How To Parallel Park
This video has become a YouTube hit.
Waitrose ‘Can Add 50 % To The Price Of Your Home’
The Standard also reports this.
I’ve got three within a simple bus ride, but I have a feeling that one will turn up nearer in the next couple of years.
The Jubilee Line Bites London Again!
According to this article in the Evening Standard, the Jubilee line is being shut by the wrong kind of water.
The Jubilee line is to be shut for more than 30 days over the next two years in central London because acidic water is eating into the cast iron linings of the tunnel walls.
Services will be halted in both directions between Finchley Road and Waterloo for major repairs costing £40 million.
Why has the Jubilee line got it in for London, as when a line goes berserk, it is often that line, which was opened for the Millennium? When I use the line, there seems to be a higher chance of trouble compared to the other lines.
It would appear that the problem is in the first section of the Jubilee line that was built in the 1970s. The tunnels seem to use iron linings and it is interesting that Crossrail is manufacturing all of its linings out of concrete.
I do wonder what other problems will turn up on London’s most troublesome Underground line!
At least on the BBC News tonight, they showed how the repair techniques were being tested in the old Charing Cross platforms, which were last used for Skyfall. So hopefully, they’ll find a way to cut the closure of the line to a minimum.
Not Very Correct French
French Railways or SNCF has just introduced a budget low-cost TGV service . They’ve called it Ouigo, which I assumed is pronounced “we go”.
I thought the French had laws against the language of the dreaded rosbifs!
But it is a concept that might just have enough to succeed.
Would I use it?
Probably not, as it seems to be tied into French mobile phones and post codes. But I had read that the web site was only in French, but it’s now also in English. So I suspect that in a few months, it’ll be as easy to use as easyJet or Ryanair.
I shall certainly try it on one of my trips back from somewhere in Southern Europe.
Lea Bridge Station May Be Reopened
Tucked away in the May 2013 edition of Modern Railways, is a statement that Lea Bridge station in Walthamstow may be reopened.
If they do reopen the station and the nearby Hall Farm Curve, this would link the Chingford branch directly to the Lea Valley Lines. Wikipedia says this about the project.
Transport for London ran a study on the feasibility of reopening the curve for 2016 that produced a result with a benefit-cost ratio ranging between 8:1 and 14:1 depending on the length of trains involved. In 2007, the Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy published by Network Rail suggested that construction of the curve could be possible by 2019 or later.
Designs for new services run using the curve have been suggested to reduce journey times between Walthamstow and Stratford or Tottenham Hale to 12 minutes from their current duration of 34 minutes and 43 minutes respectively.
It would appear that house prices in Walthamstow and Chingford should soon be on the rise, if the project goes ahead.
I believe that small projects like this can often give great benefit to passengers and the railways. This one is one of three that have just been proposed. The others are Ilkeston and Pye Corner. They all follow Cambridge Science Park station, which will start construction next year.
The Cost Of A UKIP Government
According to the Times today, there is a big black hole in UKIP’s plans based on their 2010 manifesto. They postulate a figure of £120 billion, which probably has a margin of error.
It shows that those out of power can promise the earth, even if they won’t ever be able to deliver.
But I hadn’t realised until now, that Farage and UKIP want to bring back smoking in pubs. I think now, that would probably be a big vote loser, as we’ve all got used to cleaner air in bars and restaurants.
I May Not Be Old Enough To Listen To Radio 2, But I Did Get Invited To Take Part
I was invited to appear on the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 today, even though I’m not old enough to listen regularly.
If they put it on-line, I’ll give a link.
Are Virgin Trains Going To Go Faster?
With trains, it has always been known, that the faster you go, the more passengers you attract.
So when you get a headline of Virgin mulls 135 mph working in Modern Railways, you suspect that they are working on faster trains.
After all the Class 390 Pendolinos are capable of 140 mph, but are limited to 125 mph in service.
At present, most trains to both Liverpool and Manchester take about eight minutes over two hours from Euston, but one train a day does it in two hours. So to lose that eight minutes and get all trains on the headline-grabbing two hours, would mean an average speed increase of 6.25%. If the average journey speed bears a direct relationship to the train’s maximum speed, then by increasing the current maxium from 125 mph to 135 mph is a rise of 8.0%.
So is this where the conservative figure of 135 mph came from? It is just enough to get all London to Liverpool and Manchester trains just under that magic two hours, that will give a sensible return for the cost of the extra speed and the track and signalling improvements?
Applying the same rules to the Glasgow time of four hours and thirty minutes, could give a speed reduction to four hours and ten minutes.
So on a rough and ready cakculation, Virgin’s op speed of 135 mph, could bring a great improvement to the West Coast Main Line. Remember that the rebuild of the line in the early 2000s was intended to deliver a London Manchester time of an hour and forty five minutes.
Riding The DLR To The Cable Car
On Sunday, I did my usual trip from Royal Victoria to North Greenwich on the Emirates Air-Line. I took these pictures as I progressed along the DLR to Royal Victoria Docks station.
There is a lot to see!
On any Sunday with good weather, it is an enjoyable trip to do a circular route.
I would start early, by going on the roof of One New Change for the amazing views of St. Paul’s.
Then a quick walk to Bank and take a DLR train to Royal Victoria station. You might not get one direct on a Sunday, so change at either Shadwell, Poplar or Canning Town.
The cable car is close by the DLR station and don’t forget to use an Oyster card to cross to the other side, as it’s cheaper and you don’t have to queue.
At North Greenwich there is quite a few places to eat by the O2 Arena.
You can continue in one of two ways. Either take the Jubilee line from North Greenwich station to Canary Wharf or take a bus to the centre of historic Maritime Greenwich.
If you take the second option, you can take another DLR train from Cutty Sark station to Canary Wharf.
Canary Wharf is a good place to eat lunch and also do some shopping, as a lot of the best shops are there.
After Canary Wharf, I take the Jubilee line, back to London Bridge station, where you can see The Shard, London’s forgotten cathedral; Southwark, Borough Market and the other attractions between London and Tower bridges.
The Plight Of The Bees
It would appear that bees are not doing well. Over the years, I’ve known a few people who kept bees and we even had a Primary School teacher called Adams, who was a bee enthusiast and sometime keeper. My physio at the Angel, was even given a jar of Stamford Hill honey from an Orthodox Jewish client. Read why honey is kosher here.
I like my honey and I would miss it, if it disappeared, so I’m watching the arguments on whether neonicotinoids should be banned. Many of the arguments are outlined is this article from the BBC in Scotland, about whether if a ban is brought in, Scotland should delay implementation.
It is the classic argument, where commercial interests, which in this case are farmers and pesticide manufacturers are arguing against the emotions of various lobby groups.
We seem to be getting a lot of arguments like this these days, with fracking, nuclear power, waste incinerators and HS2 producing similar stands-off.
With the bees and neonicotinoids, there is a solution and that is research, performed scientifically over a period of years. But I suspect both sides of the argument, would probably not want to wait for any conclusions and then if it was against their views, they wouldn’t accept it anyway.
Janice Turner in the Times last week, published an article entitled, Hectoring won’t persuade the MMR-deniers. The title alone says it all, about those who are against MMR.
So this argument about bees and neonicotinoids, will buzz on for years.
The Anonymous Widower 