Crossrail Release Aerial Views Of Stations
This page on the Crossrail web site has several up-to-date aerial views of stations.
This image shows the Crossrail station at Paddington station.
Crossrail have said this about the station.
The Elizabeth line station runs along the full length of the existing Paddington Main Line station. A 90 metre clear opening – a unique feature for an urban underground station design – will be covered by a dramatic steel and glass canopy eight metres above the ground that will allow natural light to flood down to the station platforms.
This Google Map shows Paddington station and where Crossrail comes to the surface to the West of Royal Oak station.
If you look in the top-left corner of the map, you can see a road named as Westbourne Park Villas. The foot-bridge across the railway from this road is the one in The Footbridge At Westbourne Park, from which I took pictures of the Crossrail tunnel portal at Royal Oak.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the layout of Crossrail and the Underground Lines at Paddington station.
So it looks like the Crossrail lines go under all the lines into Paddington and then they surface by the Westway, before going under the footbridge and linking with the main line out of Paddington.
A link between the Bakerloo Line and Crossrail is being constructed, which I wrote about in Paddington Is Operational Again, but is there going to be a link between the Circle/District Lines and Crossrail?
Custom House Station – 26th January 2017
Custom House station will close on the DLR on February 3rd until late December 2017, so I went to take some pictures to see how far the builders have got.
It would appear that not to much has changed since I last visited and wrote this post called Custom House Station – 24th July 2016.
What Is Happening At Old Oak Common?
I ask this question as I have just read this article on the New Civil Engineer web site which is entitled Old Oak Common Megadeck Momentum Slows.
This is said.
Momentum for the 7ha deck to be built over the Crossrail depot in the new Old Oak and Park Royal development in west London has slowed according to the chief executive of the regeneration body in charge of the work.
Sadiq Khan is blaming Boris, as any politician would.
It is truly a massive site, as this Google Map shows.
The two stations at the top of the map is Willesden Junction station.
Running across the map is the Great Western Main Line, with the various depots and Cargiant to the North.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines in the area.
This aerial view of the area is from Crossrail.
The megadeck is needed to go over much of this area, so that housing and other developments can be built.
Modern Trains From Old
In the February 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, there are several articles about the updating of old trains to a modern standard.
- Class 321 trains being given a Renatus treatment.
- Class 319 trains being converted into a bi-mode Class 319 Flex.
- Class 220, 221 and 222 trains being converted to bi-modes.
There was also an article about the revival of locomotive hauled trains called Long Live The Loco!
The Class 321 Renatus
Note the following about the Class 321 trains.
- There are a total of 117 of the four-car trains.
- ,The trains have a 100 mph capability.
- Many of them are in need of a refurbishment after nearly thirty years in service.
So train leasing company; Eversholt, has come up with a plan to create thirty Class 321 Renatus for Greater Anglia as a stop-gap until their new Aventras arrive in a couple of years time.
The updated trains will feature.
- New air-conditioning and heating systems
- New, safer seating throughout
- Larger vestibules for improved boarding and alighting
- Wi-Fi enabled for passengers and operator
- Improved space allocation for buggies, bicycles and luggage
- Passenger power sockets throughout
- New, energy efficient lighting
- One PRM compliant toilet and a second controlled emission toilet on each unit
- Complete renewal and remodelling of all interior surfaces
The trains will also be given an updated traction package, which is described on this page on the Vossloh Kiepe web site.
This is said.
In 2013, Eversholt Rail and Vossloh Kiepe embarked on the pre-series project to demonstrate modern AC traction on a Class 321 unit. The key objectives were to reduce journey time for passengers, improve reliability and maintainability, and reduce the total cost of operation through a combination of reduced energy consumption and regenerative braking.
The prototype certainly looks good in the pictures.
Eversholt is stated as believing that if the market likes these trains, then other operators could be interested and other trains might be converted.
