Devolution For Cornwall
This report on the BBC is entitled Cornwall devolution: First county with new powers.
It is not full devolution, but various powers have been given to the Council.
- Give Cornwall Council powers for franchising and improving local bus services
- Help Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly councils create a plan to bring health and social care services together
- Enable the council to choose what projects will see millions of pounds of investment
- Give the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) more input on boosting local skills
- Make it easier for the LEP to integrate national and local services to help local firms grow
I suspect we’ll see a lot more powers devolved to the Council.
There is no mention of rail services, which are detailed here in Wikipedia, although I suspect these are covered by the Council choosing where to invest.
I suspect though that a lot of improvement in rail services has already been covered. I detailed the improvements for both Devon and Cornwall in The Japanese Are Going To Invade Devon And Cornwall.
I also suspect that as the economy improves in the Far West, whoever is operating the express and sleeper services to London, will upgrade the services to match the demand. The new AT300 trains, that First Great Western have ordered could even be used between Cornwall and Birmingham.
Just as Crossrail is going to give London and the South East a massive kick up the ladder, the electrification and modernisation of the Great Western Main Line is going to do the same for England west of Reading, And of course South Wales!
I see a sunny future for Cornwall!
Which English county is going to be next in the queue for devolution?
History Repeats Itself
The BBC is today showing a clip on Breakfast Time, where their Transport Correspondent, gets a ride on the new Class 800 train from Hitachi, as it runs round the test track.
But it is already suffering from the same problems that dogged the British Rail trains of the 1970s and 1980s. According to this document on a web site about the Advanced Passenger Train, the drivers blacked the train for twelve months because it was single-crewed. The writer claims this was a factor in the abandoning of the project.
So what was last week’s strike on First Great Western about?
Crew levels on the new trains, as is reported in this article on the BBC.
We may be in the twenty-first century, but some people and their attitudes are still in the nineteenth.
Underground Humour
This sign was displayed at Paddington Underground station today.
The staff do try to lighten the journey.
The Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash Memorial
I didn’t know there was a memorial to the Ladbroke Grove rail crash.
It’s tucked away in a quiet corner just outside the large Sainsburys at Ladbroke Grove.
Work On Lea Bridge Station Has Officially Started
I have found a couple of news reports that Volker Fitzpatrick have now started to build Lea Bridge station.
But both are subscription only, so I suspect they wouldn’t like me to cut and paste them.
There is this press release on the Waltham Forest web site, which has been used by the two reports I found. This is the first paragraph.
Commuters in east London’s Leyton will soon be able to reach two of the capital’s key transport hubs in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. After 30 years of closure, Lea Bridge Station is re-opening to passengers next year, marking the culmination of a 15 year vision for Waltham Forest Council.
A report in the Yellow Advertiser says this about the design of the station.
The new building is to include two new platforms, a new footbridge and lifts, station canopy, ticket vending machines, Oyster readers, waiting shelters, help points and cycle storage.
So I suspect we’ll see a Grand Opening when the timetables change around the end of May.
Let’s hope Volker Fitzpatrick get their skates on!
It would be great, if the reinstatement of the Hall Farm Curve could be approved by the Government, so that passengers can get from Walthamstow and Chingford to Stratford.
Opening the Hall Farm Curve and providing perhaps a half-hourly service between Walthamstow/Chingford area and Lea Bridge/Stratford, would create an easy link for the area to Crossrail. If they used the footbridge and/or lifts at Lea Bridge station, this would give access between the area and up the Lea Valley to Stansted Airport and Cambridge.
Kensal Rise Station
Kensal Rise Station is being updated with a lift on the Eastbound platform.
If you compare the state of this station with that of Prittlewell, it illustrates how it was right for London Overground to takeover the Lea Valley Lines from Abellio Greater Anglia.
Prittlewell Station
After my doctor’s appointment, I came back from Prittlewell station.
The pictures show that it is getting the standard level of care from Abellio Greater Anglia. The Class 321 Train was certainly living up to its nickname of a Dusty Bin.
But if I’m honest, I wouldn’t be sorry if Abellio Greater Anglia didn’t keep the East Anglian rail franchise, when it is renewed.
At present the management just don’t seem to care, if the poor state of the stations and trains, and the service they provide are anything to go by. Just to look at say Hackney Downs station after the London Overground takeover, to see what a good deep clean and some paint will do.
A Double-Sided Station
Southend Central station is one with an unusual layout. It is just off the High Street in Southend, as this Google Map shows.
Southend Central Station
The main station buildings are on the Southern side of the line, but on the Northern side, there is another set of entrances and some facilities.
The pictures show both sides of the station and the bridge across the High Street.
It strikes me that if this station ever gets rebuilt, perhaps in conjunction with a shopping, residential, leisure or office development, the architect has a lot of scope to create a uniquely accessible building.
Rethinking HS2 And HS3
There is an article on the Rail News web site entitled Sheffield-Leeds HS2 route ‘to be shared with HS3’.
The article bases their article on a document called Rolling Stock Perspective, published by the Department of Transport and comes to the conclusion, that HS2 and HS3 may share tracks between Leeds and Sheffield.
In a post, which I called Whither HS2 and HS3?, I suggested HS2 and HS3 shared tracks between Manchester Interchange (Airport), Manchester and Leeds, and also said that both HS2 and HS3 should serve Leeds and Sheffield. So I might have got it right!
The one thing, I did get right in that post was the last statement.
The one thing we mustn’t do is build HS2 as it is currently designed, as we can do much better than is proposed.
Certainly, it appears that there is a lot of serious thinking going on in the design of HS2 and HS3. Today it was about linking HS2 and HS3, whereas yesterday it was about linking HS1 and HS2.
Who knows what idea will turn up next?
Whitechapel Station – 13th July 2015
A week ago, it looked like they were preparing to create the concrete retaining walls.
These pictures show the progress.
Whitechapel station seems to be coming on fast.
Note the following in the pictures.
1. The concourse between the two platforms of the District and Metropolitan Lines, which currently hosts a couple of cranes is starting to show its large size. I think that the escalators to the Crossrail platforms will be in the middle.
2. The emergency stairs from the Crossrail platforms.
3. It would appear there are bearing plates in the concrete retaining walls to perhaps support the walkway over the London Overground lines.
The next line closure through Whitechapel would appear to be on the 25th and 26th of July according to this Underground Planned Works Calendar. So take a look in the week of Monday the 27th of July. According to this list of Underground and Overground track closures, it looks like a busy weekend.
It’s fascinating being able to walk through a station being rebuilt around you.
The Anonymous Widower 