London King’s Cross Station To Glasgow Central Station For £64.35
My plan on Friday, was to see if it was possible to get to Glasgow using the historic route of the Midland Railway’s Thames-Clyde Expresses.
I used two tickets and four trains.
My first ticket was from King’s Cross to Bradford Forster Square, which cost me just £24.55 with my Senior Railcard.
- I left on the 11:40, which was a nine-car train.
- The train reversed at Leeds.
- The train was eight minutes late into Bradford Forster Square station.
I took these pictures on my route North.
Note.
- The Biggleswade Wind Farm Is Only 20 MW.
- The new A 421 Extension Will Run between Black Cat and Caxton Gibbet.
- A large number of new buildings are going up on the approach to Leeds station.
- The train reversed at Leeds station.
- The reverse took ten minutes.
- The £100 million Shipley Traincare Centre is under construction.
- This page gives more details of the Shipley Traincare Centre.
- Bradford Forster Square station has been designed and build with four long platforms.
Have Network Rail designed the station, so that it can handle ten-car Leeds and Scotland services with a reverse?
- At Bradford Forster Square station, I bought a ticket to Glasgow Central/Queen Street stations for £39.80 with a Railcard.
- So that was my total expenditure of £64.35, as the coffee was free.
- My route would take me to Carlisle over the Settle and Carlisle Line.
- From Carlisle, I would take any of a number of trains to Glasgow Central station.
But first I would have to change trains at Shipley, where I took these pictures.
Note.
- Shipley station is built in the middle of a triangular junction.
- It has two footbridges.
- The station appears to have been improved greatly in recent years.
- The toilets are some of the best, I’ve seen in a railway station in England.
There are many worse stations to change trains.
From Shipley, I was a passenger in a very crowded Class 168 British Rail-era train.
But I did manage to take these pictures.
Note.
- The route is electrified as far as Skipton station.
- Several of the stations looked to be worth an extended visit.
New Study Identifies Foundation Standardisation, Lower Cost of Capital As Key To Floating Wind Competitiveness
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Standardising floating offshore wind foundations and reducing the cost of capital to bring it in line with fixed-bottom could deliver some of the largest cost reductions for the technology, according to a new report from the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.
These first three paragraphs add more detail.
The report sets out a methodology for identifying and tracking the factors that drive floating wind costs as the technology moves towards commercial scale and identifies 21 potential cost-reduction factors, concluding that cost reductions are likely to result from a sequence of measures as the industry matures rather than a single breakthrough.
Standardising floating substructure designs could reduce costs by up to 17 per cent, according to the analysis. ORE Catapult said more than 100 floating substructure designs are currently in the market, with greater standardisation expected to increase supply-chain confidence and reduce technical uncertainty.
The cost of capital was identified as the single largest cost-reduction lever. Bringing financing costs closer to those of fixed-bottom offshore wind could deliver almost 20 per cent in savings, the report found. Other factors include increased competition and advances in manufacturing.
Note.
- The report analysed floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea, North Sea and waters east of Shetland.
- Different technologies are covered.
- The floating wind industry must innovate to bring their costs down.
The report can be downloaded from this link.
I am sure, if they were working today, Henry Ford and other pioneers of the motor industry would have ideas for improving productivity in the floating wind industry.
Walking Across Glasgow City Centre – 3rd October 2026
I walked from my hotel, which was next to Glasgow High Street station to Glasgow Central station.
I took these pictures as I walked.
Note.
- The Moxy Hotel was fine with a good bed.
- Glasgow has liths with maps.
- George Square is being relaid with new paving.
- Kaffateria was excellentfor coffee and some gluten-free snacks.
- I walked to Glasgow Central station.
- There is an accessible electric bus for poor walkers.
I have a couple of thoughts.
Glasgow needs a credit card contactless ticketing system for both Glaswegians and visitors.
There needs to be a few more liths.
But what surprised me, is that how easy I walked across the city.
Balgray Station – 3rd October 2026
These pictures were taken at my quick visit to the new Balgraystation.
Note.
Glasgow Queen Street Station To London King’s Cross Station For £52.40
My plan this morning, was to come home via Hartlepool, so that I could take pictures of the nuclear power station there.
I intended to take a train from Glasgow Queen Street station to Newcastle and then take local train to Hartlepool and back to Newcastle, from where I’d buy a ticket and take a train to London King’s Cross.
Things went well until I left Edinburgh on my train for Newcastle.
- I’d bought a ticket from Glasgow Queen Street station to Newcastle for £21.20 with a Senior Railcard, with a change to LNER at Edinburgh.
- I even had a reserved seat after Edinburgh.
- I found a good unreserved seat on the 13:00 Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh train, which left on time.
- It arrived in Edinburgh a minute late.
- As Marks & Spencer was by the platform of my Newcastle train, I was able to buy a lunch before I got on the train.
