Andy Burnham and Highview Power
Highview Power are building their first commercial-scale liquid-air battery at Carrington in Greater Manchester.
I typed the title of this post into Google AI, to see if anything enlightening turned up.
This is what I found.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has strongly championed the development of Highview Power’s pioneering £300m liquid air energy storage (LAES) facility in Carrington, Manchester. Burnham officially broke ground on the project, praising it as a massive boost for local green jobs and grid resilience.
The Carrington Project at a Glance
Location: Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park, Carrington, Greater Manchester
Capacity: 300MWh of storage and 50MW of output. The plant can supply clean power to roughly 480,000 homes.
Jobs: Created over 700 jobs in construction and the supply chain.
Technology: Stores excess energy from renewable sources (like wind and solar) as liquid air. It can hold energy for several weeks to release back into the grid when demand is high.
Andy Burnham’s Stance
Burnham views the Highview Power plant as a cornerstone of his plan to reindustrialize Greater Manchester and establish it as a global center of excellence for clean energy.
Hosting such advanced demonstration technology aligns perfectly with his Good Growth Fund and regional net-zero strategies.
Broader Significance
Backed by Centrica and the National Wealth Fund, the Carrington site is the first in a planned global rollout of large-scale, long-duration energy storage plants. Mayor Burnham officially broke ground on the facility, which remains on track to be fully operational in 2026.
Calls Grow For Direct Trains To New Universal Park
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading
There are growing calls for more train services to run directly to Universal’s planned UK theme park.
These two paragraphs add more details.
West Northamptonshire Council said it had written to the secretary of state for transport to ask that Northampton be included in passenger service plans for East West Rail.
It comes after Northampton South’s Labour MP Mike Reader raised the issue in the House of Commons, warning the current plans meant the town could “miss out on the opportunities” the park brings.
How Will Universal United Kingdom Resort Connect To The Rail System?
I asked Google AI the question above and received this answer.
The proposed Universal United Kingdom Resort near Bedford will connect to the rail system via two primary railway stations:
Wixams Station (Midland Main Line): A two-platform station currently under construction to the east of the site. Universal plans to expand this to four platforms to accommodate high visitor volume, connecting passengers directly to Thameslink services in about 45 minutes from Central London. A dedicated fleet of resort shuttle buses will run between Wixams and the park entrance.
East West Rail Station (Stewartby): A dedicated, purpose-built station is planned directly adjacent to the resort on the western side of the park. This will replace the older Kempston Hardwick station, providing high-capacity, five-carriage trains running between Oxford and Cambridge.
Together, these stations and surrounding road networks—such as the upcoming dedicated slip roads off the A421—will form the East and West Gateway Zones for the resort.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways in the are of the Universal United Kingdom Resort.
Note.
- The red track is the Midland Main Line between St. Pancras and Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.
- The black track is the East-West Rail between Bedford and Oxford when it opens.
- This section of the East-West Rail is shown dashed as it is not finalised yet
- The East-West Rail should eventually connect Oxford and Cambridge.
- The blue arrow indicates Stewartby station.
- The village of Wixams is at the right edge of the map.
If you read the Wikipedia entry for the new Wixams station, you get the impression, that a lot of groups and organisations don’t agree on lots of things about the railway, the theme park and Wixams station.
This second OpenRailwayMap shows the railways between Northampton and Bedford.
Note.
- The red tracks at the left are the West Coast Main Line between Euston and the North.
- The blue arrow indicates Northampton station.
- The red tracks at the right are the Midland Main Line between St. Pancras and the Midlands
- The black tracks connecting the two main lines are East-West Rail.
- The Western end of this section is at Bletchley, where the East-West Rail crosses the West Coast Main Line and also connects to it.
- The Eastern end of this section is at Bedford, where the East-West Rail joins the Midland Main Line through Bedford.
- Milton Keynes station is on the West Coast Main Line, just a few miles North of Bletchley station.
It looks to me, that a train could run between Northampton and Bedford stations, which could stop at Stewartby.
Are Universal United Kingdom Resort Going To Encourage Visitors To Use Rail?
I asked Google AI the question above and received this answer.
Yes, the Universal United Kingdom resort is making extensive plans to encourage and accommodate visitor travel by rail. The upcoming destination near Bedford is heavily integrating public transit into its infrastructure to manage the expected 8.5 million annual visitors.
The resort’s focus on railway accessibility includes several key features:
Dedicated Resort Station: Land has been explicitly reserved for a dedicated railway station directly at the resort on the East West Rail line, which connects Oxford and Cambridge.
