Christmas Services Affected By Engineering Work

On bank holidays Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December a base Sunday timetable will operate.

Due to all lines being closed between Liverpool Street and Ilford for engineering work the following train service alterations apply for journeys between Liverpool Street, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and branches:

No trains will operate between Liverpool Street and Ilford. Passengers are to use TfL Central Line services between Liverpool Street, Stratford and Newbury Park. Connecting rail-replacement bus services will operate from Newbury Park to Ingatestone.

Mainline services will operate from Shenfield (interchange for Metro and Southend services) to Ingatestone (interchange for rail-replacement bus service to/from Newbury Park), Colchester, Clacton-on-Sea, Ipswich and Norwich.


Wednesday 29, Thursday 31 and Friday 31 December

Due to a partial line closure between Bethnal Green and Stratford for engineering work (all trains run via platforms 5 and 8 at Stratford) a revised train service will operate between Liverpool Street and Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and branches.

Morning Peak (07:00-10:00) and Evening Peak (16:00-19:00):
Intercity services will operate between Norwich and Liverpool Street; hourly in the morning peak and half-hourly in the evening peak.

Mainline services will operate between Ipswich, Clacton and Colchester to Liverpool Street (6 trains per hour).

Braintree services will operate to/from Witham, Sudbury services will operate to/from Marks Tey, Walton services will operate to/from Colchester via Colchester Town, Harwich Town services will operate to/from Manningtree.

Off Peak (before 07:00, 10:00-16:00, and after 19:00):
Intercity services will operate half-hourly between Norwich and Liverpool Street (hourly early morning / late evening).

Mainline services will operate between Ipswich, Clacton and Colchester Town and Braintree to Liverpool Street (as per Saturday timetable but with minor retimings).

Sudbury services will operate to/from Marks Tey, Walton services will operate to/from Colchester via Colchester Town, Harwich Town services will operate to/from Manningtree.

Possible Monthly Charge For WiFi?

An article published by ZDNet suggests that there may be a monthly charge of £19 for Standard Class passengers intending to use WiFi on London - Norwich services.  NXEA has so far only announced that the service will be free to First Class passengers and that Standard Class passengers will have to pay £2.95 a journey.  A £2.95 charge per journey makes it a very expensive exercise for regular users.

£19 per month would certainly be better value but is still considerably more than some service providers are charging.  The MRUA will continue to press for this to be a free service for all as is the case on National Express coaches.

Tube Strike - 29th November

A reminder that the RMT and TSSA unions have called a strike on the Tube starting on the evening of Sunday 28 November. If the strike goes ahead, disruption to Tube services is likely all day Monday 29 November, with services returning to normal on Tuesday 30 November.

TFL will run as many Tube services as possible, but some lines will have a restricted service and some stations will be closed.

Please check before you travel, and use an alternative route or method of transport if possible. Visit the TFL strike page for more detailed information.

NXEA Gets A Mention In 'Private Eye'

NXEA gets a mention in the Dr B Ching column of the latest Private Eye magazine, highlighting the double standards applied by the company in the paying of fares / fines.

Referring to the Delay Repay scheme the article explains how, when rail or rail replacement bus services are delayed, passengers can obtain and fill in a form to apply, by post only, for compensation for delays exceeding 30 minutes.  NXEA aims to respond within 15 days.

However, the NXEA guide to penalty fares states "you will be requested to pay the full amount by the authorised collector at the time the penalty fare is charged".

So basically when a passenger gets it wrong they have to pay up immediately but if NXEA gets it wrong compensation can take weeks to arrive.

NXEA WiFi To Cost £2.95

Many will be disappointed to hear that NXEA will be charging for their WiFi service when introduced on London - Norwich services. Whilst free to first-class passengers, others will have to pay £2.95 per journey. Regular users will see themselves paying over £1,300 a year!

As mentioned in an earlier article here the system is being installed thanks to a grant of £346,000 from the EEDA and Suffolk and Norfolk county councils.

It will be interesting to see what the take up will be for something that should surely be a free service.

Train Fares To Increase By Average Of 6.2%

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has provided figures indicating that fares will increase by an average of 6.2% in the new year. Regulated fares which include season tickets will go up by an average of 5.8% but some increases could be as high as 10.8%.

Regulated fares are tied to an annual price cap formula meaning fares can increase each January only by the previous July's RPI inflation rate plus 1%. Hence the 5.8% average rise for 2011.  However, companies are able to put up some fares by more than 5% as long as other fares decrease at the same rate.  Precise details of NXEA fares are not known at this stage.

In January 2012, passengers will have to dig even deeper into their pockets when the annual price rise formula changes to RPI plus 3% across the national network.

NXEA Announce Customer Service Investment

In what will be seen by some as a tacit acknowledgement that trains are in a pretty poor state, that customer service often falls short of expectations and to perhaps soften the blow of the significant fare increases that are imminent, NXEA has announced a range of measures to improve things as follows:

• 20 additional cleaning staff to improve presentation and cleaning on board trains and between journeys 
• A new cleaning team improving exterior presentation of trains, complementing NXEA’s additional investment of £2m in new carriage washers at Ilford and Orient Way train maintenance depots 
• An enhanced station cleaning programme for NXEA’s London stations and other key stations 
• Improvements in communication and engagement with customers led by the recruitment of a new Customer Information Manager and welcome hosts at key stations including, London Liverpool Street, Cambridge, Colchester, Ely, Ipswich, Norwich and Witham 
• Provision of free weekend travel for partners of NXEA annual season-ticket holders 
• Production of a new Commuter News publication for season-ticket holders and enhanced at-seat breakfast service for First Class customers on the 07.10 and 07.40 Intercity services from Norwich 
• Senior Citizens 2-for-1 travel offer on Wednesdays in the New Year

The MRUA will continue to press for the reinstatement of the texting service that is seen by many as key to improving customer communications.