The Anonymous Widower

Major Milestone Marked As Half A Million Journeys Are Made On The Northumberland Line

The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item on the Northumberland County Council web site.

These are the first four paragraphs.

500,000 passengers have now travelled on the Northumberland Line since it opened, train operator Northern has announced.

The operator has been running trains since the line opened in December 2024, with the milestone of half a million customer journeys achieved just eight months later.

Services call at Newcastle, Manors and at new stations in Seaton Delaval, Newsham and Ashington, with a journey along the entire route taking around 35 minutes and a single fare costing no more than £3.

Trains are proving to be particularly popular during school holidays and weekends.

This news release shows how successful and popular reopening disused railways can be and paints a similar picture to what happened in Deven on the Dartmoor Line to Okehampton, that I wrote about in Dartmoor Line Passes 250,000 Journeys On Its First Anniversary, As Rail Minister Visits To Mark Official Opening Of The Station Building.

We should be looking for more similar lines like the Dartmoor and Northumberland Lines to reopen.

These must be candidates.

  • The Ivanhoe Line in Leicestershire.
  • The Fleetwood Line in Lancashire.
  • The Wisbech Line in Cambridgeshire.

At least the government is reopening the Portishead Line in Somerset.

August 6, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | 1 Comment

Could London And Central Scotland Air Passengers Be Persuaded To Use The Trains?

How Many Passengers Fly Between London And Edinburgh?

Wikipedia gives these figures for 2024 for passengers from Edinburgh to London

  • London City – 334,873
  • London Gatwick – 476,152
  • London Heathrow – 1,148,634
  • London Luton – 338, 729
  • London Stansted – 693,953

This gives a total of 2,992,341.

As Wikipedia doesn’t give complete figures for from London to Edinburgh, for the purpose of this analysis, I’ll assume they are the same.

How Many Passengers Fly Between London And Glasgow?

Wikipedia gives these figures for 2024 for passengers from Glasgow to London

  • London City – 208,405
  • London Gatwick – 456,002
  • London Heathrow – 954,027
  • London Luton – 255,095
  • London Stansted – 225,110

This gives a total of 2,098,639.

As Wikipedia doesn’t give complete figures for from London to Glasgow, for the purpose of this analysis, I’ll assume they are the same.

How Many Passengers Fly Between London And Scotland’s Central Belt?

Adding the two figures gives 5,090,980. in both directions.

Which is an average of 97,903 per week or 13,948 per day.

How Many Train Seats Run Between London And Scotland’s Central Belt?

These figures are for Friday the 1st of August.

  • Aventi West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central – 5 x 9-car Class 390 train – 2,345 seats
  • Aventi West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central – 16 x 11-car Class 390 train – 6,677 seats
  • LNER – London King’s Cross and Edinburgh – 26 x 9-car Class 801 train – 15,886 seats
  • Lumo – London King’s Cross and Edinburgh – 5 x 5-car Class 803 train – 2,010 seats

Note.

  1. All services are all-electric.
  2. All services are fairly new or have recently been refurbished,

This gives a total of 26,918 train seats.

Adding Lumo’s Service To Glasgow

In Lumo Will Extend Its King’s Cross And Edinburgh Service To Glasgow, I suggested that the Glasgow service would be run as follows from December 2025.

  • Two existing Lumo services will leave London as pairs of five-car trains.
  • The pairs will split at Edinburgh.
  • The leading train will go on to Glasgow Queen Street calling at Edinburgh Haymarket and Falkirk High stations.
  • The trailing train will return to London King’s Cross.
  • At the end of the day, the two trains in Glasgow will do a fast run back to London King’s Cross as a pair of 5-car trains.

This will add 804 seats per day between London and Glasgow Queen Street in both directions.

The daily total would now total 27,722 train seats, which compares with a daily average of 13,948 passengers per day, who travel by air.

Adding Lumo’s Service To Stirling

In Lumo To Expand Scotland’s Rail Network With New London-Stirling Rail Route From Spring 2026, I talk about Lumo’s new service to Stirling.

