New Railway Station Between Hinckley And Nuneaton Receives Backing
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the first paragraph of the article.
Plans for a new railway station between Hinckley and Nuneaton looks set to go ahead following backing from councillors.
The station will be called Nuneaton Parkway.
This page on Coventry Live gives some more information.
There is also a proposed station, to be called Nuneaton Parkway, situated off the A5 between Hinckley and Nuneaton.
This Google Map shows the area where the A5 crosses the Birmingham-Peterborough Line, that runs between Hinckley and Nuneaton..
This must surely be one of the best sites to build a new Parkway station in the UK.
- The triangular site is a waste transfer station operated by Veolia Environmental Services UK.
- It has a direct connection to the A5, which could be easily improved, with perhaps a roundabout.
- Doing a crude estimate from the Google Map, I calculate that the site is about sixteen hactares, which is surely a good size for a Parkway station.
- There’s even quite a lot of new housing within walking and cycling distance.
It would also appear that the station could be built on this site without major disruption to either road or rail traffic.
Train Services
Currently the train service passing the proposed site of Nuneaton Parkway, which stops at both Hinckley and Nuneaton stations is as follows.
- An hourly CrossCountry service between Birmingham New Street and Leicester.
- In addition there are four trains per day between Birmingham New Street and Stansted Airport and/or Cambridge.
- All trains take seven minutes between Nuneaton and Hinckley.
But just under forty trains per day is not enough.
In my view, there should be a train at least every half-hour and preferably four trains per hour (tph) between Birmingham New Street and Leicester.
What About Coventry and Birmingham International?
Services between Nuneaton and Birmingham go via Coleshill Parkway and don’t call at Coventry and Birmingham International for the Airport, High Speed Two and the National Exhibition Centre.
So could there be a Birmingham New Street and Leicester service via Birmingham International, Coventry, Coventry Arena, Nuneaton, Nuneaton Parkway and Hinckley?
London, Liverpool and Manchester Via Nuneaton
Currently, the Nuneaton and London service is hourly and timed badly for connections at Nuneaton.
If it is intended that passengers will park at Nuneaton Parkway station and go to and from London, Liverpool or Manchester, the following must be arranged.
- At least four tph calling at Nuneaton, Nuneaton Parkway and Hinckley.
- At least two tph from West Midland Trains going between London Euston and Crewe calling at Nuneaton.
- Perhaps one tph from Virgin Trains calling at Nuneaton.
- A big improvement in cafes and waiting rooms at Nuneaton.
Note that times between Nuneaton and London Euston are as follows.
- West Midlands Trains – 78 minutes
- Virgin Trains – 69 minutes
Perhaps West Midlands Trains should be running trains with the same performance as Virgin?
Could Battery-Electric Trains Be Used Between Birmingham New Street And Leicester?
The route between Birmingham New Street and Leicester is not electrified, but two important stations; Birmingham New Street and Nuneaton are both wired, as is the route between Coventry and Birmingham New Street via Birmingham International.
Distances between Nuneaton and other stations, where independent power would be needed are.
- Birmingham New Street via Coleshill Parkway – 21 miles.
- Leicester – 19 miles or 38 miles return.
- Coventry – 10 miles
These distances are all feasible for battery operation.
In Porterbrook Makes Case For Battery/Electric Bi-Mode Conversion, I talked about Porterbrook’s plan to convert redundant Class 350 trains into battery-electric trains.
- They are four-car electric trains.
- They were built within the last ten years.
- They are currently used by West Midlands Trains.
In the related post, I estimated that these converted trains would have the following battery ranges for the power usages shown, if they were to be fitted with 400 kWh of batteries. I chose 400 kWh as this is the battery capacity of a Three-car Class 230 train.
- 5 kWh per vehicle mile – 20 miles
- 4 kWh per vehicle mile – 25 miles
- 3 kWh per vehicle mile – 33.3 miles
- 2 kWh per vehicle mile – 50 miles
In How Much Power Is Needed To Run A Train At 125 mph?, I calculated that.
- A Class 801 train needs 3.42 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 125 mph.
- An IOnterCity125 train needs 2.83 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 125 mph.
- A Class 222 train needs 4.83 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 125 mph.
- A Class 170 train needs 3.15 kWh per vehicle mile to maintain 100 mph.
Looking at the last figure for the Class 170 train, I feel that a modern electric train must surely be as or more efficient and I’m justified to assume that a well-designed battery-electric train based on a Class 350 train, should be capable of a power usage of 3 k|Wh per vehicle mile, which would give a 33.3 mile range.
