A Toned Down Automatic Leon In Leeds Station
Leon have opened a new outlet in Leeds station.
It’s toned-down with an automatic order facility.
Leon Has Smart-Looking Glasses For Gluten-Free Beer
I had lunch in Leon at Ludgate Circus.
It was only a chicken burger and fries, but I did have an Estrella Damm Daura.
It even came with a smart-looking Glass.
Top Class Service With A Smile
I only went into this busy Leon on Tottenham Court Road for a hot chocolate and a gluten-free cake.
As it takes a minute to make a hot chocolate, the young lady at the counter, suggested I sit down and she’d bring it over.
Which she did with a smile.
Another Carluccio’s Goes
C and myself used the Carluccio’s in Oxford Market many times. But now it has gone!
To add insult to injury, it is now a restaurant called Sweet Chick, which describes itself as Chicken and Waffles.
Doesn’t sound very healthy to me!
A Gluten-Free Restaurant In Fitzrovia
On Wednesday, I wet with a friend to a restaurant clled Pisqu in Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia.
It was very good and I had no problem with finding an excellent gluten-free meal.
I dhall retirn!
Reading For Lunch On TfL Rail
On Sunday, TfL Rail took over the services between Paddington and Reading via Maidenhead.
The pictures show that there is still a lot of work to do to get a complete step-free Western Branch of Crossrail.
I walked to Carluccio’s at Reading, which is about a kilometre. It would be closer, if Reading had decent maps like other civilised towns or cities.
These are my comments about the new TfL Rail service.
Competitive Ticketing On TfL Rail
I would expect services on TfL Rail will be competitively priced and some details are given on this page on the TfL web site, which is entitled TfL Rail Will Operate Services To Reading From 15 December.
Freedom Passes
I can use my Freedom Pass all the way to Reading for a cost of precisely nothing.
- There are lots of places along the line, where holders might go to enjoy themselves.
- Freedom Pass holders can take children with them on some rail services in London. Will they be able to do this on TfL Rail?
- Freedom Pass holders like to extract maximum benefit from their passes.
But it won’t be long before canny holders, realise that other places like these are just an extension ticket away.
- Basingstoke – £4.50
- Henley-on-Thames – £2.65
- Marlow – £3.10
- Newbury or Newbury Racecourse – £4.50
- Oxford – £6.65
- Winchester – £11.55
- Windsor – £1.90
- Woking – £9.75
I included Winchester, as that is where my granddaughter lives.
Will Freedom Pass holders take advantage?
- This is not a rip-off offer, but a chasm in the fare regulations.
- There are some good pubs and restaurants by the Thames.
They will take advantage in hoards.
Reverse Commuters
On my trip to Harrogate, I met a guy, who told me, that Reading has difficulty attracting workers for high-tech businesses.
I suspect that the new service might encourage some reverse commuting.
Will some Freedom Pass holders take advantage?
- I know a lot of people still working, who commute within London on a Freedom Pass.
- Not all Freedom Pass holders are pensioners. For instance, I would have been eligible because I lost my Driving Licence, when my eyesight was ruined by a stroke.
As the pictures show, there is a lot of offices going up around the station in Reading.
Access To The Thames
The route between Paddington and Reading gives access to the River Thames at the following places.
- Windsor from Slough
- Marlow from Maidenhead
- Henley from Twyford.
- Reading
- Oxford from Reading
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the route being used extensively by leisure travellers to explore and visit London’s principle river.
Connection To Central London
When Crossrail opens to Central London, this must surely result in a large increase in cummuter, leisure and tourist traffic.
Indian Sub-Continent Families
There are a lot of people with roots in the Indian sub-continent living along the route between Paddington and Reading.
Note that Southall station is one of a small group of English stations with bilingual signage. At Southall the signs are in both English and Punjabi.
I feel, that strong family, cultural and religious ties will mean, that this large group will use the trains of TfL extensively in their daily lives.
Train Frequency
It was a Sunday, and the train had perhaps sixty percent of the seats taken.
I have this feeling that this route could suffer from London Overground Syndrome and that passenger numbers will rise much higher than the most optimistic forecasts, because of the factors I outlined in previous sections.
