Zero Emission Refuse Trucks: Why Fuel Cell Power Just Makes Sense
The title of this post, is the same as this blog post on Ballard.
It is a must-read and illustrates how these prominent vehicles can go zero-carbon at a similar cost to diesel, without altering working practices.
They also talk about Glasgow’s roll-out of a fleet of 19 hydrogen-powered refuse trucks.
I can’t find out who are building these trucks, but the electrolyser to produce the hydrogen is from ITM Power.
BP Investigates Potential Of Largest Blue Hydrogen Plant In The United Kingdom
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
Some points from the article.
- A feasibility study is being conducted and a decision will be made 2024.
- It would be the largest such fascility in the UK.
- It will be located in the North East of England and called H2Teesside.
- It could create enough hydrogen to heat a million homes.
- It would use carbon capture technology.
- It would have a 1 GW production capacity by 2030.
This project should be gauged alongside the Government’s goal of 5 GW of hydrogen capacity by 2030.
This is the last paragraph.
The goal of the introduction of the H2 is to make it easier for residential and industrial customers to use their existing gas connections to decarbonise.
As an example of the things that will happen, last night, I read of a proposal to power hydrogen buses, using hydrogen delivered through the current gas mains.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a hydrogen filling system, that could be built into your drive or garage, so you can refuel your hydrogen car.
Solar Canals Already Competitive With Ground-Mounted PV
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on PV Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
U.S. researchers have assessed the technical and economic feasibility of solar canals in California and have found that their LCOE is already close to that of ground-mounted solar plants. Three different project configurations were analyzed for eight different sites across the California network of canals.
It is a fascinating concept and is already been tried in India.
But apparently, California has the world’s largest network of canals.
Unlike the French system of Floatovoltaics, which I wrote about in Understanding Floatovoltaics, they don’t float the panels on the water, but suspend them with cables or trusses.
But like the French system, they do cut down evaporation.
Beeching Reversal – Reopening Sawston Station
This is one of the Round 3 bids of Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
Sawston is a village in South Cambridgeshire, which is shown in this Google Map.
Note.
The West Anglia Main Line and the A1301 road both run North-South to the West of the village.
The railway calls at Whittlesford Parkway station at the bottom of the map.
The A505, which is a main route between West Suffolk and the M11 and the A1 (M) runs across the bottom of the map.
The new Sawston station is proposed to be in Mill Lane close to the old Spicers factory.
This second Google Map shows the area of the proposed station.
Note.
- There would appear to be space for a station.
- The site is not far from the Western edge of the village.
- There is already a comprehensive road junction, that would serve the station.
This third Google Map shows the area of the Whittlesford Parkway station.
Note.
- The station running North-South towards the West of the map.
- The large car-park to the East of the station.
- The smaller car-park to the West of the station.
- The station has a Holiday Inn hotel.
I have used the station hundreds of times and I believe that it could be made into a first class transport hub for commuters and visitors to Cambridge.
- It has good road connections to North Hertfordshire, West Suffolk and North West Essex.
- It has large amounts of car parking, that ten years ago was rarely full.
- A step-free footbridge with lifts, needs to be added.
- There needs to be better bus connections to local villages.
- There needs to be a bus connection to the Imperial War Museum Duxford.
I don’t believe massive amounts of money would be needed to realise the full potential of this station.
Services through Whittlesford Station And The Proposed Site Of Sawston Station
Currently, the following services run through Whittlesford station in the Off Peak.
- Greater Anglia – 2 tph – Liverpool Street and Cambridge North
- Greater Anglia – 1 tph – Stansted Airport and Norwich
- CrossCountry – 3 tpd – Stansted Airport and Birmingham New Street
Note.
- tph is an abbreviation for trains per hour.
- tpd is an abbreviation for trains per day
- All Greater Anglia services call at Whittlesford Parkway, Cambridge and Cambridge North stations and will probably call at Cambridge South station, when it opens.
