How To Recycle A Tunnel
Crossrail is Europe’s largest construction project and they are really upping their publicity this year, as the work begins in earnest.
I found this story with a video about the reusing of the Connaught Tunnel on the BBC’s web site. I wrote about this earlier.
It’s a fine piece of engineering and the associated project management.
The Paddington Basin
I ended up at Paddington station and went to have a look at the Paddington Basin on the Regent’s Canal behind.
I was told that when the basin was drained to create the new developments, the police had a sweepstake on how many bodies, shopping trolleys etc. they would find. I was told they were rather surprised, but obviously pleased that none of the former were found.
Thoughts Of Angel
I saw this notice at Angel station today.
Thoughts Of Angel – 29th December 2011
The URL at the top doesn’t work. But even so it’s an interesting way to get a message across.
If you can’t read it, the message is.
Common sense is the most evenly distributed commodity in the world.
Everybody thinks they have enough.
Today, there was a different one as I passed through.
Thoughts of Angel – 30th December 2011
I wonder if they will keep this philosophy up.
The New Farringdon Station
The new longer 12-coach Thameslink trains are now running through the tunnels from St.Pancras to south of the river and Farringdon Station has been upgraded and lengthened to cope.
In a few years time, it will be the major interchange between Thameslink and Crossrail and one of the busiest stations in London.
The information on what they are doing is good to.
Note that the station used to be called Farringdon and High Holborn.
The Flying Banana
As I was waiting for my train, an unusual yellow one passed through.
It looks like a High Speed Diesel Train, and it is actually a modified one called the New Measurement Train, which travels all over the network, checking track and electrification systems. Inspection is based on a thirteen week cycle. There is a detailed article on the train here in Construction News. And a video here.
You can see why it got its nickname.
In some ways it is a unique train, not only in the UK, but worldwide.
The Japanese and the French have similar trains for their high speed lines, but these are electrically powered, whereas the New Meaurement Train has two powerful diesel power cars. So as the British train is completely self contained, it can check any line in the UK, whether it is electrified or not. Where I saw it at Basingstoke, it was on a section of track, that uses third rail electrification.
As it is a High Speed Train, it can also be used at 200 kph on the East and West Coast Main Lines, thus testing them at their operational speeds.
Note that as the lines through the Channel Tunnel to London, are effectively built using French electrification standards, the French train is used to monitor those lines every two months. But it has to be diesel hauled through the tunnel.
It all goes to show that the High Speed Diesel Train will be laughing at us for a few decades yet.
Welcome To Basingstoke
I have a cartoon on my wall, which shows rolling English countryside, with in the distance a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion rising into the sky. In the foreground, a man is saying to his friend.
“The Russians can’t be all bad. They’ve made Basingstoke a first strike target.”
I have other reasons to dislike the place, as an old accountant of mine suggested, I put some money into a property development there. I lost several millions and could have lost a lot more, but I had better friends in high places. It was an expensive lesson and now I don’t trust financial advisors, especially when they have nothing to lose from recommending a bad investment.
So for only the second time in my life, I went to the place to a funeral of an old friend.
I had plenty of time, so I hoped I’d be able to get a bus to the crematorium. I knew I could take a taxi, but I object to doing that, as they are expensive and often rip-off merchants.
I found the bus station, which is quite an unfriendly walk from the train station and they told me there was no bus to anywhere near the crematorium. What would cash-strapped pensioners have done? Walked.
I should say, that the web page for the crematorium doesn’t have any instructions about how to get there on public transport. How arrogant!
It should be the law that certain places in a town or city like the hospital, crematorium, tourist office, main shops and council offices are easily reached by bus from the station. On my travels around the country, I found a lot of places, where these rules were broken.
I shall not be going to Basingstoke again unless it is to change trains to somewhere more welcoming.
The New Cambridge Station Emerges
I took these pictures at Cambridge station yesterday.
They show the new island platform and bridge.
Note that the bridge has bike tracks, to make crossing easier. I wonder if there might be a better solution, which might be something like an entrance to the station on the far side of the new island platform. It would appear that Cambridge City Council are thinking of making access from the far side possible according to this report.
Trains on Boxing Day
There is a good article by the columnist Alan Williams in this month’s Modern Railways, where he decries the lack of trains on Boxing Day.
Apparently, if you want to go from London to Brighton, you’re OK, but for all other journeys, it’s car, bike or walk.
I would have liked to go and see Ipswich play at Leicester, but they might just as well be playing on Ascension Island.
It strikes me that Boxing Day might be a day, when the train companies with a bit of co-operation from the FA could make a bit of money on a day, when many will be hungover and not fancy driving at all. In fact, many might not be able to do it legally.
So how practical would it be to go to your team’s away game on Boxing Day, if the trains were running?
Here are the matches in the Premier League.
Arsenal v. Wolverhampton
This would have been very practical, but Arsenal have postponed it to the 27th because of a strike on the London Underground.
All Wolves fans would need to do, is take the Virgin train from Wolverhampton to Euston and two stops on the Victoria line.
Chelsea v. Fulham
This is going on despite the Underground strike, which won’t inconvenience the majority of fans who can either drive, walk or take a bus.
Bolton v. Newcastle
As Bolton has a station at the ground, this is a very easy journey for Newcastle fans. On Sundays, there is a convenient train with just one change at Manchester Piccadilly.
Liverpool v. Blackburn
This is another simple one, with just a change at Preston.
Man Utd v. Wigan
This is a direct train and a tram.
Sunderland v. Everton
This involves three changes of train at a minimum of over four hours.
West Brom v. Man. City
This one involves a couple of changes and two and a half hours.
Stoke v. Aston Villa
This involves a single change and takes just over an hour.
And here are the Championship matches.
