Is HS2 At Risk Of Derailing?
There is an article in The Telegraph entitled HS2 at risk of derailing at top speeds, report finds.
I have read the article and the report by Professor Woodward at Heriot-Watt University is obviously, based on sound mathematics and enginering principles.
We have a problem with HS2, which is not unlike the problem with the new Hinckley Point nuclear power station.
There is a big need for extra capacity, but it will cost an awful lot of money.
In both projects too, there is a lot of opposition.
Professor Woodward’s research has one serious consequence, even if the high design speed of the line doesn’t make the trains derail.
It is that if you reduce the speed of the line, the economic case for HS2 is shot to pieces.
If you decide that there could be a safety problem with the embankments, you have to strengthen them and that ruins the economic case too.
If we look at Hinckley Point C nuclear power station, not building it, is not as serious as not building HS2.
We have several other ways to generate power and also lots of ways to save it. Also, the widely quoted strike price of £92.50/MWh would make a lot of other much cheaper schemes like tidal power viable.
But this doesn’t solve the problem of creating more capacity on the rail lines between north and south for both passengers and freight.
HS2 doesn’t carry freight, but hopefully, it will free up paths on traditional routes to the north, that could be used by freight trains.
If you think we don’t, travel between Euston and Glasgow on Virgin Trains and look at the passenger loading.
At present, Network Rail are carrying out various schemes to squeeze more capacity out of the current lines and it is hoped that in the short term, this will help.
But in some ways all it will do is create more demand for travel on the routes.
So at some time we’re going to have to build a new line, which will allow faster speeds than the current lines.
If you look at Phase 1 to the West Midlands, this will have the following effects.
- Extra capacity between London and the West Midlands.
- Journey times of around fifty minutes.
- Making Birmingham Airport, a viable one for those living in North London.
- Paths released for freight on the West Coast Main Line.
- Reorganisation of traditional services on the West Coast Main Line to serve more places.
In Phase 1, there would probably be no more than half-a-dozen trains in both directions on the southern section of HS2, south of Birmingham International station.
On the other hand, when Phase 2 to Manchester and Leeds opens there will be upwards of twenty trains per hour both wayson the same southern section.
I can understand, why those in the Chilterns are getting angry.
So to the protesters, Professor Woodward’s research could be manna from heaven.
For some time, my view has been that we need new tracks between London and the North via Birmingham, as even if all existing lines were upgraded, there wouldn’t be enough capacity.
I think we’re going to need some radical thinking.
For instance, suppose you made Birmingham International a hub, where the lines from the North met a line to London and one into Birmingham city centre.
This might help in the design of HS2 to the north of Birmingham, but that is not the area, where there is major opposition to the line. That is between Birmingham International and London, where land is limited and wherever you build it, you’ll annoy someone.
I suspect, a lot of people working on the project, sometimes feel like going and working elsewhere.
But whatever we do with HS2, we must improve the traditional routes.
- Electrify the Midland Main Line to Derby. Nottingham and Sheffield,
- Electrify the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham.
- Electrify the routes across the Pennines from Preston and Liverpool to Hull, Leeds and Newcastle via Manchester.
- Sort out the Digswell Visduct on the East Coast Main Line.
- Improve speeds to as high as possible on all routes to the North.
The only trouble, is that the more we improve traditional routes, the more people will travel by train and the need for HS2 will become more urgent.
Energy Switch Inertia
I’ve just heard Paul Lewis on BBC Breakfast talking about some of the new rules to find the best energy deal. It sounds a real mess, which is all to the advantage of the Big Six.
I wrote Read This Article If You’re With The Big Six Companies, when I read a good article by Stewart Dalby, where he advocated self help.
Talking to a few friends who are still with the Dreaded Big Six, I’m convinced that the biggest problem is brain inertia and making the decision to switch.
But against this, I’ve never met anyone, who is dissatisfied with a small supplier after switching.
There are various methods, I’ve heard of where people found their new small energy supplier.
- Recommendation from a friend or someone they trust.
- One lady was pointed to her supplier by her doctor.
