Underground Humour
This sign was displayed at Paddington Underground station today.
The staff do try to lighten the journey.
The Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash Memorial
I didn’t know there was a memorial to the Ladbroke Grove rail crash.
It’s tucked away in a quiet corner just outside the large Sainsburys at Ladbroke Grove.
Work On Lea Bridge Station Has Officially Started
I have found a couple of news reports that Volker Fitzpatrick have now started to build Lea Bridge station.
But both are subscription only, so I suspect they wouldn’t like me to cut and paste them.
There is this press release on the Waltham Forest web site, which has been used by the two reports I found. This is the first paragraph.
Commuters in east London’s Leyton will soon be able to reach two of the capital’s key transport hubs in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. After 30 years of closure, Lea Bridge Station is re-opening to passengers next year, marking the culmination of a 15 year vision for Waltham Forest Council.
A report in the Yellow Advertiser says this about the design of the station.
The new building is to include two new platforms, a new footbridge and lifts, station canopy, ticket vending machines, Oyster readers, waiting shelters, help points and cycle storage.
So I suspect we’ll see a Grand Opening when the timetables change around the end of May.
Let’s hope Volker Fitzpatrick get their skates on!
It would be great, if the reinstatement of the Hall Farm Curve could be approved by the Government, so that passengers can get from Walthamstow and Chingford to Stratford.
Opening the Hall Farm Curve and providing perhaps a half-hourly service between Walthamstow/Chingford area and Lea Bridge/Stratford, would create an easy link for the area to Crossrail. If they used the footbridge and/or lifts at Lea Bridge station, this would give access between the area and up the Lea Valley to Stansted Airport and Cambridge.
Tom Dixon’s Water Tower House
As I walked from Kensal Rise station to Ladbroke Grove, I couldn’t avoid seeing this building by the Grand Union Canal.
It is a house created by Tom Dixon from a water tower. This page on the inhabit web site gives more details.
This Google Map shows the area, where a bridge carries Ladbroke Grove over the Grand Union Canal.
Grand Union Canal At Ladbroke Grove
The house is the round structure on the South side of the canal, by the bridge, to the right of the long silver building.
On the canalside in front of the house and the silver building is another interesting structure.
It is a Monitoring Station for the electricity cable networks that are run by National Grid. It appears to be in a state of refurbishment at the moment, which stopped me taking a picture of the plate which gave details of its function.
Kensal Rise Station
Kensal Rise Station is being updated with a lift on the Eastbound platform.
If you compare the state of this station with that of Prittlewell, it illustrates how it was right for London Overground to takeover the Lea Valley Lines from Abellio Greater Anglia.
A Bookies With A Clock Tower
Corals Betting Shop in Hackney has an interesting juxta-position with St.Augustine’s Tower.
A Bookies With A Clock Tower
The tower and its contents are Grade 1 Listed.
Prittlewell Station
After my doctor’s appointment, I came back from Prittlewell station.
The pictures show that it is getting the standard level of care from Abellio Greater Anglia. The Class 321 Train was certainly living up to its nickname of a Dusty Bin.
But if I’m honest, I wouldn’t be sorry if Abellio Greater Anglia didn’t keep the East Anglian rail franchise, when it is renewed.
At present the management just don’t seem to care, if the poor state of the stations and trains, and the service they provide are anything to go by. Just to look at say Hackney Downs station after the London Overground takeover, to see what a good deep clean and some paint will do.
A Double-Sided Station
Southend Central station is one with an unusual layout. It is just off the High Street in Southend, as this Google Map shows.
Southend Central Station
The main station buildings are on the Southern side of the line, but on the Northern side, there is another set of entrances and some facilities.
The pictures show both sides of the station and the bridge across the High Street.
It strikes me that if this station ever gets rebuilt, perhaps in conjunction with a shopping, residential, leisure or office development, the architect has a lot of scope to create a uniquely accessible building.
Rethinking HS2 And HS3
There is an article on the Rail News web site entitled Sheffield-Leeds HS2 route ‘to be shared with HS3’.
The article bases their article on a document called Rolling Stock Perspective, published by the Department of Transport and comes to the conclusion, that HS2 and HS3 may share tracks between Leeds and Sheffield.
In a post, which I called Whither HS2 and HS3?, I suggested HS2 and HS3 shared tracks between Manchester Interchange (Airport), Manchester and Leeds, and also said that both HS2 and HS3 should serve Leeds and Sheffield. So I might have got it right!
The one thing, I did get right in that post was the last statement.
The one thing we mustn’t do is build HS2 as it is currently designed, as we can do much better than is proposed.
Certainly, it appears that there is a lot of serious thinking going on in the design of HS2 and HS3. Today it was about linking HS2 and HS3, whereas yesterday it was about linking HS1 and HS2.
Who knows what idea will turn up next?
The Peer-to-Peer ISA Is Here
I don’t understand ISAs but I know a man or woman who claims they do. Read their article on the Zopa web site.
The Anonymous Widower 