If more range was needed to handle Nuneaton and Leicester, the following could be done.
- Install a bigger battery in the trains.
- Install a charging station at Leicester.
- Extend the electrificationfrom Nuneaton for a few miles.
I very much believe that within a few years, the technology exists to have 100 mph battery electric trains running between Birmingham and Leicester, getting a quick charge en route at Nuneaton.
Conclusion
My logical thinking leads me to the conclusion, that a high-frequency service between Birmingham New Street and Leicester could grow into a Crossrail-style service.
- Six tph between Birmingham New Street and :Leicester.
- Services split between Birmingham New Street and Nuneaton, with some trains going via Coleshill and others via Coventry and Birmingham International.
- There could be extensions from Coventry to Leamington and Birmingham to Wolverhampton and Bromsgrove.
- Centred on Nuneaton Parkway.
- Possibly run by battery-electric trains.
Although the Crossrail branding is possibly overused these days.
Class 755 Trains Are Now Serving Cambridge
Greater Anglia are now running Class 755 trains on services between Cambridge and Norwich.
The first picture shows Greater Anglia’s new logo of a red hare.
- To my knowledge it is the only logo of a UK train company, that is not just a neutral graphic.
- Greater Anglia use it on posters in other forms.
I quite like it, as if any animal sums up speed in East Anglia it is the brown hare.
These pictures show some of Greater Anglia’s posters.
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Fire Up The Quattro: My Other Car Is An Energy Supplier
An article with this title is on Page 3 of the Business Section in today’s Sunday Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Car companies could be encouraged to become electricity suppliers under an overhaul of the energy market being explored by the government and the regulator.
This is an excellent idea.
These are a few of my ideas.
All-In-One Deals
It would open up the scope for all-in-one deals for the purchase of electric cars.
The cost of the car, servicing and electricity would all be included.
A cost per mile could be guaranteed, which might rise with distance.
Most importantly, he car company would handle all the hassle and give the customers appropriate training.
It Could Be A Range Anxiety Solution
Some articles in the media, are saying that range anxiety is holding back sales of electric cars, as no-one wants to get stuck in remote locations with flat batteries.
Up market brands already have their own rescue service and I can envisage a network of electric trucks, which can rescue stranded vehicles, by giving them sufficient charge to get to the nearest charger.
These trucks could even be in a common fleet with video screens informing everybody they were a particular car company’s Electric Vehicle Rescue Truck. So when rescuing an Audi, they would say Audi’s El;ectric Vehicle Rescue Truck.
If a prospective punter, saw a rescue truck, with their favourite make on the side, it might persuade them to pop in to a showroom.
Free Or Reduced Cost Parking In Electric-Only Car Parks
In Airport Plans World’s Biggest Car Parks For 50,000 Cars, I outlined how a massive car park like this could hold electric cars with a total battery capacity of 1.35 GWh.
This storage capacity could be used to store surplus energy, whilst cars were parked.
I can see a consortium being put together to provide electric-only car parks.
- National Grid to provide and distribute the electricity.
- The car companies to provide the customers.
- Airports and rail stations, local authorities to provide the land.
But not all car parks would be large!
I can imagine new housing developments bringing in an electric vehicle-only rule.
I wouldn’t mind living in one of that type of development.
There would be various charges in these electric vehicle-only car parks.
- An hourly or contract charge for the actual parking.
- A charge for the electricity used to charge the vehicle.
There would also be a payment from Nation Grid based on the amount of energy stored in the vehicle’s battery.
Billing would be automatic, based on when you were connected to the charger and the various energy flows.
\suppose you were flying away from Heathrow for a week, National Grid would have use of your vehicle’s battery to store electricity for seven days.
The car companies would be in a unique position to enable this deal.
- They have the customers.
- They can make their cars compatible with the car parks.
- They can handle the complex billing, as part of an All-In-One deal.
- \drivers would probably prefer to deal with BMW, Jaguar etc., than an energy company.
I would expect this model of car-parking to multiply.
- Many drivers would only use public transport on pain of death, so buying an electric car is the lesser of two evils.
- It would cut emissions in the centre of towns and cities.
- It would appeal to High Streets and Town Centres, as it could attract shoppers and visitors.
- For those with home chargers, it must surely reduce range anxiety
The only disadvantage, is that it might increase the use of cars for short journeys and increase traffic congestion.
