Diss Station – 19th May 2022
I went to Diss station for the first time today on a train, although I have caught a train from the station a couple of times.
These are my thoughts.
Long Platforms
Consider.
- The platforms are long enough to take two full-length twelve-car Class 745 trains, which are nearly 240 metres long.
- I suspect the platforms can also accept a pair of five-car Class 720 trains, which would be 244 metres long.
If this is true at all Inter-City stations, this must mean that Greater Anglia can still run a full service, if they are short of Class 745 trains.
Car Parking
This Google Map shows the extensive car parking at Diss station.
Note.
- There are two tracks and two platforms, with the London-bound platform on the Eastern side.
- There is parking on both sides of the tracks.
- According to the National Rail web site, there appears to be 316 parking bays on the London-bound side.
- A sign in the tenth picture shows a £2.50 All-Day parking deal on the Norwich-bound platform.
- The Internet shows a lot of competitively-priced parking around the station.
Commuters to London, Ipswich or Norwich will have to cross the line in the morning or evening and there are no lifts to make that easy.
A Step-Free Bridge At Diss
Network Rail had a competition a few years ago in conjunction with RIBA to design a stylish, affordable and easy-to-install footbridge and this was the winner.
This design is also under development.
I think one of these bridges could possibly be installed at Diss station at the Northern end of the station.
- Both bridges would appear to have small footprints.
- They are designed to clear 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
- Both bridges appear to be able to be built to a flexible width. I suspect this might allow one end of the bridge could be in a car park and the other on the opposite platform.
- Both are fully step-free.
- The composite bridge might be better because of a lower weight.
- The first bridge appears to be enclosed, so would work better in Manchester.
- I suspect that both could be installed after creating an appropriately-sized concrete base on either side of the tracks, by lifting in the bridge by means of a rail-mounted crane.
It is now over three years since the first design won the Network Rail/RIBA competition. That is just too long to get a prototype bridge built and installed.
Toilets
The toilets at the station were of an excellent standard. But this is getting increasingly common these days.
Marks And Spencer’s Chicken Kiev Has Been Renamed Chicken Kyiv
I took this picture in Marks and Spencer at Liverpool Street tonight! Note the name!
I didn’t buy one as it isn’t gluten-free.
There have been lots of articles like this one on Birmingham Live, which is entitled Tesco, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda Under Pressure To Rename Chicken Kievs ‘Kyiv’.
So perhaps, pressure works.
Affordable Blue Hydrogen Production
The title of this post, is the same as that of this page on the Shell Catalysts & Technologies web site.
This is said at the top of the page.
Natural gas producers are at a crossroads. They face a shifting regulatory landscape emphasising emissions reduction and an economic environment where cash preservation is critical. Shell Catalysts & Technologies offers resource holders a phased approach to diversifying their portfolios towards clean hydrogen fuels by leveraging proven and affordable capture technologies and catalysts.
My knowledge of advanced chemical catalysts is small, but I did work in the early 1970s on a project with one of ICI’s experts in the field and he told me some basics and how he believed that in the future some new catalysts would revolutionise chemical process engineering.
Wikipedia’s definition of catalysis, or the action of catalysts is as follows.
Catalysis is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst.
When I heard that Velocys were going to develop a catalyst-based system to turn household waste into sustainable aviation fuel, I did make a small investment in the company, as I thought the project could have legs.
Shell’s process takes natural gas and converts one molecule of methane (CH4) into two molecules of hydrogen (H2) and one of carbon dioxide (CO2) using one molecule of oxygen (O2) from the air.
In the Shell Blue Hydrogen Process, does a clever catalyst extract the carbon atom from the methane and combine it with two oxygen atoms to create a molecule of carbon dioxide? If it does, then this would leave the four atoms of hydrogen to form two molecules of H2 and the catalyst to go and repeat its magic on another methane molecule.
The video on the Shell site claims to do the conversion 10-25 % cheaper than current carbon intensive methods like steam reforming.
For every two molecules of hydrogen produced, both the Shell Blue Hydrogen Process and steam reforming will produce one molecule of carbon dioxide.
If you look at steam reforming it is an endothermic process, which means heat has to be added. The classic endothermic process is dissolving ice cubes in a glass of water.
Shell don’t say, but does their process need less energy to be added, because their clever catalyst does a lot of the work?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the reaction takes place in a liquid, with hydrogen and carbon dioxide bubbling out.
- The two gases would be separated by using their different physical properties.
