“They Are Forcing Us Away” – Residents Near Manchester United’s Old Trafford Complain About ‘Nightmare’ Experiences
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on sportskeeda.
These are the first two paragraphs.
As Manchester United chase glory on four fronts, residents living near Old Trafford are contemplating moving away due to the chaos caused by the club’s success.
With the 74,000-seater stadium attracting hordes of visitors each week, streets surrounding Old Trafford have become a hotbed of anti-social behaviour and parking mayhem.
Strangely, I’ve never driven to Old Trafford, as the three times, I’ve been there, I’ve always been by train.
The first time I went to Old Trafford, in the 1960s, I took a steam-hauled shuttle train between Manchester Central and Manchester United Football Ground stations.
I am fairly close to both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur stadiums, but there is no trouble from parking, as both stadiums have good and adequate public transport.
When I came back from Reading last Sunday, there were a surprising number of supporters on the train going to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium
Could There Be An Elizabeth Line Extension To Grays?
This article on My London is entitled London Underground Tube Map: The Towns That Could Be Added To The Elizabeth Line As New Giant Loop Through London, Essex And Kent Is Proposed.
This paragraph described the proposal.
The proposal, which is part of its Vision 2050 local transport plan, would see the current Elizabeth line service from Romford take over the Overground branch to Emerson Park and Upminster, then join c2c services continuing via Chafford Hundred Lakeside to Tilbury. It would then head under a new tunnel beneath the Thames to Gravesend, connecting with the reintroduced Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International/Northfleet.
It’s certainly a bold idea and you can view the report to Thurrock Council here.
These are my thoughts.
The Frequency Of Trains
Currently, these services have a frequency of two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
- Romford and Upminster.
- Upminster and Tilbury Town.
It would seem sensible that this frequency is preserved, thus giving every station on the loop four tph to and from the Eastern End of the Central Tunnel at Whitechapel station. Two tph would go via Romford and Stratford and two tph would go via Ebbsfleet and Abbey Wood.
What Would Be The Western Terminal?
It would probably be the two busiest terminals in the West.
I suspect that these will be Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5
- Two tph would go between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5 via the loop.
- Two tph would go between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Heathrow Terminal4 via the loop.
- Two tph would go clockwise.
- Two tph would go anticlockwise.
I suspect the digital signalling can sort it out, just as it does the loop in Thameslink.
The Connection At Romford To The Romford and Upminster Line
Consider.
- The Romford and Upminster Line is single-track.
- A well-signalled single-track railway can handle two tph in both directions in an hour.
- Trains take five minutes to go between Romford and Emerson Park stations.
- Trains between Romford and Upminster will use Platform 5 at Romford station.
- Trains between Upminster and Romford will use Platform 4 at Romford station.
This map from cartometro shows the track layout at Romford station.
Note.
- The orange lines are the Overground tracks of the Romford and Upminster Line, which connects to Platform 1 in Romford station.
- The black and purple lines are the Elizabeth Line, which go through Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford station.
- The black lines are the fast lines of the Great Eastern Main Line, which go through Platforms 2 and 3 at Romford station.
- There is no connection between the Elizabeth Line and the Romford and Upminster Line.
I believe it is possible to build a single-track flyover or dive-under that connects both Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford station to the Romford and Upminster Line.
A similar double track flyover was built to connect the Barking Riverside branch to the main lines through Barking.
- But this track layout would only need to be single-track.
- I also suspect that there may not be enough space to put in a full double-track flyover.
- It would avoid the inconvenience and danger of using flat junctions to cross the fast lines of the Great Eastern Main Line.
As it only takes five minutes to go between Romford and Emerson Park stations, there is plenty of time to fit two tph in both directions in an hour.
Platform Extension In Platform 1 At Romford Station
Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford regularly take nine-car Class 345 trains, but I think that Platform 1 should be lengthened, to provide a bay platform on the route to help out when the service needs to recover.
Platform Extension At Emerson Park Station
The platform at Emerson Park station will need to be lengthened to take nine-car Class 345 trains.
Some commentators claim, that the passing loop at the station needs to be rebuilt. But I suspect, this isn’t needed as the expanded layout at Romford station effectively creates a passing loop.
