My New Front Door Lock
I’ve finally got a new front door, replacing the rotting one, that Jery had used.
A new door needed a new lock, so I went to the excellent Franchi on the Holloway Road and bought a Banham.
The lock did cost me £230, but then it does have a few advantages other than the strength and security it offers.
The biggest one is that to be secure, I now need only one normal-sized key.
When I go out, I just pull the handle to open the door and close it behind me to securely activate the lock.
It also means that I don’t have to find the key to let visitors in or open the door to such as postmen and couriers. When a visitor leaves they just open the door and shut it behind them.
So hopefully life will be easier and I won’t be constantly going up and down the stairs. It should be said that for most of the year, I have an upstairs window open and I just put my head out to check who’s there!
These Banham locks must be one of the classic British designs. And the company is still owned by the original family.
A Black And Dirty New Bus For London
London’s buses are normally very clean. But this one wasn’t!
The red buses always look pristine. So does the advertising vinyl attract the dirt?
The sooner these buses are returned to the proper red colour, the better.
My Pension Could Get A Boost in 2029
I have a good pension, although if I have a problem with it, it’s that I can’t find enough ways to spend it.
But the announcement yesterday that Crossrail 2 might open in 2029 can only be good for me.
I live in a quiet plesant tree-lined road about five minutes walk from Dalston Junction station, which could be one of the stops on the line. Even if it is not and Hackney Central and Angel are the two nearest stops, it all must be beneficial for the value of my house.
I would suspect that if Dalston Junction is not on Crossrail 2, then the Eastern Curve at the station might be reopened, so that East London Line trains can terminate somewhere in North East London.
After being ignored by transport planners for years it now seems that the North Eastern areas of London are finally getting the public transport, they desperately need.
Judging by the welcome the Overground has received in this area, I suspect that the good burghers of Hackney will welcome Crossrail 2 with open arms.
Crossrail 2 is having a consultation locally in July. I shall be going.
Thameslink’s Connections To Long Distance Trains
When Thameslink and Crossrail are complete how will this effect those tricky long distance journeys that should be done by train.
Some journeys like Eastbourne to York will become easier, as you’d probably hop along to Brighton and then take a train to Peterborough, for your train to York.
So how do two destinations I know well connect to the main radial routes from London.
I’ll start with Cambridge.
Great Eastern Main Line – Not really a problem, as you’d probably take a local train to Ipswich and Norwich. You could also go direct into Liverpool Street or change onto Crossrail at Farringdon.
East Coast Main Line – You’d still do what you’ve always done and take a train into London. Whether there will be fast trains into Kings Cross itself, has not been said. But travelling to Scotland without the direct Kings Cross trains and a heavy case, would mean lugging it across from St. Pancras Thameslink. If Thameslink improves the service to Stevenage that would be an alternative for the ECML, but train company management, must be wishing that over zealous cuts in the past that left Cambridge with no direct train lines to Peterborough or Bedford, had not been made.
Midland Main Line – This would be a walk or lift up from St.Pancras Thameslink. It would be nice though if there was a lift directly between Thameslink and the MML platforms.
Eurostar – This would be a walk or lift up from St.Pancras Thameslink.
West Coast Main Line – This is a bad change, as it’s a long walk from St. Pancras Thameslink to the Underground. It’s also difficult with a heavy case.
Great Western Main Line – If the interchange to Crossrail at Farringdon is properly designed, which it should be, you’d use Crossrail to get to either Paddington or Reading.
South Western Main Line – This one is difficult, as it’s either a struggle to the Underground at St. Pancras Thameslink and then a change to get to Waterloo or Clapham Junction. Whatever it is, it’s a nightmare with a heavy case. A better alternative might be to go to London Bridge and then get the Jubilee Line to Waterloo.
Lines from Victoria – As with Waterloo, Victoria is difficult with a heavy case, due to the Underground connections. From Cambridge to Victoria, you are probably better taking a Liverpool Street train to Tottenham Hale for the Victoria line.
Now I’ll look at Brighton.
Great Eastern Main Line – Not really a problem, as you’d just change onto Crossrail at Farringdon for Liverpool Street, Stratford or even Shenfield. Or for perhaps Ipswich and Norwich, you might just go to Cambridge and get a relaxed local train, through the countryside.
East Coast Main Line – This is a connection that will be greatly improved, as you might skip London and go direct to Peterborough, to pick up the train there.