- Carbon dioxide is heavier for a start.
Whatever Shell have done, it is probably pretty impressive and has probably taken many years to develop.
If as I suspect, it produces pure carbon dioxide, that would be an added bonus, as some uses of carbon dioxide wouldn’t want impurities.
Uses of pure carbon dioxide include.
- Feeding it to soft fruits, flowers, salad vegetables and tomatoes growing in large greenhouses.
- Dry ice.
- Mineral Carbonation International can use carbon dioxide to make building products like blocks or plasterboard.
- It can be added to concrete.
The more of the carbon dioxide that can be used rather than stored the better.
Aussie Billionaire Aims To Mine $8bn US Fund For Coal-To-Hydrogen Industrial Conversion
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Twiggy Forrest-owned Fortescue’s project to tap renewable energy on Washington state grid – where surplus hydroelectric power usually exported to Canada and western seaboard – for clean hydrogen production at Centralia site.
Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), owned by Australian billionaire Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, is planning to convert a former coal mine in US state of Washington into a green hydrogen production facility, using funds it hopes to win from the federal government’s $8bn H2 hub fund, the company said on Friday.
These are some other points about FFI’s plans.
- A former coal mine will be converted into a green hydrogen production facility.
- The facility will be located at Industrial Park at TransAlta.
- It will use 300 MW of renewable electricity.
- Production of green hydrogen will be 110 tonnes per day or 40,000 tonnes per year.
Hopefully, they will have Federal Funds to support the development.
The article also details other hydrogen developments in the United States, with hydrogen hubs earmarked for New England, Midwest, West Virginia and Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
It certainly looks that the United States is getting serious about hydrogen.
Drax Submits Application To Expand Iconic ‘Hollow Mountain’ Power Station
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Drax.
The project is called Cruachan 2 and is described on this web site.
This is the introduction to the project.
We have kickstarted the planning process to build a new underground pumped hydro storage power station – more than doubling the electricity generating capacity at Cruachan.
The 600 megawatt (MW) power station will be located inside Ben Cruachan – Argyll’s highest mountain – and increase the site’s total capacity to 1 gigawatt (GW).
The new power station would be built within a new, hollowed-out cavern which would be large enough to fit Big Ben on its side, to the east of Drax’s existing 440MW pumped storage hydro station. More than a million tonnes of rock would be excavated to create the cavern and other parts of the power station. The existing upper reservoir, which can hold 2.4 billion gallons of water, has the capacity to serve both power stations.
Note.
- The generation capacity will be increased from 440 MW to 1040 MW, which is an increase of 36 %.
- Cruachan has a storage capacity of 7.1 GWh, which will not be increased.
- Cruachan opened in October 1965, so the generating equipment is nearly sixty years old.
I will assume that Drax and its various previous owners have kept the turbines, generators, dam and associated pipework in good condition, but as an Electrical Engineer, I do believe that the modern equipment, that will be used in Cruachan 2 will offer advantages.
- One of these advantages could be the ability to ramp up power faster, than the original equipment.
- I also suspect, it will have a sophisticated computer control system, that will allow the output of the power station to be precisely controlled.
These two features should mean that when a spike in power demand happens, that the combined Cruachan will step up to the plate.
So all those watching the Celtic and Rangers match on television, will still get their half-time cuppa.
I suspect that the combined Cruachan will be a power regulator of the highest quality.
Will The Storage Capacity Of Drax Be Increased?
Drax don’t appear to have any plans for increasing the size of the upper reservoir and I suspect that geography can’t deliver an affordable solution.
But.
- Loch Awe is an excellent lower reservoir for a pumped storage system.
- The building of Cruachan 2 may create substantial employment and economic benefits in the area.
- Cruachan 2 is not the only pumped storage scheme under development in the area.
- The UK needs as much pumped energy storage as can be created.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see, further development of Cruachan, if Cruachan 2 is an overwhelming success.
It’ll all be down to the geography and the economics.
Cutting Emissions – Cleaner, Greener Turbostars
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Engineer.
It is a detailed technical description about how one of Chiltern Trains’s Class 168 trains has been converted to hybrid power.
This extract from the article gives the results of the conversion.
In July 2021, to celebrate Chiltern Railways’ 25th anniversary, the prototype was used to carry a number of invited guests to Bicester for a celebration lunch. The unit achieved speeds of up to 100mph during this demonstration run and operated with emission free battery power into/out of Marylebone and Bicester. The converted train is expected to reduce CO2 by up to 25%, nitrous oxide by up to 70%, particulates by up to 90% and fuel consumption by up to 25%. There was also an expectation that engine noise level will be reduced by 75%.
