Nissan And Jaguar Land Rover Are Paying The Price Of Backing Diesel
Politicians and unions are blaming Brexit for production cuts at Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover, but this problem has been on the cards for some time, due to our increasing reliance on diesel power.
The technology is now there for more electric cars and it is criminal that the Government hasn’t done enough to encourage their use.
- We need more ultra-low emission zones, as London is introducing.
- All parking spaces and garages on new housing must have charging points.
- All city buses should be low emission.
- All taxis and private hire vehicles should be low emission.
- We need better connected railways with a lot more stations and some new lines.
So what have the politicians been doing in the last few years. Spending time arguing about the irrelevance of Brexit.
Talk about fiddling, while Rome burned!
Checking On The Barking Riverside Extension Of The Gospel Oak To Barking Line
I took these pictures, when I went between Barking and Dagenham Dock stations on the top deck of an EL2 bus.
It looks to me, that this will be the easiest and least stressful way to observe the Barking Riverside Exctension, as it is being built.
As the pictures show, the route is run using New Routemaster buses, so on a good day, with a clean bus, the pictures should be good.
New Lifts At Finsbury Park Station
As I passed through Finsbury Park station, I took these pictures of the new lifts to the Piccadilly and Victoria Lines.
These lifts are particularly needed as there are no escalators between the Underground and the surface and you have to use spiral staircases.
This access is probably one of the worst design crimes on the Victoria Line, which was built on the cheap in the 1960s.
Notice that some of the signage is not complete and finding the lifts isn’t as easy, as it should be.
But then the installation is not fully finished.
Should High Speed Two Use Contactless Ticketing?
Ask Londoners what they think of contactless ticketing and the views, will generally be positive.
Londoners are also increasingly travelling with their credit and debit cards instead of London’s Oyster Card.
Other city’s like New York, are also going London’s way and are basing ticketing around bank cards.
High Speed Two’s Phase One Network
IWhen Phase One hopefully opens in 2025, according to this section in Wikipedia, this could be the service pattern in trains per hour (tph)
- 3 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street calling at Old Oak Common (OOC) and Birmingham Interchange
- 3 tph – Birmingham Interchange calling at OOC
- 2 tph – Liverpool Lime Steet calling at OOC, Stafford (1tph), Crewe (1tph) and Runcorn
- 3 tph – Manchester Piccadilly calling at OOC, Wilmslow (1tph) amd Stockport
- 1 tph – Preston calling at OOC, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western
- 1 tph – Glasgow calling at OOC and Preston
This is a very simple network and consists of the following stations.
- 3 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street
- 5 tph – Birmingham Interchange
- 2 tph – Crewe
- 2 tph – Liverpool Lime Street
- 3 – tph – Manchester Piccadilly
- 13 tph – Old Oak Common
- 2 tph – Preston
- 2 tph – Runcorn
- 1 tph – Stafford
- 3 tph – Stockport
- 1 tph – Warrington Bank Quay
- 1 tph – Wigan North Western
- 1 tph – Wilmslow
This is just thirteen stations..
Fitting these large and medium-sized stations with ticket barriers able to accept all forms of ticketing, that can handle hundreds of passengers is the sort of operation, that Transport for London has been doing for years.
High Speed Two’s Phase Two Stations
After completion of Phase Two, these stations will be added to the High Speed Two Network.
- Carlisle
- Carstairs
- Chesterfield
- East Midlands Parkway
- Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Haymarket
- Leeds
- Manchester Airport
- Newcastle
- Sheffield
- York
This is another eleven stations.
Fares On High Speed Two
Wikipedia has a Section called Fares in their entry for High Speed Two.
This is said.
There has been no announcement about how HS2 tickets will be priced, although the government said that it would “assume a fares structure in line with that of the existing railway” and that HS2 should attract sufficient passengers to not have to charge premium fares. Paul Chapman, in charge of HS2’s public relations strategy, suggested that there could be last minute tickets sold at discount rates. He said, “when you have got a train departing on a regular basis, maybe every five or ten minutes, in that last half hour before the train leaves and you have got empty seats…you can start selling tickets for £5 and £10 at a standby rate.
I also have my views.
Capacity
I will look at current and future capacity to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester
Note the following capacities of the various trains.