But at least the extra vehicles would be non-polluting electric ones.
Conclusion
Used creatively, the proposal of allowing car companies to be energy suppliers, would appear to have possibilities.
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A Short Cruise At Greenwich
I had taken the Emirate air-line to North Greenwich with friends and we decided we needed to go to the Cutty Sark.
So we took one of the Thames Clippers, from where I took these pictures.
About the pictures.
- The first pictures show Greenwich Power Station, which generates electricity for Transport for London on a standby basis. It must be one of oldest power stations still producing electricity, although nowadays it doesn’t use coal, but six massive gas turbines.
- The rest of the pictures show the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.
The trip between the two piers took only a few minutes.
A Tourist Route Between Bank/London Bridge/Tower of London And Maritime Greenwich
I do this route on a sunny day, when I perhaps want to show a guest around London.
- Take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Bank or Tower Gateway stations to Royal Victoria station.
- Take the Emirate Air-Line across the Thames to Greenwich. Peninsular
- North Greenwich isn’t overloaded with attractions, unless you’re seeing a show or event at the O2. But it’s getting better!
- Take the Thames Clipper one stop to Greenwich. They run every twenty minutes.
If you want to be boring you can always catch the DLR to Cutty Sark station.
A few points.
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is often thought by Londoners, commuters and visitors as a bit of a Cinderella.
However, like Cinderella she works hard all day and provides reliable and efficient transport, where the only alternatives are buses, bicycles, taxis and Shank’s pony.
Just after the 2012 Olympics, I met a big cheese in Transport for London on a DLR train. He felt that the DLR had been the star in getting everybody to the games.
It must be one of the most successful light railways in the world!
And yet, no-one has ever thought to build another running on the same principles.
- Mainly elevated track.
- Mainly step-free stations
- Universal step-free train-to-platform access.
- High-visibility trains for passengers.
- Trains every three or four minutes.
- Friendly, interested, visible staff.
- Driverless operation with a train captain looking after passengers and driving in emergency.
- Contactless ticketing
Perhaps the lack of a full-time driver on every train, means that many other places would have massive union problems.
Emirates Air-Line
I’ve taken many people on the Emirates Air-Line and few haven’t been impressed.
The best time in my view is just as the sun sets, as these pictures show.
Note that unless you want a souvenir ticket, just use your bank card to touch-in and touch-out! My last one-way trip cost me £3.50 and appeared on my credit card statement labelled TFL TRAVEL CH Conractactless.
Thames Clippers
Since I moved back to London in 2010, the Thames Clippers have been continuously expanding and improving.
- .Five new boats have been delivered since the Olympics.
- Several piers have been improved, rebuilt or added in recent years.
- Cpmtactless ticketing can be used for all services. Payments are labelled THAMES CLIPPERS.
It should be noted that if you are a holder of a London Freedom Pass, you can get a discount on tickets at a machine.
Plans exist for the following.
- Extending the route to new housing developments at Barking and Thamesmead in the East.
- A new pier at Silvertown in October 2019, which could have a walking or bus link to the City Airport.
I can also see the following.
- Extensions to the West past Putney Pier to places like new housing at Brentford and Kew Gardens.
- Further extensions to the East to support the massive housing developments.
- Better connections to the London Underground, London Overground and National Rail stations.
- More use being made of the Thames Barrier as a tourist attraction.
- Thames Clippers becoming a river tube line.
- Thames Clippers appearing on the Tube map, just as the Emirate Air-Line does!
- A quick and easy connection between the City Airport, Canary Wharf and the Cities of London and Westminster being developed.
The last would surely appeal to City businessmen and those wanting to celebrate a special event.
If Venice can run a boat between the Airport, and St. Mark’s Square why can’t London do the equivalet?
Crossrail
Crossrail is the Elephant-in-the-Room, that will surely make its presence felt along the South Bank of the Thames, when it is extended to Ebbsfleet, as it surely will be.
- There will be a short walking interchange at Woolwich between Crossrail and the Tghames Clippers.
- If Crossrail build a station at Silvertown for London City Airport, this could be another interchange.
- If Crossrail eventually terminates at Gravesend, there could even be possibilities that far East.
The possibilities of designing the Crossrail Extension in conjunction with the Thames could open up the river has as both a leisure attraction and a transport artery.
Conclusion
London will reach towards the sea, to further enhance and add space to the undoubted Capital of the World!
A
The Crossrail Portal At Pudding Mill Lane Station
These pictures show the Crossral portal at Pudding Mill Lane station, as it is approached on a DLR train from Stratford station.
