THE NETWORK SOUTHEAST ACHIEVEMENT
A CHRONOLOGY OF 12 YEARS FORWARD PROGRESS AND DELIVERY, 1982 - 1994
compiled by John P McCrickard.
January to December 1987
5 January 1987 - Weybridge station road level buildings gutted by fire (see 8 October 1990).
19 January 1987 - Bishops Stortford - Cambridge electric services commence - 305507/18 work the first early-morning train; 86401 was repainted in NSE livery for the ceremonial launch planned for the 17th, which unfortunately had to be abandoned due to the severe winter weather, eventually being held on 23 March.
7 February 1987 - Huntingdon Up bay Platform No 1 electrified and retained to cope with forecast service demand - closure was the original plan.
23 February 1987 - Waterloo & City line Class 487 refurbishment sponsorship deal with Allied-Lyons - in return for on-train advertising of the company; the first train is ceremonially unveiled at Bank.
28 February 1987 - Island Line EMU 485045 is first to enter traffic repainted in NSE livery.
4 March 1987 - Royston - Shepreth Branch Junction £2.5m ‘infill electrification’ approved - enables extension of Great Northern services to Cambridge - justified in savings in rolling stock and maintenance costs, the link presently being worked by ageing Modernisation Plan DMUs in need of replacement; 23 March - inaugural works train hauled by NSE-liveried 47576 ‘waved off’ from Cambridge by David Mitchell, Minister of State for Transport (see 2 May 1988).
23 March 1987 - London Liverpool Street - Cambridge special hauled by 86401 sets new 48min time - 7min better than the previous steam record; ceremonial launch train for Bishops Stortford - Cambridge electrification with David Mitchell, Minister of State for Transport aboard.
31 March 1987 - BR annual report 1986/7: NSE sees continuing rise in passenger numbers with an increase of 4.5% over the year (10% since 1984/5) - with receipts up 10% to £660m and subsidy reduced by 21% to £196m.
11 April 1987 - Network Day held again.
13 April 1987 - Kettering - Corby passenger services restored on an experimental basis with reopening of latter station; services had previously ceased on 18 April 1966.
20 April 1987 - Ramsgate - 12-car empty stock EMU overshoots siding buffers leaving Driver precariously trapped 30ft in the air!
3 May 1987 - Bishops Stortford - Cambridge special £1 unlimited travel ticket to promote new electric services.
3 May 1987 - Dunstable - Luton sees its first passenger trains since their withdrawal back on 26 April 1965 when the return ‘Dunstabelle’ excursion to Brighton operates formed of 33119 plus 4-TC No 8019; the local ‘ADAPT’ campaign group seeks permanent reopening of the line.
7 May 1987 - North London Link wins the ‘Minister of State for Transport’s Cup’ six-monthly award for NSE’s highest service standards, presented in a ceremony by Minister David Mitchell; the improved services have seen revenue up by 26%.
8 May 1987 - ECML electrification second stage, Huntingdon - Peterborough, commissioned no less than five months early, today’s inaugural train formed of new 317369 - the first of four for these service - waved away from Peterborough by HRH Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alice; a commemorative plaque is unveiled inside the unit to mark the event; the section had been energised on 16 March with full services from 11 May.
11 May 1987 - Second Class redesignated Standard Class across BR.
11 May 1987 - new timetable highlights:
-Huntingdon - Peterborough; ECML electrification extension, including full commuter services through to London King’s Cross; final DMU services on 10 May featured Cravens Class 105 ‘heritage’ unit 53359+54122;
-Ipswich - Norwich; electrified services introduced with through working from London Liverpool Street; most are loco-hauled, but Class 309 ‘Clacton’ EMUs are booked for some, Saturdays Only;
-Bishops Stortford - Cambridge; full electrified services including through to London Liverpool Street;
-Oxford - Bicester Town reopened along with latter station, services provided on an experimental basis funded by the various local councils to assist easing traffic congestion into Oxford; services previously withdrawn 1 January 1968 (Oxford - Cambridge) when station was named Bicester London Road;
-Lake new station opens on the Isle of Wight.