- The CrossCountry service only calls at Audley End station between Stansted Airport and Cambridge.
I believe that the minimum services should be as follows to provide an adequate service, after the opening of Cambridge South station.
- 4tph – Whittlesford Parkway and Cambridge North stopping at Cambridge South and Cambridge.
- 2 tph – Liverpool Street and Cambridge North stopping at Whittlesford Parkway, Cambridge South and Cambridge.
- 1 tph – Stansted Airport and Norwich stopping at Whittlesford Parkway, Cambridge South, Cambridge and Cambridge North.
- 1 tph – Stansted Airport and Birmingham New Street stopping at Whittlesford Parkway, Cambridge South, Cambridge and Cambridge North.
There could even be a Cambridgeshire Metro serving all stations between Stansted Airport and Ely.
- All services could be run by electric or bi-mode trains.
- Possible stops would be Elsenham, Newport, Audley End, Great Chesterford, Whittlesford Parkway, Shelford, Cambridge South, Cambridge, Cambridge North and Waterbeach.
- As they do now some fast services would skip smaller stations.
- More important stations like Audley End, Whittlesford Parkway, Cambridge South and Cambridge North would get a 4 tph service to Cambridge
- Other stations would get an appropriate service.
- I would also like to see two fast tph between Cambridge and King’s Lynn, Liverpool Street, Norwich, Peterborough and Stansted.
I think that such a timetable would be possible, if the performance of Greater Anglia’s new trains were to be used to the full.
Could An Extra Stop Be Added At The Proposed Site Sawston Station?
Each extra stop adds extra time to the timetable.
Consider.
- The faster Liverpool Street and Whittlesford Parkway takes sixty minutes with six stops.
- The slower Liverpool Street and Whittlesford Parkway takes seventy-four minutes with twelve stops.
- Greater Anglia’s trains through Whittlesford Parkway and the proposed Sawston station will probably be 100 mph Class 720 trains.
I think it would be reasonable to assume that every extra stop would add 120-150 seconds to the journey time.
As Cambridge South station will be added anyway, will passengers mind up to five minutes added to the timetable?
I doubt with the faster accelerating trains, that there would be a problem about an extra stop at Sawston, but the lengthening of journey times between Cambridge and London may be a problem.
A Possible Alternative Solution
Could there be a possible alternative solution based on improving facilities and services at Whittlesford Parkway station?
- The service at Whittlesford Parkway station would be increased to 4 tph to Cambridge North, with stops at Shelford, Cambridge South and Cambridge.
- The service at Whittlesford Parkway station would be increased to 2 tph to Stansted Airport, with stops at Audley End.
- A step-free bridge with lifts must be installed.
- An improved bus-service between Sawston and Whittlesford Parkway is needed.
- An improved bus-service between the Imperial War Museum Duxford and Whittlesford Parkway is needed.
- Both bus services could be back-to-back and probably should be run every fifteen minutes.
- As it serves a museum, why not run some heritage buses in the Summer?
- There should be good cycling provision between Whittlesford Parkway station and Sawston and other surrounding villages.
I very much feel, that improving Whittlesford Parkway station, may be a better value solution, than building a new station at Sawston!
Conclusion
Building a new station at Sawston may not be the best way to improve public transport in the area.
Jaw Jaw Is Better Than War War!
There is an article in The Times today with a title of Britain Ready To Share Dutch-Made Vaccine With EU.
It talks of compromise and how Boris Johnson has effectively told his ministers to cool it.
I feel that Boris is right to seek a compromise. As Churchill said “Jaw, jaw is better than war-war!”
I wouldn’t be surprised that we have a lot to offer the EU about other things than making the vaccine.
Vaccination
There have been several examples published in this newspaper and other media outlets, about how we have squeezed extra doses out of the Pfizer vaccine and made sure we have potential recipients on hand, so that nothing goes to waste.
