The electrification through Market Harborough finally went live on Sunday 28th July.  Though we shan’t see electric trains in service here for a few months yet, the installation of the overhead line equipment between Kettering and Wigston South Junction is now complete.  Testing remains to be done, both of the equipment and of the first of the new bi-mode Class 810 trains.  Work also continues on the upgrading of the existing electrification between Bedford and London to accommodate the 125mph top speed of the new trains.
Further information is available from the Network Rail website:
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/east-midlands/midland-main-line-upgrade/
We look forward to the first of our new trains entering service, probably around the end of 2024 or early 2025.

Rail timetables changed from Sunday 2nd June 2024, for the period until 14th December.  There is almost no change to our timetable, with very minor adjustments to the timings of some trains.  (For example, the 08:28 to St Pancras on weekdays becomes the 08:27!)
The full timetable is available here: 
https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/timetables 
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More importantly, major engineering work is planned, as follows: 
On the following dates, trains will be unable to run south of Luton or Bedford. A rail replacement bus operation will be in place; look for the amended timetables nearer the time.

• Saturday 1 - Sunday 2 June, 
• Saturday 21 - Sunday 22 September, 
• Saturday 28 – Sunday 29 September, 
• Saturday 19 - Sunday 20 October, 
• Saturday 7 - Sunday 8 December,
• Saturday 21 to Sunday 29 December.

Engineering work will also take place in the Leicestershire and Northants area with some trains replaced by buses: 

• Saturday 8 - Sunday 9 June
• Sunday 23 Jun, 
• Saturday 27 – Sunday 28 July, 
• Saturday 3 – Sunday 4 August, 
• Saturday 10 November.

Other, less disruptive, work will be necessary at weekends and weekday evenings.
Engineering work can also be cancelled. Please check before travel.
EMR also advise that engineering work on the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines (King's Cross and Euston respectively) can mean more passengers travelling on EMR trains to and from London St Pancras. That can make them very busy!  Please check for other train operators’ engineering work on nationalrail.co.uk or 03457 484950.
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Of course, we still wish to see reinstatement of early morning and late evening trains at Market Harborough once the electrification work is complete.  Fingers crossed for at least some good news on this in December!

The Government’s Office of Rail and Road publishes annual statistics including estimates of station usage.  For the reporting year April 2022 to March 2023, these figures were released on 14th December 2023. Having had a turbulent year, with industrial disputes and engineering work frequently disrupting our train service, we were keen to see the level of usage of the station.  The total for Market Harborough in the year was 762,792.  This is a 43.6% increase on 2021-22’s total of 531,140.  Given the disruption, this is a healthy increase and represents a good step back towards the pre-Covid peak of 898,058 in 2019-20.  It made Market Harborough the 574th busiest station on the network, from a total of 2,578 stations in April 2023!  The main destination or origin for journeys from or to Market Harborough was St Pancras.
The full statistics for the whole UK national rail network for 2022-23 can be found here:
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/estimates-of-station-usage/

Harborough Rail Users held their Annual General Meeting on Thursday 23rd November 2023, online on Zoom. 
Steve Jones was re-elected as Chair, and the other officers and Committee were elected for the forthcoming year.  We were pleased to welcome two new members to our Committee.  The priorities for the group were confirmed; these are:

• The train service, including the restoration of early morning and late evening train calls at Market Harborough once the electrification is complete;
• Rolling stock, including overcrowding.  We look forward to the refurbishment of the existing Meridian train fleet. This will be followed by the introduction, starting in late 2024, of the new bi-mode Aurora fleet.
• The continuing progress with electrification;
• Market Harborough Station, including the inadequacy of short-stay car parking on the east side, and the lack of covered cycle parking for casual users;
• Service connectivity.  This includes connections with other services, plus keeping a watching brief on the continuing debate about reopening the Northampton line.

The 2022-23 HRU Annual Report can be viewed here: 

Back in July, we reported that Transport for London (TfL) had given notice of their intention to pull out of the Travelcard agreement with train operators for Day Travelcards.  The background was a financial shortfall at TfL, who felt they received an inadequate share of the ticket revenue.  This meant the Day Travelcard – though not the season ticket versions – was to be withdrawn from 21st January 2024. 
Along with many others, including rail user groups and local authorities, we in Harborough Rail Users considered this a seriously retrograde step.  We made representations both to TfL and to our MP, Neil O’Brien, urging a reversal of the decision.  The Travelcard is one of the best examples of integrated transport this country has; one simple ticket giving return rail travel to London and unlimited local rail, tube, tram and bus travel throughout the relevant fare zones plus discounts on the Thames Clipper river buses. 
We were therefore delighted to hear on 25th October that TfL and the Rail Delivery Group had come to an agreement such that the Day Travelcard would continue to be available.  According to Rail Minister Huw Merriman, the deal came after ‘government intervention’.
However, from 24th March 2024 there will be 3% one-off increase on the price of a Travelcard on top of the annual fare increase.