It was then that I noticed that my train took over three hours to travel to Newcastle, when I know they normally take under ninety minutes.
As the train left Edinburgh, it passed through Haymarket station, which confirmed we were going for a Grand Tour of the Southern Uplands of Scotland.
Note.
- The train took the fully-electrified line from Haymarket to Carstairs junction, where it joined the West Coast Main Line.
- I amused myself by taking pictires of the large number of wind turbines along the route and motorways and arterial roads, that share the route.
- It is certainly a route where the hills are alive with spinning wind turbines.
Eventually we arrived in Carlisle, where I took more pictures.
Note.
- The train waited at Carlisle for about 10 minutes.
- It looks like Northern Trains might have been running a pair of Class 158 trains on the Settle and Carlisle Line to add capacity. Real Time Trains confirm that they were.
- The last picture has an LNER train going North in the background.
- Some passengers joined the train at Carlisle.
By the time we left Carlisle, we taken an hour and twenty-eight minutes from Edinburgh.
Our train, then took the Tyne Valley Line to Newcastle, where I took these pictures.
Note.
- It’s not called the Tyne Valley Line for nothing.
- I didn’t see a wind farm between Carlisle and Newcastle.
- The Tyne Valley Line can handle a pair of five-car Class 800 trains.
- The train was powered for 61.4 miles on diesel.
By the time we arrived in Newcastle, we had taken a minute over three hours from Edinburgh.
I decided that I didn’t have enough time to go to Hartlepool.
- I decided to buy a ticket for London King’s Cross.
- I paid £31.20, with my Senior Railcard, for a ticket on the 16:55 Lumo.
- Two hours and 49 minutes we arrived in King’s Cross.
- We were seven minutes late.
But it was an average speed of 95.4 mph.
I have a few thoughts on the journey.
The Ambience Of The Journey Would Have been Improved By Battery-Electric Trains
The only section of the journey between Edinburgh and Newcastle, that was not electrified was the section between Carlisle and Newcastle, which is 61.4 miles.
The journey would have been a lot quieter, if the Class 800 trains had been fitted with enough batteries, to run the route on battery-power.
Direct Train Between Brighton and Newcastle Take Next Steps
The title of this post, is the same as that, as this article on The Argus.
This is the sub-heading.
Plans for a new direct rail link connecting the north and south has taken its next steps
These two paragraphs add more details.
In December last year, Arriva submitted an application to regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for permission to launch a direct service between Brighton and Newcastle.
The operator said the service would run under its Grand Central brand and call at stations such as York, Sheffield, Birmingham New Street, Oxford, Reading and Gatwick Airport.
Arriva has since confirmed it has agreed to lease four additional class 180 trains from Angel Trains to support the proposed route.
As the trains would now appeared to be leased, it would appear, that the Government will be iapproving this open access service.
The story is also reported in the Northern Echo and the Yorkshire Post, so there will be a lot of dissappointed travellers, if the service doesn’t start.
Rolls-Royce Secures Deal For ŠKODA-Made Hardware To Drive The Next Generation Of Nuclear Power Stations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on techradar.
These three bullet-points act as sub-headings.
- Critical safety hardware for an upcoming range of Rolls-Royce’s turbine-equipped nuclear power stations is being provided by ŠKODA JS
- The Czech company will provide safety mechanisms for 470 MW reactors
- ŠKODA JS was bought by the Czech Republic’s state-backed electric power company ČEZ in 2022, removing it from its previous Russian owner, OMZ
These three paragraphs add more details.
Development of new nuclear plants based around Rolls-Royce turbines will feature critical safety hardware from ŠKODA JS, it has been announced. The Czechia-based company – once part of the old ŠKODA Works organization – will design and manufacture the Control Rod Drive Mechanisms, which are vital for regulating output and handling safety in emergencies.
The Rolls-Royce SMR (small modular reactor, but also referred to as UK SMR) is a reactor capable of outputting 470 MW of energy. That’s the equivalent of 150 onshore wind turbines, and offers a low-carbon, always on, and virtually invisible alternative to landscape-spoiling steel and fiberglass constructions.
Competition for nuclear hardware expertise is strong across Europe, and ŠKODA JS is considered a “tier-one” supplier. The deal is expected to be worth Kč 1 billion Czech Koruna (around £35 million) per Rolls-Royce power station.
In Clean, Affordable Energy For All, I said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see other countries join both projects, if they have something to offer. It looks like Skoda is a partner for Rolls-Royce.
Memorandum Of Understanding
The article also mentions a Memorandum of Understanding and says this.
Announcement of the ŠKODA JS built Control Rod Drive Mechanisms (CRDMs) follows an earlier Memorandum of Understanding with Rolls-Royce, in which the British company developed plans to develop sites in the Czech Republic, enabling deployment of up to 3GW of power.
That looks like the Czech Republic could be looking at six Rolls-Royce SMRs.
