Negligent Anglia Rail Crossing Inspector Sacked

Network Rail has sacked a maintenance worker for failing to inspect level crossings in the Anglia area.  The employee was sacked for deliberately falsifying records regarding the inspection of railway level crossings.  Network Rail have confirmed that several crossings were involved but did not say where.  A number of crossings in the Anglia area, which includes Essex, had not been inspected when they should have been.

MRUA Querying Ticket Office Availability

Regular users of Manningtree station in the off-peak hours, during the day, will quite possibly have noticed lately that the ticket office is often closed.  Although there is a ticket machine available the types of tickets that it sells are limited.  There are a number of reports of passengers visiting the station to buy post dated tickets, or to ask for information, only to find the ticket office closed.  The nature and location of Manningtree station is such that some passengers come some distance to use it - all the more frustrating when it's a wasted journey.  Staff shortages are being blamed for this and the MRUA has asked National Express East Anglia to rectify the situation.

NXEA Asked To Fix Ladies' Toilets

The MRUA has asked National Express East Anglia to investigate and resolve the rather unpleasant drainage problems in the Ladies toilets at Manningtree station.

Extra Trains For Clacton Airshow

National Express East Anglia (NXEA) is providing extra train services to the Clacton Airshow on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 August. Extra trains will run on both days of this year’s Airshow between Colchester and all stations to Clacton-on-Sea. In addition, a special train service will also operate between Walton-on-the-Naze and Clacton-on-Sea.

Some services between Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze will be diverted to run to Clacton, passengers for stations on the Walton branch should change at Thorpe-le-Soken. For full details see the NXEA website.

Normal Service Resumes Between Sudbury and Marks Tey

National Express East Anglia has confirmed that a normal timetabled service between Sudbury and Marks Tey will resume on Friday 20th August.

Bus Replacement Service Between Marks Tey And Sudbury

Following yesterday's accident near Sudbury National Express East Anglia are running a replacement bus service between Sudbury and Marks Tey.  Details of timings can be found here

Possible 8% Fare Increases

Following on from our earlier item dated 19th July suggesting possible 10% fare increases, the Daily Telegraph is today suggesting rises of 8% are on the cards.  Currently most fares are capped at the July Retail Price Index (RPI) + 1 but the Telegraph is claiming that the formula could be changed to RPI + 2 or 3.  With the RPI figure for July expected to be 5% this would mean a potential increase of 8%.

Whether the rises are 8% or 10%, this is still a significant increase that is likely to make rail travel less attractive to many.

MRUA Now On Twitter

You can now follow the Manningtree Rail Users Association on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ManningtreeRUA

NXEA Asked To Sort Out Car Park Flooding

Following recent heavy downpours motorists parked on the far side of the top deck of the new car park will have returned to their vehicles to find them standing in 2 inches of water.  Whilst 2 inches may not sound a lot it is more than enough to cover your feet.  Excess water is then cascading over the top producing an impressive waterfall effect onto the cars parked below.

The MRUA has asked NXEA to investigate and rectify the situation as soon as possible. To pay silly money to park at Manningtree is bad enough but to find that you cannot return to your car without ruining your shoes is simply adding insult to injury.

NXEA Awards Contract For Provision of Onboard WiFi

National Express East Anglia (NXEA) has awarded the contract for installing and maintaining internet connectivity on London - Norwich intercity services to public transport vendor Icomera.  As previously reported here this initiative has been partly funded by a £346,000 grant from the East of England Development Agency and Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils.

It is expected that Vodafone and Orange will provide the cellular backhaul with each network being capable of download speeds of up to 7.2 megabits per second.  It is not clear at this stage how the service, which is due to be up and running by the end of 2010, will be accessed by customers.  For example there has been no mention of whether there will be a charge or whether the likely service provision by Vodafone and Orange precludes users of other service providers from using the service.

Dedham Vale Hopper Bus

Apologies for the late notice but for those not aware, the Dedham Vale Hopper Bus service resumed on the 3rd July.  Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Trust and the Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley project, the service will run 5 days a week (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays) until 26th September.

The bus will leave Manningtree station every hour between 09:40 and 17:25.  A £2 day ticket will allow passengers to hop on and off the bus as they please.  The bus will follow an anti clockwise circular route from Manningtree Station via Flatford, East Bergholt, Stratford St Mary, Dedham, Lawford and Manningtree.