Oakwood Tube Station’s Seat Is In Need Of Repair
I took these pictures at the Grade II* Listed Oakwood tube station.
How did it get into this state?
Could it be that Enfield is not a Borough, where voters need any urging to vote Labour?
So it has been allowed to deteriorate by London’s South London Mayor?
It certainly needs a bit of TLC!
Transport Bosses Promise The Northumberland Line Will Be Operational Before The End Of 2024
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on ITV.com.
The article appears to be all good news for the North-East.
London To Glasgow Train Journey Record Bid Fails By Just 21 Seconds
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on ITV.com.
These are the first three paragraphs.
An attempt to break the 36-year-old record for the fastest train journey between London and Glasgow has failed.
Avanti West Coast’s Royal Scot train arrived at Glasgow Central 21 seconds behind the record of three hours, 52 minutes and 40 seconds set by British Rail in December 1984, according to rail expert Mark Smith, who was onboard.
Mr Smith, founder of Seat61.com, wrote on Twitter that a temporary speed limit on the track in Carstairs, South Lanarkshire, “cost us 90 seconds”.
It appears to be a valiant attempt that failed by a small margin.
I have a few thoughts.
The Trains
The British Rail 1984 record was set by an Advanced Passenger Train (APT) and today’s run was by a nine-car Class 390 train.
- The design speed of the APT was 155 mph and that of a Class 390 train is 140 mph.
- Service speed of both trains was and is 125 mph.
- Record speed of the APT was 162 mph and that of a Class 390 train is 145 mph.
- Both trains employ similar tilt technology to go faster.
At a brief look the performance of these two trains is very similar.
The InterCity 225
The InterCity 225 train is the ringer in this race to the North.
- The design speed is 140 mph.
- The service speed is 125 mph
- The record speed of an InterCity 225 is 161.7 mph.
- The train doesn’t use tilting technology.
- The train was built after the APT around 1990.
- The train holds the record between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh at thirty seconds under three-and-a-half hours.
- To rub things in, one of these trains, even holds the London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly record.
But there can’t be much wrong with the InterCity 225 trains as a few are being brought back into service, whilst LNER are waiting for ten new bi-mode trains to be delivered.
Hitachi Class 80x Trains
The various variants of Class 800 trains run to Edinburgh and I’m sure they will run to Glasgow.
- The design speed is 140 mph.
- The service speed is 125 mph
If an InterCity 225 can go between Edinburgh and London in around three-and-a-half hours, I can’t see why these trains can’t.
Especially, as Hitachi seem to be able to produce versions like the Class 803 and Class 807 trains, which appear to be lighter and more efficient, as they don’t have any diesel engines.
A Small Margin
I said earlier that it was only a small margin between the times of the APT and the Class 390 train. But why was the InterCity 225 able to run between Kings Cross and Edinburgh at thirty seconds under three-and-a-half hours?
This section in the Wikipedia entry for the Class 91 locomotive is entitled Speed Record. This is the first paragraph.
A Class 91, 91010 (now 91110), holds the British locomotive speed record at 161.7 mph (260.2 km/h), set on 17 September 1989, just south of Little Bytham on a test run down Stoke Bank with the DVT leading. Although Class 370s, Class 373s and Class 374s have run faster, all are EMUs which means that the Electra is officially the fastest locomotive in Britain. Another loco (91031, now 91131), hauling five Mk4s and a DVT on a test run, ran between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley in 3 hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds on 26 September 1991. This is still the current record. The set covered the route in an average speed of 112.5 mph (181.1 km/h) and reached the full 140 mph (225 km/h) several times during the run.
It looks from the last sentence of this extract, that the record run of the InterCity 225 train ran up to 140 mph in places, whereas the record run of the APT and today’s run by a Class 390 train were limited to 125 mph.
The Signalling
In the Wikipedia entry for the InterCity 225 train, the following is said.
Thus, except on High Speed 1, which is equipped with cab signalling, British signalling does not allow any train, including the InterCity 225, to exceed 125 mph (201 km/h) in regular service, due to the impracticality of correctly observing lineside signals at high speed.
Note.
- I have regularly flown my Cessna 340 safely at altitude, with a ground speed of around two hundred miles per hour.
- High Speed One has an operating speed of 186 mph.
- Grant Schapps, who is Secretary of State for Transport has a pilot’s licence. So he would understand flight instruments and avionics.
