Coronavirus Pushes Switch From Cash To Card Payment
The title of this post is the same as that as this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Cash sales of tickets on the Metlink transport network in Greater Wellington will end on March 23, in a move which Metlink said was designed ‘to stay one step ahead of Covid-19 and give our passengers and staff more peace of mind’.
Should all buses, trams and trains go cash-free and contactless in the UK?
TfL Closes 40 Tube Stations, Suspends The Night Tube, Fewer Trains And Buses Next Week
Th title of this post is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.
Ian gives this list of stations that could close.
Bakerloo Line
- Lambeth North
- Regents Park
- Warwick Avenue
- Kilburn Park
- Charing Cross
Central Line
- Holland Park
- Queensway
- Lancaster Gate
- Chancery Lane
- Redbridge
Circle Line
- Bayswater
- Great Portland Street
- Barbican
District Line
- Bow Road
- Stepney Green
- Mansion House
- Temple
- St James’s Park
- Gloucester Road
Jubilee Line
- Swiss Cottage
- St John’s Wood
- Bermondsey
- Southwark
Northern Line
- Tuffnell Park
- Chalk Farm
- Mornington Crescent
- Goodge Street
- Borough
- Clapham South
- Tooting Bec
- South Wimbledon
- Hampstead
Piccadilly Line
- Caledonian Road
- Arsenal
- Covent Garden
- Hyde Park Corner
- Bounds Green
- Manor House
Victoria Line
- Pimlico
- Blackhorse Road
The general feeling in the comments on Ian’s site, is that they are stations, where they are lightly used or the design could increase the rate of infection.
Let’s Get Innovating!
I liked this paragraph from a story in The Times about getting enough ventilators.
Rural hospitals in Canada are using techniques normally reserved for mass shootings. By installing separate tubes, one ventilator can treat up to nine patients, as long as they have the same infection and equal lung capacity.
I never thought, I’d see a benefit from mass shootings.
But it does show the benefits of top class innovation!
Reopening Of Darlaston And Willenhall Train Stations Moves Closer
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Wolverhampton Express And Star.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A bid to reopen two railway stations after more than half a century has taken a major step forward after planning applications were formally submitted.
The two stations are Willenhall Bilston Street and Darlaston James Bridge on the Walsall–Wolverhampton Line.
- The route is electrified, as it is used as a diversion route for the West Coast Main Line.
- There will be an hourly service between Wolverhampton and Walsall.
- There will be a second hourly service between Wolverhampton and Birmingham via Willenhall, Darlaston and Tame Bridge Parkway stations.
- It is planned that services will open in December 2021.
It appears that funding is in place from Whitehall.
Conclusion
Will much work need to be done to get these two station projects shovel-ready?
If not, why not get going?
First Passenger Train In 80 Years Runs On Camp Hill Line
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
These two paragraphs described the route, that the train took on the Camp Hill Line.
On Monday morning a train carrying the Mayor, West Midlands Railway’s customer experience director Jonny Wiseman and other representatives from across the rail industry, travelled along the line.
The train followed the route of what would be the re-opened line, stopping at the Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell sites before arriving into Kings Norton, and later returning to Birmingham New Street.
The article has a picture showing the VIPs showing boards indicating the stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell, that will be reopened.
Wikipedia says this under Future for all three stations.
In 2019, the project to re-open the stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell received £15 million in Government funding, with construction due to start in 2020 and aimed for completion in time for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
£15million seems good value to reopen three stations.
Let’s hope the world has solved the COVID-19 crisis before the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Trains For The Service
The picture in the article, shows the test service was run by a two-car Class 170 train. This is an ideal train to do the testing, but as the Camp Hill Line is not electrified, self-powered trains will be needed for the passenger service.
West Midlands Trains will have a good selection of self-powered trains with which to run the service.
- They already have a selection of Class 170 and Class 172 Turbostar diesel multiple units in very good condition, which total thirty-seven two-cars and twenty-one three-cars.
- I’m sure Vivarail will pitch diesel-electric or battery-electric versions of their Class 230 trains.
- Alstom will probably pitch the Breeze hydrogen-powered train.
- Porterbrook will probably pitch their proposed Battery/FLEX conversion of Class 350 trains.
I don’t think there will be a problem finding a suitable fleet for this route.
I suspect some form of battery-electric train will be used, as there is lots of 25 KVAC overhead electrification in the Birmingham area, that can be used to charge the batteries.
Battery-electric trains with a range of perhaps forty miles would also open up the possibilities for other electric services for West Midlands Trains.
A Thought On Construction
Because of COVID-19, there will probably be numbers of unemployed in this part of Birmingham, who have skills that could be useful to do the building work.
So should the non-railway related parts of the reopening be accelerated to put money in the pockets of the local unemployed.
The Anonymous Widower 