The Class 319 Flex
I like this concept and I wrote about the Class 319 Flex in Porterbrook Launch A Tri-Mode Train.
I felt one of the first routes would to be to Windermere and Modern Railways says the same.
Northern are quoted as saying, that after the concept is proven, the trains will be made available to a wide range of operators.
Consider.
- There are 86 of the four-car units.
- They are 100 mph trains.
- They are Mark 3-based, so ride well.
- They can work on 750 VDC or 25 KVAC electrification.
- With diesel alternators, they can go virtually anywhere.
If the trains are a success, I think we’ll be very surprised as to the routes they work.
I also think that Porterbrook could keep a small fleet ready for immediate lease for the purposes, like the following.
- Proving the economics of new routes.
- Blockade busting.
- Extra capacity for special events.
- Replacement capacity after train problems or accidents.
I suspect Porterbrook have got lots of ideas. Some of which could be quite wacky!
Bi-Modus Operandi
This is the title of an article by Ian Walmsley in the magazine, who makes the case for adding an extra coach with a pantograph to the Class 220, 221 and 222 and effectively creating a bi-mode train.
The idea is not new and I wrote about it in The Part-Time Electric Train, after a long editorial comment in Modern Railways in 2010.
If anything, the case for convcersion is even better now, as quality high-speed bi-mode trains are desperately needed.
As the article suggests, they could sort out some of the other problems with the trains.
There are quite a few suitable trains.
- Class 220 trains – 34 trains of four cars.
- Class 221 trains – 43 trains of a mix of four and five cars.
- Class 222 trains – 27 trains of a mix of four, five and seven cars.
All are 125 mph trains.
The Vivarail Class 230 Train
The magazine also has an extensive report on the fire in a Class 230 train.
The report says that the definitive report will be published before the end of January, but on reading the detailed report of the damage, I think it will be some months before the rebuilt train is ready to roll.
In a post entitled Class 230 And Class 319 Flex Fight It Out, I came to this conclusion.
Vivarail will have a struggle to sell large numbers of trains, against a larger, faster, more capable train of proven reliability.
I stand by what I said.
Long Live The Loco!
This article describes the various uses of locomotive-hauled passenger trains on the UK rail network.
The title could be read another way, as it talks about the following locomotives.
- Class 37 locomotive – Built 1960-65
- Class 47 locomotive – Built 1962-68
- Class 68 locomotive – Built 2013-present
- Class 73 locomotive – Built 1962-67
- Class 90 locomotive – Built 1987-90
- Class 91 locomotive – Built 1988-91
- Class 92 locomotive – Built 1993-96
Some could not be considered modern, but they perform.
The article goes on to detail how TransPennine Express will use their new Mark 5A carriages.
- Wikipedia says each set will be composed of 1 first class car, 2 Standard class cars, 1 brake standard class car and a standard class driving trailer.
- Sets will be able to be lengthened if required.
- The trains will be worked push-pull between a Class 68 locomotive and a driving trailer.
- The coaches will have a 125 mph design speed for future-proofing reasons.
It is also said, that a Class 88 locomotive is not powerful enough under diesel power to operate on the TransPennine route.
So the article speculates, that there may be a place for a bi-mode locomotive with full diesel capability, given the success of the Hitachi bi-mode concept.
The article finishes by saying that as Chiltern and TransPennine have shown that push-pull operation is viable, could the concept become more widespread?
Upgrading Waterloo Station
Some reports are giving Network Rail a good kicking over a month-long closure in August of Waterloo station.
I will point readers to this article on Time Out, which is entitled Passengers have been told to avoid Waterloo station for a whole month during major re-building works, as it gives facts rather than emotion.
I have found this video on this page of the South West Trains web site.
It explains the problem well.
South West Trains summarise the work at Waterloo as follows.
- Create a spacious, modern and accessible station concourse by rebuilding the former Waterloo International Terminal.
- Increase services by bringing platforms 20–24 back into use and introducing modern facilities along with new track and signalling.
