Improving Bus Information
The latest bus shelters seem to have video screen for advertising.
The shelter shown is outside South Tottenham station.
The shelter has no bus information.
Would it not be a good idea to incorporate bus information in a window in this screen?
Improving Safety On Stations
Some of London’s stations have stairs down to the platforms as this picture taken at Hampstead Heath station on the North London Line shows.
Hampstead Heath is a fully-rebuilt station.
- Each platform has a set of stairs and a lift.
- The stairs are also divided into two by a central double handrail.
Transport for London have posters everywhere, that say that passengers shouldn’t rush and to hold the handrail.
But accidents do happen, as I witnessed a few days ago at Manor House station.
So would it be safer, if at the top of the stairs, there was a display showing how long it was to the next couple of trains?
It might just encourage people to slow down, if they knew they had eight minutes before the next train, or it wasn’t for their destination.
The Mayflower At South Tottenham Station
The steam engine called Mayflower came through South Tottenham station this morning.
It was the first steam special along the Gospel Oak to Barking Line since the recent electrification.
Intriguingly, the locomotive is younger than I am and it has probably had better TLC than I have had in the last seventy years.
The crowd at the station wasn’t that large, but I don’t think there was that much publicity, outside of enthusiasts and the Barking – Gospel Oak Rail Users Group.
As an engineer, I think that the enlightened policy of allowing heritage steam and diesel locomotives to use the main line, is a good one. If it encourages bright students to become engineers, all the investment will be repaid in the long term.
Funding For Homes And A New Railway Station In North London
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.
The government has said, that two major housing developments will be built in London beside new railway stations.
Brent Cross Thameslink
The development and the funding for Brent Cross Thameslink station is introduced by this paragraph.
The larger investment will see £320 million being spent on a new Brent Cross West Thameslink station which will lead to a new community of 7,500 properties being built. This is in addition to the £97m grant awarded in the 2016 budget bringing total government investment £416.5 million.
Other points about the development include.
- The development is on the site of the Crickjewood depot.
- The station could be asn interchange with the West London Orbital Railway.
- A contractor should be appointed this year, with opeing in 2022.
- Services could be eight trains per hour (tph) in the Peak and four tph in the Off Peak.
- A public bridge over the railway will be included.
- There will be new offices.
- The Brent Cross Shopping Centre will be extended.
- The £320 million investment will be repaid from business rates from the commercial development.
It all seems to me, that there could be a lot of winners here.
Old Oak Common
The development and the funding for Old Oak Common station is described by this paragraph.
The government will also be providing £250 million so up to 13,000 new homes can be built close to the new HS2 railway station at Old Oak Common.
This scheme provides more properties, but it doesn’t as yet include the commercial development.
Conclusion
London seems to be building more housing, that at any time in my life.