Watford v. Cardiff
Not the easiest by rail, as it’s a very long way.
Derby v Leeds
Just two hours on a direct train.
Millwall v. Portsmouth
Plenty of trains and they all take around two hours.
Southampton v. Crystal Palace
Plenty of trains and again they take just over two hours.
Barnsley v. Blackpool
Not the easiest and it takes three hours with two or more changes.
Burnley v. Doncaster
Two and a half hours with a change at Leeds.
Coventry v. Bristol City
Two hours with a change at Birmingham.
Leicester v. Ipswich
Three and a half hours with all sorts of changes.
Middlesbrough v. Hull
Over three hours with a change or two.
Nottingham Forest v. Peterborough
Not too bad, if you can get a direct train.
Reading v. Brighton
Between two and three hours via London.
Birmingham v. West Ham
About two hours and a bit, depending on where in London, you’re coming from.
So basically, with the fixtures as they came out this year, it really wouldn’t have been possible, as there are too many long journeys.
But then years ago, Ipswich always used to play Norwich on Boxing Day. The police put a stop to it, but there hasn’t been much trouble over recent years.
I’m certain though, that it would be possible to arrange a better fixture list.
How many grounds aren’t well connected to the rail network? Either directly or by a match-day bus from the station! I think the list includes.
Arsenal – Three rail stations and well connected to London termini.
Aston Villa – Two rail stations connected to Birmingham New Street.
Barnsley – Not too long a walk, but it’s severely uphill to get to the ground.
Birmingham – It has its own station on match days.
Blackburn – It’s a fair walk from the local station or a taxi from the main one.
Blackpool – A fair walk and no shuttle bus.
Bolton – It has its own station at Horwich Parkway.
Brighton – It has its own station.
Bristol City – It’s a long walk.
Burnley – A far walk from the station.
Cardiff City – A fair walk from Grangetown station.
Chelsea – A fair walk from the Underground station.
Coventry – You have to walk across the City Centre to get a bus. Last year on New Year’s Day it didn’t run.
Crystal Palace – Two rail stations and the Overground, although it’s not too easy from some London terminals.
Derby – Walkable from the station.
Doncaster – Taxi or possibly a shuttle bus.
Everton – A match day bus from the train.
Fulham- A fair but pleasant walk from the Underground station.
Hull – Walkable from the rail station
Ipswich – A short walk from the station.
Leeds – A shuttle bus from Leeds station.
Leicester City – A fair walk from the station and no shuttle bus.
Liverpool – A match day bus from the train.
Manchester City – Difficult by bus, but they are building a tram.
Manchester United – A tram.
Millwall – It has its own station.
Middlesbrough – Walkable from the train station.
Newcastle – It has its own Metro station.
Norwich – A short walk from the station.
Nottingham Forest – Walkable from the station.
Peterborough – Walkable from the station.
Portsmouth – Walkable from Fratton station.
QPR – Two Underground stations, but not too well-connected to London termini.
Reading – There is a shuttle bus from the railway station.
Southampton – A fair walk from the railway station.
Stoke – Miles from the station, but there is a match day bus service.
Sunderland – It has its own Metro station.
Swansea – A long walk from the rail station.
Tottenham – Two train stations, but not that well connected to London termini.
Watford – Walkable from the station.
West Bromwich – It has its own rail station and tram stop.
West Ham – A short walk from Upton Park station.
Wigan – A long walk from the rail stations, and there is no match day bus. The club website says use a taxi.
Wolverhampton – A short walk from the rail station and the tram.
So some clubs are fairy ideal places to ave home matches on Boxing Day. Others like Blackburn, Blackpool, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Southampton, Swansea and Wigan are definitely not, unless they break a habit of a lifetime and run a shuttle bus from the station.
To schedule what matches are played, it is a very simple matter and could even be organised like a cup draw. a list of practical pairs would need to be drawn up, when the teams in the division were finalised after the play-offs. Obviously conditions of distance and police views would prevail. So Arsenal could be paired with say Aston Villa, Fulham, Norwich, QPR, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. I’ve left out Tottenham and Chelsea, as the police would probably want them on a less high-profile day.
You would start by drawing the home teams from the list of grounds with good transport connections. And then a draw would be made to see who they played.
There are a few problems however you do it, as both Newcastle and Sunderland are difficult to get to and the police would object to the derby on Boxing Day.
But I suspect with a bit of goodwill and co-operation between the rail companies, the FA and the police something could be worked out.
An aside here, and equally important, to those who don’t follow football, is that a lot of major shopping centres, like Meadowhall, the Metro Centre at Gateshead and Westfield and Eastfield in London have rail stations, so a good train service will help a lot more people.
I thought train companies were in business to make a profit. Surely with a bit of radical thinking, they could turn Boxing Day, into a nice little earner.
How About?
- Fans to football, rugby and other sporting events.
- Shoppers to large shopping centres.
- Families to the coast, big cities and other attractions.
- C and I often went on holiday on Boxing Day, as it can be a good day to fly long haul.
It might even help some get back to where they live and work a lot easier. Especially in these days of very complicated family relationships.
Arsenal Postpone, Chelsea Don’t
Can I assume that this is because most Chelski fans wouldn’t be seen dead on a train, so the strike makes no difference to their prawn-sandwich eaters?
Islington’s Hidden Temple
Walk through the back-streets of Islington and tucked away in Gibson Square, you’ll find this curious building in the garden in the middle.
A Curious Building in Gibson Square
So what is it?
The clue is in the roof, as it doesn’t look like the wire mesh would keep the rain and weather out.
But then that isn’t necessary as it is the ventilation shaft for the Victoria line.
The shaft was built in 1970 and has recently been updated to improve the cooling of the line for passengers.
The Anonymous Widower 