The Whitechapel Shortcut
Note that this post is unfinished.
When the East London Line of the London Overground opened just over a decade ago, the interchange with the District and Hammersmith and City Lines at Whitechapel station was not one of the best.
- There were no lifts.
- The stairs were too narrow and inadequate for the number of passengers using the interchange.
- Adding extra Overground trains to Clapham Junction station didn’t help.
If the Elizabeth Line had been added without extra work, the station’s passageways and stairs would have jammed solid.
- But improvements were added, when the station was expanded to handle the Elizabeth Line.
- A wide interchange plaza was created between the Eastern ends of the District and Hammersmith and City Line platforms.
- A double-width spiral staircase was installed between the Eastern end of the interchange plaza and the Southbound East London Line of the Overground.
- A convenient lift was installed alongside the spiral staircase.
- The original staircases to and from the Northbound East London Line of the Overground were updated and augmented by a lift.
- Passengers entering or leaving the station, were given alternative routes to avoid the interchange plaza.
These pictures show the interchange plaza and the various lifts and staircases.
Note.
- The spiral stairs and the lift at the Eastern end of the plaza.
- The Eastern ends of the District and Hammersmith and City Line trains connect directly with the plaza.
It seems to be working well, since the opening of the Elizabeth Line.
Using The Whitechapel Shortcut
There are eight ways to change between the District and Hammersmith and City Lines and the Overground at Whitechapel station.
Southbound Overground To Westbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines
Today, I travelled between Haggerston and Moorgate stations, which I wrote about in From Haggerston To Moorgate.
I could have changed at Whitechapel station for the brand-new Elizabeth Line, but this would have meant a long walk to get to the Moorgate end of Liverpool Street station.
So I did this.
- I got in the front carriage of the Overground train at Haggerston station, which was conveniently by the lift at the station.
- This meant that on exiting the train, I was by the lift to the interchange plaza at Whitechapel station.
- The lift took me up a level to the District and Hammersmith and City Line platforms.
- I got in the rear carriage of a Hammersmith and City Line train to Moorgate station.
- This positioned me by the lift to the exit at Moorgate station.
I would be surprised if I walked much more than sixty metres between the two station entrances, as against the road distance of around two-and-a-half miles.
Southbound Overground To Eastbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines
This is very similar to the previous section except that you take the District And Hammersmith and City Line trains from the opposite platform.
Northbound Overground To Westbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines
There are two staircases and two lifts between the Northbound Overground and the interchange plaza.
Choose your stairs or lift and then take the Westbound District and Hammersmith and City Line.
Northbound Overground To Eastbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines
This is very similar to the previous section except that you take the District And Hammersmith and City Line trains from the opposite platform.
Westbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines To Southbound Overground
Eastbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines To Southbound Overground
Walk to the interchange plaza and choose the spiral stairs or lift.
Westbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines To Northbound Overground
Eastbound District And Hammersmith and City Lines To Northbound Overground
Walk to the interchange plaza and choose your stairs or lift.
Conclusion
It’s all very quick and painless.
From Haggerston To Moorgate
I did this journey this morning and I described it in detail in The Whitechapel Shortcut.
It may seem obvious to take the Overground to Whitechapel and then take the Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street and come out on Moorgate.
But that route means a long walk at either Whitechapel or Moorgate to get to the right end of the train.
So I took a Hammersmith and City Line train, which was slower, but involved much less walking.
New Escalators At Bank Station To The Docklands Light Railway – 18th October 2022
In New Escalators At Bank Station Between The Northern Line And The DLR, I indicated that construction could be almost finished of the escalators that will connect the two lines.
The escalators have now opened.
Note.
- At the top of the escalators, you are delivered to a plaza, where the cross-tunnel between the two Northern Line platforms and the moving walkway to the Central Line meet.
- At the bottom of the escalators, you are in a wide passageway between the two DLR platforms.
- At the other end of the passageway, there are a pair of escalators that lead to Circle and District Line platforms and the Monument entrance to Bank station.
The escalators certainly open some faster pedestrian routes through the station.
Should Oyster Be Combined With A Freedom Pass?
Consider.
- This morning I wanted an early start, so to get to Moorgate, I left before 0900, which meant I couldn’t use my Freedom Pass on the buses and Underground.
- So I used my Oyster Card, which still had some money on it.
- After breakfast, it was nearly ten, so I swapped my card back to the Freedom Pass.