- Competitive Ticketing On TfL Rail
- Freedom Passes
- Reverse Commuters
- Indian Sub-Continent Families
- Access To The Thames
- Connection To Central London
This leads me to predict that this line will need a full four trains per hour (tph) service as far as Reading before the end of 2021 and not just in the Peak Hours.
Connections To The Branches
On my journey to and from Reading,, I didn’t see any trains on the four branches, that have the following frequencies.
- Greenford – Two tph
- Windsor – Three tph
- Marlow – One tph
- Henley – Two tph
Surely, as the current TfL Rail service has a frequency of two tph to Reading, it should interface better with the Greenford and Henley branches.
It appears to me, that there is scope for a better timetable and increased frequency on some of the branches.
Or is the current timetable geared to making profits in the cafes and coffee stalls at the interchange stations?
My timetable would be as follows.
- Greenford – Four tph
- Windsor – Four tph
- Marlow – Two tph – Timed to be convenient for Reading services.
- Henley – Two tph – Timed to be convenient for Reading services.
If the Crossrail and branch service are both four tph or better and there are reasonable facilities, I suspect that will work reasonably well.
But the higher the frequency the better!
Train Performance
On my trip, the Class 345 train was stretching its legs to the West of West Drayton and I recorded a speed of 90 mph.
Their performance doesn’t seem to be much slower than Great Western Railways 110 mph Class 387 trains.
Ticketing
From what I’ve seen, ticketing on this line needs to be augmented.
What is currently, in place will work for Londoners and those that live close to the line.
But would it work for tourists and especially those for whom English is not their first language, who want to visit Oxford and Windsor?
There would appear to be a need for a ticket which allowed the following.
- Use of TfL Rail between West Drayton and Reading.
- Slough and Windsor
- Maidenhead and Marlow
- Twyford and Henley
- Reading and Oxford
Could it be called a Thames Valley Ranger?
The alternative would be to bring all the routes into London’s contactless payments system.
But would this mean complicated wrangling over ticket revenue between TfL Rail and Great Western Railway?
There certainly needs to be a simple ticketing system at Slough, so that passengers can purchase a return to Windsor.
The only ways at present are.
- Buy a ticket at Paddington to Windsor.
- Leave Slough station and buy a return ticket to Windsor.
Something much better is needed.
Crossrail To Oxford
Because of Network Rail’s l;ate delivery of the electrification West of Reading, the services have ended up as less than optimal.
I think eventually, services to Oxford, will be reorganised something along these lines.
- Crossrail will be extended to Oxford.
- Fast services to and from London would be the responsibility of Great Western Railway. The frequency would be at least two tph.
- CrossCountry fast services would continue as now.
- Stopping services to and from London would be the responsibility of Crossrail
- Stations between Reading and Oxford, with the exception of Didcot Parkway would only be served by Crossrail.
The Crossrail service to Oxford would have the following characteristics.
- Four tph
- The service would terminate in a South-facing bay platform at Oxford station.
- Pssible battery operation between Didcot Parkway and Oxford.
- The service would have a dedicated pair of platforms at Reading.
There would possibly be a ticketing problem, but as there would be separation of fast and stopping services, I feel that a good solution can be created, which would allow changing between the fast and stopping services at Reading. So commuters from somewhere like Cholsey could either go Crossrail all the way to and from London or change to a faster train at Reading.
Conclusion
I am led to the conclusion, that this service will be overwhelming popular.
But the ticketing leaves much to be desired.
Gluten-Free Afternoon Tea In Bettys
Bettys of Harrogate is one of the best-known traditional tea rooms in Yorkshire, if not the whole of the North of England.
As today was the first weekday of LNER’s new Harrogate service, with six trains per day in both directions, I emailed an old friend and we agreed to meet up for an early afternoon tea, which is actually served from eleven in the morning.
These pictures show my tea, which was gluten-free.
It was certainly some of the best gluten-free sandwiches, cakes and scones, I’ve ever had.
Sadly,, my friend only had time for a coffee, as she was running late, due to a horse problem. But she did show me around Harrogate.