- Allow longer ten-carriage trains to run to suburban routes by extending platforms 1–4.
Time Out finish their article like this.
All the chaos is down to an £800 million upgrade of Waterloo and South West, which aims to provide 30 percent more space for passengers as well as faster, more frequent services. If anything, it could be a decent excuse to book a holiday somewhere sunny. That’s how we’re taking the news, anyway.
It is probably good advice.
An Upbeat View Of Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick is the sort of area of London, where traditionally it has dumped things that most people don’t want to know about. Although, the area does have a thriving artistic and indistrial community, much of the latter has moved out.
But this article in Building Design and Construction, which is entitled 25 Million Pounds Devoted to Hackney Wick For Upgrades, paints a very different upbeat view of the area.
So where has the money for the work come from?
- A million from Tower Hamlets Council.
- A million from Hackney Council.
There is also a sizeable donation from the London Legacy Development Corporation.
But then an updated Hackney Wick station, will provide much better access to the Olympic Stadium and all the housing being built around the Olympic Park.
The article finished like this.
Through this, the infrastructure of this particular area of North London will be greatly improved, allowing for better property conditions, better employment opportunities and of course better transport conditions for its locals. Mister Jon Fox of Transport for London also put in a word in for the advancement of Hackney Wick Overground, which will improve the conditions of millions of people from all over the capital.
We need a lot more well-designed and much better stations to generate growth.
Exploring The Route Of The Midland Metro Extension To Victoria Square
The extensions at both ends of the Midland Metro in Birmingham and Wolverhampton City Centres will be a first for the UK, in that they will be catenary-free and the trams will run on battery power.
This Google Map shows the area, where the initial extension will go in Birmingham City Centre.
Places of interest are.
- The cathedral is in the North-East corner.
- New Street station is in the South-East corner.
- Victoria Square and the Town Hall are just to the East of the middle.
- Centenary Square is towards the West side.
This description comes from this page on the Metro Alliance web site.
840m of twin track from Birmingham Grand Central at Stephenson Street, up Pinfold Street through Victoria Square, Paradise St, past Paradise Circus into Centenary Square at Broad St.There will be an intermediate stop outside the Town Hall in Victoria Square, and we will interface with the Navigation Street link.
One of the problems at the moment, is that the development of Paradise Birmingham, seems to sit in the middle of the route.
These pictures show the area of Victoria Square and the route up from New Street station.
Note.
- The steep hill of Pinfold Street.
- The route seemed to have been prepared ready for the track to be fitted into the road surface.
- Utilities seemed to have been moved.
- When I took the pictures, the Midland Metro had parked a tram at the limit of the current track at the bottom of Pinfold Street.
Climbing The Hill
You can’t accuse Birmingham of lacking ambition, as Pinfold Street is a proper hill.
But then!
- It is the only steep hill on the route to Centenary Square.
- The tram will start the ascent with full batteries.
- There will be no problems coming down.
- This extension is only 840 metres in length.
- The MetroCentro in Seville has used similar technology on a 1.4 km. route since 2007.
- CAF have technology that charges batteries fast.
- Battery technology has moved on in the last ten years.
If in practice, it does prove a difficult climb, overhead wires could be put on sufficient of the lower part of the up-track on Pinfold Street.
These wires wouldn’t be visible from Victoria Square, so wouldn’t effect the architectural integrity pf the area.
Onward to Edgbaston
According to this article in Rail Technology Magazine, the further four kilometre extension to Egbaston, is also intended to be catenary-free.
As the trams could be charged at Edgbaston, I think this could be possible.
But I doubt CAF would propose the use of batteries, if they hadn’t already proven the range, which is not outrageous.
The Next Step
I looked at a lot of the route of the first section to Victoria Square today, and it would appear that the roadway has been prepared for fitting the track.
So could we see an accelerated development of the first part of the extension?
