The Anonymous Widower

A Trip To Stansted Airport In A Class 745/1 Train

This lunchtime a friend was passing through Stansted Airport on the way to Glasgow. As we hadn’t seen each other for a couple of years, we had decided to have a coffee at the Airport.

I took these pictures on the trip.

Property Development At Tottenham Hale

There is a lot of development going on around Tottenham Hale station.

There will be a lot more to come.

The New Class 745/1 Train

I travelled in a new Class 745/1 train, which are replacing the Class 379 trains.

Note.

• The trains have twelve articulated sections.
• The trains are 236.5 metres long.
• Only 11-car Class 390 trains or a pair of five-car Class 80x trains are longer.
•  The train has767 seats at a density of 3.24 seats/metre

This picture through the train emphasises the train’s length.

Note.

• There are some light slops, but no steps.
• A coffee and snack trolley would be possible.
• The overhead racks are generously-sized.
• Some seats are higher and you step up into them, as they are over the wheels.

The ride was also excellent.

Class 745/1 Train Performance

I made these observations.

• My train stopped at Tottenham Hale, Harlow Town, Bishops Stortford and Stansted Mountfitchet.
• The train was at 80 mph most of the time on the West Anglia Main Line.
• The maximum speed if a Class 745 train is 100 mph.
• The operating speed of the West Anglia Main Line is given on Wikipedia as 100 mph maximum.
• The train was didn’t exceed 70 mph on the Stansted Branch.
• Between Stansted Airport and Stansted Mountfitchet, the train accelerated to 70 mph and then braked at the right time to stop precisely in the following station.

At all times, I felt the train was running very easily. But then there are 125 mph members of the Flirt family running in Norway.

I can see these trains cutting the current 49 minutes between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.

Other times to London’s airports are as follows.

• London Bridge – Gatwick – Thameslink – 48 minutes.
• Victoria – Gatwick – Gatwick Express – 30 minutes.
• Victoria – Gatwick – Southern – 32 minutes.
• Paddington – Heathrow Central – Heathrow Express – 15 minutes
• Paddington – Heathrow Central – Crossrail – 28 minutes

With the exception of Heathrow Express, the new Stansted Express doesn’t stand up too badly.

Rye House Gas-Fired Power Station

One of the landmarks you pass on the West Anglia Main Line is Rye House power station.

The weather wasn’t good, but the pictures give an impression of the  715 MW gas-fired power station.

This Google Map shows the power station.

Note.

1. The West Anglia Main Line running SW-NE across the map.
2. Sainsbury’s distribution centre to the North of the railway.
3. The power station to the South of the railway.
4. The grid-like structure is an air-cooled condenser.

But where is the station’s carbon capture equipment?

The Lea Valley is London’s greenhouse, as this second Google Map shows.

Note all the nurseries and salad producers on the map, which is a mile or so to the South East of the power station.

Drax Group used to pipe carbon dioxide to salad producers from Drax power station, so why aren’t they doing it here?

Changing At Tottenham Hale Station

This set of pictures show my change at Tottenham Hale station, when I returned to London.

Note.

1. The step-free entry to the Class 745 train.
2. The Stansted Express used Platform 3.
3. It was then followed in Platform 3, by a train to Liverpool Street via Hackney Downs station.
4. At the same time, a train arrived in Platform 4, which went to Stratford via Lea Bridge station.
5. I took the Stratford train to Lea Bridge station.
6. The train was a Class 379 train, which has been replaced by the Class 745 train.

It looks like all Stansted Expresses have an interchange to trains to Hackney Downs and Stratford after a few minutes.

This sums up, what travellers can do at Tottenham Hale station, after arriving on a Stansted Express.

• Stay on the Stansted Express for Liverpool Street.
• Wait for the next train to Hackney Downs and Liverpool Street, on the same platform.
• Wait for the train to Stratford, on the other side of the same platform.
• Catch the Victoria Line, as passengers have done for decades.
• There are also lots of buses and taxis.

When Crossrail opens, there will be connections at Stratford and Liverpool Street.

Lea Bridge Station

I took these pictures at Lea Bridge station.

Note, that not all trains on this route are Class 379 trains.

Property Development At Lea Bridge Station

There is a lot of development going on around Lea Bridge station.

As at Tottenham Hale and Stratford, there will probably be more to come.

Lea Bridge Road In Mid Afternoon

As I just mixed a 56 bus home, I walk about half-a-mile to the next bus stop.

It was not a pleasant walk!

October 26, 2020 - Posted by AnonW | Design, Energy, Transport/Travel | Class 745 Train, Development, Drax, Heathrow Airport, Stansted Airport, Stansted Express, Tottenham Hale Station