Southminster

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.

Operations on the Day

After the usual shuffle from Sandhurst into Reading I now know that I have time to buy a ticket at the Excess window and make the connection into the Paddington train.  Equally there is time at Liverpool Street to acquire some lunch before settling into the Aventra for trip to Marks Tey.

I have never previously used the Sudbury branch and nor have I previously encountered a class 755 Flirt bi-mode which is operating in diesel mode today.  The lines heads largely northwards from Marks Tey to Sudbury mainly along the Stour valley.  There has long been a preservation site at Chappel and Wakes Colne with one platform available to Anglia trains and the other used by the heritage railway.  It is a pleasant run through the countryside.  Sitting in the rear coach leaving either terminus however the short platforms require the passenger to walk forward before being able to disembark at the other terminal.

The power packs are in their own vehicle – but there is a corridor through to enable the other coaches to be accessed (or the exit as I discovered).  Having the diesel engines located above the frames means that the adjacent vehicles are noisier – however the benefit is that the units sit lower and boarding is largely flat.  They shake and rattle – about the same as a good condition Hampshire unit I would suggest – and other new units (class 196) are no different.

The line is supposedly marketed as the “Gainsborough” line although I do not see much evidence of this on my journey.  Historically known as the Stour Valley line it used to run beyond Sudbury to Shelford via Haverhill with the line beyond Sudbury closing in 1967.  Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury.  Historically for some years the marketing name was “Lovejoy” after the similarly entitled television programme which was filmed around Sudbury.

Once back at Marks Tey it is time to head back – first to Witham and the line to Braintree.  As I progress I note that there has been significant new housing just about everywhere expanding the villages and small towns – and the new station of Braintree Freeport for the adjacent shopping village.  A second branch covered for the first time.  At Witham there is a longer connection and so I have time to find the ticket office (on the bridge) and acquire a ticket for my trip along the branch.

The historic route ran from Maldon via Witham and Braintree to Bishops Stortford and I do wonder if these days serving those destinations would be useful – particularly the connection into the West Anglia Main Line.  I can see the point of an extension here – although I suspect some of the route has been built over quite a bit remains as pedestrian route.

The services here are not an isolated branch line workings but are to and from London Liverpool Street using class 720 units.  The line was converted to electric on 31 October 1977.  Braintree Freeport station was opened in 1999 although the adjacent shopping location is no longer known by that name (now Braintree Shopping Village).

That means that I can stay on the train on return to Shenfield for the last trip today.  I travelled to Southend Victoria some time in the late 1970’s but never took the route from Wickford to Southminster along the Crouch Valley which is what I do today.  This was also the riskiest change as the timed connection at Shenfield is a minute.  My train arrives slightly early and I had positioned myself in the hope of being close to the stairs to the subway – not quite perfect but close enough and I am at the platform as the train rolls in.

The Wickford – Southminster line was electrified in 1986 so once again is currently operated with Class 720 Aventras.  As with the other branches visited today it is largely single track with a passing loop at North Fambridge.

Noticeable from the train today is that a lot of land has been given over to the growing of vines with significant wine production now being derived in the area.  This development has been relatively recent I believe.

Historically the line was retained to permit the operation of trains to carry nuclear fuel to and from the transhipment station at Southminster but the traffic has ceased and it looks as if all of the track is completely out of use.

The return journey is via Wickford, Stratford where I join the Elizabeth line where they announce that I should change trains at Whitechapel for Reading – so I leave my train but there are no Reading trains listed so I take the next one to London Paddington just in case there is a problem with services – but about 4 trains later a Reading service turns up and permits a connection into my train home.

Costs / Ticket Checks

After the bargains achieved on some of my earlier expeditions through Advance tickets, rangers and the like everything today was on either Off Peak or Super Off Peak tickets.

Sandhust – Sudbury off peak return: £40.60
Witham – Braintree Super Off Peak Return: £4.95
Shenfield – Southminster Super Off Peak Return: £10.70

A total of £56.25 and 284 miles which is 19.8p per mile – which is one of the highest costs per mile on these trips.  Not the best bargain but there was a lot of trundling along the slower branches – I was a little surprised that the mileage total was actually that high.

Ticket checks on Greater Anglia were good – out of Liverpool St and along the Sudbury and Braintree branches.  I was unable to buy a ticket before travelling from Shenfield to Southminster and on the return trip to Wickford I thought for a while I was going to get away with free travel – but a ticket check (and an immediate explanation and purchase) from the guard (plus a friendly chat) shortly before arrival at Wickford ensured that there was no free travel today.

Rolling Stock

All the stock on Greater Anglia has been introduced in the last few years and the bi-mode Flirts being used on the branch lines have had a few problems but have displaced older stock which is welcome in itself.  This was my first (and quite short) introduction to the bi-mode units – however they are unlikely to be worked that hard.  I plan to revisit the Suffolk lines at some point and a longer journey may give a better chance to evaluate them.

Otherwise it was Aventra class 720s which appear to have settled down as workmanlike commuter stock.  Obviously they are blessed with 3+2 seating which off peak is not needed but no doubt there are peak services where they are heavily occupied.  They also appear to be pretty nippy and able to maintain some timings – quite a few services were able to snip time off the schedule without appearing to be working too hard – so a general timetable improvement may be possible

Summary

One thing which stood out again today was the generally excellent timekeeping – odd minutes here and there but generally things were running and observing the planned times.  This is on a pretty busy railway which even off peak has quite a few trains.  new stock helps as it should be reliable and on a warm sunny afternoon the weather is not likely to be a contributing problem.  However whilst I noted one train not on time whilst at Witham the overall service appeared to be running well.

A good day out even if it was slightly more costly than some of my expeditions.