Homerton Station
I went to Homerton station today to see how the station was built and take some pictures.
The layout of the station is simple with a subway under the lines and steps and shallow ramps to both platforms. It is not true step-free access, but it is better than many other stations.
I did hear though that the station is going to be improved, by opening up a new entrance on the Northern side of the tracks. I also think that this would be an easier station to fit with lifts as there seems to be more space than at some stations. In fact, as it is near to a hospital lifts are surely essential.
The second entrance would also mean that there are both a bridge and a subway under the railway, which must make access easier, especially for those walking to and from the hospital.
I think that this station can be updated with a second entrance and lifts for a lot less than the eight million that is possibly be going to be spent at Hackney Wick station.
Freight At Hackney Wick Station
When I took the pictures, for the article about the redesign of that Hackney Wick station, two freight trains came through.
Is it just my feeling or are there more and longer freight trains on the North London Line?
The one that went west was particularly long. But at least it was electric hauled.
In all my searching for rail improvements in North and East London, I couldn’t find any plans for new freight routes to reduce the amount of freight traffic through the area.
The only positive thing is that the Gospel Oak to Barking Line is being electrified, which will mean that the trains will hopefully not be powered by noisy and smelly diesel locomotives.
So will we be seeing more freight trains going through in the middle of the night, as trains have to get past London on their way between. Felixstowe, Harwich, London Gateway and all the ports in the East to the West Coast Main Line and the Great Western?
The only partial solution is to electrify Felixstowe to Nuneaton via Peterborough and complete the East-West Rail Link to minimise traffic to and from Felixstowe going through London.
The only thing we can say about freight through North and East London, is that the problem will be get more and more difficult.
Imagine what would happen if the new Ultra Large Container Vessels started serving say Liverpool or Glasgow and then large numbers of containers were sent by rail through the Channel Tunnel to Europe. There have been plans to do this in the past as it saves time in getting goods from North America to Germany.
This Could Be An Interesting Way To Spend An Evening In Stockholm!
When I went on my wiuldlife tour looking for Sweden’s Mammals, the actual trip was organised by a company called Wild Sweden.
They’ve just sent me an e-mail talking about a Five hour wildlife safari in the evening, starting from Stockholm Central Station. It isn’t cheap but it does include dinner by a camp fire.
If I find myself in Stockholm this summer, I’ll certainly give it a try.
Women And Fraud
In all these frauds like MPs expenses, malpractices in the City and now FIFA, I can’t seem to remember a woman ever being involved.
Powered By Footsteps
These lights at Canary Wharf were on BBC yesterday morning.
The company is looking for funding on Crowdcube.
I think that this sort of technology could have its uses. But possibly more when it is integrated into a common unit!
London and other cities have thousands of entry gates for the rail systems. Think how you use these!
You walk up and as you go through the barrier you either enter your ticket in a slot and pick it up again or touch your contactless card on a reader. You may not come to a full stop, but you will check your walk and this will result in you feet pressing a bit harder on the space between the sides of the gate. Thus a pressure pad in every gate would generate a bit of electricity for the station.
Ticket Gates At Homerton
Such an application could be part of a comprehensive energy system for a station, where the warmth from passengers, solar power from the roof and other power sources are collected to make the station less dependent on electricity from the mains. Network Rail have already used energy collection in stations like Blackfriars and the new London Bridge, so footfall collection could be another tool to help.
It could also be used in say a remote unmanned ticket gate on a station, such as where a platform is very long and some passengers need to entry and exit perhaps a hundred metres from the staff.
But although there is a large number of entry gates in the UK and worldwide, I would suspect that the gate manufacturers would develop their own systems.
I wish Pavegen well, but I don’t think I shall be investing.
The Anonymous Widower 