Increased Train Frequency: To ensure seamless transportation, the East West Rail service plans to run up to five trains per hour during peak times specifically to cater to theme park visitors once it is fully operational.
Wixams Station Upgrades: A significant portion of a £1.3 billion government investment package is being utilized to construct and expand the nearby Wixams Railway Station, creating robust links along the Midland Mainline.
Initial Bus & Marston Vale Services: For the opening window of the park, Universal is setting up dedicated bus connections (such as from Milton Keynes) alongside existing local Marston Vale line options as full East West Rail expansions are completed.
Note how this question got slightly different answers to my original question, but they don’t conflict with each other.
I do find though with AI, that the more questions you ask and the more you refine those questions, the better answers you obtain.
But surely that is to be expected. Or at least hoped for!
Will Universal United Kingdom Resort Be Attracting Overseas Visitors?
I asked Google AI the question above and received this answer.
Yes, the Universal United Kingdom Resort will be a major draw for international tourists. Projections estimate that the park will attract well over one million overseas visitors annually, serving as a catalyst to boost Britain’s global visitor economy.
The resort’s target demographic is explicitly designed to tap into international travel markets:
International Forecasts: Tourism officials and developers project that up to one-third (30%) of all visitors in its opening year will be from overseas, with projections shifting toward a 40% to 50% international mix as the resort matures.
Global Location: As the only Universal-branded theme park in Europe, it will be highly accessible to travelers arriving through London’s major international airports and rail hubs.
Economic Boost: Because of this anticipated influx, the UK Government is backing the Universal United Kingdom Resort with £1.3 billion for strategic road and rail upgrades. This includes enhancing connectivity on the A421 and at Wixams train station to seamlessly transport international visitors directly to the Bedfordshire site.
Will Universal United Kingdom Resort Be Attracting Visitors From Scotland?
I asked Google AI the question above and received this answer.
Yes, the Universal United Kingdom Resort in Bedfordshire is expected to be a major draw for visitors from Scotland. As the first Universal-branded theme park in Europe, it is designed as a destination resort meant to attract millions of tourists annually from across the UK and the wider continent.
The projected 8.5 million annual visitors will be drawn from all over, driven by several key factors:
High-Speed Connectivity: Situated in Kempston, Bedfordshire, the resort is roughly 50 miles north of London. Scottish travelers can easily access it by taking direct train routes (e.g., LNER or Avanti West Coast) from Edinburgh and Glasgow to London Kings Cross or St Pancras, then catching connecting trains to Bedford in under an hour. Alternatively, direct flights into London Luton Airport place visitors within a very short distance of the park.
National Draw: Because it is the only destination of its kind in the UK, it is being positioned as a “must-visit” national tourist attraction, capturing a large domestic market extending well beyond the southeast of England.
I believe that travelling between Universal United Kingdom Resort and Scotland by rail could be improved significantly, if the following were to be done.
- Fit batteries to the Class 810 trains run by East Midlands Railway, so they could run between St. Pancras and Sheffield stations without using diesel. This in itself, would probably attract more passengers.
- I believe that little or no electrification would need to be added, so that Sheffield could be an all electric and probably faster, trip from London or Universal United Kingdom Resort.
- The battery-electric trains would need to be charged at Sheffield, but why not do this at Doncaster station, which is a station with copious electrification.
- Extending the Sheffield services to Doncaster would also allow LNER passengers between Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Newcastle and Derby or Universal United Kingdom Resort, to do the trip with a single cross-platform change at Doncaster between two almost identical Hitachi trains.
- Sadly, the Midland Main Line has suffered a tragic accident this week. Were passengers going between Scotland and say Luton Airport inconvenienced? I believe that linking the two London services together at Doncaster, would have advantages for passengers, operators and Network Rail. Especially, when engineering works are scheduled!
I talk about using battery-electric trains to fully electrify the Midland Main Line in Could Electric Trains Run Between St. Pancras International and Sheffield Stations With No More Electrification?
A Cruise Back From Chelsea Harbour Pier To London Bridge City Pier
Chelsea Harbour Pier is just about nine minutes walk from Imperial Wharf station, but the signposting could be better.
I took these pictures as I came back along the Thames from Chelsea Harbour Pier To London Bridge City Pier, from where I caught a 141 bus home.
Note.
- I sat on the right side of the boat.
- The boat was built at Cairns in Queensland, Australia.
- We don’t buy many manufactured goods from Australia.
- There is a small snack bar on the boat.
- Battersea Power Station Pier was busy.