The portal does appear to be rather functional.
The New Bank Station Entrance At Cannon Street Is Taking Shape Nicely
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Londonist.
The article contains some good pictures and says this.
- The building has now been topped out!
- The station is underneath an eleven storey block.
- The entrance will give direct escalator and lift access to the Northern Line.
These are some pictures of my own.
The entrance and the building above should be open by 2022.
Penge Interchange
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines through Penge West and Penge East stations.
The two stations are a valid out-of-station interchange, but neither is step-free.
Penge East station could be difficult to make step-free, as the footbridge is listed.
I think that it is one of those structures that Network Rail wouldn’t miss, if it was decided to install it at the National Railway Museum.
This Google Map shows the two stations and their distances from, where the two lines cross.
Note.
- Penge West station is in the South-West corner of the map on the East London Line.
- Penge East station is in the East of the map on the Chatham Main Line.
- The new Penge Interchange station could be located, where the East London Line and the Chatham Main Line cross.
- The two tracks of the Crystal Palace branch of the Overground can be seen either side of the East London Line.
Could this be one of the reasons, why it has been suggested by Transport for London, that a new station be built, where the lines through the two Penge stations? cross?
- The station would be built on railway land.
- The station could be a step-free four-poster station like Smethwick Galton Street station, which I wrote about in Birmingham’s Four-Poster Station.
- It would have four tph between Victoria and Bromley South stations.
- It would have four tph between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon stations.
- It would have two tph between London Bridge and Caterham stations
- It might also be possible to have platforms on the Crystal Palace branch, thus adding six tph between Highbury & Islington and Crystal Palace. stations.
- The station could have Thameslink platforms.
I feel it would offer the following benefits.
- Better connection between South East and North London, by changing at Penge and Whitechapel.
- Better connection between South East London and Crossrail, with all its connections, by changing at Penge and Whitechapel.
Penge Interchange might allow the two older Penge stations to be closed.
These are some further thoughts.
Southeastern Stations Served From Penge East
These stations are served from Penge East station.
- Beckenham Junction
- Bickley
- Brixton
- Bromley South
- Herne Hill
- Kent House
- Petts Wood
- Shortlands
- Sydenham Hill
- West Dulwich
Each station would get four trains per hour (tph) with two on Sundays.
What Does Artificial Intelligence, Think Of Penge Interchange?
I asked Google AI and received this answer.
Penge Interchange refers to a long-proposed but unbuilt Transport for London (TfL) project to create a major new railway station in Penge, London, combining Penge East (Chatham Main Line) and Penge West (Overground) stations, allowing seamless, step-free transfers between the East London Line (Overground) and Southeastern services, potentially linking to Thameslink, to improve capacity and connectivity in South London. Currently, there’s an “out-of-station interchange” (OSI) between Penge East and Penge West, requiring a walk.
Connecting to Thameslink could be worthwhile.
Note too, that Google AI refers to the East London Line by its traditional not its woke name.
What Does Artificial Intelligence, Think Of Brockley Interchange?
I asked Google AI a similar question for Brockley and received this answer.
“Brockley Interchange” can refer to two main things: the busy M1 Junction 4 near London (a motorway junction with the A41) or proposed future transport links for Brockley railway station in South East London, aiming to connect more rail lines, possibly reusing the old Brockley Lane site for better links to the Nunhead-Lewisham line. The current Brockley Station serves London Overground and Southern Rail but lacks step-free platform-to-platform access, with a proposed interchange potentially fixing this.
Note.
- The reference to the M1 Junction 4 is of course not relevant here.
- Brockley station also doesn’t have an entrance on the Up side.
This Google Map shows Brockley station and the Nunhead-Lewisham Line over the top.
Note.
- The East London Line runs North-South.
- The Nunhead-Lewisham Line runs East-West.
- Brockley Lane station was just to the East of the East London Line.
- There is quite a few hectares of spare land along the Nunhead-Lewisham Line.
- A development called Brockley Yard has been given planning permission to the West of Brockley station.
It looks like the station could be redeveloped to join the two lines, with a certain amount of housing above the station.
Conclusion
It strikes me, that there are possibilities for station and network improvements, that would benefit passengers at both Penge and Brockley, that would release sites for housing.
The developments could also be self-funded, by property sales and more passengers on the rail network.
More Frequent Trains And A New Station For The London Overground
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on IanVisits.
This is said.