So why hasn’t a system been developed in the thirty years since trains capable of running at 140 mph started running in the UK, to allow them to do it?
It is a ridiculous situation.
We are installing full digital ERTMS in-cab signalling on the East Coast Main Line, but surely a system based on aviation technology could be developed until ERTMS is ready. Or we could install the same system as on High Speed One.
After all, all we need is a system, to make sure the drivers don’t misread the signals.
But then the EU says that all member nations must use ERTMS signalling.
Didn’t we just leave the EU?
Conclusion
By developing our own in-cab digital signalling we could run trains between London and Scotland in around three-and-a-half hours.
The Japanese could even have an off-the-shelf system!
ERTMS sounds like a closed shop to give work to big European companies, who have lobbied the European Commission.
Crossrail’s First Inclined Lift Is Now Available To View!
The entrance to Crossrail in front of Broadgate has now had most of its hoarding removed.
You can now walk around it and view the escalators and inclined lift, that will take passengers to and from the booking hall.
It’s probably the most up-market fosterito, that I’ve seen so far. Even more so, than the pair at Tottenham Court Road station, that I wrote about in Tottenham Court Road Station Gains A Giant Fosterito.
- It has three escalators and an inclined lift.
- It oozes quality with lots of steel, glass and quality lighting.
- It shows the arms of the City of London in recognition to their contribution to Crossrail.
- It sits in the middle of a large traffic-free square.
WilkinsonEyre were the architects.
Fosteritos
Norman Foster faced a similar problem in Spain of how to protect staircases and escalators emerging from the Bilbao Metro.
These pictures show his elegant solution.
The Spaniards obviously liked them, as they called them fosteritos.
Ilford Station – 9th June 2021
The third entrance on the South side of Ilford station is now open.
These pictures were taken during a walk from the North entrance to the new one in the South.
Note that nine-car trains are now running on Crossrail.
Crossrail Doubles Trial Running Frequency
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on IanVisits.
Enough said! But read the article and watch the video it contains.
Crossrail’s Inclined Lifts
This page on variably, shows the inclined lifts on Crossrail, at Liverpool Street station.
Take a look, as they are impressive. To my built-in video camera with an enormous instant-access store, they look like modern versions of the first inclined lift, I ever saw, which was on the Stockholm Metro.
If I remember correctly, the Swedish one was installed on if not an Angel-sized set of escalators, certainly one of a good length.
It looks like it was at Duvbo station.
Enjoy the video.
It’s not this set of escalators at Duvbo, as it is the other way round, but it certainly is very similar.
Are they available in bronze for the Northern reaches of the Piccadilly Line, where I suggested inclined lifts for step-free access in Thoughts On Step-Free Access At Manor House Station.
One could be built in like this short one at Greenford station.
I shall replace this picture with a better one.
Thoughts On Step-Free Access At Manor House Station
I use Manor House station regularly, as I have a bus-stop by my house, that is perhaps fifty metres from my front door, that connects to the station.
- There is also a zebra crossing to get to the other side of the road.
- The 141 bus actually connects me to Manor House, Turnpike Lane and Wood Green stations on the Piccadilly Line.
- This is because it was a replacement for the 641 trolley-bus route that used to run between Winchmore Hill and Moorgate via. Milmay Park.
- I also use the station as a convenient station to go West on the Piccadilly Line.
- As it connects step-free at Finsbury Park station to the Victoria Line, it certainly has its uses.
Click this link to see an excellent photo of a 641 trolley-bus at Manor House station.
The pub in the photo was the Manor House, where I saw such performers as John Mayall and Eric Clapton amongst others.
I took these pictures today
The station has an unusual layout.
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- Two major roads; the Seven Sisters Road (A503) and Green Lanes (A 105) cross at the station.
- The four major roads are all controlled by traffic lights, which also allow pedestrians to cross the major roads safely on the surface.
- There are a couple of staircases at each corner of the junction and these lead down to a maze of passages that connect these entrances to the escalators that lead up and down to the platforms.
- The former Manor House pub and a new Travel Lodge sit opposite each other on the junction.
- The Travel Lodge sits on the South-West corner.
- The North-West corner leads directly into Finsbury Park., which is not a bad place to go for a walk or a jog.
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The below ground subways in the station are all level.
The staircases between subway and street level are very reminiscent of those at Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square stations.
