Station Parking

Motorists are reminded to take heed of the road markings outside the station and on the approach road.  The area directly in front of the station is a roundabout and the usual rules apply.  Motorists parking in the bus and taxi bays are causing congestion at busy times, and poor use is being made of the waiting spaces in the approach road.  Congestion will always be a problem at busy times, but adhering to the markings will alleviate the problems somewhat.

NCP Parking Fines

NCP continue to issue parking fines to poorly parked cars and we again ask that motorists take care when parking.  Those motorists trying to fill spaces reduced in size by irresponsible parking by others are also being penalised.  The fines levied are by no means small so it is worth taking the time to park properly.

Farewell to David Bramhill

Today Manningtree station bids farewell to David Bramhill.  Always a friendly face and extremely helpful to all, Dave is off to enjoy a well-earned retirement.  He has set a wonderful example to the current generation of staff in treating rail users well by keeping them informed when problems occur and giving useful advice when needed.  Upon leaving Dave says “I would like to thank all regular rail users at Manningtree for their tolerance and forbearance during times when the railways have not worked as they should”. 

We wish Dave a long and healthy retirement.

Franchise To Revert To 3 Companies....?

The government is apparently considering splitting the current Greater Anglia franchise into three separate companies when it comes up for renewal in 2016.  The current Metro service will be taken over by Crossrail in 2017 anyway and the prospect of splitting the remaining outer suburban and Inter City services into separate companies is being considered.

Prior to the disastrous 'one' franchise services to Manningtree were split between Great Eastern and Anglia trains.  Could we be heading back to that arrangement?

Further details can be found in today's EADT