More Train Services Between Leeds, Huddersfield And Manchester
This article on the Huddersfield Daily Examiner is entitled Important Timetable Changes For Huddersfield Rail Passengers Heading To Manchester.
It is a good explanation of the major changes that will take place to TransPennine Express services after the 20th of May.
- There will be four fast trains between Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester Victoria station
- There will be two slow trains between Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester Piccadilly station
- But nothing is said about Northern services.
I suspect, it will be sorted by the time the service starts.
I would check before you travel.
Hopefully, if you want to go to Piccadilly and get on a train that only goes to Victoria, it will be a same platform interchange to continue, your journey if your ticket is marked Manchester Stastions.
I would assume that you won’t be able to touch in with a contactless card on this short journey as is becoming the norm in a lot of the World.
Ticketing in the North is so Nineteenth Century.
TfL In Talks Over Extending Crossrail Eastwards
The title of this article is the sam as that of this article on Construction News.
The article talks about the following.
- Extending from Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet International.
- TfL has had discussions with Network Rail.
Serious talks may well happen, once the new Southeastern Franchise takes over later this year.
Noise From Trains Revisited
Nearly, two years ago, I wrote a post entitled Are You Annoyed By Noisy Trains At The Bottom Of Your Garden?.
A few days ago, the post had a comment from a lady saying this.
we live on top of thames link between st pancras and farringdon stations. We are used to the trains having lived here for nearly 30 years. But recently in the last 6 months 2017/2018 the noise and vibration from the trains has increased also the frequency. From before 6am until after 1am in the morning. These new trains make the house rattle and you can feel the vibration through the floor. You have to turn up the radio or TV and visitors always comment on how do you manage to live with it.
No one seems to know anything when I made enquiries to thameslink. Spoke to me as if i was completely mad.
I contacted the lady and the problem seems to be that the eight-car Class 700 trains are the problem.
Now if the twelve-car trains are quieter, it sounds to me, that there must be a peculiar resonance between eight-car trains and the track.
According to Wikipedia, the train formations are.
- Eight-car – Bo’Bo’+2’2’+Bo’Bo’+2’2’+2’2’+Bo’Bo’+2’2’+Bo’Bo’
- Twelve-car – Bo’Bo’+2’2’+Bo’Bo’+Bo’Bo’+2’2’+2’2’+ 2’2’+2’2’+Bo’Bo’+Bo’Bo’+2’2’+Bo’Bo’
Note.
- Bo’Bo’ is a powered-car.
- 2’2′ is a trailer car.
- The plus sign separates each car.
From my engineering knowledge, could it be something to do with the fact that the twelve-car train has four trailer cars in the middle of the train, whereas the eight-car train has only two.
I suspect that these trains were designed as twelve-car units and because of the problems of lengthening some platforms, Siemens were asked if they could build an eight-car version as well.
With the dynamics tuned to the twelve-car train, I’m not surprised that the eight-car trains create an annoying resonance.
I shall be using my Freedom Pass to investigate this phenomenon, by riding in the middle sections of these trains.
‘Assassination List’ A&E Doctor Jailed For 12 Years
The title of this post5 is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
A former A&E consultant has been jailed for 12 years for possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.
Dr Martin Watt, who worked at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie from 1994, was sacked in 2012 following disciplinary proceedings.
The 62-year-old was later found with three sub-machine guns, two pistols, ammunition and an “assassination list” of those he blamed for his dismissal.
Why do guns make people lose their minds?
I find this a chilling tale!
New Istanbul Tram Line To Be Catenary-Free
The title of this post, is the same as that in this article on Global Rail News.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Contractor Dogus Construction has selected Alstom to supply a full APS ground-level power supply solution for the Eminönü-Alibeyköy tram line in Istanbul.
Choosing Alstom’s street-level power rail solution means that the 10km-long line will be entirely catenary-free.
I suspect, catenary-free will become the norm, either using systems like in Istanbul or batteries like the Midland Metro.
Could Improved Public Transport Cut Crime?
London is going through a murder epidemic at the moment, mainly with knives and a couple of guns.
I’m not worried about it, as why would anybody bother a seventy-year-old man, who doesn’t have the best dress sense?
But I wasn’t always old and I can remember the 1950s and 1960s, where things weren’t as idyllic, as those who voted Brexit like to think.
A friend of mine was a policeman in the East End in those days and he has some interesting tales.
Return To Dalston
I moved to Dalston in 2010, after the deaths of my wife and our thirty-seven year-old son from cancer, and a serious stroke, which left me with damaged eyesight and unable to drive.
You might ask, why I moved from deepest Suffolk to a slightly run-down area of London? Free public transport was a big draw!