Midland Main Line – This would be a walk or lift up from St.Pancras Thameslink. It would be nice though if there was a lift directly between Thameslink and the MML platforms. Or would you go to somewhere like West Hampstead Thameslink or Luton.
Eurostar – This would be a walk or lift up from St.Pancras Thameslink.
West Coast Main Line – This is a bad change, as it’s a long walk from St. Pancras Thameslink to the Underground. It’s also difficult with a heavy case.
Great Western Main Line – If the interchange to Crossrail at Farringdon is properly designed, which it should be, you’d use Crossrail to get to either Paddington or Reading.
South Western Main Line – You’d probably do as you do now and take a train direct to Clapham Junction and change there.
Lines from Victoria – These are no problem, as you can get a train to either Victoria or Clapham Junction.
One thing that becomes obvious from this post, is that Euston, Waterloo and Victoria don’t have the best links to Crossrail and Thameslink.
Euston’s problems are mainly because when the station was built in the 1960s, together with the Victoria line, passengers were treated as fit, uncomplaining individuals, who should be satisfied with what the government paid for.
Victoria suffers from similar problems to Euston.
Waterloo’s problems are that to get there from St. Pancras by Underground, requires a change of train.
What doesn’t help any of these transfers is the substandard interchange between Thameslink and the Underground at St. Pancras. It may be step free, but it’s a long walk.
If the interchange with main lines in London to Thameslink and Crossrail are to be improved, the following should be looked at.
Improve the Access to St. Pancras Thameslink
If you’re going up from St. Pancras Thameslink to Eurostar or the Midland Main Line, it isn’t too bad, but the long hike to the Underground is a disgrace. Especially for a station that is only a few years old.
I wonder if it’s possible to create a tunnel between Thameslink and the Northern line at St. Pancras.
Build a Crossrail station at Old Oak Common
This would make it easier to get on trains out of Euston on the West Coast Main Line.
Link Thameslink to Clapham Junction
This would help travellers from the north to get on the lines out of Victoria and Waterloo.
I use Clapham Junction a lot as it is very useful station, and I can get the Overground there easily.
Crossrail 2
This may be the real solution to a lot of the problems, as it is proposed it will link Kings Cross/St. Pancras/Euston to Victoria and Clapham Junction.
It will be interesting to see how Thameslink changes in the first couple of years of operation.
A Tricky Problem For Thameslink
I said in this post, that Thameslink will make it possible a lot of journeys across London with just a single change.
Looking at the provision timetable for Thameslink, there are some terminals at either end of the line, which are not connected to others at the opposite side of London. For instance Tattenham Corner only links to Cambridge and Maidstone East only links to Luton.
So say if you wanted to go from Tattenham Corner to Luton, you’d need to get off a train in the core section and then get on one to your required destination. It will mean two easy steps across a level gap, as the new trains will obviously align to the platforms.
If you look at St. Pancras Thameslink station, the platforms are long and bleak with few seats and no outlets of any sort. But upstairs there is St. Pancras International station, which is almost a shopping and refreshment venue, where trains happen to arrive and depart.
So will ticketing allow a traveller from say the South Coast to Peterborough, to break their journey at St. Pancras and perhaps have lunch, a meeting or get their supper for the evening?
Electronic ticketing will be the key in some ways, as obviously this will be possible using something like Oyster as it is now from Wimbledon to say Cricklewood with a break at St. Pancras on the current Thameslink.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to use Oyster or a contactless bank card as a ticket on buses, trains and trams all over the UK!
I’ve Just Got My World Cup Beer In
I’ll let the Germans win the beer war in this World Cup. English gluten-free beer seems to be sold out!
I ordered this beer from Beers of Europe.
It’s strange that the Germans can make good gluten-free beer, but can’t generally get the food right!
German coeliacs must live by beer alone!
Where Did It All Go Wronga
This is the title of an article in the Sunday Times about Wonga, which describes how the company is not doing as well as it was and isn’t heading for world domination any more.
The article blames the usual reasons for the decline; bad publicity, hostile politicians and regulators, which is probably partly true.
But I’ll throw in another reason.
Wonga undoubtedly has world class technology as Robert Peston said here.
But as in my time, I’ve been a programmer at the top of my profession, I know that it is difficult to stop competitors imitating what you have done.
So I do wonder if other lenders with a higher moral stance, have got their technical act together, so that they have reduced the size of Wonga’s territory.