I believe it would be more convenient, if I had one card that handled both ticketing modes. It would be an Oyster card, but when I used it outside of the morning Peak, the card wouldn’t be charged.
Portugal’s Sevenair Eyes Up To 6 Heart Aerospace ES-30 Electric Aircraft
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Simple Flying.
Some points from the article.
- Sevenair are a Portuguese regional airline.
- Sevenair run several short routes.
- Heart Aerospace has 230 firm orders and a 100 options for the the ES-30.
Heart Aerospace may not have been the first company to fly an electric airliner, but they do seem to be attracting orders.
Battery Use In Class 777 Trains
In the November 2022 Edition of Today’s Railways, there is an article about Merseyrail’s new Class 777 trains.
This extract describes the use of batteries on the trains.
All units have small batteries for moving independently around depots. Seven units are now being fitted with larger 160 kWh Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO) batteries and associated traction converter in the leading coaches in space that could also be taken up by a transformer and AC equipment if some units were converted to dual /Battery operation (there would not be the space for tri-mode AC/DC/Battery operation). The cooling system for the battery lies has been roof-mounted. The battery boxes have been supplied by ABB and the batteries themselves by Toshiba. 777002 has been converted as a trial to prove the concept in 2021 but has now been converted back to an EMU.
Stadler explained that the battery life would normally be 8-10years but if the units are only used in battery mode for the 2 km between Kirkby and Headbolt Lane then that is expected to be more like 15 years. However the batteries have the potential to do around 40 miles, so Bidston-Wrexham is possible, with a 15 minute recharge time required at Wrexham before returning. Maximum speed in battery mode is 60 mph compared to 75mph as a DC EMU.
This is a map of how the network might look.
These are the lengths of routes, where the Class 777 trains might run on batteries.
- Bidston and Wrexham Central – 27.5 miles – Possible with a charge at Wrexham Central.
- Canada Dock Branch – 4.7 miles – Dual-voltage trains.
- Chester and Crewe – 21.2 miles – Possible with a charge at Crewe
- Chester and Runcorn East – 13.1 miles – Possible without recharging
- Ellesmere Port and Runcorn East – 10.8 miles – Possible without recharging
- Hunts Cross and Manchester Oxford Road – 27.1 miles – Possible with a charge at Manchester Oxford Road
- Kirkby and Wigan Wallgate – 12.1 miles – Possible without recharging
- Ormskirk and Preston – 15.4 miles – Possible without recharging
Note.
- There are a lot of possibilities to use Class 777 trains with batteries.
- Charging might be needed at only three stations; Crewe, Manchester Oxford Road and Wrexham Central.
- Four route extensions are possible without charging.
Merseyrail are going to have plenty of uses for the sixty trains, that they have on option.
Train Efficiency On Battery Power
In an article in the October 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled Celling England By The Pound, Ian Walmsley says this in relation to trains running on the Uckfield Branch, which is not very challenging.
A modern EMU needs between 3 and 5 kWh per vehicle mile for this sort of service.
Consider.
- The Class 777 train is a four-car train, but is only five metres longer than a three-car train.
- So applying Ian’s formula, it seems that to do forty miles, the battery will be between 480 and 800 kWh.
- If it is mathematically like a three car train, it seems that to do forty miles, the battery will be between 360 and 450 kWh.
A 160 kWh battery is obviously too small.
But the extract says that the batteries are fitted in the leading coaches, so can we assume that each battery train has two leading coaches and two batteries.
Does the battery train have a battery capacity of 320 kWh?
- Assuming it does, it would appear that after using Ian’s formula for a four-car train gives a figure of 2 kWh per vehicle mile.
- A three-car train gives a figure of 2.67 kWh per vehicle mile.
I suspect that these low figures are down to good engineering and a very efficient electrical system on the train.
But then I did write Stadler FLIRT Akku Battery Train Demonstrates 185km Range.
Conclusion
These trains are going to set new standards for a city metro.
A Thought On Broughton Station
This Google Map shows Hawarden Airport to the West of Chester.
Note.
- Airbus make wings for their aircraft at their Broughton factory on this airport.
- The wings are flown to Europe for final assembly.
- The North Wales Coast Line passes the Northern end of the runway.
When I bought my return ticket between Chester and Holyhead, which was good value at £25.25 with my Senior Railcard, I got chatting with the clerk about Airbus and their Broughton factory.
He felt it needed a station and afterwards I checked and found that the Welsh Government had been trying to build one for some time.
