Victoria Gets A Posh Umbrella
Manchester Victoria was a terrible station, with a difficult connection to Manchester Piccadilly. The connection improved with the Metrolink, but as they are now rebuilding Victoria, it’s got worse again. As I’m now familiar with the walking route, I was able to put a couple right about the way to go.
There must be something in the Manchester civic psyche, that likes to confuse people.
But Victoria seems to be getting on with its rebuilding, which includes a posh roof over everything and a new footbridge.
Unfortunately, the electrification to Liverpool Lime Street seems to be having problems and it will be some months before Class 319 electric trains are working the route, hopefully before next spring.
It does look to me, that when complete, anywhere on the tram routes in Manchester will have easy access to the electrified Trans-Pennine links at Manchester Victoria, which could become an architectural icon of the North. You’ll get the tram to Victoria and then totally under the new roof, you’ll go through the ticket gates and across the fully-accessible footbridges to the appropriate platform to await your train.
In addition, those who arrive from London and the South at Piccadilly and are perhaps going on to places like Burnley, Blackburn and Hebden Bridge from Victoria, will have a completely dry route, which is of course important in Manchester, using the trams. The trams must use contactless bank card tickerting though to be compatible with what other cities, like London, are doing.
This is Network Rail’s page on the £44million work.
I think everyone will agree that it’s all a bit different to the concrete crap that British Rail built forty to fifty years ago, like Euston and Manchester Piccadilly, when those with special access needs or advanced age didn’t exist, as everybody was adult and fit as a butcher’s dog.
I can remember meeting a friend in the newly-opened extension to Kings Cross station and looking with amazement at the structure that had been created.
Why shouldn’t other rail stations be given an added wow factor?
Especially now, when we have the architects, computers, techniques and materials to build them in an affordable manner. How many stations could be rebuilt using the same methods as New Cross Gate?
Good stations, like good clean electric trains, have one common problem. They are passenger magnets and very often attract so many extra paying passengers, that we have to expand the system.
I have a feeling that after they see the completed scheme, they’ll be wanting some of their other architectural disasters like Salford Crescent and Oxford Road stations, at least given the treatment that Network Rail have applied at Huyton.
Across Manchester In The Sun
For one of the few times in my life in Manchester, it wasn’t raining, as I walked between Piccadilly and Victoria stations.
But it was still a trying walk, for someone whose eyesight isn’t the best, as it doesn’t seem to have the number of light-controlled crossings, that other cities have!
There were also no maps and only a few forlorn finger-posts.
Virgin’s Sub-Standard First Class
I usually travel First Class to football outside London.
First Class to Ipswich isn’t much, but it’s only a journey of a few minutes over an hour and they do throw in free and excellent wi-fi.
It doesn’t compare well with the new offering, I had a taste of, when I went to Cardiff on First Great Western. But the offering I got to Manchester from Virgin on my way to Blackpool was very poor.
I had thought before I travelled, that I might upgrade to First Class on the way back for £15, but I didn’t bother.
Alan Williams in the November 2014 Edition of Modern Railways has a go at some First Class offerings, criticising seat allocation, bad views and catering amongst other things.
If companies are going to offer better travel for an extra price, they ought to do it right. It should include.
- Proper seat choice on the Internet. I think East Coast do this!
- At Seat Service with proper china
- A comprehensive snack offering to suit all tastes, including coeliacs and vegans
- Complimentary bottled water
- Free easy-to-access wi-fi.
- All seats should have a decent view, like Chiltern Railways offer to everyone on their Mainline service to Birmingham.
I think Virgin should question, whether they are offering the right service. I know it was a Saturday, but it was even inferior to East Midland Trains to Nottingham.
An Advantage Of A New Routemaster
I often sit in the rearward facing seats of a new Routemaster, by the platform. On my trip to Euston, I needed to change from the 38 I was on, to either a 30,73 or 476 to get to Euston.
