It’s Only A Railway Station!
One of the reasons, I went East today, was to take some pictures of the roof structure of the new Canary Wharf Crossrail station. I went to Poplar on the DLR and these are some images that I took of the new station.
It is looking that it could end up being the most spectacular station in London.
But then the station bit will probably a bit boring, buried deep under the edifice, you see in the pictures.
Most of what you can see will be an upmarket shopping centre, with a garden on the top under the open timber roof.
It certainly isn’t a bad effort at a station on an underground suburban railway.
But then it is probably best to think of this station as part of the Canary Wharf Estate, rather than part of Crossrail. After all they are paying over half a billion pounds to build it.
How many shopping centres are integrated into the transport systems of the city or area they serve? The answer could be written on the back of a postage stamp, without disturbing the adhesive.
Cinderella Is My Friend
Most Sundays, I go South and East from where I live to Canary Wharf, the Thames or Greenwich. Today was no exception, as I wanted to see the new roof on Canary Wharf Crossrail station and get a bit of shopping in the excellent Waitrose at Canary Wharf.
Today, I picked up the Docklands Light Railway at Shadwell, as I often do.
I’ve referred to this line as Cinderella before, as in the current vogue for grand railways and other schemes, she seems to get forgotten, as she trundles passengers reliably around the East of London, giving superb views of the canals, docks and buildings, both old and new.
But then she is like me; a London mongrel, with an ancestry from all over the place. The railway was born out of the need for to create a transport system on the cheap. The trouble is, that the engineers and staff, felt that despite the budget, they could create something special.
And they did!
They’ve now even created audio guides to each line, as this poster advertises.
Advertising The DLR Audio Guides
I don’t think they’d work so well for the Underground.
Cinderella just has so much to show you!
And where else can kids of all ages, play at driving the trains? Copenhagen and Turin.
But why oh why, is there not another use of the technology in the UK or the wider world? I just think, Cinderella isn’t sexy enough for the great and good. But then she’ll still be here, when all of the current bunch of idiots are pushing up the daisies.
My Easiest Championship Ground To Travel To
Yesterday, Ipswich Town played at Charlton. It is a very easy ground to get to, as I just get a bus to London Bridge and then take a train to the station at Charlton. It’s then just a short walk to The Valley.
In fact, this ease of access was one of the problems of my viewing of the match, as Ipswich fans bought every seat possible. The seats at Charlton may be in good condition, but it really is one of the most cramped away areas in the country. QPR used to be worse, but it had improved this season.
I was next to the staircase and hardly got any view of the match at all in the first half, as the two guys in front of me were six footers and never sat down. One even stood on the stairs effectively blocking any view of the goal to my right, just fifteen metres or so away. It did get better in the second half, as some didn’t return after half time and I was able to stand in front of an empty seat the other side of the stairs.
So it was not a good viewing experience! The technology exists, so that you can choose your seat and see the view. Eventually, this will be used in all grounds in the Premier League and the Championship.
But at least we won by a Tommy Smith goal. Although, with average luck, we should have scored a couple more before the game really got going.
I was home before six. Except for the three grounds near me; The Emirates, White Hart Lane and Brisbane Road, this must be the only ground, where, I can do that!
I do think next time I go to The Valley and the match is likely to be full, I’ll get a hospitality package early.
Dalston Junction As An Interchange On The London Overground
Last night, I came back to Dalston Junction from Highbury and Islington, on an Overground train with a friend, who was going on to Anerley in the Deep South.
They needed a West Croydon train and were going to pick one up at Canada Water later on.
I’ve remarked about interchanges on the London Overground before in this post, but I’ve never investigated Dalson Junction, as I usually get on the Overground there, rather than chsnge trains.
I hadn’t realised that to get on a West Croydon train at Dalston Junction, you always go to Platform 3, which is alongside Platform 4, where the trains from Highbury and Islington arrive.
So it has been laid out to make things easy.
Trains going south, start at the following places.
West Croydon – Platform 3 at Dalston Junction
Crystal Palace – Platform 1 at Highbury and Islington
Clapham Junction – Platform 2 at Highbury and Islington
An Offer For An Ipswich Town Fan Based In London
I am attempting to see every Ipswich Town League and Cup match this season.