I have been before with C, but I didn’t remember anything except that we had a coffee in Bettys.
The Outward Journey To Harrogate
I took the 09:33 from Kings Cross and we arrived in Harrogate station a minute early at 12:16.
- The journey took two hours and 43 minutes.
- The train reversed direction at Leeds
- The only problem appeared to be that the seat allocation system on the train wasn’t working. Could this be becuae, the service appeared to be timetabled for two five-car trains working as a pair and a nine-car turned up?
- As it was only the second day of the service, I would expect some teething troubles.
These pictures show the Azuma train at Harrogate station.
On the train, I met a lady who was going to see her son and his family near Thirsk. She was saying that Harrogate has better bus connections than Thirsk, so it is a more convenient station.
Train Length And Horsforth Station
As you can see from the pictures a nine-car train is a tight fit in Harrogate station.
Two trains call at Horsforth station, where a Google Map appesrs to show a platform only long enough for a five-car train.
The Return Journey From Harrogate
My return train was a five-car Azuma train.
- It left Harrogate at 15:36
- It arrived at Kings Cross at 18:32, which was a couple of minutes late.
- The journey time was two hours and 56 minutes.
I was also in Furst, so I got a delicious snack meal.
These Deli-Boxes certainly work as a snack for me.
As Adnams now do the 0.5% version of their Ghost Ship in cans, I would love to see trains carrying these beers or something similar.
Splitting And Joining At Leeds
My train didn’t split at Leeds on the way up, but according to one of the staff at Leeds, this is part of the final plan.
Consider.
- Nine-car trains are a tight fit at Harrogate.
- Nine-car trains don’t fit into Horsforth.
- Nine-car trains are needed for capacity reasons to and from Leeds.
So two five-car trains, running as a pair to Leeds, would be ideal. One train would serve Harrogate and the other perhaps Bradford or Huddersfield.
As I was tired and in a hurry, when we arrived in Kings Cross, I forgot to check if we were five- or ten-cars.
Ticket Costs
I have just looked up prices for the 14th of January 2020 for going North on the 0933 and South on the 17:36.
- Outbound in Standard costs £15.50
- Return in Standard costs £12.20
- First Class is £35 both ways.
All prices are with a Railcard.
Conclusion
The new Harrogate service is more than just a second destination in the Leeds Area.
- As the lady told me, Harrogate has good connections to a large part of Yorkshire.
- A difficult change, that can be slow is avoided at Leeds station.
- Another lady told me, that her husband used to commute to London from Harrogate three days a week and often missed the connection at Leeds.
- If you needed to go for say a business meeting in Harrogate or take your mother for lunch at Bettys on her birthday, the train service is ideal.
- The Azumas add style to a route that will also appreciate it.
I am certain that LNER have a winner.
Bettys
I would certainly recommend, their gluten-free afternoon tea.
I wonder how many will come up from London to have lunch or a meeting in Bettys and the other cafes and restaurants in Harrogate?
Note that Bettys and several other cafes and restaurants are an easy walk from Harrogate station.
My friend and I said that we’ll meet up again in the Spring. It will be interesting to see how the service is behaving.
A Gluten-Free Lunch From Pret a Manger
This picture shows my lunch today.
The gluten-free open sandwich came from Pret a Manger and the bottle of Adnams came from Marks and Spencer, a few doors away.
- The outlet opened today and a manager confirmed that they have done gluten-free for some months.
- They also have a tablet-based menu checker.
- It will be very useful for me, if it does well in Dalston.
- The beer may not be gluten-free, but my body says it is for me.
- It was a good delicious lunch for me!
It brought back memories for me of many lunches in the Bull at Burrough Green, where I would regularly have a similar lunch in pre-coeliac days.
A Trip On The East Suffolk Line In A New Stadler Class 755 Train
Today, I took a round trip between Ipswich and Lowestoft stations, along the East Suffolk Line, in one of Greater Anglia’s new Class 755 trains.
These are my observations and comments.
Stations
The stations vary between the very good and the very basic.
- I don’t think that any station has a step-free bridge to cross the line.
- Many stations are just a single platform.