- Western Riverside Waste Authority (WRWA) is the statutory body, or local authority, responsible for the management of the waste delivered to it by Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth and Wandsworth. It has a web site.
- I tapped in and out with my faithful credit card.
Although Imperial Wharf and my local station at Dalston Kingsland are on the same London Overground line, using the Thames Clipper made a worthwhile change.
Has Andy Burnham Made Any Comments About The Picc-Vic Tunnel?
This is the introductory paragraph for the Wikipedia entry for the Picc-Vic Tunnel.
Picc-Vic was a proposed, and later cancelled, underground railway designed in the early 1970s with the purpose of connecting two major mainline railway termini in Manchester city centre, England. The name Picc-Vic was a contraction of the two key station names, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria. The proposal envisaged the construction of an underground rail tunnel across Manchester city centre. The scheme was abandoned in 1977 during its proposal stages. The view was that the scheme still retained two large and expensive-to-maintain terminal stations in Manchester while other similarly sized cities had reduced their terminals to one.
Note.
- British Rail had a plan to improve the rail system in the North of England, by building rail tunnels under Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.
- Liverpool’s and Newcastle’s tunnels were built and are used by Merseyrail and the Newcastle Metro.
- Harold Wilson cancelled the Picc-Vic Tunnel, the TSR2, the Channel Tunnel and Maplin Airport, as he’d run out of taxpayer’s money.
I asked Google-AI, the question in the title of this post, and received this answer.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has made extensive comments about the Picc-Vic tunnel, effectively resurrecting the concept of an underground railway for the city.
Key details of his statements include:
The Vision: Burnham has tasked Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) with designing a conceptual underground system—which has been likened to a “Crossrail for Manchester”. He envisions two lines (North-South and East-West) intersecting at a new subterranean station at Manchester Piccadilly.
Rebranding the Concept: Acknowledging the original 1970s Picc-Vic plan that was ultimately shelved, Burnham views the new tunnel as an absolute necessity to cope with the city’s growth, stating “it is essential to the future economic prosperity of the city-region”.
Piccadilly Station: He is adamant that Manchester Piccadilly Station should be the “Kings Cross of the North”. He has pushed heavily against “cut-price” infrastructure, demanding an entirely underground railway option rather than sprawling over-ground train lines.
Next Steps: He has instructed officials to prepare detailed plans and cost estimates for the multi-billion pound project, with initial discussions on funding mechanisms already underway with the government.
You can read more about his 10-year strategy announcement on the BBC News report or follow local discourse on the Reddit Manchester threads.
Conclusion
If Andy Burnham is going to do all this for his beloved Manchester, can the rest of the country, afford him to be Prime Minister?
Olympia Exhibition Centre – 18th June 2026
I went back to Olympia today and took these pictures.
I don’t think, I’ll be going again, as they don’t seem to have any gluten-free food.
Is This The Fastest Way To Olympia?
The new Olympia Exhibition Centre is difficult to get to. Or it certainly is for me in East London.
I do have a train from my local station at Dalston Kingsland direct to Kensington (Olympia) station.
But as I indicated in Kensington (Olympia) Station – 16th June 2026, Kensington (Olympia) station doesn’t have lifts.
But lifts aren’t needed at Kensington (Olympia) station, if you use the bay platform of the District Line or the Northbound West London Line, as both platforms are level access.
As the District Line only runs occasionally, that’s not much use, but the West London Line has three stations to the South.
- Clapham Junction is good if you’re coming by National Rail, but it doesn’t have an Underground connection.
- Imperial Wharf serves mainly the local housing, but it is only a 250 yard walk to the River bus at Chelsea Harbour Pier.
- West Brompton is an interchange with the District Line with trains to Barking, Edgware Road and Wimbledon.
I wouldn’t be surprised that as more people visit Olympia, they will go via West Brompton.
Clapham Junction Station – Platform 0 – 18th June 2026
As I passed through Clapham Junction station, I took these pictures of Platform 0.
Note.
- Platform 0 has the red brackets along the back.
- Platform 1 has the Class 378 train for Stratford parked in it.
- There is a useful Costa Coffee, with a waiting room behind it on the platform.
Little seems to have changed since I wrote Barriers And Planters On The London Overground Platforms At Clapham Junction Station, except that the barriers and planters have been removed.
A Simple Way The Overground Could Operate
Surely, if Stratford trains used Platform 1 as they do now and Dalston Junction trains used the new Platform 0 would enable a much faster interchange between the two halves of the South London Line.
This OpenRailwayMap shows some platforms at Clapham Junction station.
Note.
- The orange tracks are generally tracks in platforms.
- The blue dots are platform numbers.