Thinking back, I wonder if he keeps getting asked about getting to the Airbus factory and wishes that the government and Airbus would make his job easier by building a Broughton station.
A station at Broughton might also cut the factory’s carbon footprint, by allowing more staff to go to work by train.
A Merseyrail Extension To Shotton
Shotton is already served by the Borderlands Line which connects Wrexham and Bidston.
This line is shown on the West side of this map, which shows how the Merseyrail network might look in the future.
Note.
- Chester could have services that terminate in the East at Crewe and Runcorn East stations.
- Chester already has electric services from Liverpool, which will receive new Class 777 trains in the next few months.
- The new trains can be fitted with a battery electric capability.
I just wonder, if a Cross-Chester Metro could be built.
- Eastern termini would be Runcorn East or possibly Warrington Bank Quay and Crewe.
- Shotton is only 7.9 miles from Chester.
- Shotton low-level station used to have four tracks.
- I suspect that Shotton or even Flint could be the Western terminus.
- Extra stations could be added as required.
Note.
It would probably be best, if the trains were battery-electric that could use 25 KVAC overhead electrification, as this would allow them to charge at the Eastern termini.
I also feel that Crewe and Chester should be electrified, so that Chester could be reached by the new Class 805 trains running under electric power.
This would also allow Chester to become a High Speed Two destination, that was served by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
I believe that a Cross-Chester Metro is a possibility.
Should Hospitals Be The Power Backup Locations?
I was reading an article in The Times about how protestors were blocking roads in Central London and they’re inadvertently stopped an ambulance.
So this question occurred to me. Why I don’t know, but my mind has always jumped about and put thoughts together?
Consider.
- The latest generation of energy storage that could be used to back up the grid are coming down in physical size.
- Hospitals have complex power systems, as they use a lot of electricity.
- Hospitals need emergency power backup.
- Because of their high electrical use, hospitals will have a high capacity connection to the National Grid.
- Some modern treatments need a lot of electricity.
- Will ambulances be battery-powered and will need to be charged up, whilst delivering patients?
- Many bus routes terminate at the local hospital, so if the buses are battery-powered, these could be charged as well.
As an Electrical and Control Engineer, I feel that to put a town, city or are’s back-up battery at the hospital would be a sensible idea.
Hospitals should be designed to be health, energy and transport hubs for their communities.
Improving The Wood Green And Moorgate Public Transport Corridor
This morning I went for coffee with an old school friend from Minchenden Grammar School at Southgate station.
Southgate is not a bad place to meet someone.
- There are a couple of good coffee shops.
- There are plenty of buses.
- It has a couple of the better chain restaurants including a Pizza Express.
- The area also has a lot of memories for me.
It also has one of London’s most iconic Underground stations.
It may look familiar, as it regularly crops up in film and television dramas.
- One station guy told me, that the ticket barriers have been designed to be easy to remove, so filming of an historic drama is possible.
- It was used in The End Of The Affair to portray a Central London station.
- As the escalators have the same bronze fittings as Moscow, they could be used in a story set in Russia.
As the Piccadilly Line doesn’t go anywhere near my house, to get to Southgate, I take a 141 bus to and from a convenient Piccadilly Line station.
- Going North, I changed at Manor House station.
- Coming South, I changed at Turnpike Lane station.
- I could have also have changed at Wood Green station.
The journey home had four major problems.
- The bus stop at Turnpike Lane station, is a few hundred yards from the station.
- I waited fifteen minutes for a 141 bus.
- When it did arrive, it was so packed, it didn’t have space for a miniature dachshund to squeeze in between the feet of the standing passengers.
- The traffic was very heavy, so the journey was slow.
How can this bus route cope in the Peak, if it can’t cope on a Sunday morning?
Various issues and actions and will make these capacity issues worse.
The Victoria Line Has No Direct Connection With The Elizabeth Line
In my view, this was a mistake, although not that serious, as the young or energetic can probably walk between Oxford Circus and the Hanover Square entrance to Bond Street station on the Elizabeth Line.
Will this connection develop with coffee and snack shops to ease passenger interchanges?
When and if Oxford Circus station is ever made step-free, I can imagine a tunnel, perhaps with a moving walkway being built between Oxford Circus station and he Hanover Square entrance to Bond Street station.
There is also the cross-platform interchange at Highbury & Islington station with the Northern City Line that links with Moorgate and the City of London.
