Diversion By The Black Triangle
I heard this on the BBC Radio 5 traffic reports.
Is the Black Triangle anything like the Bermuda Triangle?
Cycling Superhighway On Cable Street
Cycling Superhighway, CS3, on Cable Street, seems to be very safely laid out.
As there wasn’t much traffic in the area, I think I’ll give it a try, by taking a tain to Shadwell. As this map shows, it’s pretty straight too.
Towards The Paperless Society
On the BBC’s News web site today, these are two of their top ten stories; the scrapping of the car tax disc and driving licence records going on-line.
Obviously, these don’t affect me as I don’t have a driving licence or own a car.
But they do show the way that society is going. After all, for many of us, the only contact with our bank or credit card provider is through the Internet.
The one area, where we don’t seem to be going on-line and paperless is healthcare.
The two stories today claim that this paperless route may save us money on car insurance.
So why is healthcare not following the same route?
It doesn’t necessarily mean a loss of privacy and the need to carry a health card, as we do when we travel in Europe, so I’d put it down to a lack of vision of those who run healthcare and the NHS in particular.
Wireless Electric Buses In Milton Keynes
This is a very good story about how bus technology is getting better. Here’s the intro.
Electric buses which their developers say can run all day are set to begin service.
A fleet of eight new electric vehicles will operate along a busy route in Milton Keynes from late January.
The buses can run for longer by virtue of a wireless booster charge they receive at the start and end of the route from plates in the road.
Remember that a lot of hybrid buses, like the New Bus for London, are effectively electric buses, where the electric power is provided by an on-board generator coupled to a battery or other energy storage device.
So could this type of pick up be fitted to these buses, to top up the battery at each end of the route? If I look the local route I use most; the 38, at the outer end of Clapton Pond, there is a vast bus parking area, which could easily charge buses for several minutes, whilst waiting to depart. I suspect that Victoria might be a bit more difficult, as space is more limited.
Obviously, the bus would need a clever GPS-savvy on-board control-system, that would decide where to get the electricity from. But as the bus would have an on-board generator, it would never get stuck without power.
For this and other reasons, all the buses for towns and cities, we build should be electric or hybrid. The specification of the New Bus for London, says this.
The engine is a Cummins ISBe 4.5l unit, rated at 185kW.
A typical engine like this Ford unit, used in vehicles like a Land Rover Discovery is 2.7l and is rated at about 150kW.
It’s an interesting comparison.
Will The New Overground Lines Get New Trains?
News is starting to filter out about the takeover of the Lea Valley lines by TfL and the London Overground. The Standard had a big article yesterday. The new map is also starting to appear in the media.
This is an extract from the Standard article.
When TfL acquires the West Anglia inner suburban services it will replace the 30-year-old carriages with 30 new four-car electric units, as well as procuring electric trains for the Gospel Oak to Barking line of the Overground.
There are also plans to upgrade 23 Overground stations by 2016.
At present the lines are served by Class 315 and Class 317 trains. It looks like the numerous Class 315 trains will be moved on, but the Class 317 trains are being refurbished. So some Class 317 trains might be retained.
But this means that there will have to be some new trains to replace the Class 315, which will probably be London Overground’s Class 378. I would suspect, there’s a cost saving on having only one class of trains on the Overground. Politicians will think it looks nicer too and gives better photo opportunities.
I like the Class 378 trains and I said so in this post. Here’s the relevant bit.
In some ways , the stars of the line are the Class 378 trains. You rarely hear of train failures and the interiors still seem pristine after nearly four years of service. And now, because of their design, they’re being extended by the simple addition of a fifth carriage in the middle.
And of course they were all designed and built in Derby!
Derby will be pleased at the thought of 120 new carriages! But will some bean counter buy too few!
My prudent ancestry says that to convert a few Class 317 trains to look like Class 378 to passengers and use them selectively might be an attractive alternative to some of the new trains. Provided of course the non-standard fleet didn’t come with a large maintenance penalty. Remember though, that we’re very good at train refurbishment and updating in this country and underneath the grubby exterior of the current Class 317s, a set of legendary Mark 3 coaches, are struggling to get out.
A Solution To Travelling Paperwork
On my trips to Europe, where I fly out and then take a train back, one of the biggest problems is all the bits of paper for airline and train tickets and hotel reservations, you have to take. I used to take these in a secure A4 folder like this one.
A Secure A4 Folder
But it is rather large and is a bit of a nuisance to get out of my small case. As most of my tickets are A4 sheets of paper, which folds in half to A5, I thought that an A5 version of this folder would be ideal. I’d tried out stationers near me, so this was why I was at Tottenham Hale today, to visit Staples. They didn’t have any, but they did have this clear plastic zip up A5 bag.
Staples A5 Zip Bag
Several would have been ideal on my home run from Stockholm, where I was constantly changing currency, so I could have had bags for Sweden, Denmark, Euroland and the UK.
My only mistake today was just buying two. But at a pound or less a time, I can afford them!
Changes At Tottenham Hale
Tottenham Hale station and the associated bus station, is an important transport interchange in North London. It suffered badly in the August 2011 riots, but some would claim that the 1960s design of the area was better after the modifications.
I went there today to go to the Staples, as that is my nearest. I was surprised to see that the bus station has now been demolished and work is starting on a major upgrade of the station and the roads in the area. there’s a lot more about it, with some good maps here on the TfL website.
My first thought was about time too! Hopefully, those that have demolished the bus station, will move on to Highbury and Islington station next.
Just Keep Driving, No-One Will Bother!
This story is terrible, as it details how many drivers have more than twelve penalty points and are still driving.
Almost 7,300 motorists with 12 points or more on their licences have not been banned from driving, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has claimed.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) latest figures show a man from Liverpool is driving with 45 penalty points on his licence, the IAM said.
I suspect that none of these drivers have committed a serious motoring offence like dangerous, drink or careless driving, as then they would probably have been banned. But who knows, as surely some of these drivers didn’t get banned because of various underhand means. Nudge! Nudge Wink! Wink!
But even if these drivers are just persistent speeders, do they moderate their speed in towns and cities, where there are some not very alert pedestrians and cyclists, who might misjudge a speeding vehicle? And do their insurance companies know of their points, which if they don’t would surely invalidate their insurance.
I suspect now, that with a persuasive medical report from the right consultant, I could get my licence back. But I have made the decision after my stroke not to drive again, as if I was involved in a serious road accident, I’d be the one to blame.
Except for cases like my abortive trip to Doncaster, it is no inconvenience to not have a car.
One thing that does worry me though, is that I’ve been in a couple of cars lately, where I think that my eyesight was better than the driver.
There are masses of drivers out there who should be banned from driving for various reasons.
But politicians don’t want the law properly enforced as it would be a vote loser.
Cats Will Be Cats
This story from the Metro on Tyneside is a good one.
The Paper First With The News
I have an Internet trawl looking for stories about the Overground and particularly its expansion by taking over the Lea Valley lines. It found this story from the Docklands and East London Advertiser this morning. Here’s the first two paragraphs.
Part of the Liverpool Street suburban rail network in east London is being incorporated into the London Overground.
The Chingford and Enfield lines through Bethnal Green and Hackney will appear on the Underground map for the first time from 2015, it has been revealed in Transport for London’s latest business plan.
So it would seem that something at last is moving on London’s newest train line. How long it will be before yesterday’s nightmare trip is easier, I do not know.
The Anonymous Widower 