A Very Wet Stop At Lincoln
I had intended to have a good lunch at Lincoln and go up the hill to look at the cathedral.
But the weather put a stop to that and I just went to see the progress on the two level crossings in the area. This Google Map shows the area of the station and the two crossings that are being given step-free footbridges.
Lincoln Level Crossings
These are some of the pictures I tried to take.
Progress doesn’t seem to be very fast.
It will be interesting to see if Network Rail’s solution makes things easier. This Google Map shows the southern part of Lincoln.
Lines Through Lincoln
The lines come into the City and through the station on an East-West axis. You can just make out the scar of the Lincoln Avoiding Line, which used to allow trains to by-pass the level crossings. Together with Lincoln St. Marks station, it closed in the 1980s.
According to Wikipedia, train services run between Lincoln and
- Newark North Gate and Leicester via Newark Castle and Nottingham using the Nottingham to Lincoln Line (“Midland line”);
- Sheffield via Retford and direct to Doncaster via the Doncaster to Lincoln Line (“Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line”).
- Peterborough via Sleaford via the Peterborough to Lincoln Line (“Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line”)
- Grimsby Town via Market Rasen, with occasional journeys to Cleethorpes
Most of these services operate on an hourly or two-hourly basis although some services to places like Nottingham might go to two trains per hour.
There are also once daily services Monday to Saturday to London St Pancras operated by East Midlands Trains and to London Kings Cross operated by Virgin Trains East Coast.
Lines to Doncaster, Newark, Nottingham and Sheffield run to the West and lines to Grimsby, Peterborough, Skegness, Sleaford and Spalding are to the East.
You can understand, why the Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for the East Midlands felt that services could be improved by joining services together in Lincoln to free up platform space. At present some Grimsby Town services go though Lincoln to Newark North Gate.
It’s certainly a tricky problem at Lincoln and I can’t help feeling that at some time in the future, there’s going to have to be a solution that takes freight trains away from Lincoln High Street.
From Peterborough To Lincoln
The Peterborough to Lincoln Line is part of the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, from Doncaster to Peterborough, which is increasingly used as a by-pass for freight and other trains from the East Coast Main Line.
The line leaves the East Coast Main Line at Werrington Junction and then runs through the flat Lincolnshire countyside to Lincoln via Spalding and Sleaford.
These pictures show the character of the line.
I’ve never seen so many level crossings and so much featureless countryside.
Surprisingly, I only saw one other train which was another single carriage Class 153 train going the other way.
It would appear that the line generally has an hourly service between Peterbrough and Lincoln and the Nottingham to Skegness Line has an hourly service through Sleaford.
This Google Map shows the lines around Sleaford.
Sleaford
The line from Peterborough comes in at the South East corner with Lincoln to the North and Grantham and Nottingham to the West. The map clearly show the avoiding line connecting Lincoln to Peterborough, so that freight trains can by-pass the town.
The Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for the East Midlands felt that services could be improved by joining services together in Lincoln to free up platform space. Perhaps too the trains on the two lines should be more co-ordinated so that changing trains at Sleaford was easier. If you want to go from Skegness to Lincoln by train, some trains have only a few minutes wait, whilst changing at Sleaford, but others the wait is half an hour. I don’t know Sleaford station, but it may be a nice place to wait for a train!
This report on the BBC is entitled Cornwall rail network to get £146m investment.
So could the railways of Lincolnshire be improved, by giving more local control to the county?
Wot No Adverts!
I took this picture at Kings Cross station.
Wot No Adverts!
It was a surprise and probably to be welcomed in some ways.
However, although I don’t like advertising, unless it is informative about a new film or play, say, I did miss something to read, as I went up the escalator.
Now that these adverts are often screens, I’m surprised that no-one has developed an art installation using them.
New Life For Old Trains
We have a shortage of self-powered multiple units in this country, which means that dreadful Pacers like these are still soldiering on!
In the long term, more lines will be electrified, which will release some modern diesel multiple units, like these Class 172 trains on the London Overground.
There is also the new Aventra IPEMUs that might be used to run branch lines off major electrified lines.would be nice to fill the gap.
But some new diesel multiple units would be very nice to fill the gap.