The article finishes by discussing how all 450 cars of the combined Class 168/170 fleet could be converted.
The article also hopes that the new Chiltern contract could lead to a full conversion of the fleet to hybrid operation.
It is an article well-worth a read.
Bank Station – 16th May 2022
The new Northern Line platforms at Bank station are now open and I went this morning to have a quick look.
These are my thoughts.
The New Southbound Platform Is Wide
The new Southbound platform is wide and compares well with the wide platform at Angel station, that I wrote about in All Platforms Should Be Wide Like This.
This picture shows the Southbound platform at Angel., which dates from 1992.
And this the new Southbound platform at Bank.
Two similar designs, but thirty years apart.
Simple Decor
The two pictures also illustrate the simple decor used in the rebuilt station.
The New Southbound Platform Is A Sprayed Concrete Tunnel
These pictures show the far wall of the new Southbound platform.
It looks from my untrained eye to be lined with sprayed concrete. I learned more about the use of sprayed concrete in tunnels, when I visited TUCA in Ilford, during Open House in 2012, which I wrote about in Open House – TUCA.
The Existing Northbound Platform Is Narrow
The Northbound platform is effectively as before, but with large and small holes in the wall to access a wide parallel pedestrian tunnel behind the wall.
There is a lot of circulation space.
The Parallel Pedestrian Tunnel
The old Southbound platform has been turned into a parallel pedestrian tunnel separated from the Northbound platform, by a wall that has four small and eight larger pedestrian-sized holes through it.
These pictures show a selections of the holes in the wall.
In addition.
- The tunnel has escalators at the Southern end connecting to Monument station.
- The tunnel has stairs at the Northern end to the Central Line.
- Further connections will be added.
- It also has seats along its length. These will be mainly for Northbound passengers, waiting for trains, who can see the trains through the large holes.
It is an unusual layout and I’ve never seen anything like it before anywhere in London, the UK, Europe or the world.
Wot No More Marble?
The Northbound Northern Line used to have a platform with marble facings.
Some of marble is still there as these pictures show.
Note that the old rat-run to the DLR is still there between the platforms.
The Wide Cross Tunnels
The wide cross tunnels link the two sides of the station together and to the escalators and moving walkways in the middle of the station.
This visualisation shows the station.
Note.
- The only more-or-less completed bits are the two Northern Line tunnels and platforms and parallel pedestrian tunnel.
- The four cross tunnels can be picked out towards the far end of the station.
- Three of the cross tunnels can now be used by passengers.
- The moving walkway can be accessed from the two cross tunnels nearest to the Central Line.
- The escalators from the yet-to-open Cannon Street entrance appear to lead directly into a cross tunnel and a parallel tunnel to the moving walkway.
This station has definitely been designed for rabbits.
Level Access To The Trains
This picture shows the level access on the new Southbound platform.
And this shows the step-up into the train on the old Northbound platform.
I wonder, if the platform can be raised to make the Northbound as good as the Southbound.
There Is Still A Lot To Do
At present the only sections of the project that are completed and visible to passengers are the following.
- The new wide Southbound platform.
- The refurbished Northbound platform, which is a similar width to before.
- The wide passenger tunnel behind the Northbound platform, that was converted from the old Southbound tunnel.
- The four new cross tunnels between the two platforms. Some still need finishing and there are spaces, where escalators will slot in.
It would appear that at least the following need to be done.
- Open up the new Cannon Street entrance
- Add the escalators and lifts.
- Put in the moving walkways between the Northern and Central Lines.
But it looks that everything left to do is small compared to the tunnel work that needed the closure from January.
This page on the TfL web site gives these dates.
- 16 May 2022: New southbound platform and concourse open
- Autumn 2022: DLR escalator and Central line link open
- Late 2022: Bank station capacity upgrade works due to be completed. New station with step-free access opens on Cannon Street.
It looks to me, that the project management has been done well and after hitting the first milestone, they appear to be on track.
Elizabeth Line To Open On 24 May 2022
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release on Crossrail.
This is the sub-title.
Trains to run every five minutes 06:30 – 23:00 Monday to Saturday between Paddington and Abbey Wood.
And these are the first two paragraphs describe what will open.
