked ‘bus only’ but no buses call there; buses only serve the main road which is a short walk away. There are no sign posts to the bus stop. To get a bus into town you have to cross the main road with no pedestrian facilities. We’d like to see the bus company working to get the buses actually into the station complex.”
Meanwhile Northumberland CC has reportedly got bus operators to work to the train timetable, and even take account of delayed rail services at the newly refurbished transport interchange at Prudhoe Rail Station.
Morpeth Station was particularly highlighted.
It has seen an 8% growth in passengers in the last year with Virgin XC and GNER InterCity services stopping and is increasingly popular with commuters.
However, the car park is full by 8:30am and there are no cycle storage facilities at all.
And the northbound platform is notoriously inaccessible for wheelchair users.
Dennis Fancett, the Chairman of SE Northumberland Rail User Group said:
“The southbound platform has a bus turning circle marked ‘bus only’ but no buses call there; buses only serve the main road which is a short walk away. There are no sign posts to the bus stop. To get a bus into town you have to cross the main road with no pedestrian facilities. We’d like to see the bus company working to get the buses actually into the station complex.”
Meanwhile Northumberland CC has reportedly got bus operators to work to the train timetable, and even take account of delayed rail services at the newly refurbished transport interchange at Prudhoe Rail Station.
Monday, 23 April 2007
Interactive Leaflet 4 - Rail Services
Both Ron and Nic are strong supporters of the SE Northumberland Rail User Group (in fact Nic was involved in setting it up) and we’re very impressed by what it has achieved. Again, if elected we’ll work to make sure that both Town and Borough Councils actively support SENRUG in its campaigns and projects.
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line - petition to no. 10
SENRUG (South East Northumberland Rail User Group) has set up an online petition to 10 Downing Street through the 10 Downing St website, to campaign for the re-opening of the Ashington Blyth & Tyne Railway Line.
They reckon they need 200 signatures to be taken seriously, and perhaps 1,000 for government departments to really take note of what we are doing. The petition is open for a year until April 2008, but it would be good to exceed the above numbers quickly.
SENRUG also have information that there are now two studies going on into different aspects of the ABT re-opening:
They reckon they need 200 signatures to be taken seriously, and perhaps 1,000 for government departments to really take note of what we are doing. The petition is open for a year until April 2008, but it would be good to exceed the above numbers quickly.
SENRUG also have information that there are now two studies going on into different aspects of the ABT re-opening:
- A study into re-opening the Morpeth - Choppington - Bedlington Station section to passenger services, led by the North East Assembly and Wansbeck District Council. This should report back in May 2007 and SENRUG are involved as a non-funding partner in the study.
- A study into re-opening the Ashington - Bedlington - Northumberland Park section led by NEXUS and using the same consultants.
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Sardine Man is a Geordie!
The North East has apparently the worst (Durham-Newcastle) and the sixth worst (Morpeth-Newcastle) crowded commuter trains in the country.
If only Northern would put the finally-being-cascaded 158 units on at peak times every time, but they don`t. Why not? It seems as though the 158s will go everywhere else before being allocated to North-East routes.
There’s an opportunity to complain loud and long at the joint Northern Rail and Virgin XC passenger forum on Morpeth station next week - April 4th, 3pm-6.30pm
Transport 2000’s national survey results are on their website
If only Northern would put the finally-being-cascaded 158 units on at peak times every time, but they don`t. Why not? It seems as though the 158s will go everywhere else before being allocated to North-East routes.
There’s an opportunity to complain loud and long at the joint Northern Rail and Virgin XC passenger forum on Morpeth station next week - April 4th, 3pm-6.30pm
Transport 2000’s national survey results are on their website
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Cheap Rail Travel to and from Newcastle
Northern Rail have introduced their ‘Duo’ ticket on rail services between Morpeth and Newcastle.
The Duo gives you one return train ticket, plus a second for half the price when two adults travel together.
It’s available:
Monday to Friday - outward 09:30 onwards - return any train same day except for trains timed to depart between 16:01 -17:59 inclusive
and on any trains on Saturdays, Sundays & Bank Holidays (except that normally Northern Rail does not run trains stopping at Morpeth on Sundays and Bank Holidays).
Price of Duo: £6.90
Price of Two Adults: £9.20
Duo Saving: £2.30
The Duo gives you one return train ticket, plus a second for half the price when two adults travel together.
It’s available:
Monday to Friday - outward 09:30 onwards - return any train same day except for trains timed to depart between 16:01 -17:59 inclusive
and on any trains on Saturdays, Sundays & Bank Holidays (except that normally Northern Rail does not run trains stopping at Morpeth on Sundays and Bank Holidays).
Price of Duo: £6.90
Price of Two Adults: £9.20
Duo Saving: £2.30
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