- Crossing the line often involves a nearby level crossing.
- Westerfield, Woodbridge, Saxmundham, Darsham, Halesworth and Beccles have two platforms.
- Lowestoft and Ipswich are both step-free from the street to the platforms.
- There also appears to be step-free access between the new trains and the platforms.
Overall, from what I could see from the train, each stop was fairly efficient, although I do think that when the drivers and train staff, fully get to grips with the trains, that there is time to be saved on each of the ten stops.
Consider.
- These trains have much better acceleration and deceleration, than the trains for which the timetable was written.
- The trains have level access between train and platform. At Lowestoft, I saw an electric wheelchair roll out of the train at a smart speed.
- These trains set the Gold Standard for step-free access.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least a minute and possibly two minutes saved at each station.
That would reduce the current journey time of one hour and thirty minutes between Lowestoft and Ipswich by perhaps ten minutes.
Level Crossings
Consider.
- Over the years, Greater Anglia and its predecessors right back teyond British Rail have been plagued by accidents at level crossings.
- Network Rail would like to close them all,
- But there are always a lot of local objections especially in rural counties like Suffolk.
- Removal is often expensive, as a new toad of several miles needs to be constructed.
I noticed perhaps ten crossings on my trip.
A big problem is that at many stations on the East Suffolk Line, there is a level crossing and it is often the only way to cross the line.
This Google Map shows Saxmundham station.
This is typical of the line. But here at Saxmundham, there is probably enough space to squeeze in a step-free bridge like this one, that won the Network Rail/RIBA Footbridge Design Competition.
There are lots of rural stations like Saxmundham in the country, so why should suburban stations get all the investment?
How long will it be before one of the new Class 755 trains hits a vehicle on an East Anglian level crossing?
Other Traffic
The only other trains that I saw on the route were Greater Anglia trains going the other way, which we passed in stations like Beccles and Saxmundham.
Checking on realtrimetrains.co.uk, there appears to have been no trains other than the Lowestoft and Ipswich service all day.
It appears that although parts of the route are only single track, that a well-designed timetable operated by well-trained and well-performing staff can provide a reliable hourly service.
Line Speed
I brought my personal dynamometer car with me and the train trundled along at a very easy and leisurely 55-60 mph, which is around the operating speed of the line of 55 mph.
Consider.
- The train gave me the impression, that all those 2,920 kW in the diesel engines could go a bit faster.
- The timetable was probably designed around a Class 156 train, which has just 425 kW per car, as opposed to the 730 kW per car of the Stadler train.
- I estimate that the Stadler train is about sixty percent heavier per car, but it does have a lot of electrical gubbins to carry around.
- The weight of the Stadler train does appear to be lighter per car than a Class 170 train.
I would expect that a well-driven Class 755 train has the power and speed to skip from station to station along the East Suffolk Line at several minutes faster than the timetable.
The line is 49 miles long and trains typically take 90 minutes between Lowestoft and Ipswich. That is an average speed of just under 33 mph.
The leg between Saxmundham and Darsham is just over four miles long and it takes nine minutes. This is an average speed of 27 mph.
Consider
- The acceleration of a Class 755 train is 0.9 m/s², which means to get up to a line speed of 60 mph takes thirty seconds.
- Four miles at 60 mph takes four minutes.
- Driver assistance software can tell the driver exactly where to start slowing for the next station.
It might be possible to do the Saxmundham and Darsham leg in perhaps three or four minutes less than the current timetable.
How much time could be saved on the whole route between Lowestoft and Ipswich?
Trains Needed
Look at a typical Off Peak pattern.
- An Off Peak train is the 1007 from Lowestoft, which arrives at Ipswich at 1136.
- This train returns from Ipswich at 1217, which arrives in Lowestoft at 1343.
- It then leaves Lowestoft for Ipswich at 1407.
The train takes four hours to do a round trip on the route, with forty-one minutes wait at Ipswich and twenty-four minutes wait at Lowestoft.
As trains are scheduled from Lowestoft at 1107, 1207 and 1307, four trains will be needed to provide the service.
This is very inefficient.