- The top orange line in Platform 1.
- The dotted line will be Platform 0.
I suspect that with a few extra junctions, the two halves of the South London Line could access the opposide sides of the island platform 0 and 1.
It would certainly speed up passengers on their way between East London and the Olympia Exhibition Centre.
Encomara’s Floating Wind Installation Technology Gets ABS Design Approval
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Encomara’s floating wind installation technology, Squid, has received Product Design Assessment (PDA) certification from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
These three paragraphs add more details.
The PDA follows an Approval in Principle (AiP) granted by ABS in November 2025 and moves the system a step closer to commercial deployment, according to Encomara, as it advances the technology along its qualification pathway towards Technology Readiness Level assessment and market adoption.
The technology is developed by Encomara and manufactured by Aurora Energy Services (AES), which acquired the Aberdeen-based company in 2025.
Squid integrates pre-installed mooring lines and electrical connections into a single subsea unit, enabling floating wind turbines to be connected using a “plug-and-play” approach.
In some ways the project reminds me of a floating oil and gas production platform, on which I did the calculations.
But the Balaena Structures design never sold a platform and the company, which was based in Cambridge, folded.
Encomara have a web site, which is well worth a visit.
Does Floating Wind Power Have A Higher Capacity Factor Than Fixed Foundation Wind Power?
I asked Google AI the question in the above sub-title and received this answer.
Yes. Floating wind power typically achieves higher capacity factors than fixed-foundation wind power.
The main reasons for this performance edge include:
Stronger, More Consistent Winds: Floating platforms allow turbines to be placed much further offshore, where wind speeds are higher, steadier, and less turbulent.
Access to Deeper Waters: Over 80% of deep-water offshore wind resources exist in waters too deep for fixed-bottom structures.
Performance Comparisons: Fixed offshore wind turbines typically see capacity factors ranging between 45% and 60% (depending on the location), whereas floating installations can push past 60%. For instance, the Hywind floating wind farm in Scotland achieved a capacity factor exceeding 65% in its first months of operation.
Despite this higher generation yield, floating wind technology is generally more complex and features higher installation and capital costs than fixed-bottom turbines.
I also believe that some of the floating wind technology, lends itself to advanced production and installation methods.
Toyota Hydrogen Cars At Le Mans
I gave the title of this post to Google AI and this is what I received.
Toyota is aggressively pushing hydrogen technology at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, moving beyond concepts to on-track public demonstrations of the TR LH2 Racing Prototype. Powered by a liquid-hydrogen combustion engine, the vehicle aims to showcase the viability of hydrogen as a near-zero emission fuel in endurance racing.
The TR LH2 Racing Prototype
The Vehicle: Built on the same chassis as Toyota’s TR010 HYBRID. It acts as a dedicated technology development platform to test hydrogen performance under extreme endurance conditions.
On-Track Debut: The prototype officially took to the track for demonstration laps at the 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe during the 94th Le Mans 24 Hours.
The Drivers: The vehicle was driven in special dynamic sessions by former Le Mans winner Kazuki Nakajima.
The Competition: Toyota’s demos also featured other pioneering hydrogen machines, including the Alpine Alpenglow and the Ligier Bosch JS2 RH2.
Long-Term Vision & Infrastructure
Timeline: The ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) is targeting the introduction of an official hydrogen class at Le Mans, with race entries potentially slated for upcoming endurance racing seasons.
Hydrogen Village: During the race week, Toyota highlighted the full hydrogen ecosystem.
Fans could explore the Hydrogen Village, which featured a functional TotalEnergies 700-bar liquid hydrogen refueling station.
Fuel Cell Support: Toyota’s commitment expanded to race operations, with official team staff and drivers utilizing hydrogen fuel cell buses and Toyota Hilux Fuel Cell prototypes during the event week.
Toyota seem serious about hydrogen.
Could Northern Trains Eliminate Diesel Trains From Newcastle Station?
Destinations served by Northern Trains from Newcastle, include the following stations.
- Ashington – 18.6 miles – Not-Electrified
- Carlisle – 61.5 miles – Electrified
- Chathill – 46 miles – Electrified
- Darlington – 36.1 miles – Electrified
- Hexham – 22 miles – Not-Electrified
- Morpeth – 16.6 miles – Electrified
- Nunthorpe – 51 miles – Not-Electrified
I believe that with short lengths of electrification at Nunthorpe and some platforms in Newcastle station, that battery-electric trains could serve all the routes to non-electrified stations, given that battery-electric trains seem to be capable of around a hundred miles on batteries.
The Anonymous Widower 