It would be a good test of the technology, with little risk to the Midland Metrolink!
If the trams can’t make the hill on baqtteries, it would need to be wired, but you could always blame Spanish engineering.
Conclusion
It is a very well-designed scheme.
I wonder, if we’ll see Edinburgh batteries on their CAF trams?
Work Has Really Started At Hackney Wick Station
This article in the Hackney Gazette is entitled Hackney Wick Overground station and surrounding streets on track for £25m redesign.
This is said.
Work is underway on a £25 million scheme for east London’s new Hackney Wick Overground station complex with major improvements in the surrounding streets.
So I went along to take some pictures.
The article says that there will be a subway under the railway by the Spring and the station will by completed next January with new stairs and two lifts.
According to this article on Ian Visits, the tunnel will be built alongside and pushed under the railway. This was done successfully at the new Rochester station.
That certainly fits with what i saw!
Maghull North Station Gets Approval
This article in Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Green light given to Merseyrail’s new Maghull North station.
The following are points from the article about the new Maghull North station.
- The new station forms a key part of the Sefton Council’s Local Plan.
- The new station offers relief to Maghull station.
- The new station will support development in the area.
- The new station will have 156 car parking spaces.
- The station has all the facilities passengers need.
- The station design probably needs little work to the track and a few new signals.
- Construction will start in August 2017, with opening expected in May 2018.
- Visualisations show the station has two platforms outside the double-track, with lifts and stairs to both platforms.
- The main station building is separate from the platforms and has level access to the footbridge.
The whole scheme is costing £13million.
I shall be looking forward to visiting the station, when it opens in sixteen months.
Thoughts On Revenue And Costs
It is interesting to note that Maghull station handles about 1.8 million passengers a year, who probably spend about an average of three pounds on a ticket, so the station could generate about £5million a year.
It is probably, a valid assumption to say that Maghull North station will generate a couple of million pounds a year in revenue.
But as it towards the end of the line and as the only station to the North with substantial traffic is Ormskirk, I suspect that the current four trains per hour service will handle the extra passengers from Maghull North station.
So after a quick look, I feel that Maghull North station could be paid for by the extra passengers and their revenue.
It should be born in mind, that a lot of things will and could happen to trains between Liverpool and Ormskirk.
- From 2019, the line will see new Stadler trains, which will cut journey times and speed up station stops.
- Trains may go from Liverpool to Skelmersdale via Ormskirk.
- Trains may go direct from Liverpool to Preston, without a change at Ormskirk.
- The Burscough Curves may be reinstated giving access from Ormskirk to Southport and Wigan.
All developments will generate passengers at both Maghull stations.
I hope the station design has left space to add more car parking.
Lessons For Other Station Proposals
I suspect for those, who took the decision to build Maghull North station, found it an easy decision to take.
- The passenger demand is there.
- The station can be built without a major blockade of the line.
- New trains will be serving the station.
- Related developments could increase the train frequency.
But most importantly, the station could be paid for from extra revenue.
How many other proposed stations fit these criteria?
Has Work Stopped On The Met Line Extension?
This question is asked in the title of this article in the St. Albans Review.
The full title is.
Has work stopped on the Met Line extension? TfL worker says work is suspended.
TfL say the project is just being examined in detail.
I think, that when the Croxley Rail Link is built, it will be very different to what Hertfordshire planned.
I gave my view in TfL Seeks New Procurement Plan For Metropolitan Line Extension
I proposed a simpler design.
- Watford station would remain open.
- A four tph link would run all day between Watford Junction and Amersham stations.
- Trains could be Class 710 trains or similar.
- Stops would be at Watford High Street, Vicarage Road, Cassiobridge, Croxley, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood and Chalfont & Latimer.
- No new electrification.
- Single-track in places to reduce costs.
No-one would get a worse service than currently and the new stations of Cassiobridge and Vicarage Road, would make rail an alternative for many travellers.
The Anonymous Widower 