In a statement, the government agreed to requests for £80.8 million from the GLA to support transport upgrades so that 14,000 homes can be built along the East London Line.
Upgrades include.
- New Bermondsey station, which was originally to be called Surrey Canal Road, will be built.
- A second entrance will be built at Surrey Quays station.
- Frequency between Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction stations will be increased from four trains per hour (tph) to six tph.
- Frequency between Highbury & Islington and Crystal Palace stations will be increased from four tph to six tph.
The frequency upgrades will mean twenty tph between Dalston Junction and Surrey Quays stations, or a train every three minutes as opposed to the current three minutes and forty-five seconds.
A few thoughts follow.
Surrey Quays Station Upgrade
Ian’s article says this about the new entrance at Surrey Quays station.
The very cramped Surrey Quays station gets a second entrance, which will run under the main road and be based on the north side, where the shopping centre car park is today. That avoids crossing two busy roads, which can take some time if you’re waiting for the lights to change.
This Google Map shows the station and the car park of the Shopping Centre.
These are my pictures, taken at and around the station.
Traffic is bad and the subway suggested by Ian’s wording will be very welcome.
Collateral Benefits At New Cross Gate
New Cross Gate station will be one of several stations along the East London Line to see benefits in service frequency and quality.
The train frequency on East London Line services will rise from eight tph to ten tph.
But this is not all that should or could happen.
- The service between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon stations could rise from four tph to six tph.
- This would mean that New Cross Gate would have a twelve tph service to and from Whitechapel, which in a year or so, will have Crossrail connections to Canary Wharf, Bond Street, Paddington and Heathrow.
- Southeastern should be getting new higher-capacity, higher-performance and possibly longer trains to replace their elderly trains into London Bridge.
- Charing Cross station is redeveloped into a higher-capacity, cross-river station, to allow more trains.
- Digital signalling, as used on Thameslink will be extended to cover all trains through New Cross and New Cross Gate.
- The Docklands Light Railway to Lewisham will get new and higher-capacity trains.
- Southeastern Metro services could go to the London Overground.
Could this all mean that the East London Line, Southeastern and Crossrail will more than hold the fort until it is decided to build the Bakerloo Line Extension?
The Bakerloo Line Extension
This map from TfL shows the route of the Bakerloo Line Extension.
If and when the Bakerloo Line Extension is built, New Cross Gate will surely become a major transport hub.
If you look at the current and proposed stations on the Southern section of an extended Bakerloo Line, you can say the following.
- Paddington will get a step-free pedestrian link between Crossrail and the Bakerloo Line.
- Charing Cross will benefit from more Southeastern Metro services into the main line station.
- Waterloo will benefit from more Southeastern Metro services through the attached Waterloo East station.
- Elephant & Castle station will benefit from more Thameslink services through the attached main line station.
- New Cross Gate will benefit from more Southeastern Metro and East London Line services through the station.
- Lewisham will benefit from more Southeastern Metro services through the station.
But there are no interim benefits for the blue-mauve area, that will be served by the proposed Old Kent Road 1 and Old Kent Road 2 stations.
In addition, is there a need to add capacity between the New Cross area and Lewisham? Southeastern improvements will help, but the Bakerloo Line Extension will do a lot more!
Except for these two stations, is there a reason to build an extension to the Bakerloo Line, as train services between Charing Cross, Waterloo East and New Cross and Lewisham will be significantly increased in frequency, reach and quality?
A Bakerloo Line Extension Redesign
Whatever happens to the Bakerloo Line, the following should be done.
- New walk-through trains running at a higher-frequency on the current route.
- Major access improvements and better connection to main line services at Elephant & Castle, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Willesden Junction stations.
- A radical reorganisation North of Queen’s Park station, in conjunction with the Watford DC Line and the proposed West London Orbital Railway.
This would improve the current line, but it would do nothing for those living where the extension will go!
So why not do what is happening to the Northern Line at Battersea and create a short extension to the Bakerloo Line that serves the areas that need it and one that can be extended in the future?
- You could argue, that the extension to Lewisham is short and it could be extended to Hayes and other places.
- I also think, that the route goes via New Cross Gate, as that is one of the few sites in the area, from where a large tunnel could be built.
Ideally, what could be needed is a high-capacity public transport link from Elephant & Castle and Greenwich and/or Lewisham via the Old Kent Road, New Cross Gate and New Cross.
The Germans, the Dutch and others wouldn’t mess about and would run trams along the road, but that would go down with the locals like a lead West London Tram.