A hundred and thirty years ago, all my grandparents and lots of relatives lived in this area.
My paternal grandmother would shop in the Marks and Spencer and the Woollies at the Angel, as I still do, although the Woollies is now a Waitrose.
This part-Jewish, part-Huguenot, part-Devonian, very stubborn London mongrel has come home!
An Observation
When I moved here, if I walked down Kingsland High Street, at times, the pavements were crowded with youths with nothing better to do. I wasn’t actually threatened, but I would avoid the area.
Now, the street is probably more crowded, but everybody is going about their business or pleasure in a calm manner.
I can only speculate about why the atmosphere has changed, but there has been two major developments.
- The Overground has arrived to replace the travelling urinals of the North London Line and provide new services to the City and South London.
- Most of the bus routes now have new buses.
Local people even got excited, that Hackney and Dalston got the first of the New Routemasters on route 38.
Have those young people from Dalston, now found better things by using public transport, such as work or a pleasureable leisure activity?
Research needs to be done, but there’s nothing on the Internet.
The Rise Of Dalston
I truly believe that the rise of Dalston has been created by the better public transport.
Who would have wanted to live in the new flats or the old Victorian houses, if you couldn’t get to work?
We’re now in an upward spiral, as property is improved, businesses are created and restaurants and cafes open.
The Next Experiment
Several major rail projects are underway in North and North East London.
- The Gospel Oak to Barking Line is being electrified.
- White Hart Lane station is going to be rebuilt, to serve Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium development.
- Capacity is being increased on the West Anglia Main Line, by the STAR project.
- New or rebuilt stations are planned for Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park and Meridian Water, in conjunction with STAR.
- London Overground and Greater Anglia have ordered new Class 710 and Class 720 trains to replace the current elderly rolling stock.
It will be very informative, to see whether crime is lower or higher in a couple of years.
Conclusion
Improving public transport is one of these measures, that benefits a wide range of people; the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed and families with children.
It may also encourage those, who might drift into gangs and crime, to do something more worthwhile.
Lots of other places in the UK are getting or need the same treatment as Dalston has received.
- The West London Orbital Railway could invigorate North West London.
- Kirkby to Skelmersdale, would connect the latter town to Liverpool.
- Newcastle is planning to reopen the railways to Ashington and Blyth.
- Birmingham is expanding passenger railways on reopened and freight lines.
The future could be fascinating.
Heathrow Southern Railway And The Windsor Link Railway
The Windsor Link Railway is a proposed new railway, that if it is approved, will be built in two phases.
Phase 1 is described in Wikipedia, like this.
Phase 1 of the scheme would run from Slough to Staines, via Chalvey, Windsor, Datchet, Wraysbury and Sunnymeads. A new all-in-one station in the Windsor Goswells would replace the existing two nearby stations (Riverside and Central)
Phase 2 is described like this.
Phase 2 of the project involves linking to Heathrow. As the Heathrow Airtrack scheme has been dropped by BAA, the proponents say a much cheaper method of connecting Heathrow to the north west, west and south would be via a bridge over the M25. This would also have benefits for the proposed intermodal freight depot at Colnbrook, Berkshire.
This map from the Windsor Link Railway web site, shows the new tracks for both phases.
Note that Southern Access on the map is close to the route of the Heathrow Southern Railway.
Thoughts On Phase 1
Phase 1 is mainly a scheme for Windsor and I believe, it could be very beneficial to a town, that will become an even bigger tourist attraction.
It is a scheme, that has no affect on the construction of the Heathrow Southern Railway.
However, if the Windsor Link Railway wanted to increase the frequency of the train service between Windsor and Eton Central and Waterloo, there may well be arguments over who gets the paths on the crowded lines between Staines and London.
Thoughts On Phase 2
If the Heathrow Southern Railway and Windsor Link Railway designed a joint scheme, I don’t believe there is any reason, why trains couldn’t use the Windsor Link Railway to run between Reading and Heathrow.
Capacity Of Heathrow Terminal 5 Station
Heathrow Terminal 5 station has been built with space for two bay platforms.
Each platform could probably handle four trains per hour (tph), although with the right scheduling and good signaling and operation, six tph is possible.
Heathrow Southern Railway proposes the following services to the terminal.
- Four tph from Waterloo via Clapham Junction and Staines.
- Two tph from Weybridge via Viginia Water, Egham and Staines.
So there could be upwards of four tph from Windsor and/or Reading, that terminate at Terminal 5.
Crossrail To Reading Via Windsor And Heathrow
Somebody will want to run Crossrail trains through Heathrow Terminal 5 to Windsor and Reading.