Transport for London (TfL) has today confirmed that, subject to final safety approvals, the Elizabeth line will open on Tuesday 24 May 2022. The Elizabeth line will transform travel across London and the South East by dramatically improving transport links, cutting journey times, providing additional capacity, and transforming accessibility with spacious new stations and walk-through trains. The Elizabeth line will initially operate as three separate railways, with services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield connecting with the central tunnels from autumn this year.
In the coming weeks, Elizabeth line signage will continue to be uncovered across the network in preparation for the start of customer service. The updated Tube and Rail map will also be released later showing the new central section stations connected with the rest of the TfL network for the first time.
These are some points from the rest of the press release.
- Work will continue in engineering hours and on Sundays to allow a series of testing and software updates in preparation for more intensive services from the autumn.
- All services between Reading and Heathrow to Paddington and Shenfield to Liverpool Street, currently operating as TfL Rail, will be rebranded to the Elizabeth line.
- Passengers wanting to do longer journeys may need to change at Paddington or Liverpool Street stations.
- Services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield will connect with the central tunnels in autumn when frequencies will also be increased to 22 trains per hour in the peak between Paddington and Whitechapel.
- Paddington and Canary Wharf will have a journey time of only 17 minutes. It takes thirty minutes by the Underground.
- All Elizabeth line stations will be staffed from first to the last train, with a ‘turn up and go’ service offered to anyone needing assistance.
- Step-free access is in place from street to train across all Elizabeth line stations between Paddington and Woolwich.
- Work is ongoing at Bond Street Elizabeth line station, which means that it will not open with the other stations on 24 May. It will open later in the year.
- Changes will be made to 14 bus routes to improve links to Elizabeth line stations in east and south-east London, where many customers will use buses to get to and from stations.
- Full services across the entire route introduced by May 2023.
I have some thoughts.
My Routes To Crossrail
Like many in London, I will have multiple routes to and from Crossrail.
- I could take a 21 or a 141 bus from the bus stop round the corner to the Moorgate end of Liverpool Street station on Crossrail.
- I could take a 38 bus from another bus stop round the corner to Tottenham Court Road station on Crossrail.
- I could also take a 38 or 56 bus from this stop to Angel station and get a Northern Line train to Liverpool Street station on Crossrail.
- I could also take a 38 or 56 bus from this stop to Essex Road station and get a Northern City Line train to Liverpool Street station on Crossrail.
- I could also take a 30 bus from this stop to Highbury & Islington station and get a Northern City Line train to Liverpool Street station on Crossrail.
- I could take a 30, 38 or 56 from yet another stop round the corner to Dalston Junction station and get an Overground train to Whitechapel on Crossrail.
- I could even walk a few hundred metres to take a 76 bus from the stop in the centre of de Beauvoir Town to the Moorgate end of Liverpool Street station on Crossrail.
One of the reasons, I bought my house, was that it would have good connections to Crossrail.
But there is a cloud on the horizon.
My easiest route will probably be to use a 21 or 141 bus direct to Moorgate.
But our South London Mayor in his wisdom is hoping to retire the 21 bus leaving us with just the 141 direct to Moorgate.
I am by training a mathematical modeller and I have lived much of my life at various points on the transport corridor from Cockfosters to Moorgate formed by the Piccadilly Line and the 141 bus. I can even remember using the predecessor of the 141 bus, which was the 641 trolley-bus to come up to London with my grandmother in the 1950s.
I’m certain that when Crossrail opens, that if you live in say Wood Green, Southgate and Oakwood, if you want to use Crossrail to get to Heathrow or Canary Wharf, you will be highly likely to take the Piccadilly Line to Manor House and then take a 141 bus to Moorgate to pick up Crossrail.
The only alternative will be to change at Finsbury Park for the Moorgate Line, which even after the improvements at Finsbury Park, would not be an easy change with a heavy bag or a baby in a buggy.
I talked about this problem before in Does London Need High Capacity Bus Routes To Extend Crossrail?, where I said this.
I suspect that when Crossrail opens, the 141 bus will be heavily used by travellers going between the Northern reaches of the Piccadilly Line and Crossrail at Moorgate.
The 141 bus goes between London Bridge station and Palmers Green and it has a route length of about nine miles.
Currently, buses run every fifteen minutes or so, but I doubt it will be enough in future as Transport for London are rerouting the closely-related 21 bus.
I suspect any route seen as an extension of Crossrail needs to have the following characteristics.
- High frequency of perhaps a bus every ten minutes.