So it looks like some form of extension of the Bakerloo Line is the only way to go.
Consider.
- Two-platform terminal stations at Brixton and Walthamstow Central handle up to thirty-six tph on the Victoria Line.
- New Cross Gate and New Cross stations are about five hundred metres apart.
- Double-ended stations like Knightsbridge on the Piccadilly Line and Kings Cross on the Victoria Line work very well.
I would look at building a double-ended Bakerloo Line station deep underneath New Cross Road.
- It would be connected by escalators and lifts to the existing stations at New Cross Gate in the West and New Cross in the East.
- Provision would be made to extend the line further to either Greenwich or Lewisham.
- New Cross and Lewisham already have a high-frequency connection of six tph.
- The whole extension could be built from the single tunnelling location on the Sainsbury’s site at New Cross Gate.
- There would be no necessity for any works at Lewisham station.
It would probably need more services to be run between New Cross and Lewisham.
Current Services Between New Cross And Lewisham
Southeastern currently runs these services between New Cross and Lewisham.
- London Cannon Street and Slade Green via Sidcup
- London Cannon Street and Orpington via Grove Park
- London Cannon Street and Hayes
All services are two tph.
Extending The East London Line Service South From New Cross
New Cross is served by the only short service on the London Overground; the four tph between Dalston Junction and New Cross stations.
So could this East London Line service be extended South to serve Lewisham to increase services between New Cross and Lewisham?
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines at New Cross station.
Note how the double-track East London Line, shown in orange, arrives from Surrey Quays station arrives in the North-Western corner of the map, becomes a single-track and then goes under the main lines before going into the bay platform D.
This Google Map shows the same area.
The London Overground track is clearly visible.
Could extra track be added, to enable the following?
- Southbound trains could join the main line and stop in Platform C
- Northbound trains could leave the main line after stopping in Platform A and go towards Surrey Quays station.
If this is possible, then it would give a four tph service between Dalston Junction and Lewisham, with an important stop at Whitechapel to connect to Crossrail.
Lewisham doesn’t have the space for a terminal platform, but there would appear two possible terminals South of Lewisham.
- Hayes – Journey time to and from Dalston Junction would take around 53 minutes.
- Orpington – Journey time to and from Dalston Junction would take around 50 minutes.
Both stations would make ideal terminals.
- They have bay platforms for terminating the trains.
- Round trips would be a convenient two hours.
- Eight trains would be needed for the service.
- New Cross will have the same four tph to and from Dalston Junction as it does now!
- Lewisham and Dalston Junction would have a four tph service that would take 27 minutes.
The service could even be split with two tph to each terminal.
Will the Extended Services Need To Replace Other Services?
Currently Hayes has these current Off Peak services.
- Two tph to Cannon Street via London Bridge
- Two tph to Charing Cross via London Bridge
I would expect that if digital signalling is applied through the area, that the extra services could be added to Hayes and Orpington as decided.
An Improved Hayes Line
Transport for London and various commentators always assume that the Bakerloo Line will eventually take over the Hayes Line.
This will or could mean the following.
- Passengers used to a full-size train looking out on the countryside and back gardens through big windows, will have to get used to a more restricted view.
- Platforms on the Hayes Line will need to be rebuilt, so that two different size of train will be step-free between train and platform.
- The service could be slower.
- The ability to walk through an increasingly pedestrianised Central London to and from Cannon Street, Charing Cross and London Bridge will be lost.
- Loss of First Class seats. which will happen anyway!
I think that passengers could want to stick with the current service.
The only reason to allow the Bakerloo Line Extension to take over the Hayes Line, is that it would allow another four tph to run between Lewisham and London Bridge. But digital signalling could give the same benefit!
But what if the Overground muscled in?
The Hayes Line could take up to four tph between Dalston Junction and Hayes, via Lewisham and New Cross, which would give these benefits.
- Increased capacity on the Hayes Line.
- An excellent connection to Crossrail, which would give a better connection to the West End, Liverpool Street and Heathrow.
- Better connection to the Eastern side of the City of London and Canary Wharf.
- It could free up four tph between New Cross and London Bridge.
- Same-platform interchange between Southeastern and East London Line services at Lewisham and New Cross.
There would need to be these changes to the infrastructure.
- A new track layout at New Cross.
- Installation of digital signalling.
The latter will happen anyway.
Times To And From Crossrail
Times to and from Whitechapel, with its Crossrail connection are.