The staircases also have some excellent period details.
But then they tend to do things as they should in my part of North London.
This picture was taken after a World Cup Third!
What will happen, if England win the Euros?
Manor House station’s design can best be summed up as two level areas connected by a series of staircases.
- Central London stations with this layout include Bank, Cockfosters, Kings Cross St. Pancras,Leicester Square, Manor House, Piccadilly Circus. Tottenham Court Road and Victoria.
- At least Cockfosters, Kings Cross St. Pancras, Tottenham Court Road and Victoria have lifts between the two levels.
- Bank station will have more lifts than Oti Mabusi in a dance routine, after the rebuild.
- Old Street was similar, but Transport for London (TfL) are rebuilding the station.
Cockfosters has level access at both the surface and the platform level and they have sneaked in a lift in a corner of the station.
Grandparents in a wheel-chair or Louis or Lilibet in a pushchair can easily be taken easily between train and the car-park.I am certain, that if there are a number of lifts at the four corners of the road junction at Manor House, then access both to the station and across the junction will be substantially eased.
That just leaves us with the problem of getting between subway and platform levels.
This map from cartometro.com shows the platform layout.
Note that as at Turnpike Lane station in this platform layout, there is also a generous space between the platforms.
The two escalators and a set of stairs face North.
Wood Green station is a bit different, as it has a turnback siding
The two escalators and a set of stairs also face South.
When I used to use the Piccadilly Line in the 1960s, it tended to be pain, if a Wood Green train turned up, when you wanted to go to Oakwood or Cockfosters.
Bounds Green station is shown in this map.
Again the tracks appear to have been curved to allow generous space.
The two escalators and a set of stairs face North.
Arnos Grove station is a station with sidings and four platforms on the surface.
The car parks are likely to be developed for housing, so there will be major changes at the station.
Southgate station is the last station, that doesn’t have step-free access.
But again there is some space between the tracks.
The two escalators and a set of stairs face North.
So did the designers of the Northern Extension of the Piccadilly Line leave space to put in more equipment or even lifts?
After all they didn’t stint themselves on the design of the stations.
Designing Step-Free Access
This is not easy and various considerations must be taken into account.
Revenue Protection
At Cockfosters station, the new lift goes between two areas that are outside the ticket barriers.
If as I have proposed at Manor House station, where there would be lifts between the surface and the subway level, both areas are outside the ticket barriers.
At Tottenham Hale station, there several lifts all of which are inside the ticket barrier.
Staff At The Barrier
Nearly all ticket barriers in London are watched by staff to sort out problems like passengers, who don’t know how to use the system.
Costs
It is unlikely, that large sums of money will be available to add step-free access to all stations on the Underground.
I also think, that step-free access at stations will be funded by developments close to stations.
A London-Wide Solution
It is for these and other reasons, that I think London needs to look in detail at all stations and see if a series of solutions can be developed for all stations.
In this section of the Piccadilly Line, there are five stations with three escalators or two escalators and a staircase.
But there are others on the other deep tube lines.
So should a standard solution be developed for all stations like this? And for all groups of similar stations.
Could An Inclined Lift Be Used At This Group Of Stations?
This picture shows the first inclined lift, I ever saw, which was on the Stockholm Metro.
Looking at the picture shows it was installed on a very long set of escalators.
At present, there is only one inclined lift on the London Underground and that one is at Greenford station.
It is a very neat and compact installation, that incorporates a double-staircase, an up escalator and an inclined lift in a confined space.
I think we’ll see similar solutions to Greenford employed in some stations on the Underground. In Is This A Simple And Affordable Solution To Providing Step-Free Access At Essex Road Station?, I outline how an inclined lift could be used at Essex Road station.
These pictures show the three escalators at Manor House station.
Note.
- The middle escalator was switched off.
- There is a spacious lobby at the bottom of the escalators.
The other four below-ground stations North of Finsbury Park; Turnpike Lane, Wood Green, Bounds Green and Southgate all have two escalators and a central staircase
These pictures show Bounds Green station.
Note that the stairs are in the middle.
It looks to me, that all five escalator systems to the North of Finsbury Park are more or less identical.
- Only Manor House has a third escalator.
- There is a large lobby at the bottom.
- All stairs are in the middle escalator slot.
- Are the stairs designed to be replaced with a third escalator?