The Connection At Upminster Between The Romford and Upminster Line And The Upminster And Tilbury Town Line
Consider.
- Both lines are single-track.
- But there is a passing loop at Ockenden station.
- There are three tracks between West Thurrock junction and Grays.
- Trains take five minutes to go between Emerson Park and Upminster stations.
- Trains take ten minutes to go between Upminster and Chafford Hundred stations.
- Trains take four minutes to go between Chafford Hundred and Grays stations.
- Trains take thirteen minutes to go between Upminster station and West Thurrock junction.
This map from cartometro shows the track layout at Upminster station.
Note.
- The orange lines are the Overground tracks of the Romford and Upminster Line, which connects to Platform 6 in Upminster station.
- The green lines are the District Line tracks that handle the services that terminate at Upminster station.
- The black lines are the c2c tracks between Fenchurch Street and Southend Central stations go through Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station.
- The Upminster and Tilbury Town Line leaves Upminster station in a South-Easterly direction.
- The Upminster and Tilbury Town Line connects to Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station.
I believe it is possible to build a single-track flyover or dive-under that connects both Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station to the Romford and Upminster Line.
This would connect the following.
- The Romford and Upminster Line to the the Upminster and Tilbury Town Line.
- The Romford and Upminster Line to the the Fenchurch Street and Southend Central Line.
Upminster station would be a much improved interchange.
Two tph Between Tilbury Town and Romford Stations
Consider.
- The route is fully electrified.
- The route is a mixture of single and double-track.
- There is a passing loop at Ockendon station.
- The platform at Emerson Park and possibly others may need to be extended to take nine-car Class 345 trains.
I believe single-track flyovers or dive-unders at Romford and Upminster stations would enable two tph on the route.
The only downside I can see, is that passengers going between Fenchurch Street and Chafford Hundred or Ockendon stations would need to change at Grays or Upminster stations.
Alternatively, they could take the Elizabeth Line, which would have a 4 tph direct service between the Central Tunnel of the line and Chafford Hundred and Ockendon stations.
Under The Thames
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the lines on the North bank of the Thames.
Note.
- The orange line is the double-track Tilbury Loop Line between Fenchurch Street and Southend Central stations.
- Tilbury Town station is in the North-West corner of the map.
- There is a proposal for a Tilbury Fort station in the North-East corner of the map.
- The blue arrow at the bottom of the map indicates the former Tilbury Riverside station, which is next to the London International Cruise Terminal.
I believe the North portal of the tunnel under the river could be at the site of the former Tilbury Riverside station.
Would it be an idea to rebuild the station and connect it to the cruise terminal, so that passengers on the cruise ships would have excellent access to Central London, Ebbsfleet International station for High Speed One and Heathrow Airport?
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the lines on the South bank of the Thames.
Note.
- Tilbury Town station, the former Tilbury Riverside Riverside station and the Tilbury Loop Line are in the North-East corner of the map.
- Gravesend station is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The wide orange line going vaguely North-South at the Western side of the map is High Speed One going through Ebbsfleet International station.
- Connecting Gravesend and Ebbsfleet International stations is the North Kent Line.
I suspect it would be possible to bore a tunnel from Tilbury Riverside, that passed under Gravesend station and joined the North Kent Line to the West of the station.
How Would The River Crossing Connect To Gravesend Station?
The platform or platforms on the Elizabeth Line Loop would have to be underground, as there is not much space at Gravesend station as these pictures show.
Note.
- Gravesend has SouthEastern HighSpeed services to St. Pancras International station and North-East Kent.
- The route to Gravesend has been safeguarded for the Elizabeth Line.
- The railway under the Thames could replace the Tilbury and Gravesend Ferry.
There also could be operational advantages in not terminating Elizabeth Line services at Gravesend.
Abbey Wood And Gravesend
In Elizabeth Line To Ebbsfleet Extension Could Cost £3.2 Billion, I looked at the Transport for the South East proposal for extending the Elizabeth Line to Kent.
This image from the Abbeywood2Ebbsfleet consultation, shows the proposal.
Note, that there doesn’t appear to be too much new infrastructure, except for a proper connection between Northfleet and Ebbsfleet stations. References on the Internet, say that the similar-sized Luton DART connection at Luton Airport, cost around £225 million, but we now know it was well upwards of that.