- From the consumer pages of a daily or local paper. One was even recommended by the Daily Star!
- I’ve seen one supplier advertised above urinals in a pub toilet.
- From a local councillor.
I chose my supplier, as I saw an interview with OVO’s founder in the Sunday Times. I liked what I read and as I still do, I have no reason to change!
Questions About Solar Panels
Yesterday, despite the temperature being about eight or nine outside, because the evil devil had switched the radiant heaters on, the temperature had risen to twenty-eight inside my house, due to heat coming in through my skylight and by radiation from the flat roof.
Now the flat roof has been relaid and insulated, so to make matters worse the heat once in can’t get out.
So I decided I’d had enough and have decided to do what I had already ascertained was to be the next steps.
- Put an electric shutter over the skylight.
- Fit solar panels to both generate electricity and shade my house from the sun.
Hopefully, I’d generate enough electricity to run the air-conditioner, when the sun is on.
I entered my details into a comparison site and they said they’d select six local installers.
Within half an hour, I had a call on my phone and as the guy was in his van just round the corner, he was in my house doing a survey within five minutes.
He was also very much a local supplier, as both his flat and office were within five hundred metres.
He quoted for a four kilowatt system with sixteen panels, which he said would cost £5,000 as standard including installation and VAT.
I could also have micro-inverters which would up the cost to £6,300.
He indicated that micro-inverters were more efficient and had a loner life. He also enclosed the data sheet for the Enphase microinverters.
So I asked myself what are micro-inverters and what advantages do I get.
I found this web page entitled Should I Get Micro-Inverters For My Solar PV System?
Read the page and you’ll find there are two kinds of inverters;string and micro.
With a string inverter, you have one device that converts the DC of the panels to the AC of the house. So it’s like having one charger for all your devices.
With a micro inverter, each panel has its own inverter.
So the number of electronic components probably explains the difference in cost.
But there are other differences.
- String inverters have typically a five year guarantee, whereas micro inverters have one of twenty-five. Only a madman would offer such a guarantee, if the devices failed regularly.
- String inverters gear their output to the poorest performing panel, whereas with micro-inverters each panel performs according to the sun it gets.
- If there is a chance of major shading, go for micro inverters.
- Failures do happen and surely if each panel is an complete system, if one should fail, it is a problem, which is easier to locate and remedy.
Now I’m no expert, but my electrical engineering training says that micro-inverters are a better bet.
Years ago, when I worked at ICI, some others in the office were working on automating a chemical plant. Up until 1970, traditionally each temperature, pressure and position sensor input went into a massive and extremely expensive analogue to digital converter to link to the computer. But in this development, every input had its own converter.
I ‘m not in automation these days, but I doubt they use a massive and expensive converter and each input is handled individually.
So with my panels, I’m tempted to pay the extra £1,300.
I’m still waiting for the other five installers to phone.
Barking Riverside Development To Get A Boost
BBC London is talking about a large boost to the development of housing at Barking Riverside. This article in Building entitled L&Q buys out Bellway at Barking Riverside, gives a lot more detail. This is a visualisation of the development.
Barking Riverside Development
It looks to be a lot of much-needed housing, a proportion of which will be affordable.
According to TfL’s maps and drawings it looks like Barking Riverside station will be a couple of hundred metres or so directly inland from the T-shaped pier.
Is Trump Fit To Run A Whelk Stall?
This article on the BBC web site is entitled US election 2016: Mitt Romney warns Trump not fit to run country.
It is one of the most amazing political attacks, I’ve ever heard by someone on a member of their own party.
Even Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, never had an attack like Mitt Romney’s on Donald Trump, from someone who is supposedly of the same political persuasion.
Look at the Wikipedia entry for Trump University or Trump Entrepreneur Initiative as it is now called.
And what about Trump Shuttle, Trump Mortgage, Trump Ice etc.?
What A Waste Of Valuable Land
I took these pictures as the train passed the Southall Gas Works site to the west of Southall station.
As can be seen these days it is mainly used as a car park for passengers using Heathrow Airport.