So would it be possible to design an inclined escalator solution for all stations, that fitted all of the stations?
I think it might be very much a possibility.
- The central staircase would be replaced by a third escalator.
- One of the outside escalators would be replaced with an inclined lift.
Note
- Many of these escalators were probably installed in the early 1990s, a few years after the Kings Cross Fire.
- Escalators are replaced regularly every ten or twenty years.
So could the installation of the inclined lifts, be worked into the schedule of escalator maintenance and replacement?
I believe with good project management it could be arranged.
- At no time during the works would any station have less than two escalators.
- If there were to be an escalator failure, all of the stations are connected by frequent buses and some are even within walking distance.
The works could also be arranged to fit in with available cash-flow.
I believe that eventually all these stations will need to be provided with full step-free access.
Conclusion
I believe that a sensible program of works can be developed to make all deep-level stations North of Finsbury Park step-free on the Piccadilly Line.
- The deep-level platforms would be served by two escalators and an inclined lift.
- The works would be performed alongside the regular maintenance and replacement of the current escalators.
- There would be no substantial tunneling.
- The works could also be arranged to fit in with available cash-flow.
The technique would be applicable to other stations on the Underground network.
Turnpike Lane Station
In Is Turnpike Lane Tube Station Going Step-Free?, I tried to explain the puzzling works going on at Turnpike Lane station.
Could those works be digging a lift-shaft or something in a more engineering line, like installing more ventilation or new power cables?
There’s certainly no clues on the Internet.
This table shows step-free status and 2019 passenger numbers at the Piccadilly Line stations to the North of Kings Cross St. Pancras station.
- Cockfosters – Step-Free – 1.86 million
- Oakwood – Step-free – 2.78 million
- Southgate – 5.43 million
- Arnos Grove – 4.44 million
- Bounds Green – 5.99 million
- Wood Green – 12.13 million
- Turnpike Lane – 10.6 million
- Manor House – 8.55 million
- Finsbury Park – Step-free – 33.40 million
- Arsenal – 2.77 million
- Holloway Road – 6.69 million
- Caledonian Road – Step-free – 5.60 million
- Kings Cross St. Pancras – Step-free – 88.27 million
Note.
- The high passenger numbers at Finsbury Park and Kings Cross St. Pancras, where there is interchange with lots of other services.
- The long gap of step-free access between Oakwood and Finsbury Park.
- Arnos Grove could be an easier station to make step-free.
I just wonder, if a lift at Turnpike Lane station could be the interim solution, until inclined lifts are installed in the distant future.
An Airport Train For A Pandemic?
These pictures show one of Greater Anglia‘s new Class 745 trains on a Stansted Express service at Hackney Downs station, on the way to Liverpool Street station.
Stansted Express services do not usually use Platform 3, but it would appear that the service had started from Bishops Stortford.
The Future Of Stansted Express Trains
The previous Stansted Express trains; the more-than-adequate Class 379 trains are still waiting for a future, after being replaced.
Now because of the pandemic, the excellent Class 745 trains are running virtually empty.
Perhaps, it’s not a lucky route for trains.
Cargo Sous Terrain
This is a Swiss idea to move small parcels around the country.
This is the project’s web site.
There will be a network of tunnels under Switzerland serving all the major centres.
This article on LeNews is entitled Switzerland’s Underground Tunnel Project Gets Green Light From Upper House, describes the project.
This is the first paragraph.
On 1 June 2021, a project to build an underground freight tunnel network stretching from Geneva to St Gallen, gained almost unanimous support in the Council of States, Switzerland upper house.
These are a few points from the article.
- It appears to be privately funded.
- There will be a three-lane tunnel network across the country.
- It will use driverless electric vehicles.
- Speed will be 30 kph.
- It will run twenty-four hours per day.
- There will be a track in the roof of the tunnel for smaller parcels.
- There will be a total of 500 km of tunnels.
- Completion date is set for 2045.
- It will cost around £24 billion.
It’s as though all of Switzerland were to be turned into a giant Amazon or Ocado warehouse.
Will It Work?
I don’t see why not, although it would be an immense project!
This paragraph indicates they will start small.
The first 70 km section of the tunnel network, which will connect a hub in Härkingen-Niederbipp with Zurich, is scheduled for completion in 2031.
But even that will cost around £2.5 billion!
It certainly, is a bold idea, that has possibilities.
The Anonymous Widower 