A First Close-Up View Of A Class 745 Train
I was standaing on Stowmarket station and this Class 745 train came through.
These twelve section trains will replace stakes of Mark 3 coaches, sandwiched between a Class 90 locomtives and driving van trailers.
Note.
- When I first saw the train, I thought it was a Class 755 train., as they look so similar. So I had to read the plate between the trains to check.
- Unlike most UK trains the number on the cab is not a full number and just the last three digits.
- If you look at the top of the train, it appears that the energy bus appears to be along the middle of the roof.
- Like most modern trains, they were quiet. Does this suggest efficient aerodynamics.
It bcertainly appears that Stadler have a selectio of sections, that can be connected together to create the trains.
The One Station I Never Use Coming Home Is Highbury & Islington
I am typing this post in Highbury & Islington station as my Overground train, skipped all stations North of Whitechapel, diue to congestion.
I always avoid this station, as getting between my house and the station is difficult as there is only one crowded 30 bus, every fifteen minutes. There used to be twice as many buses, as the 277 bus used to serve the route as well. But nearly a year ago, it was cut back to Dalston Junction making it as useful for me, as a chocolate tea pot.
So now after a ten minute wait, I’m taking the two stops back to Dalston Junction to get a bus home. That is only three routes now, due to the cutback of the 277.
I find it interesting, that North East London appears to have got more bus cuts, than Sadiq Khan’s patch of South London. And it was all to pay the bribe of the fare freeze, that got him elected.
So in the next Mayoral election, I shall be voting more a Mayor, who lives in the North.
We certainly, did better under Boris, who lived a mile towards the City of London.
There’s Something About Felixstowe
I turned up at the station and the bar there had no decent real ale or low-alcohol beer.
In the end, I bought a hot chocolate in a cafe, which didn’t take cards. Luckily, I had some cash!
Felixstowe seems stuck in the 1960s. And boy, was it dull!
Record Drop In Coal Use As Rich Nations Go Green
This is an article in today’s Times.
Twice-Yearly Jab Could Replace Statins For Millions
This is an article in today’s Times.
As I have four B12 injections year, that would fit well with my health care.
More Expensive Promises From The New Monster Raving Loony Party
Every day we get more expensive promises from Corbyn and his loony friends.
Are they intending to get over a message that they will bankrupt the country?
But we’ve not seen the last big money promise from Corbyn’s Department of Silly Ideas.
It is so sad, that Screaming Lord Sutch has passed on, because he would be having fun at Corbyn’s expense to our delight! Now he did believe in silly policies.
- Lowering of the voting age.
- Abolition of dog licences
- Passports for pets.
- Longer pub opening hours.
This election is being fought by one party with a promise of Get Brexit Done and the other with a promise of Spend Spend Spend.
Unfortunately, the Labour Party might find government in the real world more difficult, than in their silly fantasies.
Evereybody should prepare themselves for Ed Milliband’s mansion tax and a wealth tax.
The NHS And Prices For US Drugs
On the BBC’s Wake Up To Money this morning, an NHS expert; Helen Buckingham, from the Nuffield Trust, talked about the NHS and the prices for drugs, developed and produced in the United States. These are points Helen made.
- Various people in the US, would like the UK to pay the US price.
- The UK price is determined because the NHS is a bit customer and tends to buy centrally.
- In the US, it is illegal for hospitals and health organisations to deal as a group.
- Countries like Australia get their drugs at a good price from the United States under the recent trade deal.
Obviously, this is how I read, what Helen said, so if you’re really interested listen to the podcast.
A Solution To Hospital Car Parking Charges
If I need to go to my preferred hospital of University College Hospital, I walk round the corner from my house and get a number 30 bus, which stops outside the hospital.
If I want to go to the Royal London Hospital, I take the Overground four stops to Whitechapel.
I live in Dalston, which is reasonably close to Central London and I chose to live here, as I don’t drive.
Some other cities have good hospital access on public transport.
- Addenbroke’s Hospital in Cambridge has a fast guided busy to the City Centre and the North of the City. It also has it’s own bus station and may even get a railway station.
- The Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham has a tram stop with direct step-free access to the hospital. The tram system also has seven large Park-and-Ride sites.
- James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough has its own railway station.
But how many hospitals and that includes many new ones have terrible public transport links?
Consider two elderly sisters; Elsie and Doris, perhaps living on opposite sides of the country.
Suppose one sister has a bad fall and ends up in the local hospital.
- The train system in the UK is improving and I’ve regularly met fellow train passengers well into their eighties travelling for four or five hours by train, to visit friends and relatives or have a holiday.
- Crossing London can be a problem for some, but my London-savvy eighty-five year old friend does it regularly.
It’s just the last link to the hospital, that can be a problem.
Norwich And Norfolk Hospital
The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital is a large teaching hospital, that was built in 2001 on the Western outskirts of the City.
It replaced a City Centre hospital.
There is a bus from the station, but finding details of the schedule is difficult, as the bus company’s web site, is more about selling you deals, that telling you how often the buses run.
I suppose the only way to find out is to go to Norwich station and do some bus spotting.
This Google Map shows the location of the hospital close to the University of East Anglia and the world-famous John Innes Institute.
I’ve only ever been to the area by car and I do wonder what students without transport think about getting to the University of East Anglia.
It certainly, isn’t the sort of place, I’d have wanted to go to University. During our time at Liverpool, C and myself were always popping down Brownlow Hill to the City Centre.
In somewhere like Germany or Switzerland, there would be a tram from the train station.
A London Example Of Improvement
If I wanted to go to Barnet Hospital, I would take the Underground to High Barnet station and then get a bus. But the Underground and bus interchange at High Barnet is not easy, especially on a wet day.
But it does appear that there is a better route, which involves catching a 384 bus from Cockfosters station.
- The bus provides a feeder service direct to the hospital.
- Cockfosters station will be step-free in a few years.
- The bus stops at both Barnet Hospital and the A & E unit.
It’s certainly a lot better than when I lived in the area as a child.
Why Can’t All Hospitals Have Decent Public Transport?
Hospitals are important to so many people and although not every hospital can have a transport network as good as Addenbrooke’s, the Queen’s Medial Centre or University College Hospital, getting to some hospitals is a major logistics nightmare.
- Hospitals serving a large rural area, must be at the heart of the bus network.
- There should be a frequent bus or tram service to the city or town centre and the main railway station.
- There should be much better information.
- Hospitals could follow Nottingham’s and Cambridge’s .examples, where the hospital is on the city’s Park-and-Ride network.
How many hospitals in the UK meet this standard?
Conclusion
I believe that if decent public transport is provided to a hospital, that many patients, staff and visitors will use it, as they seem to do in Cambridge, London and Nottingham.
- In some places there is no easy way to get to the hospital and driving is the only way.
- Car parking is expensive to provide.
- Some hospitals have no space for car parking to be increased or added.
- How many are late for their appointments because the parking is full or they can’t find a space?
- Making car parking free will only make the problem worse, as everybody will drive.
Perhaps we should rate hospitals on the quality of the public transport, just as they are rated on care.
The New Mr. Creosote
The front page headline on today’s copy of The Times is Corbyn ‘Neutal’ On Brexit.
Is this a good idea?
- Strong Remainers or strong leavers will surely be unlikely to back Corbyn or the Labour Party in the General Election on December 12th.
- It also contrasts sharply with his strong definite views on the direction of the economy.
It is a weak decision and is fence-sitting of the highest order.
I Live In An Election Poster-Free Area
I gaven’t seen a poster for the election yet.
Although, I did see one St. George’s Cross, but England were playing that night.
The Anonymous Widower 