List Of 34 New Train Stations And Wish List Schemes Leading The UK Railway Upgrade
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Business Live.
On the list are.
- Liverpool Baltic – In Planning
- Headbolt Lane – Under Construction
- Cheadle – In Planning
- Ashington – In Planning
- Bedlington – In Planning
- Blyth Bebside – In Planning
- Newsham – In Planning
- Seaton Delaval – In Planning
- Northumberland Park – In Planning
- Aldridge – In Planning
- Darlaston – In Planning
- Willenhall – In Planning
- Hazelwell – In Planning
- Kings Heath – In Planning
- Moseley – Under Construction
- Birmingham Moor Street – Upgrade
- Birmingham Snow Hill – Upgrade
- University of Birmingham – Upgrade
- Cardiff Parkway – In Planning
- Deeside Parkway – In Planning
- Edginswell – In Planning
- Portway Park and Ride – Under Construction
- Winslow – Under Construction
- Bletchley – Upgrade
This is a fairly comprehensive list.
London Underground Gets Approval For Walthamstow Central Tube Station Upgrade
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.
It is from over a year ago and I’m only including it, as it includes a cutaway of the upgrade.
I go regularly to Walthamstow Central station and hopefully, this will make my journeys easier in busy times.
This paragraph from Wikipedia describes some of cost-cutting design features of the current station.
The underground station, like many stations on the Victoria line, was built to a low budget. White ceiling panels were never fixed to the ceilings above the platforms; instead the steel tunnel segments were painted black and used to support the fixtures and fittings, cutting lighting levels. A concrete stairway sits between two escalators instead of a third; this economy caused a disruptive station closure for several weeks in 2004 when both escalators went out of service.
Hopefully, these short comings will be addressed in the upgrade.
But it doesn’t appear there will be step-free interchange between Underground and Overground.
Will Twiggy Save The World?
This article on the Sydney Morning Herald is entitled ‘No One’s Married To Coal’: How Forrest Is Taking On The World To Save The Climate.
The article is the story of Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s Damascene conversion to hydrogen.
These three paragraphs sums up Andrew Forrest‘s vision and ambitions.
Forrest’s companies, including its mining arm, Fortescue, and its green energy arm, Fortescue Future Industries, would be net zero by 2030. This would necessitate inventing and then developing hydrogen-powered trucks, trains and ships. This way the mining operation would avoid burning up to a billion litres in diesel a year.
The project would include the construction of vast solar and wind power stations in the Pilbara that would create green hydrogen to first fuel the trains, trucks and ships of the iron ore empire and then for export to a clean-energy starved world. The electrolysers needed to make the hydrogen for the early phases of the plan would be built by a vast new factory in Queensland, that itself would double the global supply of the machines.
Hydrogen would soon become the world’s largest shipborne trade. The Fortescue revolution would occur at a blistering pace set by the demands of addressing global warming, and it would be done for profit, to remove the excuses of governments and businesses that objected to ambitious climate action.
Note.
- How many other companies are intending to be net-zero by 2030?
- Certainly not many Chinese, German or Russian companies.
- And how many companies have planned to achieve net-zero at a profit?
If Forrest achieves his ambitions, the world will be a much better place.
Cycle Paths To Run Alongside HS2 For 200 Miles
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the first paragraph.
The route of HS2, the high-speed railway line from London to Manchester, is to become an unlikely tourist and leisure destination, with a trail for cyclists and walkers that will eventually run for 200 miles.
The article says this about the design of the proposed trail.
- The cycle path is expected to be 3m wide.
- The walkers path is expected to be 2.5m wide.
- The two paths would be separated by a grass verge.
I am pleased that the combined path will be set at some distance from the High Speed Two track, as I don’t like to be near speeding trains.
I have some thoughts.
Rest Areas
In some places, there should be rest areas. Some of these could be close to towns or villages, where there is a convenient cafe or pub.
In Burnley, there is even a Premier Inn on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the manager told me, that in the summer, they get cyclists staying the night, as it’s the mid-point between Leeds and Liverpool.
Mobility Scooters
Will rules for these to use the trail be developed?
Health And Safety
In Edinburgh to Inverness in the Cab of an HST, I talked about a memorable trip, that I made to Inverness.
The route to Inverness is for a long way alongside the A90 and driver told me how on one trip, there was a serious multiple car crash in heavy snow.
So he stopped the train, alerted the emergency services and even asked the passengers, if there were any medical staff on board.
Obviously, stopping a High Speed Two train from 225 mph is not as practical as stopping an InterCity 125 from perhaps 90 mph.
But the drivers’ eyes or the CCTV systems on the train would probably spot a minor accident on the path, so the appropriate assistance can be called.
Conclusion
I like this idea.
It should be fully developed.
Crossrail is Over Budget And Very Late – But The End Is Nearly In Sight
The title of this post is a quote from this article on the BBC, which is entitled Elizabeth line: The Ambient Detailing Behind Crossrail’s New Stations.
There have been little signs appearing in the last few days.
- In Is The Paddington Bakerloo Line Link Opening Soon?, it looked like the new tunnel, that will form the Bakerloo Line Link to Crossrail could be opening soon.
- In The Covers Are Off At Tottenham Court Road Station, it looked like the builders were finishing off Tottenham Court Road station.
- I go through Moorgate station about six times a week.This morning, as I normally do, I took the rat-up-the-drainpipe route to the surface, that I described in Up From The Depths At Moorgate Station. The escalators have been reversed and there were a lot of staff around.