15 May 1987 - Abbey Wood £700,000 new station building officially opened.
31 May 1987 - Isle of Wight Steam Railway Wootton terminus ceremonially reopened by Chris Green, who pledges support for restoration of railway to re-link with NSE line at Smallbrook Junction.
11 June 1987 - General Election re-elects Conservative Government with 102 seat majority, Margaret Thatcher continues as Prime Minister.
13 June 1987 - Paul Channon is appointed as the new Secretary of State for Transport replacing John Moore.
20 June 1987 - Aylesbury rail day and rolling stock exhibition includes LNER Class A4 No 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley.
27 June 1987 - Gravesend station mini-exhibition of rolling stock is NSE’s contribution to the local festival.
-- June 1987 - Thameslink Class 319/0 order increased from 46 to 60 units due to buoyant traffic - passengers on the London - Bedford route are up 50% in the four years since electrification.
2 July 1987 - NSE Network Gold Card launched as a replacement for the existing Annual Season Ticket and Capital Card; the new card also includes the facilities of a Network Card for the holder and a second named adult.
11 July 1987 - Station car parks - over 95% made free for passengers at weekends to encourage more leisure travellers.
11 July 1987 - Oxted new signal box opened - first on SR with Solid State Interlocking (SSI) - replacing the manual boxes here and at Hurst Green Junction and Lingfield; a week later (18th) East Grinstead box is abolished, with resignalling of the line completed on the 27th in advance of electrification (see 5 October 1987).
16 July 1987 - Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey electrification authorised.
22 July 1987 - Winchester £800,000 refurbishment first phase completed.
30 July 1987 - London Docklands Light Railway officially opened by HM The Queen with passenger services over this first part, consisting of two routes - Tower Gateway and Stratford to Island Gardens - commencing on 31 August. A vital part of regeneration of this run-down area, the railway will prove a great success and be greatly expanded over the years ahead with new routes, some using disused railway alignments.
1 August 1987 - NSE ‘Network Children’s Day’ held at London’s South Bank Centre.
12 August 1987 - Snow Hill link between London Blackfriars and Farringdon reopened - initially for testing and training; delayed deliveries of new Class 319/0 dual-voltage EMUs ultimately means introduction of new Thameslink service is delayed from the intended October 1987 date to 16 May 1988.
12 August 1987 - Walton-on-Naze station partly demolished when errant 313063 overruns the buffers, the Driver and 12 others being injured; cause - fault in train braking system; plans for reconstruction of the terminus are advanced accordingly!
27 August 1987 - NSE-liveried Mk 1 TSO coach No 4904 manages to reach Inverness then works to Kyle of Lochalsh and return!
2 September 1987 - Class 319/0 No 319002 - first of new Thameslink fleet of dual voltage EMUs - handed over to Chris Green in ceremony at BREL York.
12 September 1987 - NSE ‘Network Thamesday’ held at London’s South Bank Centre - a ‘festival of family fun’ featuring various entertainments, musicians, craft workshops, performing arts, river-based events, etc topped-off by an evening firework display!
19 September 1987 - East Grinstead ceremonial naming of 73004 Bluebell Railway by TV personality Johnny Morris at the newly-electrified terminus, the locomotive appropriately re-liveried in overall NSE blue (see 5 October).
19-27 September 1987 - Basingstoke £900,000 refurbishment completion celebrated by a Rail Week of events, climaxing in a show over the weekend of 26-27th in which the largest ever collection of BR diesel classes is exhibited; repeating the successful venture of the Andover rail event (22-23 March 1986), steam specials are again run over the Ludgershall branch, this time hauled by S&DR No 53809.