Would Windsor cope with all the extra visitors?
Note that Heathrow Southern Railway are already suggesting that Crossrail trains to Terminal 5 could be extended to a new platform at Staines.
Waterloo To Reading Via Staines, Heathrow Terminal 5 and Windsor
Suppose two tph of the Waterloo to Heathrow Terminal 5 trains, reversed and went on to Windsor and Reading.
- It could make better use of the platforms at Heathrow.
- Reading would have an additional two tph service to Heathrow.
- Windsor would have a four tph service to Waterloo.
It’s a possibility with benefits.
Conclusion
Co-operation could be beneficial to both projects.
Heathrow Southern Railway And West London Orbital Railway
West London waits umpteen years for more rail lines and then two come along at the same time.
Both do substantially, what their names imply.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the tracks between Feltham, Hounslow and Whitton stations.
Note.
- Heathrow Southern Railway’s proposed Heathrow – Clapham Junction – Waterloo service will probably go via Whitton, rather than the Hounslow, as Whitton is the faster route.
- Hounslow is the proposed terminus of the route of the West London Orbital Railway from West Hampstead Thameslink station.
- Hounslow will have a new East-facing bay platform, to handle the trains from West Hampstead.
- Heathrow Southern Railway have said their service between Heathrow and Waterloo will be four trains per hour (tph)
I suspect that the West London Orbital Railway will have a typical Overground frequency of four tph.
Unfortunately, the two railways don’t meet up, as it would probably be worthwhile to give more stations a simple route to Heathrow with perhaps a change at Feltham station.
This Google Map shows Feltham station.
Would there be space to squeeze in an East-facing bay platform on the North side of the station?
- It could be the terminus of the West Hampstead service of the West London Orbital Railway
- It could be useful if there were operational problems to turn trains.
- There is the advantage that Feltham is a step-free station and Hounslow isn’t.
I went to Feltham station and took these pictures.
By the side of the track on the other side of the road bridge to the station, is the Feltham Signalling Centre and a Network Rail yard.
I think it could be possible to fit a platform into the space, behind Platform 1.
- A five-car platform looks possible.
- It would be an island platform with the current Platform 1.
- I doubt overhead electrification could be used.
- Slab track might be needed to squeeze the train under the bridge.
Ideally, it should be able to take a ten-car train, which might be possible, by extending the platform to the other side of the bridge.
Currently, there are six tph each-way through the station. The following new services will be added if both the Heathrow Southern and West London Orbital Railways are built.
- 4 tph – Heathrow Southern Railway’s proposed service between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Waterloo via Staines, Feltham, Twickenham, Richmond and Clapham Junction.
- 4 tph – West London Orbital’s proposed service from Feltham to West Hampstead
Would modern trains and signalling, coupled with good driving, be able to handle this level of trains?
Looking at the tracks and the space on either side, it might be possible to thread a third track between Feltham Station and Feltham Junction.
This Google Map shows Feltham Junction
There would appear to be more space on the South side of the tracks, so perhaps an extra track could go on this side.
But I suspect Network Rail could find a solution from their library of cunning plans.
There could be advantages.
- West London Orbital Railway could terminate in a step-free station.
- Travellers between South Acton and Hounslow get a step-free route to Heathrow.
- The bay platform at Feltham, could help when the service is disrupted.
- An extra track to the East of Feltham, might help capacity between Clapham Junction and Staines.
I’m certain that be a simple connection between the two systems can be built.
Conclusion
There are possibilities to connect the West London Orbital Railway to the Heathrow Southern Railway, which could be beneficial for all parties.
Between Heathrow And Gatwick Airports Using Heathrow Southern Railway
I have received a few messages asking how the Heathrow Southern Railway would help travellers get between Heathrow and Gatwick Airports.
How Many Passengers Would Actually Transfer Between The Two Airports?
This question would definitely be filed under pieces of string.
The direct route using Crossrail and Thameslink will take under two hours, with a change at Farringdon.
- There are several major tourist attractions close the the Crossrail/Thameslink route; Oxford Street, British Museum, St. Paul’s, River Thames, Tate Modern, Tower of London and Tower Bridge, for those unencumbered by baggage.
- Will Farrington develop into a joint terminal for both airports?
- How many passengers, will want to have a day of rest and recuperation in the best city in the world?
- How many travellers to and from Europe, the North and Scotland will switch to the long distance trains at Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations?
Passengers wanting to avoid London could use the Waterloo – Heathrow service proposed by Heathrow Southern Railway and change at Clapham Junction.
- The proposed Waterloo – Heathrow service will be four trains per hour (tph)
- It would probably run at an appropriate frequency at night, just like Gatwick Express and Thameslink.
