More Seats For Manningtree Passengers

Subject to final approval, the new timetable due to come into operation in December 2010 may see Manningtree getting an impressive 42% increase in the number of seats during the morning peak and an increase of 32% during the evening peak period. The improvements will also see more services from Manningtree calling at Stratford and an improvement to the fastest journey time to London.

NXEA To Discontinue TXT Alerting Service

National Express East Anglia have announced that with effect from 13th June they will no longer be providing their Text alerting service to mobile phones. Instead such alerts will be provided by email only. It is the belief of NXEA that many customers now have access to email both in the office, home and on the move. It is true that the email format allows for more information to be provided but whether the same target audience can be reached remains to be seen.

Station-by-Station Footfall 2008-09

Figures compiled by Railfuture show mixed results for passenger numbers using Manningtree and the Harwich branch. (previous year in brackets)

Manningtree 846,484 + 173,264 interchanges (910,384)

Mistley 49,762 (46,800)

Wrabness 19,846 (22,540)

Harwich Int'l 111,258 (92,116)

Dovercourt 149,740 (147,528)

Harwich Town 148,748 (145,527)

Stagecoach Tenders For New Anglia Trains

Stagecoach has issued tender notices for a new train fleet for the Greater Anglia franchise according to the OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) notices.

Stagecoach Anglia Trains is inviting interest in 'up to 800 vehicles' for Greater Anglia including suburban commuter EMUs, 100mph electric inter-city trains and regional diesel trains. The cost of the new fleet is put at £1.28 billion - about £1.16 million per vehicle.

Stagecoach is also seeking financial packages for the new fleet, but states that contract award depends on the outcome of the franchising competition. It will not be known until the summer, who has won the franchise that will replace the current National Express East Anglia arrangement.

Shortlist For New Franchise Bidders Awaited

Details of the shortlist of bidders for the franchise to replace National Express East Anglia are awaited. The original schedule proposed by the DfT would have seen the list made public in April but the General Election has delayed the announcement. Such a delay has made what was already a very tight schedule even more of a challenge. The new franchise is due to start on April 1st next year.

Theft At Station

Police had cordoned off the the entrance to the station this morning following reports of the attempted theft of the cashpoint.

We're Still Here....

Just to let you know that we're still here. It's just *very* quiet at the moment......