- Class 390/0 – 9 cars – 469 seats
- Class 390/1 – 11 cars 589 seats
- High Speed Two – 1000 seats.
I am not making any class distinction.
Capacity To Birmingham
Currently, Virgin run three tph to Birmingham, which if they were all eleven car trains, which they aren’t would be a capacity of 1,767 seats per hour.
Phase One of High Speed Two will have six tph to the two Birmingham stations, which would be a capacity of 6,000 seats per hour.
This will be an increase in capacity of over three times.
Capacity to Liverpool
Currently, Virgin run one tph to Liverpool, which if it is an eleven car train, this would be a capacity of 589 seats per hour.
Phase One of High Speed Two will have two tph to Liverpool, which would be a capacity of 2,000 seats per hour.
This will be an increase in capacity of over three times.
Capacity to Manchester
Currently, Virgin run three tph to Manchester, which if they were all eleven car trains, it would be a capacity of 1,767 seats per hour.
Phase One of High Speed Two will have three tph to Manchester, which would be a capacity of 3,000 seats per hour.
This will be an increase in capacity of nearly twice.
Is Manchester Missing Out?
Mancunians will probably say they are being short-changed as their capacity increase is less than Birmingham and Liverpool.
But it should also be noted that Preston will have a High Speed Two service of two tph from London and Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western, will each have one tph.
So travellers will be able to use High Speed Two without going to Manchester Piccadilly.
Fares And Ticketing
If I want to buy an Off Peak Return ticket on Virgin between Euston and Birmingham for a few days in the future, it will cost me £56.70 without a railcard.
Off Peak Returns to Liverpool and Manchester are £89.60 without a railcard.
Paper And E-Tickets
The current ticketing systems will probably still be available and just as you do with airlines, you will probably be able to buy tickets over the Internet and douwnload to your phone or print a paper ticket.
Contactless Cards
I would think, that it would be very likely that an Off Peak Single ticket to Birmingham will be under the contactless payment limit.
We don’t know how contactless is going to advance in the next few years, but, I suspect certain companies will be allowed a higher limit, if they take some of the risk.
I also think systems will get more sophisticated, so your bank might allow a railcard to be associated with your bank card.
This would reduce your Liverpool/Manchester fare to £59.15, which means each way is under the current contatless limit.
The longest Off Peak Return journey from Euston to Glasgow is only £98.00 with a raiicard.
Given these current ticket prices, I believe that contactless ticketing could be used to sell tickets on High Speed Two.
What Advantages Would Contactless Tickets Have For Passengers?
Convenience would be at a high level. You would do the following.
- Turn up at the gate, where a display might say, that the current Single fare to Birmingham is £20 and the train leaves at 10:20.
- Touch in at the gate.
- Go through the gate, after your bank card had been checked.
- Get on the train and find your seat.
- Travel to Birmingham
- Get off the train.
- Touch out at the gate.
- Go through the gate, after your bank card has been successfully debited with the fare.
What could be simpler?
Earlier, I indicated that Wikipedia says that standby fares will be available.
But imagine, if High Speed Two’s computer, adjusted the fares, so that the trains attracted a high level of passengers. Ryanair and EasyJet have been doing something similar for years.
So I think, that if High Speed Two get this right, they will do that difficult trick of making money and giving passengers low prices.
But the biggest advantages for passengers, is that they won’t have to plan their journeys in advance.
So supposing you work for a software company and one of the company’s clients in Birmingham, needs an urgent visit.
You can just go and know you’ll get the cheapest fare.
What Advantages Would Contactless Tickets Have For High Speed Two?
Contactless ticketing is so much more affordable than using paper or e-tickets.
IIt should also attract more passengers to use the train.
Conclusion
There are winners all round.
p
A Telling Statement From Andrew Marr
On his program this morning, Abdrew Marr has just said that they try every week to get Donald Tusk and Michel Barnier on the program.
Every week, they get a negative answer.
Towers At Lewisham Station – 2nd February 2019
Lewisham station is becoming increasingly surrounded by tower blocks.
With the Bakerloo Line Extension planned to reach the new station around 2030, surely it is time to rebuild the station with more blocks over the tracks.
Wind Farms Sale Is Breath Of Fresh Air After Merger Setback
The title of this post, is the same as that as an article in the Business pages of The Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Selling stakes in two wind farms for £635million will provide funds to reduce debt and to launch up to £200million of share buybacks, SSE said yesterday.