One possibility to fill the gap is the Vivarail D-Train, which is being developed from second-hand London Underground D78-Stock.
This article on the RailStaff web site entitled New Life For Old Trains, gives more details.
It is an interesting concept and I look forward to my first ride in a new Vivarail D-train.
The D-Train doesn’t have the high quality el-cheapo market to itself, as Porterbrook, which is a ROSCO, has converted a Class 144 train from a dreadful Pacer to a modern Class 144 Evolution.
Ian Walmsley in Modern Railways has said this, with respect to the new Class 144e.
Would I lease this in preference to a new DMU? No.
Would I lease this in preference to D78 stock? Probably, but I’ll let you know.
Would the Pacer Death Warrant have been signed if Pacers looked like this a year ago? No.
At present Vivarail say they can produce seventy-six D-trains and there are twenty-three Class 144 trains that could be upgraded.
May the best train win!
A Mother Of All Traffic Jams
I took this picture from the front on a 19 bus, as I tried to get from Piccadilly to Islington.
The bus was turned round, as it was going nowhere, so I got on a 38, which then promptly overheated, but at least as it was a 38, there was another behind.
Traffic everywhere and nothing moving.
Traffic everywhere and nothing moving. My bus journey took over an hour.
So what was causing the slow progress? I think it was a mixture of works for services and the Cycle Superhighway.
It was obviously going on all day, as a visitor later in the afternoon complained of similar problems. A friend visiting London also had problems.
You might ask, why I didn’t take the Underground! I needed to get to Angel and as the Victorian designed the Northern and Central Lines so that they didn’t go near Piccadilly. Buses are the only way unless you want to do some tortuous walking in an Underground interchange.
Tottenham Court Road Station – 14th September 2015
At least the jams gave me time to take a few pictures.
The Central Line platforms at the station can’t open too soon.
According to this page on the TfL web site, the platforms will open around December 2015.
It will be a big day for me personally, as they’ll help my getting around Central London.
Rail’s Forgotten City In The West Midlands
Whilst I was looking at the problems at Coventry Arena station, I came across this document entitled Coventry Rail Story – A Rail Investment Strategy for Coventry.
The report starts like this.
Coventry is the 13th largest City in the UK, with a population of 317,000. Following the loss of its primary manufacturing role in the 1970s, the City has significantly developed its service, health, technology and knowledge economy and 2 universities. However, Coventry has higher unemployment and lower economic output than the UK average.
By 2021 Coventry’s population will grow by 15%, nearly 50,000 people, faster than any other part of the West Midlands, with 33,000 new jobs required by 2028. Its key strategy is growth via employment rather than housing, avoiding becoming an unsustainable dormitory city.
It then goes on to describes the problems and opportunities in various areas.
- How will HS2 affect the City
- It’s lack of connectivity on Cross-Country rail routes, especially to the North East
- Getting To And From Birmingham
- Better Local and Regional Connectivity
- The Tired Coventry Station
It is well researched document and should be read.
Welcome To Coventry
It is interesting to compare the developments that have happened in Nottingham to what should happen in Coventry.
Arriving by train in the two cities couldn’t be more different.
Nottingham welcomes you with a rebuilt station with style and character and in minutes you can be on a tram to the city centre or other parts of the city. You can also get several local trains to suburbs and the surrounding area.
Coventry welcomes you with a tired (the report’s word!) 1960s box station, where the onward connections to the city centre are either walking or a taxi. A sadist built the bus station on the opposite side of the city centre to the rail station. Hadn’t they heard of designing a proper Interchange? This Google Map shows the location of Coventry station with respect to the city centre and its surrounding ring-road.
Coventry Station And City Centre
When you consider the new station at Birmingham, Coventry station doesn’t match up to the opposition and probably contributes negatively to visitors view of the city.
How many jobs does the station cost Coventry?
NUCKLE
NUCKLE is a project to improve the rail services between Coventry and Nuneaton and Leamington.
Phase 1 is described on this page of the Warwickshire County Council website. This is said.