Conclusion
I must admit that I was a bit surprised that Rolls-Royce had gone to Skoda for such a critical component.
Consider.
- But in the 1960s, I put control systems on old machinery and you have to get it right.
- Skoda have probably worked with a lot of second-grade Russian hardware, so they make sure it works.
- Skoda are probably honoured to be working on such a prestige project.
- It might even be a tactic employed by Rolls-Ryce to get the best out of suppliers.
So long as it results in a safe and reliable reactor, who cares?
East West Rail Plan For 900 Bedford Parking Spaces
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Plans for 900 new parking spaces across three car parks in Bedford have been proposed as part of the East West Rail (EWR) project
These two paragraphs add more detail.
East West Rail Company (EWR Co) said 70% of the spaces would be to the east of Bedford station in a six-storey car park and a surface car park, both on Ashburnham Road.
The remaining spaces would be in a car park off Ford End Road.
My first reaction is borrowed from the incomparable John McEnroe and is “You cannot be serious!”, as why would the East West Rail Company need car parks, when they aren’t running trains, due to union opposition.
This Google Map shows the location of Bedford’s two stations and the proposed new car parks.
Note.
- Bedford station is in North-West corner on the map.
- Bedford station is served by Thameslink and Midland Main Line services.
- Ashburham Road, where two car parks will be located, is to the East of the station.
- Ford End Road, where the other car park will be located, is to the South of the station.
- Bedford train depot is also South of the station.
- Bedford St. John’s station is in South-East corner on the map.
- Bedford Hospital is t the West of Bedford St. John’s station.
Does Bedford have a planning problem because of the River Great Ouse running through the middle?
The BBC article does have an, impressionist-style visualisation of the Ashburham Road car park.
Will the actual car park be as tasteful?
Could A Highview Power CRYOBattery Be Mounted On An Offshore Platform?
In the early days of North Sea Oil and Gas, I was asked to help two Cambridge University engineering professors, with the mathematics and some of the problems, they were having with a revolutionary design of oil or gas platform.
I was convinced it would have worked, but sadly they were unable to sell the design to even a single customer and the company folded.
I have been following a company called Highview power and their CRYOBatteries, which store electricity as liquid air.
I just wonder, if the Cambridge design could be adapted to hold say a 50MW/300 MWh CRYOBattery, which could then be erected alongside the wind turbines in a wind farm.
This battery would then smooth the output of the wind farm.
Centrica And Canada’s Ksi Lisims LNG Sign HoA For Long-Term LNG Supply
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Centrica and Ksi Lisims LNG LP have entered into a Heads of Agreement (HOA) for the sale and purchase of 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG. Sales to Centrica will be on a free-on-board basis for 20 years and are subject to the completion of a Sale and Purchase Agreement.
These two paragraphs, add more details.
This long-term agreement strengthens the resilience of Centrica’s LNG portfolio, adding reliable supply for its customers during a time of continued volatility in global energy markets.
With this announcement, Ksi Lisims LNG has now entered into long-term supply agreements or Heads of Agreement covering 9 mtpa of its planned 12 mtpa capacity.
The next paragraph shows how LNG is moving towards low-emission and low-carbon.
Ksi Lisims LNG is a proposed 12 mtpa floating export facility located on the northwest coast of British Columbia, developed in partnership between the Nisga’a Nation, Rockies LNG, and Western LNG. It is designed to be one of the world’s lowest-emission LNG projects, using renewable hydroelectricity from British Columbia’s grid to power liquefaction and cut carbon intensity by up to 90 per cent versus conventional plants.
The news item also states that they are in a genuine partnership with the Nisga’a Nation.
How Do Tankers Go From British Columbia To The Isle Of Grain?
I had to ask Google AI this question and received this answer.
Vessels travel from British Columbia (such as the Port of Vancouver or Prince Rupert) to the Grain LNG Terminal on the Isle of Grain in Kent, England, by sailing through the Pacific Ocean, transiting the Panama Canal, and crossing the Atlantic Ocean into the English Channel and the Thames Estuary.
The Maritime Route
Departure: Ships load cargo (such as liquefied natural gas or bulk goods) at a British Columbia port on Canada’s Pacific coast.
Pacific Leg: Vessels head south along the North American west coast or out into the Pacific.
The Panama Canal: Ships enter the canal to shortcut from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea / Atlantic Ocean.
Atlantic Crossing: From the Caribbean, vessels cross the open North Atlantic Ocean toward Europe.
European Approach: Ships enter the English Channel, pass through the Straits of Dover, and navigate into the Thames Estuary / River Medway to dock at the Isle of Grain.
It’s a long way.
This Must Be The Ninth Or Tenth Deal, Like This I’ve Found
Perhaps, if we can extract gas in a Canadian low emission/low carbon way from the North Sea, it may be better all round, as the gas wouldn’t have so far to go.