The Piccadilly Line Has No Direct Connection With The Elizabeth Line
To get between the Northern stations on the Piccadilly Line and the Elizabeth Line is either a double-change at Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington stations or a ride on the 141 bus.
I wrote about these issues in Extending The Elizabeth Line – Improving The Northern City Line.
The Elizabeth Line Will Attract Travellers To Moorgate
I notice that my own travelling patterns have changed from using the Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines to using the Elizabeth Line since it opened and I suspect, when the Elizabeth Line is fully joined up, that more passengers will travel to Moorgate to access the Elizabeth Line.
Transport for London and the Mayor Are Rerouting The 21 Bus
The 21 bus duplicates the 141 bus between Newington Green and Moorgate station.
But it is being rerouted next year, which will increase the loading on the 141 bus.
The 141 Bus Used To Be The 641 Trolleybus
When I was a child, London’s trolleybus network was extensive and to get between Wood Green and Moorgate, you would have used the 641 trolleybus.
Trolleybus Ascending Jolly Butchers Hill in Wood Green
Many like me, look back on trolleybuses with affection.
Does this historical connection encourage passengers to use the 141 bus, which is the 641 trolleybus’s successor on the route?
My parents certainly had lots of trolleybus stories.
So What Could Be Done?
There are a variety of actions that could be taken to strengthen public transport between Moorgate and Wood Green stations.
Improve The 141 Bus Route
In Does London Need High Capacity Bus Routes To Extend Crossrail?, I put forward ideas for using buses to link to the Elizabeth Line.
This was my suggestion.
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.
I feel that a high-quality 141 bus running every ten minutes between London Bridge station and Palmers Green, would be just what the passengers would order.
- Palmers Green bus garage is at the Northern end of the route, so could be used for refuelling or recharging.
- London Bridge station is at the Southern end of the route and was designed with an efficient bus station.
- The 141 route connects London Bridge, Bank, Moorgate and Old Street stations in the City of London.
With the right buses, this could be a route with real quality and usefulness.
Increase The Frequency On The Northern City Line
The Northern City Line may have new Class 717 trains, but it still has a pathetic frequency of eight trains per hour (tph)
- I am sure it could be increased to at least 12 tph between Moorgate and Alexandra Palace stations.
- Something like six tph would go to Welwyn Garden City, four tph to Hertford East station and two to Stevenage.
- Large areas of the Northern suburbs would get a much better connection to the Elizabeth Line.
Once the digital signalling is installed and commissioned, no new infrastructure will be needed.
I am sure, that this would be the easiest way to improve public transport in North London.
Add Step-Free Access To As Many Stations As Possible
Moorgate, Finsbury Park, Oakwood and Cockfosters are step-free with lifts.
As many stations as budgetary constraints allow, should be made step-free.
How Did The Ukrainians Attack The Crimea Bridge?
No-one seems to know what happened on the Crimea Bridge, which appeared to catch fire.
- Was it the Ukranians?
- Was it some of Putin’s enemies in Russia?
- Was it an accident?
- Did a battery in an electric car explode?
- Was it a suicide bomber?
- Was it a drone strike?
- Was it a drunken lorry-driver, who hit something?
We just get more and more questions.
But here’s two questions, that can be answered.
Was the train going from Russia? For my theory to be feasible, it must have been going from Russia into Crimea.
Did more than one part of the train catch fire? Someone said it did.
The Track Layout
I have been looking at the track layout over the bridge on OpenRailwayMap, which shows everything. It appears a couple of kilometres. to the South (Russian) side of the bridge there is a set of sidings and/or freight loops.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the sidings in relation to the bridge.
Note.
- The main line is shown in orange.
- The bridge is in the North-West corner of the map.
- The sidings are shown in black alongside the main line in the South-East corner of the map.
This second map shows the loops and sidings in more detail.
Note.
- Trains in Russia run on the right track, whereas the UK runs on the left.
- There are actually two sets of loops; one has extra sidings and the other doesn’t.
- Both loops can be accessed from both tracks and directions.
Unfortunately, the Google Map of the area shows the construction phase.
Did the freight train stop overnight in these sidings and proceed at first light? After all it might be going a long way and drivers needed time for sleep, some food, vodka and a few ciggies.
Whilst it was stopped did Ukrainian saboteurs sneak in and fix bombs with timers to the train? After all kids sneak into our sidings at night and graffiti the trains.
The timers could even have been fitted with GPS, so they went off on the most vulnerable part of the bridge.