- Passengers would change at Clapham Junction between Gatwick and Heathrow services.
- I estimate, that the Clapham Junction route, could be quicker than the Crossrail/Thameslink route, at perhaps an hour and twenty minutes.
- Clapham Junction station is step-free, but the bridge could be made more passenger-friendly.
Until, I get firm evidence to the contrary, I have a strong feeling that not many passengers will want to a faster service thanthe one, these two routes offer.
What About The Workers?
There must be people in the aviation industry, who need to go regularly to both airports for the purposes of work.
If you were in that class of worker, you might choose to live, somewhere that was convenient for both airports.
I suspect that this valuable group will be well-served by services from Clapham Junction.
- Clapham Junction to Heathrow – 30 minutes
- Clapham Junction to Gatwick – 25 minutes
Feeder times to Clapham Junction using direct trains include.
- Balham – 6 minutes
- Canada Water – 29 minutes
- East Croydon – 11 minutes
- Epsom – 28 minutes
- Peckham Rye – 19 minutes
With four tph, the maximum wait at Clapham Junction would be fifteen minutes.
Clapham Junction Will Become An Even Bigger Hub
Heathrow Southern Railway will make Clapham Junction station, an even more important hub.
- It is about thirty minutes away from both Heathrow and Gatwick Airports.
- Large numbers of stations have direct connections to Clapham Junction in under thirty minutes.
- The Northern Line could be extended from Battersea to Clapham Junction.
- Clapham Junction station is proposed to be on Crossrail 2.
- Clapham Junction is at the centre of an extensive bus network.
It would certainly be very convenient to live close to Clapham Junction station, if you needed to go to both airports regularly.
But improvements are needed at the station.
Changing Trains
The Wikipedia entry for Clapham Junction station says this.
The station is also the busiest UK station for interchanges between services.
I use Clapham Junction regularly as an interchange, if say I’m going from Dalston Junction to Gatwick, Reading or Windsor. It can be a sprint up the stairs, and a rush across the bridge, before a careful decent to the platform.
A typical change from Platform 1/2 to 5/6 took me two and a half minutes, in the middle of the morning.
Changing trains could be improved.
These pictures show the step-free bridge at Clapham Junction
Note.
- Lighting is not of a high quality.
- It is quite wide, but not as wide as the new bridge at Reading.
- There are lifts to most platforms, but they could be bigger.
- Reading has an up and down escalator for each platform. Surely the busiest station in the UK, deserves the same.
- It is cluttered with retail outlets, which could be reduced in number or placed on the platforms.
If I was the CEO of Heathrow Southern Railway, I’d rebuild this bridge, as doing that might attrack more passengers for Heathrow to use the proposed new service.
Information
Clapham Junction is well organised, with trains for a particular destination generally leaving from the same platform or pair of platforms.
They even have a board that gives this information in detail..
But it’s now 2018 and we can do much better.
There would also need to be large, clear signs everywhere to Gatwick, Heathrow, Victoria and Waterloo!
Timetable Improvements
I took a train from Clapham Junction to Feltham and although there are six tph, I had to wait sixteen minutes for a train.
It’s just that in an hour, there are four short intervals and two long ones.
Improvements need to be made, so that the timetable is more passenger friendly.
Some Platform Reorganisation
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the track layout at Clapham Junction station.
It looks to me, that that terrible engineer; Topsy had a big hand in the design.
Note.
- Tracks and platforms in orange are the London Overground.
- Trains to Heathrow will probably use Plstforms 5 or 6, as do the Reading and Windsor services.
- Trains from Heathrow will probably use Plstforms 3 or 4, as do the Reading and Windsor services.
- Heathrow, Reading and Windsor are to the West.
- Platforms 3 to 11 are for services to and from Waterloo.
- Platforms 12 to 15 are for services to and from Victoria.
- Services to and from Gatwick will use these platforms.
- Platforms 16 and 17 are for West London Line services.
It looks to me, that it might be possible to reorganise the platforms so that Heathrow and Gatwick services weren’t at opposite end of the bridge.
Or should the bridge be made wide enough for a travelator?
West London Line Services
The West London Line has two main passenger services.
- 4 tph – London Overground between Clapham Junction and Stratford, which uses Platform 1
- 1 tph – Southern between Milton Keynes Central and East Croydon, which have virtually sole use of Platforms 16 and 17.
If possible, an increase in frequency on this line would surely help many travellers get to and from London’s two main airports.
- London Overground are planning to add two extra tph between Clapham Junction and Stratford in 2018.