21 September 1987 - London Fenchurch Street £3m refurbished station officially opened - this is over-looked by a £28.5m commercial redevelopment (see 4 October 1984); the occasion is also the announcement of the intention to order a new £100m fleet of trains for the London Tilbury & Southend ‘misery line’, due in 1992.
Note: In the event Total Route Modernisation including resignalling and new trains was not completed until after privatisation (see 15 November 1991).
22 September 1987 - BR new Anglia Region announced - to take over area east of the ECML covering Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex from the Eastern Region; General Manager is John Edmonds, formerly Director Provincial, who takes up his appointment on 19 October (see 1 April 1988).
23 September 1987 - BR Vice-Chairman Geoffrey Myers retires and to be replaced by David Kirby.
26 September 1987 - Weymouth Quay tramway sees its last timetabled working - but will still be traversed by occasional specials.
-- September 1987 - Class 321/3 EMU first order authorised - 46 units (321301-46) for Great Eastern lines.
3 October 1987 - St Leonards West Marina depot closed, previously home base for the ‘Hastings’ DEMU fleet.
4 October 1987 - Silvertown renamed Silvertown & London City Airport - with imminent opening of latter nearby on 26 October.
5 October 1987 - Sanderstead - East Grinstead electrified services introduced;
celebratory gala weekend held 26-27 September with completion ceremony on 30 September presided over by Transport Secretary Paul Channon and Chris Green.
5 October 1987 - Haddenham & Thame Parkway £430,000 new station opened on the Chiltern Line - located about ½ mile north of the former Haddenham (closed 7 January 1963) - and the 150th station opened since the 1963 Beeching report.
11 October 1987 - Chiltern Line renamed Thames & Chiltern upon transfer of area and London Marylebone from London Midland to Western Region - the boundary between the two regions now moved north from Aynho to Fenny Compton.
15-16 October 1987 - Severe Autumn storms lash Southern England overnight, with winds up to 100mph wreaking massive devastation - over 5,000 trees are felled with debris and landslips causing widespread travel disruption, including closure of many BR routes for several days; Dover Western Docks new train ferry pier is wrecked by £300,000 damage.
22 October 1987 - Class 319/0 No 319001 on trials proceeds onto the restored Snow Hill link - but on its first attempt blows a circuit breaker!
24 October 1987 - Network Day held again.
-- October 1987 - SR train-signal box radio to be fitted to 300 EMUs.
18 November 1987 - London Underground King’s Cross fire disaster - 31 tragically die and many more are injured in station inferno; accident report following inquiry by Desmond Fennell, QC is published 10 November 1988 and has major implications for ALL underground, sub-surface and enclosed stations, including BR - from 18 September 1989 strict new fire safety regulations come into force applicable to all such stations; a total ban on smoking is coupled with improvements to safety equipment, fire detector and extinguishing systems, emergency procedures, staff training, egress routes, etc.
19 November 1987 - London Euston new £500,000 concourse train indicator commissioned - reputedly the biggest liquid crystal display in the world.
1 December 1987 - Networker Class 465 EMU mock-up No ‘465501’ ceremonially unveiled at London Victoria concourse.
1 December 1987 - 319004/5 operate special from London Victoria conveying Secretary of State for Transport Paul Channon on a tour of the SR, including visiting the new Thameslink servicing facility at Selhurst and a trip over the restored Snow Hill link between London Blackfriars and Farringdon.
1 December 1987 - 319005 is the first of the class to enter service and in the evening works a London St Pancras - Luton peak extra, achieved in 23min 30sec - ½min faster than the previous best start-to-stop timing by a Class 317.
7 December 1987 - BR rolling stock fleet allocated to the individual sectors.
11 December 1987 - Great Northern surprise visitor is West Highland green and cream liveried Mk 1 set hauled by 86403 on the 1635 London King’s Cross - Peterborough, drafted in due to an EMU shortage - reason: the set is now maintenance responsibility of Bounds Green depot in place of Polmadie.