- Lewisham – 17 minutes
- Hayes – 44 minutes
- Orpington – 41 minutes
The current service between Orpington and Farrington, which also will connect to Crossrail, takes 52 minutes.
Penge Interchange
Although, this has not been funded, I think that this new interchange could be very much in Transport for London’s plans.
I discuss the possible Penge Interchange station in Penge Interchange.
It’s certainly something to watch out for, as it could improve connectivity by a large amount.
The View From The Dalston Omnibus
For decades, Dalston had a terrible reputation and then came the Overground, which changed everything.
There are now these combined devices from the two Dalston stations.
- Eight tph to Stratford
- Four tph to Richmond via Willesden Junction
- Four tph to Clapham Junction via Willesden Junction
- Four tph to Clapham Junction via Surrey Quays
- Four tph to Crystal Palace via Surrey Quays
- Four tph to New Cross via Surrey Quays
- Four tph to West Croydon via Surrey Quays
There is also a useful eight tph connecting service between Dalston Junction and Highbury & Islington.
In the next couple of years, these developments should happen.
- Services on the East London Line will be increased with an extra two tph to Clapham Junction and Crystal Palace.
- Services on the North London Line will be increased to cope with overcrowding. As the Dalston Junction and Highbury & Islington connecting service will be going to ten tph, it would seem logical that the North London Line service should match this frequency.
- Crossrail will open and Dalston will have a twenty tph connection to its services at Whitechapel.
Dalston needs better connections to either main line terminal stations or their interchanges a few miles out.
Currently, Dalston has very useful connections to the following main interchanges.
- Stratford for the Great Eastern Main Line.
- Clapham Junction for the South Western Railway and Southern services.
- Richmond for Windsor and Reading services.
- Whitechapel will provide a link to Crossrail.
- In addition the planned update at Norwood Junction will give better connection to services to Gatwick, Brighton and other services to the South of Croydon.
Better interchanges are needed with services to the North and the South East of London.
Extending the Dalston Junction and New Cross service to Hayes or Orpington via Lewisham could greater improve the train service from Dalston, by providing interchange to services fanning out into and beyond South East London.
Conclusion
I am drawn to these two conclusions.
- The Bakerloo Line should be extended via two new Old Kent Road stations to a double-ended terminal station in New Cross with interchange to both New Cross Gate and New Cross stations.
- The New Cross branch of the London Overground should be extended through Lewisham to Orpington and/or Hayes.
My preferred destination for the London Overground service could be Hayes, as this would surely help to free up paths through Lewisham and London Bridge.
‘Digital Twin’ To Support More Robust Timetable Planning
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
When I saw the title of this post, I was surprised that it was a newsworthy story.
I have been doing scheduling of people, machines and other resources since the late 1960s and creating print outs and graphs to help people to manage businesses from the early 1970s.
In so many cases, I’ve found digital models have given a great insight into the interactions between factors affecting the system.
So I would have expected train companies to all have a digital twin from at least 1980, especially as I know BT and other phone companies had digital models of their networks by that time.
If they don’t have a digital model of their network, how do train companies plan their timetables?
By trial and error!
Or do they start with marketing ideas like four trains per hour and then fit the timetable together like a jigsaw?
Shuttling Between Stratford And Meridian Water Stations
The shuttle between Stratford and Meridian Water stations started today with a frequency of two trains per hour (tph).
As a driver said to me, it’s more of a Z, than a shuttle, as it has this pattern.
- Bishops Stortford to Stratford. – 56 or 53 minute +turnaound of six minutes
- Stratford to Meridian Water – 15 minutes + turnround of seven minutes
- Meridian Water to Stratford – 15 minutes + turnround of seven minutes
- Stratford to Bishops Stortford – 53 or 55 minutes + turnround of 19-24 minutes
As I said in Meridian Water Station Is To Be Upgraded, the diagram takes three and a half hours and it would need seven trains.
Note.
- Most of the trains today, seemed to have been formed of two four-car Class 317 trains, although there was at least one train working as a four-car train.
- I made two visits to the route today and it seemed to be performing reliably.
- One train was cancelled due to a shortage of crew.
These are some pictures, I took throughout the day.
A few thoughts on what I saw and deduced.
The Timetable Works
The timetable seems to have worked well today and the driver who described the timetable as a Z, didn’t say it was crazy or ridiculous.
Passengers didn’t seem to be running around like headless chickens, so they were probably getting the hang of it.
Greater Anglia and Network Rail should be very pleased.