The Superb Rear View On A New Routemaster
So by sitting where I was, I could see if one was catching us up. And if one had I would have got off my bus and hopped on the follower.
Unfortunately, one didn’t turn up, so at the Angel, I just dived into the Underground for the two stops to Euston.
When buses get on-board wi-fi, as they inevitably will in the next few years, it would be nice to find out what buses are following, so you could swap, if that was more convenient.
Crossrail Build A Temporary Station
Crossrail don’t seem to do rubbish, as these pictures of the temporary station at Abbey Wood show.
It will probably be better without the rain and when they have finished the lifts. But how many times have you seen lifts in a temporary building. I’ve only seen them once befire and that was at the site of Crossrail’s Custom House station.
The Trains Going North
Today, I went from East Croydon to Luton and then on to Bedford in two Class 319 electric trains.
They were originally going to be fully refurbished, but now according to Wikipedia, the refurbishment will be more basic.
The cascaded trains will get a more basic refurbishment than previously proposed, which will include a new Passenger Information system, LED lighting, new seat covers and an internal and external repaint.
It will be interesting to see the trains in Lancashire. Certainly, the ones I rode today had a poor passenger information system and too much awful pink paint.
But the plus point is like all Mark 3-derived trains, they rode smoothly and quickly through the countryside, at speeds approaching their maximum of 100 mph.
GTR Create A Crisis Out Of A Little Local Difficulty
My Plan was simple. I intended to take a train down the East London Line to South Norwood and from there walk across the platform to hop one stop to East Croydon. At East Croydon, the idea was then to get a Thameslink Class 319 to Luton and Bedford, taking pictures along the route.
I should have known there were problems at Dalston Junction, as staff didn’t know where trains were to be routed. In the end my West Croydon train, which had been prematurely turned at the station, was sent off to Crystal Palace.
I spent about fifteen minutes at New Cross Gate changing from my train to a following West Croydon one. It sped to South Norwood, where I waited to try to get some pictures of the passengers crossing between southbound Overground and Southern trains.
The wait was in vain and I didn’t get my pictures and in the end took a train to East Croydon to get Thameslink.
At East Croydon, chaos was in full flow, with trains arriving randomly in opposite directions on the same platforms, and after nearly an hour, I managed to squeeze onto an extremely crowded Bedford train.
Eventually, the crush in the train eased and I got to Luton and Bedford in a Class 319 train.
The problem had all been caused by a serious signal fault at Clapham Junction. These happen, but it was GTR‘s response to the problem that failed so badly.
When I was waiting at South Norwood, there were no staff on the southbound platform and no information about what was going on.
At East Croydon, information was again minimal, but it probably didn’t help that the station is in the middle of a rebuilding.
GTR must get their act together.
Reading between the lines in this section on East Croydon station from Wikipedia, it seems that GTR aren’t the only ones, where East Croydon station is concerned.
The Rail Line Into London Gateway
I took this picture as my train to Stanford-le-hope passed the rail line into London Gateway.
The Rail Line Into London Gateway
It shows the double-tracked rail line into the port.
I would assume it will be electrified, when the main routes through London, like the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, are also fitted with overhead wires, so that freight trains can use efficient electric haulage.
Before Overground – Emerson Park
A Charming Step-Free Station – Rating 9/10
This was definitely a case of saving the best to last.
London Overground will love doing up this station, as all they’ve got to do is add paint, new signage and perhaps erect a little shed for the staff they promise will be on duty between the first and last trains.
The station has a rural feel and is on what could be described as a village High Street with a selection of shops and businesses. I walked a couple of hundred metres to a busy cafe and had a very pleasant cup of tea.
A Clean Train From Romford To Upminster
The last time, I travelled on the Romford to Upminster line, the train was a rather tired Class 315. Today’s train was a much smarter Class 317.
Perhaps someone from London Overground, bagged this one for when they takeover the service in May 2015. It certainly had lots of orange, but I think it might have been an old Stansted Express unit.
The Anonymous Widower 