18 December 1987 - Class 442 5-WES No 2401 handed over to NSE at BREL Derby works - first of the £37m fleet of 24 new 100mph EMUs for electrification to Weymouth under the ‘Wessex Electrics’ banner.
19 January 1987 - Bishops Stortford - Cambridge electric services commence - 305507/18 work the first early-morning train; 86401 was repainted in NSE livery for the ceremonial launch planned for the 17th, which unfortunately had to be abandoned due to the severe winter weather, eventually being held on 23 March.
7 February 1987 - Huntingdon Up bay Platform No 1 electrified and retained to cope with forecast service demand - closure was the original plan.
23 February 1987 - Waterloo & City line Class 487 refurbishment sponsorship deal with Allied-Lyons - in return for on-train advertising of the company; the first train is ceremonially unveiled at Bank.
28 February 1987 - Island Line EMU 485045 is first to enter traffic repainted in NSE livery.
4 March 1987 - Royston - Shepreth Branch Junction £2.5m ‘infill electrification’ approved - enables extension of Great Northern services to Cambridge - justified in savings in rolling stock and maintenance costs, the link presently being worked by ageing Modernisation Plan DMUs in need of replacement; 23 March - inaugural works train hauled by NSE-liveried 47576 ‘waved off’ from Cambridge by David Mitchell, Minister of State for Transport (see 2 May 1988).
23 March 1987 - London Liverpool Street - Cambridge special hauled by 86401 sets new 48min time - 7min better than the previous steam record; ceremonial launch train for Bishops Stortford - Cambridge electrification with David Mitchell, Minister of State for Transport aboard.
31 March 1987 - BR annual report 1986/7: NSE sees continuing rise in passenger numbers with an increase of 4.5% over the year (10% since 1984/5) - with receipts up 10% to £660m and subsidy reduced by 21% to £196m.
11 April 1987 - Network Day held again.
13 April 1987 - Kettering - Corby passenger services restored on an experimental basis with reopening of latter station; services had previously ceased on 18 April 1966.
20 April 1987 - Ramsgate - 12-car empty stock EMU overshoots siding buffers leaving Driver precariously trapped 30ft in the air!
3 May 1987 - Bishops Stortford - Cambridge special £1 unlimited travel ticket to promote new electric services.
3 May 1987 - Dunstable - Luton sees its first passenger trains since their withdrawal back on 26 April 1965 when the return ‘Dunstabelle’ excursion to Brighton operates formed of 33119 plus 4-TC No 8019; the local ‘ADAPT’ campaign group seeks permanent reopening of the line.
7 May 1987 - North London Link wins the ‘Minister of State for Transport’s Cup’ six-monthly award for NSE’s highest service standards, presented in a ceremony by Minister David Mitchell; the improved services have seen revenue up by 26%.
8 May 1987 - ECML electrification second stage, Huntingdon - Peterborough, commissioned no less than five months early, today’s inaugural train formed of new 317369 - the first of four for these service - waved away from Peterborough by HRH Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alice; a commemorative plaque is unveiled inside the unit to mark the event; the section had been energised on 16 March with full services from 11 May.
11 May 1987 - Second Class redesignated Standard Class across BR.
11 May 1987 - new timetable highlights:
-Huntingdon - Peterborough; ECML electrification extension, including full commuter services through to London King’s Cross; final DMU services on 10 May featured Cravens Class 105 ‘heritage’ unit 53359+54122;
-Ipswich - Norwich; electrified services introduced with through working from London Liverpool Street; most are loco-hauled, but Class 309 ‘Clacton’ EMUs are booked for some, Saturdays Only;
-Bishops Stortford - Cambridge; full electrified services including through to London Liverpool Street;
-Oxford - Bicester Town reopened along with latter station, services provided on an experimental basis funded by the various local councils to assist easing traffic congestion into Oxford; services previously withdrawn 1 January 1968 (Oxford - Cambridge) when station was named Bicester London Road;
-Lake new station opens on the Isle of Wight.