That is a terrible waste of a site, that could be cleaned up and used for much-needed housing. This Google Map gives an impression of the extent of the site.
Southall Gas Works
But things are happening and there is a web site called The Southall Gasworks, put up by the Berkeley Group, who are developing the site.
In this post entitled Could The Golden Mile In Hounslow Get A Station?, I postulated that the gas works site could be linked to Hounslow’s Golden Mile and the Thames by a tram and concluded by saying this.
I think that there are possibilities for a well-designed solution in the area to connect the Golden Mile to Southall station for Crossrail.
There are certainly possibilities to link everything together.
- Southall station will be served by Crossrail’s high-frequency trains.
- The Brentford Branch is an underused working railway.
- The Southall Gas Works development needs good public transport links.
- The Golden Mile needs rejuvenating.
I do think we’ll see lots of small-scale connectivity to Crossrail and this would be an easy one to build.
Combined Food And Power
I suppose it sounds too good to be true to produce both food and power from the same industrial process.
But look at this page entitled Combined Food And Power on the Orthios Group web site.
The company might have something.
Brexit Referendum Betting Odds
This is a log of the Brexit Referendum Betting Odds or Oddschecker.
- February 20th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 5/2
- February 21st – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- February 22nd – Stay 2/5 – Leave 15/8 – Boris comes out!
- February 23rd – Stay 4/9 – Leave 21/10 – Business leaders letter in Times
- February 24th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 9/4
- February 25th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 9/4
- February 26th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 9/4
- February 27th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- February 28th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- February 29th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- March 1st – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- March 2nd – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- March 3rd – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- March 4th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- March 5th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- March 6th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- March 7th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- March 8th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- March 9th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- March 10th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- March 11th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- March 12th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- March 13th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- March 14th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- March 15th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 9/4
- March 16th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 9/4
- March 17th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 2/1 – Budget on the 16th
- March 18th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 21/10
- March 19th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 21/10
- March 20th – Stay 3/8 – Leave 2/1 – DLS Resigns
- March 21st – Stay 3/8 – Leave 2/1
- March 22nd – Stay 7/19 – Leave 2/1
- March 23rd – Stay 4/9 – Leave 15/8 – Brussels Attacks
- March 24th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 15/8
- March 25th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 15/8
- March 26th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- March 27th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 15/8
- March 28th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 15/8
- March 29th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 15/8
- March 30th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 15/8
- March 31st – Stay 4/9 – Leave 15/8
- April 1st – Stay 2/5 – Leave 15/8
- April 2nd – Stay 2/5 – Leave 2/1
- April 3rd – Stay 2/5 – Leave 2/1
- April 4th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 2/1
- April 5th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 6th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 7th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 8th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 9th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 10th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 11th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 12th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 13th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 14th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 21/10 – Corbyn comes off the fence
- April 15th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 21/10
- April 16th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 21/10
- April 17th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 21/10
- April 18th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 21/10
- April 19th – Stay 1/2 – Leave 21/10 – Gove speaks
- April 20th – Stay 1/2 – Leave 15/8
- April 21st – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1
- April 22nd – Stay 4/9 – Leave 2/1 – Obama speaks
- April 23rd – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- April 24th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- April 25th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 13/5
- April 26th – Stay 2/7 – Leave 3/1