This could explain the timing and how the train appeared to have been hit more than once!
For a raid, it would be much easier than say what the Norwegians did in WW2 to blow up the heavy water plant at Telemark, where they didn’t lose a man.
A Picture Of The Train Fire
This picture shows the train fire.
Note.
- It appears that the carriageway nearest to the camera has collapsed.
- If we assume, the break point is now lying on the seabed, it points to the pier with the light-coloured rectangle on top being the failure point of the road bridge.
- According to OpenRailwayMap, who handily show carriageway directions, that is the carriageway to Crimea.
- The rail bridge is double-track and appears to be reasonably intact.
- The train also appears to be intact, except for some fire damage.
- If the train was going to Crimea, it would be on the track nearest to the camera.
I do think, that if it was explosions on the train that caused the bridge collapse, there would be more damage on the other carriageway and on the railway.
The Collapse Of The Crimea-Bound Carriageway
This reminds me very much of the collapse of the Cleddau Bridge in Wales, during construction in 1970.
Wikipedia says this about that collapse.
Errors in the box girder design caused the collapse during construction in 1970. The bridge became operational during 1975.
If I remember correctly, during construction, the bridge was effectively overloaded. I can certainly remember lots of discussion about the failure in the office, where I worked in ICI at Runcorn.
I am not suggesting, that there were errors in the Russian calculations, but that something happened to take the bridge outside of its safety limits.
Suppose, there was a large explosion near the pier, where the break occurred, could it have caused the bolts holding the sections of the bridge to shear and allow the bridge to fall, as the pictures show.
It is certainly looking that a major truck bomb, is the cause.
CCTV pictures have been shown, that purport to see a truck exploding.
Was It A Suicide Attack?
I don’t think that the type of traditional suicide attacks, as practiced by the Islamic State and others would be carried out by either Ukraine or Russia. Although Chechens did use suicide attacks in their war against Russia.
But I do think it would be possible for a driver to stop a truck, put out warning triangles or whatever is the law in Russia and then be picked up by a friendly driver.
Alternatively, they could wait until the truck exploded and then make a getaway under cover of the fire. They could even jump into the water and be picked up by a boat.
If the Russians were behind it, they would have the ability to use a hired driver from perhaps a local agency.
Suppose, a hired driver were to be told to take a truck load of watermelons to Sebastopol and bring the truck back. A quick look would confirm the watermelons, but I doubt, the driver would find the bomb underneath.
If the driver was killed would the Russians mind.
The Ukrainians might not either, but they’d have the problem of getting the truck deep into Russian territory, without being detected.
The Truck On The Bridge According To The BBC
This article on the BBC is entitled Crimean Bridge: Who – Or What – Caused The Explosion?.
The article says this about the truck.
Security camera footage released on social media showed a truck – allegedly from the Russian city of Krasnodar, an hour’s drive from the crossing – moving west across the bridge at the time of the explosion.
Russian officials named a 25-year old Krasnodar man, Samir Yusubov, as the owner of the truck, and said an older relative, Makhir Yusubov, was the driver.
But close examination of the footage seems to show that the truck had nothing to do with the explosion.
Note.
- If the truck was going West it was going from Russia to Crimea, this meant it was on the carriageway furthest from the railway.
- The truck was on the carriageway that collapsed.
Does that rule out a truck bomb?
The View Of A British Army Explosives Expert
The BBC article also says this.
“I’ve seen plenty of large vehicle-borne IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in my time,” a former British army explosives expert told me. “This does not look like one.”
A more plausible explanation, he said, is a massive explosion below the bridge – probably delivered using some kind of clandestine maritime drone.
“Bridges are generally designed to resist downwards loads on the deck and a certain amount of side loading from the wind,” he said. “They are not generally engineered to resist upward loads. I think this fact was exploited in the Ukrainian attack.”
That sounds feasible to me, but the BBC article also has this paragraph.
If this is how Ukraine managed to attack the Kerch Bridge, hundreds of miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory, then it’s one of Kyiv’s most ambitious operations so far.
If that is true, it certainly is an ambitious operation, that ranks alongside the St Nazaire Raid in World War II.
A Structural Engineer’s Thoughts
This article on New Civil Engineer is entitled How The Crimean Bridge Explosion Caused Multiple Spans To Collapse.
It is the thoughts of Andrew Barr at the University of Sheffield and it well worth a read.
Conclusion
We’re still a long way from the truth.
The Anonymous Widower 