- London Overground will match this in 2019, with another two tph between Clapham Junction and Dalston Junction via the South London Line.
This is going to make Southern’s one tph service between Milton Keynes Central and and East Croydon pathetic, especially as the route will eventually serve Old Oak Common with connections to Crossrail and HS2.
Chris Gibb recommended that this service , should be transferred to the London Overground in the Gibb Report. I wrote about it in Gibb Report – East Croydon – Milton Keynes Route Should Be Transferred To London Overground.
If nothing else the current service which uses two platforms at Clapham Junction for a one tph service, which doesn’t run on Sundays, is a waste of resources at Clapham Junction.
.Conclusions
I have come to the following conclusions.
- If Clapham Junction station is improved, Heathrow Southern Railway will create a faster route to Gatwick.
- Clapham Junction station will become a major hub station feeding London’s two major airports.
It gives very large numbers of passengers a quicker route to the airports.
I also think it could be advantageous for Heathrow Southern Railway to contribute to the upgrading of Clapham Junction station.
Calls For London Overground Extension To Lewisham
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on IanVisits.
This is the first paragraph.
Lewisham council has issued a call for the Overground to be extended to Lewisham town centre as part of a wider series of improvements to the local rail and DLR networks.
To extend the Overground from New Cross station, Overground trains would need to be able to cross over to the tracks through the station.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the tracks at the station.
There are four Overground trains from Dalston Junction station and they terminate in the bay Platform D.
Note how the Overground skirts round New Cross Depot to get to the platform.
This Google Map shows the curve of the Overground Line and what lies between the lines out of London Bridge station and the Overground.
It looks to be the old New Cross depot and a green space surrounded by rail tracks, that is all inaccessible to the public.
I took these pictures as I passed.
Note.
- The Lines out of London Bridge are much higher.
- It’s quite a big space.
- It might be possible to connect the Overground to the down slow line, that goes through Placform C at New Cross station.
- It would need a tunnel under the lines out of London Bridge to connect to the up slow line, which is goes through Platform A at New Cross station.
- I suspect this connection would be difficult and the lines would have to be slewed to the West, so that trains could dive under the down slow line.
- Do Network Rail want to cause all the grief at London Bridge, whilst they built the junction.
It could be a challenging and very expensive project.
It might even be impossible!
On the other hand, it might be possible using flat junctions, but this line is busy and building and operating them could be the stff of nightmares.
Trains Services At New Cross Station
Wikipedia says these are the service frequencies at New Cross station in trains per hour (tph)
- 10 northbound to Cannon Street
- 4 northbound to Dalston Junction or sometimes Highbury & Islington
- 2 southbound to Hayes
- 4 southbound to Cannon Street via Sidcup, or via Bexleyheath and then returning via Greenwich
- 2 southbound to Orpington, calling at all stations
- 2 southbound to Tunbridge Wells, non-stop to Orpington then all stations
Merging ten trains to and from Cannon Street with four trains to and from Dalston Junction could be extremely difficult.
It should be said that the interchange between Overground services arriving at New Cross and Southbound services on Southeastern is just a walk across between Platform D and C, which is shown in the picture below.
Note the Overground train in Platform D.
It appears that most Overground trains from Dalston Junction, connect to a Lewisham train after between five and ten minutes.
As there is a coffee stall on the station, on a cold day, you can buy a hot drink.
The problem is coming North, as you have to use the step-free foot bridge from Platform A.
Too many times, I’ve negotiated the bridge only to arrive on Platform D, to watch the Overground train disappearing.
Increasing Frequency On The Overground
Currently, the frequency of trains on the East London Line is as follows.
- 4 tph – Dalston Junction to New Cross
- 4 tph – Highbury and Islington West Croydon via New Cross Gate
- 4 tph – Highbury and Islington to Crystal Palace via New Cross Gate
- 4 tph – Dalston Junction to Clapham Junction
In the next couple of years, Crystal Palace and Clapham Junction services will be raised to six tph. I wrote about this in Increased Frequencies On The East London Line.
This will mean that New Cross Gate will have ten tph on the East London Line, as against four at New Cross.
I don’t know whether it’s possible to increase the Dalston Junction to New Cross service to six tph, but this would reduce the wait, when changing at New Cross to go North.
The Bakerloo Line
The Bakerloo Line is being extended to New Cross Gate and Lewisham, so perhaps in the future, East London Line passengers will go via New Cross Gate.
New Cross Interchange
I have read, that Transport for London would like to make it easier to change between New Cross and New Cross Gate stations.
Conclusion
Extension of the Overground to Lewisham will be extremely difficult and other developments will improve rail transport in South-East
London
The Anonymous Widower 