- April 27th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 5/2
- April 28th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 5/2
- April 29th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 5/2
- April 30th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- May 1st – Stay 1/3 – Leave 5/2
- May 2nd – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- May 3rd – Stat 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- May 4th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- May 5th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 23/10
- May 6th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- May 7th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- May 8th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- May 9th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 13/5
- May 10th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 13/5
- May 11th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 13/5
- May 12th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 13/5
- May 13th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 13/5
- May 14th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 12/5
- May 15th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 12/5
- May 16th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 5/2
- May 17th – Stay 3/10 – Leave 11/4
- May 18th – Stay 2/7 – Leave 11/4
- May 19th – Stay 2/7 – Leave 16/5
- May 20th – Stay 2/7 – Leave 15/4
- May 21st – Stay 2/9 – Leave 4/1
- May 22nd – Stay 2/9 – Leave 15/4
- May 23rd – Stay 2/9 – Leave 7/2
- May 24th – Stay 2/11 – Leave 4/1
- May 25th – Stay 2/11 – Leave 4/1
- May 26th – Stay 2/11 – Leave 9/2
- May 27th – Stat 1/6 – Leave 17/4
- May 28th – Stay 1/6 – Leave 4/1
- May 29th – Stay 1/5 – Leave 4/1
- May 30th – Stay 1/5 – Leave 4/1
- May 31st – Stay 2/9 – Leave 4/1
- June 1st – Stay 3/10 – Leave 16/5
- June 2nd – Stay 3/10 – Leave 11/4
- June 3rd – Stay 1/3 – Leave 11/4
- June 4th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 5/2
- June 5th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 5/2
- June 6th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- June 7th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 9/4
- June 8th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 5/2
- June 9th – Stay 1/3 – Leave 11/4
- June 10th – Stay 3/10 – Leave 11/4
- June 11th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 9/4
- June 12th – Stay 2/5 – Leave 9/4
- June 13th – Stay 5/12 – Leave 2/1
- June 14th – Stay 4/7 – Leave 7/4
- June 15th – Stay 8/13 – Leave 7/5
- June 16th – Stay 6/11 – Leave 13/8
- June 17th – Stay 1/2 – Leave 13/8
- June 18th – Stay 8/15 – Leave 7/4 – The assassination of Jo Cox
- June 19th – Stay 4/9 – Leave 9/4
- June 20th – Stay 4/11 – Leave 12/5
- June 21st – Stay 1/4 – Leave 3/1
- June 22nd – Stay 2/7 – Leave 3/1
- June 23rd – Stay 3/10 – Leave 10/3
I shall let the figures do the talking.
Will We Vote For Cameron’s Deal On Europe?
I don’t know the answer and there are probably only a couple of people who can predict the result with any certainty.
I’ve just looked at the reliable Odds Checker web site for their Brexit Referendum Betting Odds and as I write this post, it is 5/2 On to stay in and 5/2 that we’ll leave.
If I vote and I probably will, as the first time I voted was for the EU Referendum of 1975, it will probably be to stay in, as I am a committed European in habit and probably culture.
I also think that we should be in a reformed Schengen Area and that we need a more flexible payment system.
Schengen is an ideal, but in the modern world of terrorism, international crime and immigration pressures, it falls down a deep hole.
What could replace it, I know not, but surely we can find something, that is better than what we have now.
Flexible payments will happen, as cash is replaced by contactless payments on cards and mobile phones.
How long will it be until I look at my credit card statement and see real -time transactions in pounds despite spending them all over the world in euros, dollars and Ruritanian groats?
We will be moving inexorably towards a World electronic currency, that appears to everybody as the one they want to use.
Let’s face it, it’s only software.
The currency merging will be led by the Anglo-Saxon English-speaking triumvirate; the US/Canada, the UK and Hong Kong/Singapore.
The Eurozone will be unable to keep the Euro out of this juggernaut.
Europe’s biggest problem is migration and despite what you read in the Mail and the Express, because of our island status, we are isolated from the worst excesses of uncontrolled migration into the European Union.
I think it will have further effects after it destroys Schengen in its present form.
There are elections in a lot of European states soon!
Will we see fruit-cake parties campaigning against more migration and for a renegotiating of their relationship with the European Union, as David Cameron has just done?
You bet we will!
David Cameron has truly opened Pandora’s Box!
Putin And Europe’s Far Right
There was a headline in The Times yesterday of Le Pen’s party asks Russia for €27m loan.
So I searched for Putin’s links to far right parties and found this article in the Guardian entitled We should beware Russia’s links with Europe’s right. This is said.
It sounds like a chapter from a cheesy spy novel: far-right European party, in financial trouble, borrows a big sum of cash from a hawkish Russian president. His goal? To undermine the European Union and to consolidate ties between Moscow and the future possible leader of pro-Kremlin France.
Europe isn’t the problem! It’s Putin and Russia!
The Anonymous Widower 