Brantham TMD

Brantham / Harwich TMD

Location
Location	[a]
Characteristics
Owner	St Francis Group
Operator	Greater Anglia

Brantham TMD was to be a depot that was planned for Greater Anglia off the Great Eastern Main Line in Brantham. Construction was halted in April 2018 due to council concerns and in July 2019 planning permission was obtained for an alternative location between Dovercourt and Harwich International.

History

In February 2017, Greater Anglia announced it would build a new depot on the site a former Imperial Chemical Industries factory in Brantham off the Great Eastern Main Line east of Manningtree station.^[1][2][3] Planned to open in 2018, it was to be the home depot for Greater Anglia's new fleet of Class 745 and Class 755 Stadler Flirts.^[4] It is being built by Taylor Woodrow.^[5] In April 2018 construction was halted after the council raised concerns about frequent train moves blocking a level crossing.^[6][7] In December 2018, Greater Anglia confirmed it had decided not to proceed with the depot.^[8]

In July 2019, Greater Anglia obtained planning permission from Tendring Council to construct the depot on the outskirts of Harwich between Dovercourt and Harwich International. The depot was set to provide joys for between eight and 12 engineers to support the Bombardier Aventra trains that are due to be introduced towards the end of 2019. Maintenance and servicing is expected to occur mostly overnight and the depot will be equipped with a wheel lathe to address flatspots.^[9]

As of January 2021^[update], work on the site had not commenced and the company was not able to confirm when it would start, despite the new Aventra trains being set to be introduced on all lines by summer 2022. ^[10]

Notes and references

Notes

1. The depot is now planned to be built on the outskirts of Harwich

References

1. Abellio unveils plans for new £70 million state-of-the-art depot near Manningtree Daily Gazette 10 February 2017
2. New rail depot unveiled by Greater Anglia at Brantham on Suffolk/Essex border East Anglian Daily Times 10 February 2017
3. Plans unveiled for new depot near Manningtree Great Anglia 13 February 2017
4. GA commits to delivering new £70m depot Rail 13 February 2017
5. New Depot Contract Award for Taylor Woodrow at Brantham near Manningtree Taylor Woodrow
6. "£40 million Norwich Crown Point upgrade under way". Rail. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
7. Milner, Chris, ed. (April 2018). "Greater Anglia forced to seek alternatives for new depot". Headline News. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 164, no. 1405. p. 8.
8. GA seeks new maintenance depot site after rejecting Brantham Rail issue 868 19 December 2018 page 28
9. Geater, Paul (6 July 2019). "Rail depot gets green signal as new trains are on their way to the east". East Anglian Daily Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
10. Geater, Paul (16 January 2021). "Greater Anglia gears up for the arrival of all its new train fleet". East Anglian Daily Times. A new depot has been planned for Parkeston on the outskirts of Harwich - but there is no firm date for work to start on that and the company could not say whether it would be going ahead with it.