Harborough rail users
Improving the quality of Market Harborough's rail service
EMR have announced a revised timetable from Monday 18th January, with some service reductions. The main reason is reduced availability of traincrew staff because of Covid-related absences. EMR have understandably made the decision that it is better to have a reduced timetable than to have ad hoc cancellations day by day.
For Market Harborough, the weekday timetable is little changed; the only changes are that the 19:40 runs only to Sheffield, not Leeds, and from 1st February the 20:55 from Nottingham to St Pancras, calling at Market Harborough at 21:42, no longer runs. However, on Saturdays, numerous trains between Nottingham and St Pancras no longer run, and our 07:33 to York is also withdrawn. Other trains that are still running may have reduced numbers of carriages. EMR Regional services, none of which serve Market Harborough, see varying reductions from Monday 26th January. EMR state that: "We will continue to keep these changes under review, alongside the impact of Covid on the availability of our staff. As a minimum it is envisaged this timetable will run until the national lockdown is lifted and at which point, we will look to move towards reinstatement to today’s (pre-18th January) service level as soon as is possible." Alongside the part-electrification of the Midland Main Line, EMR is replacing its entire InterCity fleet with new Hitachi bi-mode trains, which are due to enter service in 2023. (See this for more: https://www.harborough-rail.org.uk/home/new-emr-intercity-train-fleet-to-be-named-aurora). However, the InterCity 125 High-Speed Trains (HSTs), which form about half of the present services between St Pancras and Nottingham, are approaching life-expiry and are due to be withdrawn soon. Therefore, as an interim measure, EMR have received four Class 180 diesel multiple units transferred from Hull Trains. The first of these entered service today, 14th December, on a small number of services to and from St Pancras. This does not mean the end of the HSTs just yet, however, but there will be fewer of them. Purple thing: a Class 180 train forms the 15:26 Market Harborough to St Pancras (14:45 from Nottingham) on Monday 14th December 2020, the first day in service with EMR for the type. (Picture: Steve Jones)
The Midland Pullman was an iconic luxury train of the early 1960s and regularly ran through Market Harborough on its journeys between London and Manchester. It last ran in 1966, and sadly none of the vehicles survived into preservation.
However, the modern diesel-electric air-conditioned train bore some similarity with the familiar InterCity 125 High Speed Trains, HSTs, which have been the mainstay of our train service at Market Harborough since 1982. As these, too, approach the end of their careers, it is pleasing that one of the type has been acquired by Locomotive Services Ltd, operator of heritage locomotives on the national network, as an excursion train. They have refurbished it as authentically as possible into the style of the original Blue Pullmans, for use as a tour train. Its inaugural run was delayed by Covid but took place on Saturday 12th December 2020, on a figure-of-eight circuit from St Pancras via Market Harborough, bypassing Sheffield, to the outskirts of Manchester, and back via Crewe, Nuneaton, Leicester, Oakham, Harringworth viaduct and Corby to St Pancras. Despite murky weather, quite a few people turned out at Market Harborough station to see it come through a few minutes later than its booked time of 10:18. It is due to call at Market Harborough on Saturday 16th January on a tour to the Settle and Carlisle line. The Government’s Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes annual data on rail passenger numbers. Albeit some time after the end of the reporting year, the ORR published figures for 2019-20 on 1st December 2020. The messages for Market Harborough are mixed: a continued trend of modest growth for most of the year, but a drastic fall in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. To reflect this, the ORR has published two sets of figures for every station on the national network: one for the standard April - March reporting year, and one for March - February, to show the underlying trend before Covid. Market Harborough's totals were as follows:
The usage data for all stations and franchised or equivalent train operators can be found on the ORR website at: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/station-usage. Not many takers. An empty carriage on the 10:31 Market Harborough to Nottingham train on 25th August 2020.
Picture: Steve Jones The 2020 Harborough Rail Users AGM took place on 28th November. It was held online on Zoom because of the Covid pandemic. It has been a most unusual year because of the pandemic, which has been very challenging for the railway. EMR and Network Rail have worked hard to maintain as good a service as they have; significant cutbacks in late March being restored to give almost a full service for Market Harborough by September. Nonetheless, HRU activity has continued, with meetings early in the year associated with further work on the station, and much email correspondence and telephone discussions on a number of topics since, and communication with EMR and Network Rail has remained good. We have also had contact with local councillors and the MP regarding the station, and fares policy. The past year has seen the opening of the car park extension and the cycle hub, the closure of the coffee shop, and liaison with Market Harborough in Bloom regarding their role as station adopters. However, we still await new toilets and platform canopies as well as a decision on electrification. Interim arrangements with rolling stock are clearer, as we await the new bi-mode ‘Aurora’ trains in 2023. The AGM saw the existing Committee and officers re-elected. The following campaign topics for HRU for the year ahead were agreed:
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A design classic on borrowed time. An HST, in the old East Midlands Trains livery but still looking very smart, departs Market Harborough with the 10:31 to Nottingham on 26th November 2020.
Picture: Steve Jones |
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