I feel that it is totally possible for the new trains to run between Lowestoft and Ipswich in around an hour and fifteen minutes, which would mean a saving of between one-two minutes on each leg of the journey.
Suppose though the trains could achieve this time, with an allowance of fifteen minutes to turn the trains at the two end stations.
This would mean that the round trip is now three hours and only three trains will be needed to provide the service.
The Possibility Of A Half-Hourly Service
The current timetable waits for awkward times in each of the end stations.
But my proposed hour and fifteen minute journey with a fifteen minute turnround could offer the possibility of a half-hourly service.
- Suppose two trains left Ipswich and Lowestoft at identical times on the hour.
- They would arrive at their destination an hour and fifteen minutes later at a quarter past the hour.
- By the half-hour, they would be ready to return to the other station.
- They would arrive back at the start at a quarter to the hour and fifteen minutes they would be ready to repeat the cycle.
The only problem would be to make sure all trains met each other at a place, where they could pass.
The half-hourly service would need six trains. or two more than the current service.
I don’t think that any major engineering works will be needed, although , there might be a need to adjust a passing loop or the signalling.
This is probably only one of many possibilities to provide a half-hourly services.
A Service Between Ipswich And Leiston And Aldeburgh
As I passed this branch the orange army was clearing the track of years of tree and other plant growth.
I’ve always thought that this would be a good idea and I wrote about it in A Station For Leiston.
- A half-hourly service would need two trains.
- It would add extra capacity between Ipswich and Saxmundham.
- It would certainly be needed if Sizewell C is built.
- Much of the route is double-track between Saxmundham and Ipswich.
It should also be noted that Sizewell has a high-capacity electricity grid connection and with the growtyh of offshore wind, Sizewell might be the ideal place for a large energy storage facility,
Cambridge And Lowestoft?
I took a train recently between Cambridge and Norwich and I noticed it went on to Cromer and Sheringham.
This was just Greater Anglia’s way of scheduling the trains for their convenience.
But could the same joining be done between these two services.
- Lowestoft and Ipswich
- Ipswich and Cambridge
It would do the following.
- Make better use of Platform 1 at Ipswich.
- Improve train utilisation.
- It might encourage day trippers to the coast to use the trains.
- It would improve the link from East Suffolk to Stabsted Airport.
- Create a comprehensive service, that connects all the major towns in Suffolk.
- It would connect these Suffolk towns; Lowestoft, Beccles, Saxmundham, Woodbridge, Ipswich, Needham Market, Stowmarket, Bury St. Edmund’s and Newnarket.
- It would serve the proposed A14 Parkway station.
- It would be an excellent feeder sewrvice for the East-West Rail Link.
It would be a true TransSuffolk railway.
Could There Be A Lowestoft And Great Yarmouth Service?
There has been talk of a new service between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth stations.
There are two options to provide a service.
- Reinstatement of the Reedham Curve that was closed in 1880.
- By reversing the train in Reedham station.
I describe these options in Norfolk Rail Line To Remain Closed As £68m Upgrade Project Overruns.
As the second option does not need any extra infrastructure, I think it is more likely.
This was my conclusion about the route with a reverse.
Typical timings appear to be.
- Between Reedham and Yarmouth – 14-16 minutes
- Between Reedham and Lowestoft – 24-26 minutes
Given that the Class 755 trains have the following characteristics.
- They are 100 mph trains.
- They are optimised for fast stops.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sub-forty minute time between Lowestoft and Yarmouth.
It would appear that one train could run an hourly shuttle between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.
A Scenic Route Between Norwich And Ipswich
Using the current times between Ipswich and Lowestoft and Norwich and Yarmouth, it also looks like a sub-three hour scenic route is possible between Ipswich and Norwich.
It could be East Anglia’s version of the Cumbrian Coast Line.
Onboard Catering
The East Suffolk Line service currently takes ninety minutes.
I feel that this service is one that could benefit from a coffee service from a trolley.
The service could be provided by Greater Anglia or as on the Settle & Carlisle Line, by the local Community Rail Partnership.
Conclusion
The arrival of Class 755 trains on the East Suffolk Line could be the start of something special!
The Anonymous Widower 