The Coventry to Nuneaton rail upgrade, known locally as NUCKLE Phase 1, will improve the existing rail line between Coventry and Nuneaton. It will deliver two new stations – one at Coventry (Ricoh) Arena and one at Bermuda Park in Warwickshire. It will also see the extensions of the existing platforms at Bedworth station and a new bay platform at Coventry station.
The related phase 2 includes the new station at Kenilworth.
As part of the Electric Spine, the Coventry to Leamington Line is going to be electrified and doubled. The Coventry Rail Story says that Coventry to Nuneaton Line will also be electrified.
I suspect this will happen, as NUCKLE is in the West Midlands and they seem to get electrification done. So there will be approximately twenty miles of electrified line passing North-South through Coventry.
So would this open up the possibility of an electric service from Oxford to Leicester via Kenilworth, using Aventra IPEMUs, which could bridge the gaps in the electrification between Leamington Spa and Oxford and Nuneaton to Leicester.
This would fit the aspiration in the Coventry Rail Story of an improved train service between Coventry and Leicester via Nuneaton.
The Coventry to Nuneaton Line used to have other stations. So the question has to be asked if other stations can be built between Leamington Spa and Nuneaton to improve commuting into Coventry,
Extending The Midland Metro To Coventry
Extending the Midland Metro to Coventry is being considered in the Line Two Eastside Extension.
This may happen, but I have a feeling that new technology might offer better solutions to improving connections between Birmingham, the Airport, HS2 and Coventry
Has Sir Peter Hendy Had An Effect At Network Rail?
Sir Peter Hendy joined Network Rail in July 2015.
Is it just a coincidence, but there seems to be a lot more progress on getting the infrastructure sorted over the last couple of months?
Two stations I am following; Lea Bridge and Ilkeston seem to have finally got started.
Sir Peter may not be responsible, but just because he’s there, companies and people have decided that doing something is better than freewheeling.
Is This Rail Project Going Nowhere?
There are no good vibes coming from the Coventry Arena station.
This article on the Coventry Telegraph web site is entitled Ricoh Arena station matchday fiasco could see new train operator take over Nuneaton to Coventry line. This is said.
London Midland says it will have to close the station for an hour after games and major events as it can only provide an hourly service for 75 people due to a lack of trains.
But the DfT has invested about £4.75m towards the £13.6m of improvements along the line and is keen to see the route used to its full potential.
I have used three stations regularly to go to see football in the last year; Ipswich, Norwich and Brighton. These three grounds are all about the same size as the Ricoh Arena and have nearby stations that can cope with large crowds. Both Ipswich and Norwich are commuter stations and run half-hourly eight-coach trains amongst others, away from the grounds. Brighton is a new ground and the service relies on four-coach trains going in both directions to clear the spectators. Of the three Brighton is probably the most crowded.
So I would think that it essential that at least four-car trains should be provided at the Ricoh Arena to ferry passengers to Coventry and Nuneaton.
Six car trains would be better, but as many passengers would just be ferried to Coventry, four would probably be enough.
It strikes me that whoever planned this line, never went to see football or rugby at a stadium close to a rail station. Close to Coventry, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton all have stadiums within walking distance of a station.
Another article in the Coventry Telegraph is entitled London Underground tube trains could be used to sort Ricoh Arena station fiasco.
These Vivarail trains may be a solution, if two three-car units can be coupled together.
But are the platforms long enough to accept a six-car train?
I have found a document entitled Coventry Arena Specific Safety Management Plans, which has been produced by Arup.
In an Appendix, the report details how the fans will be transferred between Coventry and Coventry Arena stations.
An additional shuttle service will operate between Coventry and Coventry Arena on certain event days, at 30 minute intervals. This will provide a 15 minute interval service between the two stations. All services will be scheduled to run from the Up platform at Coventry Arena and platforms 1 or 2 at Coventry (though in times of operational disruption these services can use platform 5). All services will be formed by DMU sets of a maximum of 6 cars. Platforms at Coventry Arena and Platform 5 at Coventry are configured for this length; the other platforms at Coventry can accommodate longer trains.
At least the platforms are long enough!
So it looks to me that no-one told London Midland.
The Docklands Light Railway Goes Metro
The seating had changed on this DLR train.
I think it’s better!
You certainly have more space!
The Anonymous Widower 