So far it has gone very well and I haven’t missed one, although some it could be said were eminently missable.
The problem match is the Boxing Day match at Doncaster, where there are no trains on that day.
Today though, I have bought two tickets for the match. One ticket is for myself, and the other will be for anyone who gives me a lift to and from the match.
A New Bus for London Gets Lost
My Google Alert for “New Bus for London” picked up this story from Ipswich in the local evening paper. Here’s the first paragraph.
People in Ipswich will have the chance to travel around the town on a new London bus this week.
I’ve looked up the free Ipswich shuttle bus, on which the New Bus for London is running and the details are here. Effectively, it runs around the town centre linking the various shopping areas and car parks.
It is an idea that many towns and cities could use. In fact I think Ipswich had such a route in the 1970s and Liverpool certainly did until the infamous 1960s bus strike.
If you are going to have such a free bus route, what better bus than a New Bus for London is there for the job. It’s very low emission, the access for the disabled and buggies is excellent and with three doors and an open platform, it loads and unloads quickly. If it’s free, you don’t even have to bother with a fare collection and a conductor, although it probably helps to have someone to organise the passengers in busy times.
There are some excellent photos here on David Warren’s Flickr Photostream.
Crossrail’s Green Credentials
I found this article on a web site called Blue and Green Tomorrow.
It also looks to be a web site, with lots of interesting articles about green issues and sustainability.
Customer Service – First Great Western Style
Yesterday, as I said in this post, I missed my 09:07 train to Exeter, due to problems on the Metropolitan line.
I knew that to get to Exeter, I would have to get another ticket for the next train, which was the 10:07. One of their staff said to go to the ticket office and see what they would do.
I did and went to the First Class window, where after explaining the problem, they checked thoroughly and then endorsed my out of time ticket for travel on the 10:07. I should say, that I expected to have to buy another ticket and was at my politest. As there wasn’t a queue full of angry passengers, just a couple of anxious ones, this might have helped.
But it does go counter to the sort of Jobsworth behaviour reported on programmes such as Watchdog.
Coming back, there was a Travelling Chef on the train. And I ordered this smoked salmon salad.
A Salad From The Travelling Chef
Note the French dressing in a little bottle, with all the ingredients and allergy information on the outside. That is a good idea, that should be copied more often.
I also had two complimentary glasses of wine.
And how much did the salad cost? – Just nine pounds! As it was served at my seat, I think that was good value.
I asked if you could buy the meals in Standard Class. Apparently, you can and you get it in a plastic box with plastic cutlery.
So it would appear that the discrimination is in the service!
Roll On Crossrail
Yesterday was a day, when Crossrail would have been more than handy.
I went to Exeter to see an old friend and his wife and had booked myself out of Paddington on the 09:07 train.
From Hackney, getting to Paddington is not easy and I usually take the Metropolitan line to the western end of the station and walk in to the trains from the bridge. Since the new Underground station has been built, this is the easiest way to get a train for Wales and West.
Paddington station for me also presents a gluten-free breakfast problem, in that there is nowhere I would trust in the station. So I took a bus to Kings Cross station, where there is both Leon and Carluccio’s, who both do excellent gluten-free breakfasts. Yesterday, it was Leon’s turn and I left myself thirty seven minutes to get to Paddington, after finishing my egg, chorizo and beans.
But that was my downfall, as there was signalling problems on the Metropolitan line and the trains were very infrequent and crammed solid.
So I tried a taxi and the queue was hundreds long and there wasn’t a taxi in sight.
In the end I found a bus to take me up to Euston Square station, where after a wait, I got on a train to Paddington.
But I missed the train by about five minutes.
Normally, the journey takes ten minutes from Kings Cross to Paddington, but it had taken me forty-five. The Metropolitan line, which is normally one of the most reliable had let me down.
It’s on journeys like this, that Crossrail will really benefit people like me, who live in the eastern part of the capital.
I should have a choice of buses to various Crossrail stations, or I could even take the Overground to Whitechapel from Dalston Junction station, just up the road from my house.
Crossrail is going to change the east of London dramatically and not just the places, which have a station on the line.
The Anonymous Widower 