The Stations Have Long Platforms
The stations on the route; Stratford, Lea Bridge, Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park and Meridian Water, all seem to have long platforms, which can certainly accommodate eight-car trains, which are 160 metres long.
Tottenham Hale’s platforms can handle twelve-car trains and are 240 metres long.
Do Greater Anglia’s Trains Fit the Platforms?
Greater Anglia’s new Class 720 trains come in two lengths.
- Five-car trains are 122 metres long.
- Ten-car trains are 243 metres long.
Only the five-car trains will fit the platforms at Lea Bridge, Northumberland Park and Meridian Water and the ten-car trains will only fit Stratford and Tottenham Hale.
It certainly looks to me, that only five-car trains will be able work the Z-shaped service between Stratford, Meridian Water and Bishops Stortford stations.
But this is not a problem.
In Greater Anglia Are Replacing Eight-Car Class 317 Trains With Five-Car Class 320 Trains , I explained how the new five-car train has almost the same capacity as the old eight-car train.
There Are Now Three tph Between Stratford and Northumberland Park
This is probably only an interim timetable, but it still has tripled the frequency of trains between Stratford and Northumberland Park.
This means that the base frequency for events at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium has tripled.
So those going to events at the stadium, will have increased train capacity from Stratford, Lea Bridge and Tottenham Hale.
As only one train of the two tph between Stratford and Bishops Stortford stops at Northumberland Park, it would be easy to up the frequency to four tph, by getting the second service to stop.
This Timetable Can Easily Be Increased To Four tph Between Stratford And Meridian Water
Currently, the two tph between Stratford and Bishops Stortford, stop as follows.
- 1 tph – Lea Bridge, Tottenham Hale, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow Town and Sawbridgeworth
- 1 tph – Lea Bridge, Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park, Enfield Lock, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Roydon, Harlow Town, Harlow Mill and Sawbridgeworth
The four tph between Stratford and Meridian Water, that was promised in the STAR project, could be arranged by stopping both trains at Lea Bridge, Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park and Meridian Water in both directions.
The only extra stops at Northumberland Park and Meridian Water would be as follows.
- Southbound in Platform 3
- Northbound in Platform 4
These are the same platforms current services use at Tottenham Hale.
The Proposed Fourth Track Between Meridian Water And Tottenham Hale
How does the now-implemented Z-shaped service fit with the proposed fourth track, I discussed in Meridian Water Station Is To Be Upgraded.
The upgrade is described in the Wiukipedia entry for Meridian Water station, where this is said.
In August 2019, it was announced that funding had been approved for construction of a fourth platform and a new section of track between Tottenham Hale and Meridian Water to enable up to 8 trains per hour to serve the station at peak times.
This must be the earliest upgrade in history, after a new station has opened.
In the related report, I came to the conclusion, that the fourth track would.
- Leave the Southbound West Anglia Main Line, just to the North of Meridian Water station.
- Go through the new Platform 1 at the station.
- Continue through Northumberland Park station.
- Join the new third track, between Northumberland Park and Tottenham Hale.
This would allow Stratford and Liverpool Street trains to take separate routes to their respective terminals.
In the Meridian Water Station To Be Upgraded post, I said this.
Eight trains per hour (tph) in both directions calling at the station could be as follows.
- Platform 1 – Two tph from Bishops Stortford to Stratford
- Platform 2 – Two tph Meridian Water to Stratford
- Platform 3 – Two tph from Hertford East to Liverpool Street
- Platform 3 – One tph from Cambridge to Liverpool Street
- Platform 3 – One tph from Cambridge North to Liverpool Street
- Platform 4 – Two tph from Stratford to Bishops Stortford
- Platform 4 – Two tph from Liverpool Street to Hertford East
- Platform 4 – One tph from Liverpool Street to Cambridge
- Platform 4 – One tph from Liverpool Street to Cambridge North
Four tph go to and from each of Stratford and Liverpool Street.
At Tottenham Hale, platforms would be as follows.
- Platform 2 – Southbound Services to Stratford and two tph to Meridian Water.
- Platform 3 – Southbound Services to Liverpool Street
- Platform 4 – Northbound services going further than Meridian Water.
I am assuming that the missing Platform 1 and the fourth track through Tottenham Hale station will not be built in the short term, as doing this, would blow the available budget.
Conclusion
The shuttle is working and it will get better, with the addition of a fourth track between Meridian Water and Tottenham Hale.
The Anonymous Widower 