- Interior finish on a par with the Class 345 trains.
- Wi-fi and phone charging.
I would also hope the buses were carbon-free. Given that some of these routes could be quite long, I would suspect hydrogen with its longer range could be better.
It should be noted that the 43 bus, that passes Moorgate, is already carbon-free.
I will be interested to see what action is taken by Transport for London.
I believe their current plan is lacking and will make it difficult for those where I live to get to Crossrail at Moorgate.
Feeder Bus Routes To Crossrail
I believe that there could be considerable scope for more high-capacity high-quality feeder routes to and from Crossrail.
Currently, there are four bus routes that pass Moorgate station, that come into this category.
- 21 – Lewisham Shopping Centre and Newington Green
- 43 – London Bridge Station and Friern Barnet
- 76 – Waterloo Station and Stoke Newington
- 141 – London Bridge Station and Palmers Green
How many other routes are there, that stop outside a Crossrail station?
I suspect that for many Londoners and visitors, a bus to Crossrail will be their fastest way to their ultimate destination.
For instance, my fastest way to Bond Street, Canary Wharf, Ealing, Heathrow, Paddington and Reading will start with a bus to the Crossrail entrance at Moorgate station.
And it looks like Transport for London will be reducing my bus frequency to Moorgate, when it probably needs a slight increase.
Crossrail’s North-West Essex Extension
One of the elegant parts of Crossrail’s design is its interchange with the Central Line at Stratford station.
- The Eastbound Crossrail and Central Line platforms share an island platform.
- The Westbound Crossrail and Central Line platforms share an island platform.
This arrangement allows step-free cross-platform interchange between the two lines.
This map, which was clipped from Wikipedia, shows the North-Eastern end of the Central Line.
I am sure, that those who live to the North-East of Stratford station will be some of the residents of London, who benefit the most from Crossrail.
The following stations are step-free.
- Buckhurst Hill
- Debden
- Epping
- Hainault
- Newbury Park
- Roding Valley
- South Woodford
- Stratford
- Woodford
I suspect more stations will be made step-free.
Cross-Platform Interchanges
It was originally planned, that a similar cross-platform interchange would have been built at Walthamstow Central station, that would have allowed the Victoria Line to continue to Woodford.
As the Stratford interchange works so well, I’m surprised the track layout hasn’t been used at more places on London’s rail network.
The Whitechapel Reverse
In Is Whitechapel Station Going To Be A Jewel In The East?, I discussed the importance of Whitechapel station.
Whitechapel station solves the round-the-corner problem for passengers, who want to go between say Romford and Woolwich stations.
Passengers just walk the few metres between the two platforms at Whitechapel station and take the first train to their destination.
I will be interested to see if Crossrail has an effect on traffic over the Dartfood Crossing and through the tunnels. How many will use Crossrail instead, when they are visiting their team, clients or family on the other side of the river?
I call stations like Whitechapel reversal stations, as they allow passengers to easily reverse direction. There is more about reversal stations in Reversal Stations.
The New Tube Map
These pictures show the new tube map.
Note.
- Crossrail is shown as a double purple line.
- Thameslink is also shown as a double pink line.
- There are certainly some drawing gymnastics to fit it all in.
But Harry Beck’s design survives.
Abbey Wood Station
The more I look at the design of Abbey Wood station and compare it to the Crossrail/Central interchange at Stratford, the more I think it is a substandard station.
Would it have been better, if one island platform had been designed for Westbound services and the other had been designed for Eastbound services? Crossrail services might be on the outside with North Kent services between the two island platforms.
This would have enabled a journey between say Rochester and Bond Street to have been done with a simple cross-platform change at Abbey Wood station.
No Victoria Line Interchange
I was surprised by these omissions.
This article on London Reconnections is entitled Horrible Holborn: When Postponement Is Not An Option.
It is well worth a read.
One section is entitled The interchange that isn’t, where this is said.
Whilst modelling showed that Bond St and Tottenham Court Road would be capable of managing the expected passengers once the Elizabeth line opens, it was clear that a combined Oxford Circus/Bond St (Crossrail) east entrance could not. If you have ever wondered why the Elizabeth line has no sub-surface interchange with the Victoria line at Oxford Circus despite the eastern ends of the Bond Street platforms being tantalisingly close, this is your answer. As the Victoria line at Oxford Circus is never likely to be able to handle the expected numbers of people that would board if there were direct access from the Bond St Crossrail platforms, it appears the two stations will never be linked with publicly accessible passages below ground.