15 May 1987 - Abbey Wood £700,000 new station building officially opened.
31 May 1987 - Isle of Wight Steam Railway Wootton terminus ceremonially reopened by Chris Green, who pledges support for restoration of railway to re-link with NSE line at Smallbrook Junction.
11 June 1987 - General Election re-elects Conservative Government with 102 seat majority, Margaret Thatcher continues as Prime Minister.
13 June 1987 - Paul Channon is appointed as the new Secretary of State for Transport replacing John Moore.
20 June 1987 - Aylesbury rail day and rolling stock exhibition includes LNER Class A4 No 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley.
27 June 1987 - Gravesend station mini-exhibition of rolling stock is NSE’s contribution to the local festival.
-- June 1987 - Thameslink Class 319/0 order increased from 46 to 60 units due to buoyant traffic - passengers on the London - Bedford route are up 50% in the four years since electrification.
2 July 1987 - NSE Network Gold Card launched as a replacement for the existing Annual Season Ticket and Capital Card; the new card also includes the facilities of a Network Card for the holder and a second named adult.
11 July 1987 - Station car parks - over 95% made free for passengers at weekends to encourage more leisure travellers.
11 July 1987 - Oxted new signal box opened - first on SR with Solid State Interlocking (SSI) - replacing the manual boxes here and at Hurst Green Junction and Lingfield; a week later (18th) East Grinstead box is abolished, with resignalling of the line completed on the 27th in advance of electrification (see 5 October 1987).
16 July 1987 - Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey electrification authorised.
22 July 1987 - Winchester £800,000 refurbishment first phase completed.
30 July 1987 - London Docklands Light Railway officially opened by HM The Queen with passenger services over this first part, consisting of two routes - Tower Gateway and Stratford to Island Gardens - commencing on 31 August. A vital part of regeneration of this run-down area, the railway will prove a great success and be greatly expanded over the years ahead with new routes, some using disused railway alignments.
1 August 1987 - NSE ‘Network Children’s Day’ held at London’s South Bank Centre.
12 August 1987 - Snow Hill link between London Blackfriars and Farringdon reopened - initially for testing and training; delayed deliveries of new Class 319/0 dual-voltage EMUs ultimately means introduction of new Thameslink service is delayed from the intended October 1987 date to 16 May 1988.
12 August 1987 - Walton-on-Naze station partly demolished when errant 313063 overruns the buffers, the Driver and 12 others being injured; cause - fault in train braking system; plans for reconstruction of the terminus are advanced accordingly!
27 August 1987 - NSE-liveried Mk 1 TSO coach No 4904 manages to reach Inverness then works to Kyle of Lochalsh and return!
2 September 1987 - Class 319/0 No 319002 - first of new Thameslink fleet of dual voltage EMUs - handed over to Chris Green in ceremony at BREL York.
12 September 1987 - NSE ‘Network Thamesday’ held at London’s South Bank Centre - a ‘festival of family fun’ featuring various entertainments, musicians, craft workshops, performing arts, river-based events, etc topped-off by an evening firework display!
19 September 1987 - East Grinstead ceremonial naming of 73004 Bluebell Railway by TV personality Johnny Morris at the newly-electrified terminus, the locomotive appropriately re-liveried in overall NSE blue (see 5 October).
19-27 September 1987 - Basingstoke £900,000 refurbishment completion celebrated by a Rail Week of events, climaxing in a show over the weekend of 26-27th in which the largest ever collection of BR diesel classes is exhibited; repeating the successful venture of the Andover rail event (22-23 March 1986), steam specials are again run over the Ludgershall branch, this time hauled by S&DR No 53809.
21 September 1987 - London Fenchurch Street £3m refurbished station officially opened - this is over-looked by a £28.5m commercial redevelopment (see 4 October 1984); the occasion is also the announcement of the intention to order a new £100m fleet of trains for the London Tilbury & Southend ‘misery line’, due in 1992.
