Interchange Between Chiltern Railways And The Central Line At South Ruislip Station
After my trip to Beaconsfield station, which I wrote about in Beaconsfield Station To Go Step-Free, I needed to get to West Ealing station.
So I took a direct train to South Ruislip station, where I changed to the Central Line for Greenford station and the Greenford Branch to West Ealing.
These pictures show the subway at South Ruislip station.
It is a subway with inadequate steep steps.
According to the Wikipedia entry for Chiltern Railways, one of their active plans is for a Chiltern Metro. This is said.
New Chiltern Metro Service that would operate 4+tph for Wembley Stadium, Sudbury & Harrow Road, Sudbury Hill Harrow, Northolt Park, South Ruislip and West Ruislip. This would require a reversing facility at West Ruislip, passing loops at Sudbury Hill Harrow, and a passing loop at Wembley Stadium (part of the old down fast line is in use as a central reversing siding, for stock movements and additionally for 8-car football shuttles to convey passengers to the stadium for events).
So there could be four trains per hour (tph) through South Ruislip station, in addition to the current hourly service to High Wycombe.
Also.
- When Chiltern Railways have a second London terminal at Old Oak Common station, there could be more stopping trains.
- There is also pressure to run services along the Greenford Branch to West Ruislip and High Wycombe.
- The Central Lione will be getting new larger trains in the next few years.
There is certainly, a lot of potential to improve services and South Ruislip station could need to go step-free.
This Google Map shows the station.
Putting lifts into the subway to access platforms has been done many times and wouldn’t be the most major of projects.
Whether it is worth doing, would be solely down to passenger numbers.
- Currently, the station handles about two million passengers per year, most of whom are using the Central Line.
- There will probably be a lot of new housing built in the next few years.
- With the disruption of building High Speed Two, through the area, this might mean new passengers start using the station.
I predict that South Ruislip station will go step-free.
West Ealing Station – 16th April 2019
These pictures were taken at West Ealing station.
At last there appears to be some progress, with the footbridge now under construction.
The station certainly looks to be advanced enough, to fit in with Crossrail opening within a year, as I wrote about in Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening.
According to the Wikipedia entry for Crossrail, West EWaling station will have the following trains, when Crossrail opens.
- Two trains per hour (tph) between Reading and Abbey Wood
- Two tph between Maidenhead and Abbey Wood
- Four tph between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood.
- Two tph between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Abbey Wood.
What if you want to go to Shenfield?
If the Western section of Crossrail opens in December, would West Ealing station get the following service?
- Two tph between Reading and Paddington
- Two tph between Maidenhead and Paddington
- Four tph between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Paddington
- Two tph between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Paddington
That would surely be an excellent service!
If the frequency on the Greenford Branch could be doubled to four tph, there would also be an excellent interchange to the branch line.
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be usable.
It is planned that West Ealing station will have a Crossrail train every six minutes.
Acton Main Line Station – 16th April 2019
These pictures were taken at Acton Main Line station.
The station certainly looks to be advanced enough, to fit in with Crossrail opening within a year, as I wrote about in Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening.
According to the Wikipedia entry for Crossrail, Acton Main Line station will have four trains per hour (tph) between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood stations, when Crossrail opens.
If the Western section of Crossrail opens in December 2019, would Acton Main Line station get a service of four tph between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Paddington?
That would certainly meet the standard Transport for London/Merseyrail preferred frequency of at least four tph in a station!
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be usable.
It is planned that Acton Main Line station will have a train every fifteen minutes.
Are The Bakerloo Line Platforms At Paddington Ready For Step-Free Access And Crossrail?
I took these pictures on the Bakerloo Line platforms at Paddington station.
Note.
- The blue hoardings have gone.
- The decorations appear finished.
- There are a set of locked fire-doors in the centre of the platforms. Where do they lead?
- The signs by the doors, have big white spaces, which cry out for graffiti or direction signs.
It all fits with Crossrail opening within a year as I wrote about in Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening.
Many of the extra passengers will head for the Underground, so complete their journeys. So opening Crossrail to Reading with a step-free connection to the Bakerloo Line makes sense.
The Lucky Seven
Why the Lucky Seven?
Because i’m drinking them! Does that make us the Lucky Eight?
The seven were the last on display in Marks and Spencer on Finsbury Pavement.