It may be now, that if you ask a reputable financial institution, by using similar and possibly better technology than Wonga, the result of your loan application is given earlier. And of course in some of those decisions, lenders will get their loans.
All the fuss about Wonga, may have persuaded people that there are better ways to organise your finances.
So it looks like Wonga’s bubble has been pricked!
Two Other Low Profile Rail Projects
Over the next few years there are a lot of projects being implemented on the UK Rail Network, as I listed here.
But two other projects that few have heard of, will have a significant effect on UK rail services.
Travel in or out of Kings Cross and you don’t realise the work what is going on underneath the lines going into the station.
The two Canal Tunnels are being fitted out, which will allow trains on the Thameslink route to go up the East Coast Main Line to Peterborough and Cambridge. These will probably be the most significant new tunnels to be fitted out and opened in the period between the Channel Tunnel and Crossrail. According to the provisional timetable for Thameslink, eight of the 24 trains each hour in each direction will go to and from the ECML. Of these eight trains, four will go to Cambridge. So many difficult cross-London journeys will become much simpler and will become either direct or will involve just a single change.
But think again!
Twenty-four trains an hour is a train every two and a half minutes between St. Pancras and Blackfriars. And to make matters more difficult, the trains will have to change electrical systems from overhead to third rail or vice-versa halfway through each journey.
How do they do that?
New signalling will be installed and the new Class 700 trains will take advantage of this to maintain the schedule. They will be fitted with ERTMS to aid in this task.
And this leads me to the other hidden project that is going to completely change the UK’s railways.
The project is ERTMS or European Rail Traffic Management System. Network Rails plan is here.
In simple words it means that all conventional signals will be removed from the tracks on the railway and the train drivers will have everything on a screen in the cab. This sounds very similar to the way airline pilots have worked for years.
This is Network Rail’s view of the benefits.
Installing ERTMS across the country as signalling becomes life-expired will save an estimated 40 per cent over conventional systems. Each train will run at an appropriate safe speed, allowing more trains onto the tracks. ERTMS will improve train performance and reduce energy consumption.
As an example of what it will mean, most high speed lines in the UK, will be limited to 140 mph instead of 125. This could mean thirty minutes off the journey time from London to Scotland.
My Thoughts On Uber
There has been a lot of opposition to the taxi-app called Uber around the world, with London taxi-drivers being particularly vocal.
It probably won’t affect me in London, as I’m not a very heavy user of taxis. Usually, I only use them, when late in the evening, I want to get home from a station and I’m tired.
I wouldn’t use Uber though, as I don’t do apps on my mobile phone. So my only worry is that Uber is so successful, black cabs become a rarity and I can’t find one when I need one.
We should also remember that a lot of people are like me and need to sit down to do anything complicated on a smartphone. Which probably means I’ll avoid apps like the plague.
I also avoid signing up to many companies, as they just fill my inbox with spam. I suspect that if I downloaded an app for a bookmaker, I’d constantly be pestered to have a eit. I’m in control, not the company and anybody who thinks otherwise doesn’t get my custom or business. As an example, if there is an alternative to Virgin Trains, I use it if it’s cheaper or more convenient, as Virgin keep sending me junk mail through my letterbox.
I also think that black cabs should trade on their strengths, like their knowledge, their ranks and their general friendliness and jokes.
They also should make it, that all black cabs take bank and credit cards. Last Saturday, I could have had an embarrassing moment, when I took a taxi back from Waterloo. I thought I didn’t have enough cash and the driver didn’t take cards. But luckily, I had another note tucked away in my wallet.
Tottenham Court Road To Be Transformed
It has been announced and reported here, that the Tottenham Court Road area of London is to be transformed. Here’s the first two paragraphs from the BBC article.
Tottenham Court Road will be reserved for buses and bicycles only during daylight hours from Monday to Saturday.
Camden Council wants to make the central London street safer and boost business ahead of the opening of a new Crossrail station in 2018.
I like the idea, but will everybody else?
I’m sure that it won’t be popular with taxi drivers, as how will they drop well-heeled customers at Heals?
I have a feeling that Crossrail and Thameslink could be the key to making this scheme work? I’ve not seen any figures, but how many people will switch to the trains rather than drive in London, when the two railways open around 2018. If the switch is quite substantial, then cars in London will drop and this will speed up the buses.
We live in interesting times.
The Anonymous Widower 