Note: In the event Total Route Modernisation including resignalling and new trains was not completed until after privatisation (see 15 November 1991).
22 September 1987 - BR new Anglia Region announced - to take over area east of the ECML covering Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex from the Eastern Region; General Manager is John Edmonds, formerly Director Provincial, who takes up his appointment on 19 October (see 1 April 1988).
23 September 1987 - BR Vice-Chairman Geoffrey Myers retires and to be replaced by David Kirby.
26 September 1987 - Weymouth Quay tramway sees its last timetabled working - but will still be traversed by occasional specials.
-- September 1987 - Class 321/3 EMU first order authorised - 46 units (321301-46) for Great Eastern lines.
3 October 1987 - St Leonards West Marina depot closed, previously home base for the ‘Hastings’ DEMU fleet.
4 October 1987 - Silvertown renamed Silvertown & London City Airport - with imminent opening of latter nearby on 26 October.
5 October 1987 - Sanderstead - East Grinstead electrified services introduced;
celebratory gala weekend held 26-27 September with completion ceremony on 30 September presided over by Transport Secretary Paul Channon and Chris Green.
5 October 1987 - Haddenham & Thame Parkway £430,000 new station opened on the Chiltern Line - located about ½ mile north of the former Haddenham (closed 7 January 1963) - and the 150th station opened since the 1963 Beeching report.
11 October 1987 - Chiltern Line renamed Thames & Chiltern upon transfer of area and London Marylebone from London Midland to Western Region - the boundary between the two regions now moved north from Aynho to Fenny Compton.
15-16 October 1987 - Severe Autumn storms lash Southern England overnight, with winds up to 100mph wreaking massive devastation - over 5,000 trees are felled with debris and landslips causing widespread travel disruption, including closure of many BR routes for several days; Dover Western Docks new train ferry pier is wrecked by £300,000 damage.
22 October 1987 - Class 319/0 No 319001 on trials proceeds onto the restored Snow Hill link - but on its first attempt blows a circuit breaker!
24 October 1987 - Network Day held again.
-- October 1987 - SR train-signal box radio to be fitted to 300 EMUs.
18 November 1987 - London Underground King’s Cross fire disaster - 31 tragically die and many more are injured in station inferno; accident report following inquiry by Desmond Fennell, QC is published 10 November 1988 and has major implications for ALL underground, sub-surface and enclosed stations, including BR - from 18 September 1989 strict new fire safety regulations come into force applicable to all such stations; a total ban on smoking is coupled with improvements to safety equipment, fire detector and extinguishing systems, emergency procedures, staff training, egress routes, etc.
19 November 1987 - London Euston new £500,000 concourse train indicator commissioned - reputedly the biggest liquid crystal display in the world.
1 December 1987 - Networker Class 465 EMU mock-up No ‘465501’ ceremonially unveiled at London Victoria concourse.
1 December 1987 - 319004/5 operate special from London Victoria conveying Secretary of State for Transport Paul Channon on a tour of the SR, including visiting the new Thameslink servicing facility at Selhurst and a trip over the restored Snow Hill link between London Blackfriars and Farringdon.
1 December 1987 - 319005 is the first of the class to enter service and in the evening works a London St Pancras - Luton peak extra, achieved in 23min 30sec - ½min faster than the previous best start-to-stop timing by a Class 317.
7 December 1987 - BR rolling stock fleet allocated to the individual sectors.
11 December 1987 - Great Northern surprise visitor is West Highland green and cream liveried Mk 1 set hauled by 86403 on the 1635 London King’s Cross - Peterborough, drafted in due to an EMU shortage - reason: the set is now maintenance responsibility of Bounds Green depot in place of Polmadie.
18 December 1987 - Class 442 5-WES No 2401 handed over to NSE at BREL Derby works - first of the £37m fleet of 24 new 100mph EMUs for electrification to Weymouth under the ‘Wessex Electrics’ banner.