- I’ve also seen guys and gals walking around with clipboards.
This all indicates to me that D-Day is not far-off, when passengers will be allowed to set foot on Crossrail’s platforms and trains.
Is The Paddington Bakerloo Line Link Opening Soon?
I took these pictures on the Bakerloo Line platforms at Paddington station yesterday.
Note.
- There are new direction signs by the entrance, but they are covered in white plastic.
- The lights on the lift were showing sensible messages.
- The escalators behind the grill doors were running.
- It was only shut off using a barrier and black and yellow tape.
- The access between the Northbound Bakerloo Line platform and the escalator lobby, still needed to be opened up.
But it does look to me that this route is getting ready to be used.
In The Crossrail Article That Everyone Must Read, I review this article on Ian Visits, which is entitled A Sneak Preview Of London’s New Elizabeth Line Railway.
In a section, that is entitled The Bakerloo Line Link At Paddington Station, I wrote this.
Ian writes this interesting paragraph.
Something though that was added to Paddington station after the funding was approved was a new direct deep tunnel link from the platforms to the Bakerloo line. London Underground contractors built the link, and Andy Lord suggested that they are considering opening up the link before the Elizabeth line opens fully as it would help with offering step-free access for Bakerloo line customers.
Many people find getting to Paddington difficult, as I do from Dalston.
I typically use some roundabout and slow routes and most end up with arriving at Paddington on the Bakerloo Line.
Opening the link early would have the following effects.
- It would make things a lot easier for me and probably many other passengers.
- It would add passengers to London’s least-used Underground line.
- It would add capacity to the Bakerloo Line station at Paddington.
It would also give a piece of the infrastructure, a good soak testing with real passengers and may flag up some changes that needed to be made to details like signage.
Did Ian call it right?
Conclusion
I think he might have!
A Chiltern Class 68 Locomotive At Marylebone Station
As I was passing through Marylebone station, I took these pictures of a very clean Class 68 locomotive.
If I’m going to Birmingham, I generally use Chiltern, as often you get to travel in one of these well-restored Mark 3 coaches hauled by a Class 68 locomotive.
With the Mark 3 coach, you get a full size table and a large window to enjoy the countryside.
- The Class 68 locomotives were all built by Stadler in Spain, within the last ten years.
- The UK has a fleet of 34 Class 68 locomotives.
- They are powered by a Caterpillar diesel engine.
- The only problem with the trains is that the Class 68 locomotives are diesel.
But is Caterpillar working on a simple solution?
Search the Internet for “Caterpillar Hydrogen” and you find press releases and other items, like this press release, which is entitled Caterpillar to Expand Hydrogen-Powered Solutions to Customers.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out, that Stadler and Caterpillar were working on a program to provide a solution to convert Class 68 locomotives to hydrogen.
The Covers Are Off At Tottenham Court Road Station
These pictures show some of the new signs at Tottenham Court Road station.
As the covers seem to have been taken off, does that mean that like with cricket, something is about to happen?
HS2 Reveals Dramatic Carbon Saving With Ambitious Modular Design For Thame Valley Viaduct
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release on High Speed Two.
This is the first paragraph.
HS2 today revealed the final designs for the Thame Valley Viaduct and the pioneering pre-fabricated construction methods that will see the 880m long structure slotted together like a giant Lego set, cutting its carbon footprint by an estimated 66%.
This is one of the pictures released in this photoset.
This second picture shows a closer view of a pillar and the catenary.
It does appear in these two views that the catenary and the gantries that support it are more elegant than those that tend to be used on most electrification schemes at the present time.
These paragraphs describe how the design saved carbon emissions.
Applying lessons from recent high speed rail projects in Spain, the design team cut the amount of embedded carbon by simplifying the structure of the viaduct so that every major element can be made off site.
In a major step forward for viaduct design in the UK, the team opted for two wide ‘box girder’ beams per span instead of eight smaller beams – to simplify and speed up assembly.
The production of steel and concrete is a major contributor to carbon emissions, with the new lighter-weight structure expected to save 19,000 tonnes of embedded carbon in comparison to the previous design. That’s the same amount of carbon emitted by one person taking a flight from London to Edinburgh and back 70,000 times.
It would appear that saving weight and using less steel and concrete can save a lot of carbon emissions.
I once got a bonus at ICI because I saved ten metres on the height of a chemical plant. My boss said, I’d saved nearly a million. by using a mathematical model on an analogue computer to show that a vessel in the plant wasn’t needed and this eliminated a complete floor of the plant.
How much concrete and steel has been saved by High Speed Two on this viaduct, by making it more basset than Afghan hound?
Ever since I watched the building of Crossrail’s Custom House station, I have been in favour of off-site construction.
I wrote about it in An Express Station and am pleased to see it being used on High Speed Two.
GB Railfreight Names Locomotive For Ukraine
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railnews.
This is the first paragraph.
GB Railfreight has unveiled a Class 66 locomotive bearing the nameplates ‘Glory to Ukraine’, and painted in a special livery using the Ukrainan colours. GBRf said it ‘stands with Ukraine, and this newly painted locomotive honours the people affected by the conflict as they continue to courageously defend their homeland’.
Perhaps not in the same class as this article from the Guardian, which is entitled Lithuania Names Road Leading To Russian Embassy ‘Ukrainian Heroes’ Street’.
But every little bit helps!
The Anonymous Widower 