Perhaps we have a suitable brigadier, doctor, mandarin or project manager, who could put some drive and organisation into the EU’s flagging effort.
If it is a big loss of face to some EU politicians so be it.
AstraZeneca’s Problem
If AZ do have problem, it appears to be in the manufacture.
After all it is AZ’s first vaccine.
This surely, is a problem, that can be solved, even if it upsets AZ a bit on how it is done!
European Vaccine Reluctance
But I do think the EU’s vaccination is not helped by the population’s reluctance to have a jab.
We had Tom Jones and the US had Dolly Parton, amongst others who backed vaccinations.
Have stars of similar standing backed the vaccination in the EU?
Help From The Yanks
As usual, the Americans have arrived late to bolster the efforts.
Lets hope that their data published today persuades more EU citizens to take the jab and even one from the UK!
But surely any vaccine that gives you 100 % protection from severe disease, as the Yanks say that the AZ does, can’t be all bad!
Conclusion
I believe that as the UK and the EU share a common will to defeat the virus, that a good compromise can be developed over the next few days.
Let’s hope it goes better than the last time, we told the French what to do in a serious situation.
My father told me about Churchill’s dash to Paris in 1940 to offer union with France to try and save the country.
Read all about it in this article on the London School of Economics web site, which is entitled June 1940: Britain’s Forgotten Attempt To Build A European Union.
What Churchill Actually Said
In trying to find when Churchill used the title of this post, I found this page on the International Churchill Society web site, which is entitled Quotes Falsely Attributed To Winston Churchill.
The actual quote was “Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war” and it was misquoted later by Harold Macmillan.
Does meeting Zoom to Zoom count?
Plans Submitted To Build Railway Station At Bebside In Northumberland
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on ITV.
There is a picture of a double-track railway line with this caption.
The proposal includes a two-platform railway station, lifts, parking and a pedestrian and cycle footbridge over the A189 Spine Road to connect the station to Blyth next to Asda.
This Google Map shows the location.
Note.
- The A189 dual-carriageway road running North-South.
- The Asda Blyth Superstore to the East of the road.
- The Northumberland Line running down the Western side of the map.
If you click on the map to show it in a large size, you’ll see the Bebside Inn in the North-West corner, next to the railway and a level crossing.
The station appears to be being built South of the level crossing.
It looks to be a very suitable place for a new station.
Beeching Reversal – Reopening Harston Station
This is one of the Round 3 bids of Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
Harston is a Cambridgeshire village, which is shown in this Google Map.
Note.
- The A10 winding its way North and South through the village.
- Cambridge is five miles to the North.
- The triangular road junction in the middle of the village with Station Road leading off to the South East.
- The Cambridge Line crosses the South-East corner of the map, at a right angle to Station Road.
This Google Map shows the former station site at an enlarged scale..
Note.
- There is plenty of space.
- There is a level crossing.
- The railway is double-track.
There’s even a Harston History page for the station, so if the architect’s decide to go retro, they can visit it for design inspiration.
My initial thoughts are that compared to some of the proposals for Beeching Reversal this one is practical and not over ambitious.
These are some of my thoughts.
Car Parking
Currently, there are the following stations between Cambridge and Hitchin.
Note.
Only Royston station has more than minimal parking provision.
The addition of Harston and Cambridge South stations will probably mean, that a lot of thought will be given to parking at all the stations between Cambridge and Hitchin.
Cambridge South like Cambridge North will probably have extensive parking to also serve Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Cambridge Bio-Medical Campus.
Whittlesford Parkway station on the line between Cambridge and Liverpool Street has very adequate parking provision.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Harston station having a couple of hundred parking spaces.
East West Railway
In Looking At The East West Railway Between Bedford And Cambridge, I looked at the route of the East West Railway as it approaches Cambridge.
I very much doubt that this new railway will go through Harston station.
But Harston station will beef up the capacity on the Cambridge Line to bring more workers to one of the science and engineering capitals of the world.
Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro
There are also plans for the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro.
This map shows the proposed layout of the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro.
Note that the green section will be in tunnel.
I doubt that the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro will run to Harston, as it most likely will run on rubber-tyred wheels and probably wouldn’t mix well with heavy rail.
Train Service
Currently, the current trains run through the station in the Off Peak.
- Thameslink – 2 tph – Cambridge and Brighton
- Thameslink – 2 tph – Cambridge and King’s Cross
- Great Northern – 1 tph – King’s Cross and Ely
- Great Northern – 1 tph – King’s Cross and King’s Lynn
Note.
- tph is an abbreviation for trains per hour.
- All trains are fast services, except for the Cambridge and King’s Cross service, which stops at all stations.
- When Cambridge South station opens, I suspect nearly all services will stop at that station.
- The Great Northern services also stop at Cambridge North station.
- In Call For ETCS On King’s Lynn Route, I talked of the possibility of running 125 mph trains on Great Northern services between King’s Cross, Cambridge, Cambridge North, Ely and King’s Lynn.
I suspect that it will be likely only the Thameslink stopping train will call at Harston station, just as it is the only service that calls at Foxton, Shepreth and Meldreth stations.
- But is two tph enough for a Park-and-Ride station?
- Whittlesford Parkway station already has three tph to and from Cambridge.
- I suspect there will be a second Stansted and Cambridge service which mean Whittlesford Parkway station gets four tph to Cambridge,
I suspect Hartston station needs four tph to give a Turn-Up-And-Go service.
Barrington Quarry And Landfill
This Google map shows the location of the Barrington Quarry and Landfill, with respect to Harston.
Note.
- Barrington Quarry and Landfill is in the North-West corner of the map.
- Harston is in the North-East corner of the map.
- The A10 road runs South-West from Harston to Foxton station, where there is a level crossing, where the Cambridge Line crosses the road.
- Foxton station has a freight-only line linking it to the quarry.
This second Google Map shows Foxton station in detail.
Note the rail line to Barrington curving away to the North West.
This document from CEMEX is entitled Barrington Quarry – Restoration Project.
It appears that the quarry will be restored and some of the land will be used for new homes.
As all the track is already in place, would it be possible to run a 2tph service between Barrington and Cambridge North station?
- It could call at Harston, Cambridge North and Cambridge stations.
- Harston station would get a four tph service.
- Cambridge gets more much-needed housing connected to the city.
It could also be run using battery-electric trains that would be charged using the electrification between Foxton and Cambridge North stations.
Conclusion
Taking everything together, it appears to me, that Harston station could improve the rail network to the South West of Cambridge.
UK’s Largest Mobile Crane Swings Into Action In Barking
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Barking And Dagenham Post.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The largest mobile crane in the country has swung into action to help extend a railway line.
The Gottwald AK680 – which has the capacity to lift 1,200 tonnes – installed steel beams for the remaining viaduct spans as part of the Barking Riverside extension (BRE) project.
This crane certainly seems to get about.
I think this picture shows the same crane in action at Bletchley in August. It was certainly claimed as the UK’s largest mobile crane.
Perhaps we need a rail-mounted version!
I always remember, a North Sea Oil project manager telling me, that as cranes got large it eased and speeded up construction.
This article on Vertikal gives more details of the crane in action.
Acton Main Line Station Goes Step-Free With New Ticket Office
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.
The title says it all.
It is top of the list of places that I need to visit.
These are some pictures, I took from the outside on the 21st March 2021.
Unfortunately, the station was closed on this Sunday and I could hear work going on behind the hoardings.
I took these pictures behind the hoardings a few days later.
Note.
- There are several nice details like seats by all the lifts.
- There are toilets, where you ask the staff to unlock them.
- There is still work to do, but nothing crucial for the operation of the station.
Will the two old sets of stairs be demolished?
Conclusion
I like it! And so did the staff, I spoke to!
The Anonymous Widower 