The City is a good hunting ground for this excellent beer!
Abellio’s Plans For Nottingham And Matlock Via Derby
This page on the Department for Transport web site is an interactive map of the Abellio’s promises for East Midlands Railway.
These are mentioned for services between Nottingham and Matlock via Derby..
Enhanced Sunday Service Providing An Hourly Service For Most Of The Day
Surely, this should be happening now!
Increased Community Rail Partnership Funding
Always a good thing!
Refurbished, Modern Trains
As with their plans for Nottingham to Norwich, they use the same words about the trains.
So will all these routes from around Nottingham be run using four-car Class 222 trains?
I can’t think what other suitable higher-capacity trains are available.
Except Class 170 trains and they are generally only two-cars, which probably isn’t large enough.
Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening
The title of this post is the same as this article on New Civil Engineer.
In Will Crossrail Open To Reading in 2019?, I analysed this possibility, after it was raised in the January 2019 Edition of Modern Railways.
I decided it would be a good idea, with the major benefit of making Paddington a station without any trains running on diesel.
Startup Nikola Bets Hydrogen Will Finally Break Through With Big Rigs
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Forbes.
Read the article, as it is an interesting concept.
- Nikola Motor will not only build the trucks, but the hydrogen filling station network across North America.
- They believe big trucks are ideal for hydrogen power.
- They will also make their hydrogen filling station network available to car makes.
- The founder of the company; Trevor Milton, claims it’s easier to package hydrogen tanks in big vehicles than small ones.
- He also claims that hydrogen-powered trucks are much lighter than battery ones.
- Hydrogen will be produced from renewable sources, where it is needed.
- They are raising $1.2billion dollars to fund it.
First trucks will be delivered in 2022,, if all goes well with the funding.
I have no idea, whether it will work successfully, but surely a network of hydrogen filling stations, generating their own hydrogen across a Continent could be the kick, that hydrogen power for vehicles needs.
The UK is a small island and comparing it to North America, probably means the concept wouldn’t work in the UK, but if it works in North America, it will work in Europe.
But, if Trevor Milton’s mathematics work for big trucks in North America, they may well work with trains in the UK. A few hydrogen filling stations for trains and locomotives at strategic depots might power a whole new generation of rail vehicles. The rail filling stations could be co-located with filling stations for hydrogen road vehicles.
Trucks In Cities And Large Urban Areas
As I walk around London I see lots of large trucks, that can be put into a few categories.
- Articulated delivery trucks, often for the big supermarkets.
- Eight-wheel rigid trucks moving loads of building materials or soil and rubble dug out of construction sites.
- Refuse trucks.
- Skip trucks
- Cement mixer trucks
With the exception of the first, many of these vehicles don’t do a large number of miles in a working day.
Will we see companies like Nikola Motor and others developing hydrogen or battery-powered trucks for these niches?
If they do, I can see some interesting working and fuelling strategies developing.
Would Hydrogen Trucks Be Ideal For Cross-Channel Traffic?
Imagine a journey between Stuttgart and the Toyota plant in Derby.
- Using the European hydrogen network, the truck arrives at Calais with a low hydrogen level.
- On arrival in Dover it goes to a convenient hydrogen station and fills up with enough hydrogen to make the five hundred mile return journey to Derby.
- The return journey to Stuttgart, would use a hydrogen filling station at Calais to speed the truck on it’s way.
Because of the distances involved, I’m sure hydrogen would work for regular high-value truck journeys across the Channel, even if different tractors were used on either side of the Channel, as they often are now!
You could also argue, that this journey would be better done by rail. But if that is the case, why is it so much cross-Channel freight moved by trucks?
Conclusion
Hydrogen will continue to attract innovation and it is not time to write it off yet.
An Inter7City Class 43 Locomotive At Dundee Station
This Inter7City Class 43 locomotive was waiting at Dundee station, when I protographed it.
I suspect it was a training run.
Can You Fit These Cases In A Class 800 Train?
I took this picture at Edinburgh station, after arriving there on an Aberdeen to London train.
Could these cases be fitted into a new Class 800 train?
I’ve seen surfboards and heavily-loaded bikes being swallowed by a Class 43 locomotive in an InterCity 125.
Perhaps, passengers with loads like this, will fly to Edinburgh and then use ScotRail’s Inter7City trains around Scotland.
The Anonymous Widower 