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2nd
June meeting
We regret that the above meeting did not take place.
The date of the next open meeting will be circulated and
put on this website when known but will probably be
in the early autumn.
2009
Membership Renewals
Those members who have not renewed have been deleted
from our list. If you have forgotten to renew please
do so now to ensure that you continue to receive newsletters
and details of members meetings.
Previous
newsletters and updates can be found in the archive
section.
Modern
Railways article (1) Modern
Railways article (2)
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Spring, 2009 News Update
Replacement
Buses - Eventually Getting There!
The uproar caused by LOROL's admission at our February meeting
that they had restarted the replacement bus service on an
hourly frequency caused a rapid rethink, common sense prevailed
and the service was restored to half-hourly after a couple
of weeks. BGOLUG's constant complaints about bus and bus
stop signage, publicity and information have brought gradual
improvements and at the time of writing are just about acceptable.
North London Line passengers are similarly benefiting from
improved replacement bus information. It is worrying that
LOROL & TfL London Rail needed so much convincing that providing
passengers with timetables and marked bus stops was the
right approach.
Waiting
for the Train
The problems at Bombardier's Derby works with component
supply, reported previously, have not eased and priority
continues to be given to completing Electostar trains for
Thameslink services and LOROL. LOROL and TfL Rail have ceased
to quote introduction dates but it is now generally accepted
that the first new Turbostar diesel train is unlikely to
be seen on the Barking-Gospel Oak Line until well into 2010.
The
Crush Goes On And On!
TfL London Rail had promised a Monday-Saturday 15-minute
frequency service from September 2009 with LOROL borrowing
a Networker Turbo train from sister company Chiltern Railways
if the new Turbostars had not been delivered in time. It
is now clear that due to six months of procrastination by
Network Rail, the new signalling required to allow the more
frequent service to operate will not be ready until at least
November and possibly later! From Christmas 2009 until May
2010, the North London Line will be closed for rebuilding
between Stratford and Gospel Oak, causing all that line's
freight trains to be diverted between Woodgrange Park and
Gospel Oak. It is understood that the improved Overground
train frequency will not now start until May 2010!
Everybody
Wants It But Nobody Wants to Pay!
Network Rail recently published its Electrification
Route Utilisation Strategy which gives a high priority to
getting the wires up and plugging the electrification gap
between Woodgrange Park and Gospel Oak. Last year major
freight operator EWS (now DB Schenker) gave equal priority
to the route as did a TfL London Rail report into rail freight
the year before that. Network Rail's Iain Coucher has told
our Secretary that it's not up to them to pay and TfL Rail
plays down the importance of electrification for passengers
on the route because it does not want to pick up the full
tab either!
Next
User Group Meeting,
To be arranged
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