From Canary Wharf To Walthamstow Central
On a quick examination, Canary Wharf and Walthamstow Central, are both important transport hubs in their parts of London and probably there is significant commuter traffic between the two stations.
After my trip on the cable car, I took the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf, where I had a coffee.
After looking at some other things, I found I was running a bit late for lunch in Walthamstow.
I suspect the fastest way is usually to take the Jubilee line to Green Park and then change to the Victoria line. Using my mother’s rule on seventeen stations and one change gives 39 minutes. but there was one flaw, the Jerrylee line wasn’t running past Waterloo. At least, I wouldn’t have to walk miles in the tunnels at Green Park.
The obvious choice seemed to be to take a DLR or the Jerrylee line to Stratford and then get a bus. I chose the DLR, as I was nearer, and after a few minutes wait, I was on my way.
It was then that I made the wrong choice. The first bus to arrive was a 257, which treated me to a mystery tour of Leyton and parts of Epping Forest.
When I arrived late at my lunch, I’d taken quite a bit over an hour.
So what does the Tfl Journey Planner say?
It did suggest one all Underground route via London Bridge and Kings Cross, which was fourteen stations and two changes. Or 38 minutes according to my mother!
the others suggested were verging on the exotic, in that they generally involved taking a Central line train to Leyton or Leytonstone and then getting a bus. One even suggested getting off the bus and taking the Overground.
I think all of this illustrates the problem of going north and south in East London, unless you can use the Northern line or the East London line.
Crossrail might improve the journey a bit, as you should be able to reach Bond Street a minute or two quicker. But will the change to the Victoria line, require superhuman stamina?
What might help though, is if the services to Walthamstow are improved, when the Lea Valley lines come under the control of the London Overground. If the Hall Farm Curve is rebuilt, services from Walthamstow to Stratford could be of the order of twelve minutes, giving a time of Canary Wharf to Walthamstow Central of about twenty five minutes.
Tfl have the figures for the traffic, but surely creating a good service between Chingford via Walthamstow to Stratford would relieve the Victoria line, by giving those in Waltham Forest, an alternative route to Central London.
TfL haven’t published any plans for the Lea Valley lines and I’m waiting to see what they propose. If I judge them on the current Overground, it’ll have a few surprises and innovations.
Is This Going To Be A Beautiful Roof?
The roof on the Canary Wharf Crossrail station is coming on, as these pictures show.
Is it going to be a beautiful roof, using some of the best technology at our disposal?
After all, when Barlow, Brunel and Cubitt created their grand stations, they used the best and created masterpieces for us to enjoy nearly two centuries later.
Will they be joined by some modern masterpieces from Crossrail?
Canary Wharf Crossrail Station From The Other End
I’ve taken a lot of pictures of Canary Wharf Crossrail station, but never from the eastern end.
Canary Wharf Crossrail Station From The Other End
It must be the only railway station in the world, that looks like a gigantic floating ocean liner, built mainly out of concrete.
Over The Cable Car In The Sun
I haven’t been over the Emirates Air Line for some time, but I’m glad I did today.
The visibility was pretty good, although hopefully, I’ll find another cold and sunny day when it is better.
Given the right day, it surely is one of the best camera platforms in a city.
It also helped that I caught the cable car at a quiet Sunday morning. This could have been, because many were expecting bad weather and just didn’t go! But remember it opens early in the morning and even starts at 09:00 on a Sunday. So on the right day weatherwise, get there early and choose your time. I got a cabin to myself by being lucky!
Custom House Station Gets Ready For The Flat Pack Station
There’s been a lot of preparation at Custom House station for the arrival of the flat pack Crossrail station.
The most striking feature is a bridge over the site to allow pedestrians to get round it. It looks like it has a temporary lift. That is really something, as many stations don’t have any lifts at all.
The Cost Of Tunnelling
I, like probably many others, have often thought that parts of city infrastructure can be improved by the odd strategic pedestrian tunnel or perhaps an inclined one for some escalators. Underground stations, like Oxford Circus and Highbury and Islington are stations, that could probably be improved in this way.
But an interesting insight into the cost of these connections is given in this article in Construction Enquirer about the contract for a pedestrian tunnel to connect Crossrail to the Bakerloo line at Paddington station. Here’s the start of the article.
London Underground has shortlisted three bid teams for a £55m underground tunnel link at Paddington Station.
The 100m long passenger tunnel will link the new Crossrail station to the London Underground Bakerloo Line station at Paddington.
So this hundred metre tunnel is not cheap.
East Tilbury Level Crossing
After hearing about this level crossing a couple of weeks ago, I just had to visit.
East Tilbury may be loved by some, but it was all I had expected. I didn’t get a demonstration about how it is a real problem for emergency vehicles, but that was probably just as well.
Work Starts On A Bigger Overground
I found this article about work at Clapham Junction station to prepare for longer trains on the London Overground at the end of 2014.
You don’t hear or read many complaints about London’s newest railway, from passengers or even moans from staff. In many ways this is a tribute to the engineers and architects, who’ve turned a very shabby almost-derelict railway into a superstar.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from how Transport for London has created the Overground, that should be applied to transport projects throughout the world.
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!
Gradually, the stations are being improved and in a few years, some of the grubbier will be up to the standard of the best.
On a personal note, as well as giving me a lot of transport options, in common with many others who live along the line, the Overground has probably contributed to the rise in the value of my house.
Engineers Will Be Engineers
Coming back from Ipswich last night, as the train sped through Stratford, I was reminded of a story from the time I worked for ICI at Welyn Garden City in the 1960s.
In those days staff travelled up to the major plant at Wilton on Teesside quite regularly. One of my tales is detailed here.
Usually, staff travelled from Stevenage, as the fast trains didn’t stop at Welwyn Garden City.
One day, the train staff announced on a trip down, that the train would not be stopping at Stevenage for some reason and passengers would have to alight at Kings Cross and get a train back.
There was quite an ICI contingent on the train, and one was a railway enthusiast, who knew the speeds and distances of the line.
He calculated that if the communication cord was pulled so many seconds after the train crossed the Digswell Viaduct, the train would coast safely into Welwyn Garden City station.
The plan worked perfectly and anybody who wanted to, disembarked safely at the station.
British Railways were not amused!
A Day Of Lots Of Misses And Rain
Yesterday was one of those days. I went to Portman Road to see Ipswich play Charlton.
I got there on time, but only just, as the journey to Liverpool Street was a succession of misses, buses and Underground trains. I had to skip lunch, as my usual pit-stop at Carluccio’s at Spitalfields was closed for New Year’s Day. The alternative of sandwiches from Marks and Spencer was also not on, as they were closed.
No Sandwiches
Luckily, I was able to get a couple of EatNakd bars from Boots, although after I’d bought them, I found that the Camden Food company had a bigger selection.
I was soaked, by the time I got to my seat and the rain was so bad, they’d had to move some spectators to a drier part of the stadium.
To say the match was ruined by the rain, would be an understatement. That makes it three out of the last four matches that I’ve seen, have been ruined by the weather.
To add to the misses, David McGoldrick missed a penalty, so the match was only drawn.
Coming back, I wasn’t as fast as normal to the station and as the match finished late, I missed the train and had to wait for forty minutes in the cold.
And then coming back from Liverpool Street, I decided to take the dry route to Barbican station to get a 56 bus. And as i walked to the stop, the bus I wanted roared past. So I had to take a 153 and then a 38!
It was not the best of days! It probably summed up my miserable Christmas. But speaking to others at the match, mine seemed to have just about this year’s norm. Next year, I won’t be here!
The Anonymous Widower 