Before Overground – The Step-Free Access Problem
If you look at stations on the London Overground, where a million or so has been spent on installing lifts or ramps to give step-free access, it would seem that the station needs over a million passengers a year before it is updated.
Some of the stations without step-free access on the Lea Valley Lines, like Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath and Southbury, have nowhere near a million passengers a year.
But then we don’t have before and after usage figures for stations like Camden Road and Hampstead Heath, where lifts have recently been installed. If say lifts and new and longer trains, do raise traffic substantially, it might make the installation of lifts more likely.
One of the problems with these lines is that in many stations the train lines are way above the street, so some of the simple ramps used at stations like Hackney Wick are not possible.
In some places, London Overground might not make the station step-free. Edmonton Green station will soon be step-free and as White Hart Lane is going to be rebuilt in all of the work to create a new ground for Tottenham Hotspur, would it be possible to improve the buses, which are already step-free to serve Silver Street and the North Middlesex Hospital.
It certainly is a complicated problem, with many people not wanting to be down the queue.
Match Nine – Ipswich 2 – Rotherham 0
My friend, Ian, must have felt disappointed with this match as he turned up a few minutes late and missed the two goals, which were scored in the first five minutes.
In the end, Ipswich held on to a scrappy win.
Before Overground – Bethnal Green
London Overground Have A Difficult Problem Here! – Rating 1/10
Bethnal Green station is probably why a doctor I know, left the area.
It was reasonably clean, but some of the things that passengers would like weren’t even there. In common with a lot of stations, there was no step-free access, but on the up platform, there wasn’t even any seats or a shelter.
Do London Overground really want to take control of this ruin?
Probably not, but on the other hand it does get a surprising number of over 700,000 passengers a year. And if the ones I saw today, struggling with kids and buggies on the stairs are typical, the station is a total disgrace!
To make matters worse, unlike Cambridge Heath, useful bus stops are not near the station.
Before Overground – Cambridge Heath
A Pretty Run-Down Station! – Rating 2/10
Cambridge Heath station has little going for it. The only positive thing that can be said about it, is that is not as much of a dump as Bethnal Green station.
It was reasonably clean and unlike one platform at Bethnal Green, the station did have seats and shelters. But the stairs were even worse!
One point about this station is that it is served by a reasonable number of buses, as this map shows. So if you have difficulty walking, have a baby in a buggy or are carrying something heavy, it may be easier to take a bus to a station with better access.
As it is not the busiest of stations with only 300,000 passengers a year, will London Overground bother to improve the access?
The Properties Of Turmeric
I’ve often thought that curries seem to perk me up and I posted about it two years ago.
Now there’s this report from Germany, entitled Brain Repair May Be Boosted By Curry Spice. Here’s a flavour.
A spice commonly found in curries may boost the brain’s ability to heal itself, according to a report in the journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.
The German study suggests a compound found in turmeric could encourage the growth of nerve cells thought to be part of the brain’s repair kit.
I think, I’m off for a curry tonight!
The Anonymous Widower 