The TfSE proposal says that trains would terminate as follows.
- Abbey Wood – 4 tph
- Northfleet – 4 tph
- Gravesend – 4 tph
As space is limited at Gravesend and there is money for extending a railway service to a new Hoo station, I feel that proposing a two tph service to Hoo station would be a prudent action to take.
This would leave a handy two tph to take the loop back to Central London.
Could A Large Parkway Station Be Built Between Romford and Tilbury Riverside Stations?
Ebbsfleet International station, which is to the South-East of London, has 5,000 parking spaces and is the only large Park-and-Ride site around the capital.
Could another large Park-and-Ride site be opened on the Elizabeth Line North of the Thames?
One place could be at Chafford Hundred station and the nearby Lakeside Shopping Centre.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The M25 runs North-South up the Western side of the map.
- Chafford Hundred station is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The shopping centre is next to the station.
Last time I went, Lakeside was looking tired.
Timings To And From Whitechapel
These are estimated timings to and from Whitechapel.
- Romford – 26 mins – 81 mins
- Emerson Park – 31 mins – 76 mins
- Upminster – 35 mins – 72 mins
- Ockendon – 41 mins – 66 mins
- Chafford Hundred – 45 mins – 62 mins
- Grays – 49 mins – 58 mins
- Tilbury Town – 52 mins – 55 mins
- Tilbury Riverside – 58 mins – 49 mins
- Gravesend – 62 mins – 45 mins
- Northfleet – 65 mins – 42 mins
- Swanscombe – 68 mins – 39 mins
- Greenhithe for Bluewater – 71 mins – 36 mins
- Stone Crossing – 73 mins – 34 mins
- Dartford – 81 mins – 26 mins
- Slade Green – 86 mins – 21 mins
- Erith – 88 mins – 19 mins
- Belvedere – 89 mins – 18 mins
- Abbey Wood – 92 mins – 15 mins
Note.
- The times between Tilbury Town and Gravesend are my best estimates.
- All other times are taken from current services.
- The first time is the time to Whitechapel via Romford.
- The second time is the time to Whitechapel via Abbey Wood.
It does appear that the best times from all stations are under an hour.
Charge Passengers Higher Fares For Carrying Large Bags, Says Rail Chief
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Telegraph.
This is the sub-heading.
Managing director of Lumo suggests that only those travelling with a laptop or a rucksack deserve cheaper tickets
These are two paragraphs from the article.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, he said: “We are all about getting our customers the lowest possible fares.
“Why should somebody who is getting on the train with a ginormous suitcase pay the same fare as somebody just bringing on a small laptop or rucksack?”
Note.
- Martijn Gilbert is the managing director of Lumo.
- I do wonder what people put in their cases.
- I usually travel with a carry-on bag without wheels, that fits under the seat on most reputable airlines and Ryanair.
- My late wife was the same and we could have a weekend away using one small wheeled case, that went in the overhead lockers.
But then bless her, hair was too short for rollers and she only carried the minimal amount of make-up. She also never wore high heels and she was a genuine size 8 with small feet. She also never felt underdressed.
So let’s hope Martijn Gilbert puts his fares, where his mouth is!
The Mayor Rubs It In!
I took these pictures whilst waiting to get home this morning from Moorgate, whilst waiting for a 141 bus.
It’s one thing to reroute the buses, but quite another to send them up and down the old route, with plenty of space for passengers. Although, I don’t think this will help his reelection chances next year.
When the 141 bus did arrive, it was about ninety percent full.
I predicted in a letter to my MP. that this overcrowding would happen because the opening of the Elizabeth Line and the Bank Station Upgrade.
I also said similar things in Does London Need High Capacity Bus Routes To Extend Crossrail?, which I wrote in February 2022, before the Elizabeth Line opened in May.
But I didn’t get it all right, as it appeared the biggest increase in passenger numbers happened after the new escalators between the Docklands Light Railway and the Northern Line opened at Bank station. That puzzled me and I can only assume that there is a lot of traffic between the catchment area of the DLR and North East London.
Predicting the number of passengers, who will use a new railway, road or bus service is a difficult science, which very often results in a wrong answer.