Amongst the purchasers of the stake in the wind farms is an unnamed British pension fund.
So yet again, we’re seeing pension funds investing our future in wind farms.
It is a trend that will continue, as pension funds look for safe places to put the massive funds they have under management.
- We need the electricity the farms produce.
- The engineering of wind farms will get better, and farms will be more reliable and produce electricity economically for years longer.
- The farrms will probably get the best of maintenance, as pension funds will protect their investment.
In addition to wind, I suspect pension funds and insurance companies will invest in other large renewable energy schemes like solar and wave power and energy storage.
Schemes, such as those I mentioned in Exciting Renewable Energy Project for Spennymoor, will surely be ones that will appeal to the funds.
Conclusion
Pension funds and insurance companies with their massive funds are becoming a major force in vutting carbon emissions.
I suspect that this is not just a UK trend, but one with a world-wide dimension, that includes a lot of the EU, the Far East, North American and Australia.
Kidbrooke Village
Kidbrooke Village is a new housing estate next to Kidbrooke station. Previously, the site was occupied by the Ferrier Estate.
The estate has over five thousand units and several towers.
I think we’re going to see a lot more developments like this.
- Good quality housing (Hopefully!)
- Local employment.
- Shops
- Parkland
I think that a railway station with a frequent well-connected service is essential. Kidbroke has a train every ten minutes in both directions, with a choice of three London terminals.
Developers like a rail service, as it makes units easier to sell or rent and the amount of car parking can be reduced.
Hopefully Kidbrooke will be turned into a thriving community.
New Tracks. New Platforms At Ipswich Station. And Faster Trains. Will East Anglia’s Rail Bosses Be Able To Deliver?
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the East Anglian Daily Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Rail bosses have outlined a bold new vision for the East Anglian network over the next 25 years at a major transport conference in Ipswich.
A number of possible projects were outlined.
New Tracks For The Main Line
Possibilities include.
- Two new tracks between Shenfield and Chelmsford,
- A third track between Witham and Chelmsford.
- New tracks South of Colchester,
- New tracks between Ipswich and Haughley Junction.
these are my observations South of Colchester.
- Two extra tracks should be possible between Shenfield and Chelmsford, but there would be some bridge reconstruction and the problem of Ingatestone station.
- The third track between Witham and Chelmsford should be possible with only one major bridge South of Witham station.
- There would appear to be space to fit in two extra tracks between Marks Tey and Colchester.
Although much of the line is only double-track, it does run through mainly farming country and there appears to be fairly wide green spaces on either side for much of the route.
These are my observations between Ipswich and Haughley Junction.
- The line goes through the towns of Needham Market and Stowmarket and it would appear putting in extra tracks would be difficult in places.
- There are also several bridges and a couple of level crossings.
But it does look like much of the route between Stowmarket Haughley Junction could have extra tracks added.
Removing Bottle-Necks
Two bottle-necks were specifically mentioned.
- Haughley Junction
- The Trowse swing bridge just South of Norwich.
The later would allow more services into Norwich.
Expanding Ipswich Station
The article says this.
New longer trains could force Greater Anglia and Network Rail to lengthen platforms at Ipswich Station – and Greater Anglia is looking at the possibility of building new platforms on what is currently the freight depot next to Platform Four.
Expansion of the station would allow more service to Cambridge, Lowestoft and Peterborough.
Boosting Smaller Stations
The article says this.
The growth in passenger numbers at the largest stations on the GEML in Essex – Chelmsford and Colchester – has slowed while more passengers are using smaller stations with improved parking facilities. Marks Tey, Manningtree, Kelvedon, Ingatestone, and Hatfield Peveral have become more popular with commuters driving to stations because they don’t have to drive into the heart of large towns or cities to find an expensive parking space.
I used to live near to Dullingham station, which is a commuter station for Cambridge. When I last used the station, it could do with more facilities.
Will this policy be complemented by the reopening of sclosed stations?
The article also talks about faster services and the improving of regional services.
Conclusion
East Anglia is going to get much better rail services.
Progress At The New Platforms At Waterloo – 2nd February 2019
I took these pictures of the so-called orchestra pit at Waterloo station and the walkway to the South Bank.
I think that it could be impressive.
The Anonymous Widower 