In other words, you would solve the problem of the interchange between the Elizabeth and Victoria Lines and create severe overcrowding on the Victoria Line.
When I have supper with my son at the Angel, he comes from his home in Walthamstow, via a cross-platform change at Euston.
Routes like this allow those that live on the Victoria Line to access the Elizabeth Line.
No Piccadilly Line Interchange
The article says this about an Elizabeth Line station at Holborn.
It is pertinent to note that an early plan to have a Crossrail station at Holborn was abandoned. In reality, it would have been too close to Tottenham Court Road station to be really worthwhile. It would have restricted the alignment (bearing in mind that sub-surface Crossrail stations have to be straight and level). It would also have added considerable expense and may have put the entire project at risk. At the end of the day, it just wasn’t a good business case. Whilst a station on the scale of the Elizabeth line could not be justified, however, an improvement of the existing Holborn station could.
The article also says that upgrading Holborn station would not be easy, even without the connection to the Elizabeth Line.
Xlinks Welcomes New Investor Octopus Energy In Providing Cheap Green Power To Over 7 Million Homes
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Xlinks.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Xlinks is pleased to announce a financial and strategic partnership with energy tech pioneer Octopus Energy Group.
The Morocco – UK Power Project will speed up the UK’s transition to net zero by laying four 3,800km-long subsea cables to connect a huge renewable energy farm in the Moroccan desert with Devon in South West England. Morocco is setting its sights on becoming a world leader in solar energy, already boasting some of the world’s largest solar arrays, and meeting two-fifths of its electricity demand with renewables. There will be huge economic benefits to both countries involved, with Xlinks bringing green energy and engineering jobs to both the UK and Morocco.
The project will diversify UK supply routes and boost energy security through the supply of 3.6 GW of reliable, clean power to the UK for an average of 20 hours a day, enough green energy to power about 7 million homes.
Note.
- The cables will be nearly 2,400 miles
- It is scheduled to be operational in 2027.
- Xlinks is expected to deliver power at £48/MWh, which is comparable with offshore wind.
- Wikipedia talks of a Hinkley Point C strike price of £92.50/MWh (in 2012 prices).
- Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy Group, is also a personal investor in the project.
- Greg Jackson is interviewed in this article in today’s Sunday Times.
I wrote more about this project in Moroccan Solar-Plus-Wind To Be Linked To GB In ‘Ground-Breaking’ Xlinks Project.
Conclusion
This mega-project could be approaching the point, where the starting gun is fired.
A Cruise To Barking – 13th May 2022
I noticed earlier in the week, that the Thames Clippers now go all the way to Barking Riverside. So I went today.
Note.
- I boarded the boat at the London Bridge City Pier.
- The easiest way to get to this pier is to get a 21, 43 or 141 bus from Moorgate or Bank station. to London Bridge and walk along the South Bank of the river for perhaps a hundred metres. Walking from London Bridge station is a bit tricky.
- I alighted at Barking Riverside Pier, which will be a short walk to the new Barking Riverside station.
The route is a mixture of historic and modern London and places passed include.
- HMS Belfast
- The Tower of London
- Tower Bridge
- Canary Wharf
- Cutty Sark
- The Royal Naval College, Greenwich
- The O2
- The Thames Barrier
- Wooolwich Arsenal
Many have piers for the Thames Clipper.
The Royal Iris
These pictures show what is left of the former Mersey Ferry, the MV Royal Iris, which is rusting in the River at Woolwich.
I remember the ferry, when it was resplendent in green and yellow in the 1960s. I also remember going on one evening party cruise up and down the Mersey.
It’s rather a sad end for ship that has many happy memories for many.
According to Wikipedia, there is a campaign to return the iconic ferry to Liverpool.
London’s CrossFerry
The Thames Clippers keep on going and now at many times, you can go all the way between Barking Riverside and Putney.
It’s not that slow either and in the open waters East of Tower Bridge, my phone was saying that the ferry was cruising at 40 mph.
If it has one problem, it is that the Thames Clippers don’t have an all-day timetable, that is simple.
If it is going to be a pseudo-train line across London, then there needs to be a two boat per hour service across the city. This will be needed more as more housing is built at Barking Riverside.
I know Barking Riverside will be getting the Overground in the Autumn, but unlike the Thames Clippers, that serve Canary Wharf, the City and Westminster, the Overground will serve a swathe of housing, rather than employment, across North London.
The Anonymous Widower 