In the Mysterious Case Of Rerouting The 21 Bus, it would have been better to have completed all the works at Bank, Moorgate and Old Street stations, before trying to solve the best way to deploy the buses.
- Bank and Moorgate stations are almost completed.
- The completion of Old Street station and the associated road works are still several months away, as I wrote in Is Old Street Roundabout A ‘Too Many Cooks’ Project?
In Does London Need High Capacity Bus Routes To Extend Crossrail?, I said this about the buses needed.
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.
Get the design of these buses correct and they could attract a large number of passengers from their cars to public transport.
- Ten year old buses, as on the 141 bus are unacceptable.
- Before the 21 bus was withdrawn, you noticed that some passengers wait an extra minute to get a 21 bus with its greater space and comfort.
- Because of the better design of the stairs on modern buses and New Routemasters, I will go upstairs on these buses. But I don’t chance it on an older bus.
- Wi-fi and phone charging would make up for the fact that the Class 345 trains don’t have it.
From experience of the 141 bus in recent days, a frequency of a bus every five minutes is probably needed now.
Liverpool Lime Street Station And St. George’s Hall
When you arrive in a town or city by train, I believe that you should be welcomed by a wide spacious area, where you can get your bearings and meet friends.
I took these pictures outside Liverpool Lime Street station.
Note.
- The three main buildings on the pictures, are one Grade I and two Grade II Listed buildings.
- St. George’s Hall is a Grade I neoclassical building.
- A liver bird told me, that the magnificent floor with its 30,000 Minton tiles, will be open this summer.
- Lime Street station is now one of the best terminal stations in the world, both in terms of architecture and operation.
- The hotel on the left of the station, is now a Radisson Red hotel, after a very chequered history during the last ninety years.
- Not many stations welcome you to a city like Liverpool does.
In London, King’s Cross and Liverpool Street make an effort, but some stations like Paddington just deliver you to crowded, anonymous, dingy streets.
A First Ride In A Five-Car Class 710 Train – 30th January 2023
These pictures are from a few weeks back, when I had a first ride in one of the new five-car Class 710 trains.
I only went between Euston and Queen’s Park stations.
Preparing For Take-Off: Aviation Embraces Clean Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article on Ryse Hydrogen.
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
Aviation’s clean hydrogen revolution is coming from all directions.
Taking a bottom-up approach, start-ups such as ZeroAvia are developing technology to convert small aircraft to hydrogen fuel, while at the other end of the spectrum, industry giants such as Airbus and Rolls-Royce are exploring how they can carry hundreds of passengers 1,000s of miles across the world.
The timescales for these projects are very different but progress is visible for both approaches.
The last two paragraphs are optimistic.
Hydrogen fuel could make up 32% of the market by 2050 if it becomes commercially available by 2035, according to a study from climate think-tank Energy Transition Commission.
It would seem that it’s only a matter of time before truly clean air travel is cleared for take-off and hydrogen-powered aircraft are carrying passengers and cargo across the skies.
The article is a good summary of the state of zero-carbon hydrogen-powered aircraft. Read it!
Racing Towards A Green Future
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Ricardo.
This is the first paragraph.
While Formula E and its sibling electric race series, Extreme E and RX2e, are burnishing battery-powered vehicles credentials, motorsport from Formula 1 down is actively pursuing how traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) race and rally cars can be made more environmentally acceptable.
The article, which is a must-read, then describes the various routes and options, that motorsport is taking towards zero-carbon.
The article finishes with this paragraph.
While motorsport technology can, and does, transfer to production cars, especially in the higher echelons, whether the path it is beating on AS fuels will convince legislators that battery electric vehicles are only an answer rather than the answer remains to be seen.
I believe that when an affordable small hatchback powered by hydrogen hits the road as it inevitably will, it will have Ricardo’s fingerprints all over it.
Silvertown Tunnel Works – 21st February 2023
I took these pictures of the Silvertown Tunnel works on the North Bank of the Thames today.
The first set of pictures were taken travelling to West Silvertown station, where I returned.
Another Door Opens At Bank Station
I took these pictures at Bank station this morning in the Southernmost tunnel between the Northern Line platforms.
You can just about see the lift doors through the windows in the steel fire doors.
It can’t be long now before the Cannon Street Entrance to Bank station opens.
The Anonymous Widower 