Northern Considering Options For More New Trains
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Magazine.
This is a paragraph.
Senior Northern sources told RAIL on June 28 that the operator believes the new trains will entice more people onto its services, and that within two years – once all 101 new trains are in service – there could be overcrowding.
This sounds to me, like another case of London Overground Syndrome.
At least, Northern have identified it early and taken the only action that works – Acquire more trains.
The High Speed Train Problem
Several of Northern’s routes use 100 mph trains on the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines.
- Blackpool and York
- Chester and Leeds
- Hull and York
- Leeds and York
- Liverpool and Blackpool via Wigan
- Manchester and Crewe
- Manchester and Stoke
- Manchester Airport and Barrow
- Manchester Airport and Blackpool
- Manchester Airport and Windermere
Will Northern acquire some 110 mph or even 125 mph trains to ease the creation of timetables amongst so many high speed trains using the main lines?
Greater Anglia’s New Train Order
Greater Anglia have ordered thirty-eight Class 755 trains, which have a total of 138 cars.
These will replace twenty-six assorted trains, which have a total of 55 cars.
This is an increase of 46% in the number of trains and 150% in the number of cars.
Greater Anglia didn’t increase the fleet so that could sit in sidings, so I think we can expect some new services and higher frequencies.
Conclusion
Northern’s actions are in line with other operators.
Network Rail To Outline Business Case For Clapham Junction Redevelopment
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Network Rail have timetabled their plans to publish a strategy outline business case (SOBC) for the redevelopment of Clapham Junction station.
The public body told delegates at a rail conference in London that it intends to lay out the strategy by the end of the year.
To get a better idea of Clapham Junction station, this Google Map shows the station.
And this map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the track layout.
Note.
- The track layout is extremely complicated.
- A large amount of the area of the station is used for stabling of trains.
- The large number of platforms connected by a pedestrian bridge in the middle.
- There are a lot of stairs and lifts between the bridge and the platforms.
This description of the amount of traffic through the station is from Wikipedia.
Routes from London’s south and south-west termini, Victoria and Waterloo, funnel through the station, making it the busiest in Europe by number of trains using it: between 100 and 180 per hour except for the five hours after midnight. The station is also the busiest UK station for interchanges between services.
All of this adds up to a challenging problem, that if it can be solved, will fulfil these objectives.
- Greatly improve the passenger experience.
- Increase the train and passenger capacity of the station.
- Create more and longer platforms.
- Create or release lots of space for housing and other developments.
- Make the station ready for the Northern Line Extension from Battersea and Crossrail 2.
All of the development must be carried out with as little disruption to trains and passengers.
I’m no architect, but neither are Network Rail or were their predecessor British Rail, but they are good at creating well-thought out track layouts.
I suspect somewhere in a drawer or on a computer, is a British Rail plan for how the station could be laid out.
Such a plan probably existed for London Bridge station and with the design from good architects and structural engineers on top, one of the best terminal stations in the World has been built.
The Rail Technology Magazine article talks of decking over the whole station and putting two million square feet of development on top. But it also cautions, it would be very expensive.
- Could an imaginative architect create a unique development?
- Clapham Junction station, is the best-connected railway station in the South of London.
- Could the development be built with very little provision for car parking?
- Is the land strong enough for a cluster of high tower blocks?
- Could green space be provided?
I’ve lived in the Barbican with a young family and that estate works. But it should be remembered that the City of London had a completely cleared site at the Barbican, due to Nazi bombing.
So would decking over the station, be the way to create a cleared site to create a high-quality eco-friendly development for all?
I think it would and I think it could allow the development to be built at an affordable price.
I also feel that the important objective of building the development without disrupting trains and passengers can be met, by arranging construction in the right order.
Conclusion
Clapham Junction station is a unique site on which to build and like the Barbican, if we build it right, it will be admired fifty years later.
Will Sky Ever Broadcast A Freeview Sports Channel?
Yesterday, Sky held the rights to both the Cricket World Cup Final and The British Grand Prix.
But in the end Sky shared the coverage of both events with Channel 4!
Now that both events have successfully concluded, Sky will have the details of the following.
- Number of viewers.
- Advertising revenue on both Sky and Channel 4.
- Reaction from politicians, some of whom are not very pleased with Sky.
This will enable the company to decide, whether it is in the company’s interest to do it again.
- I can also see a scenario, where if a Sky Freeview channel exists, that sports would want to do promotional deals to get their sport in front of viewers, by perhaps having the top level on satellite and lower levels on Freeview.
- Sky uses a lot of repeats on its Sports Channels at Off Peak times.
- Freeview technology will also be allowing more channels.
- Sky must be a bit worried about competition from other broadcasters woth bottomless pockets.
I don’t think we can rule anything out, as Sky are an innovative and ambitious broadcaster.
The East-West Rail Link Plans For Services Between Reading And East Anglia
This report on the East-West Rail web site is entitled Eastern Section Prospectus and gives full details of their proposals for the train services along the East-West Rail Link.
This post is particularly about services to Reading and the report says this about services between Reading and East Anglia.
Proposed Core Train Services
This is a sentence.
It has been assumed that, by this stage, a half hourly service will operate on the Central and Western sections between Oxford – Cambridge.
The report then goes on to add.
25 minutes are added to the Oxford journey time to represent the option of one service being extended to / from Reading with a Reading – Oxford non-stop.
So that looks like there will be a core hourly service between Reading and Cambridge, which will take 98 minutes.
The report then goes on to detail how various towns and cities in East Anglia will be connected to Reading.
Bury St. Edmunds
2h16 hourly with cross-platform changes at Cambridge and new A14 Parkway station.
Great Yarmouth
3h14 hourly direct
Ipswich
2h43 hourly with cross-platform changes at Cambridge and new A14 Parkway station.
Lowestoft
3h30 hourly with change at Norwich and cross platform change at Reedham.
Norwich
2h40 hourly direct
Trains For The Route
It looks like there will be two direct hourly train services.
- Reading and Great Yarmouth via Cambridge and Norwich, which will take three hours and fourteen minutes.
- Oxford and Ipswich via Cambridge and Bury St. Edmunds, which will take two hours and nineteen minutes.
The long term service pattern, envisages extending the Oxford and Ipswich service to Manningtree, which would add twenty-five minutes.
These are long services and given the overcrowding that happens on the current service between Norwich and Liverpool, I would think that the trains should be as follows.
- At least four or five cars.
- An on-board buffet.
- At least 100 mph operation.
I also think the trains should be bi-mode trains, able to use 25 KVAC overhead electrification or onboard power.
How Many Trains?
It looks like the Reading and Great Yarmouth service would be a seven-hour round trip, which would need seven trains.
The future Oxford and Manningtree service would be a six-hour round trip, which would need six trains.
So add in an allowance for maintenance and a spare, I suspect the fleet should be sixteen trains.
Big Companies And Contactless Ticketing
I use contactless ticketing a lot and have never had a problem that has cost me any money or even inconvenience.
I also check my credit card statement regularly to make sure everything is as it should be.
But what annoys me is that you use your card in some multiple outlets and the information on your statement, isn’t that precise.
I know Leon; the natural fast-food chain aren’t that big, but every transaction from them is precise and identifiable.
Some big companies could follow Leon’s example.