  • There will be five trains per day (tpd) in each direction.
  • Lumo’s new route will link London Euston directly to Stirling, also calling at Milton Keynes, Nuneaton, Crewe, Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet (serving Coatbridge), Greenfaulds (serving Cumbernauld) and Larbert.
  • The service will use 6-car Class 222 trains, which in the linked post, I estimate will have a similar one-class capacity to the Class 803 trains between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh.
  • If the capacity of the two train types is similar, this should give operational advantages and allow some more Class 803 trains to run the Euston and Stirling route.

This second Scottish route will add 2010 train seats per day between London Euston and Stirling in both directions.

The daily total would now total 29,732 train seats, which compares with a daily average of 13,948 passengers per day, who travel by air.

Could More Capacity Be Added Between London And Scotland’s Central Belt?

I believe some of the Lumo services between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh could be doubled up to a pair of trains.

There would have to be no platform length issues at London King’s Cross, Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth stations.

If three trains could be doubled up, that would add 1,206 train seats per day between London and Edinburgh in both directions.

The daily total would now total 30,938 train seats, which compares with a daily average of 13,948 passengers per day, who travel by air.

I also suspect, that some of the Stirling services could be doubled up.

Connectivity Of England’s Northern Airports To London And Central Scotland

Birmingham Airport

Consider.

  • There are easyJet flights to Edinburgh and Glasgow
  • There are 1.5 trains per hour (tph) between Birmingham New Street and Edinburgh.
  • There are 6 tpd between Birmingham New Street and Glasgow.

You would make your choice and pay the money.

East Midlands Airport

There are no flights or trains to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Leeds Airport

Consider.

  • There are no flights to Edinburgh or Glasgow.
  • There is one tph between Leeds and Edinburgh
  • There is one tpd between Leeds and Glasgow

Could Leeds and Glasgow get better connectivity?

Liverpool Airport

Consider.

  • There are no flights to Edinburgh or Glasgow.
  • There is one tph between Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh
  • There is three tpd between Liverpool Lime Street and Glasgow

The Liverpool area is well connected to Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston stations on the West Coast Main Line for alternative services to Glasgow.

Manchester Airport

Consider.

  • There are no flights to Edinburgh or Glasgow.
  • There is one tph between Manchester Airport and Scotland via Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road, which alternates between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The Manchester area is well connected to Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston stations on the West Coast Main Line for alternative services to Glasgow.

Omio gives this summary of flights between Heathrow and Manchester airports.

Flights from Manchester Airport to London Heathrow Airport depart on average 8 times per day, taking around 1h 6m. Cheap flight tickets for this journey start at £63 but you can travel from only £16 by coach.

Wrightbus and others will be producing mouse-quiet hydrogen-powered coaches in a couple of years. I suspect these will give short flights a good kicking.

Newcastle Airport

Consider.

  • There are no flights to Edinburgh or Glasgow.
  • There is three tph between Newcastle and Edinburgh with an additional 5 tpd from Lumo.
  • There is two tpd between Newcastle and Glasgow.
  • There is one tpd between Newcastle and Stirling.
  • From December 2025, Lumo will add two tpd from Newcastle to Glasgow and one tpd from Glasgow to Newcastle.
  • In Lumo Will Extend Its King’s Cross And Edinburgh Service To Glasgow, I stated that I believe that Lumo’s Glasgow to Newcastle service will be a late evening ten-car train, so travellers can have a long day in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle and still return to London.

Lumo would appear to fill in the gap between Newcastle and Glasgow.

Google AI gives this summary of flights between Heathrow and Newcastle airports.

There are usually 5-6 direct flights per day between Newcastle and Heathrow airports. These flights are operated by British Airways. The average flight time is around 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Note.

  1. In 2024, 497, 469 passengers flew between between Heathrow and Newcastle airports, which is an average of 681 passengers in each direction every day.
  2. This was an increase of 13.6 % on 2023.
  3. From December Lumo will be running extra London King’s Cross and Newcastle services, with each train having 402 seats.
  4. The improvements in rail services in and around Newcastle in recent months, will surely bring more passengers to use trains from Newcastle station.
  5. Will Lumo also target adverts at airline passengers?

London and Newcastle could be another route for mouse-quiet hydrogen-powered coaches.

Conclusion

These numbers summarise my calculations.

  • Currently an average of 13,948 passengers per day fly between London and Central Scotland.
  • Currently, there are 26,918 train seats available per day between London and Central Scotland.
  • In December 2025, Lumo will add another 804 low-cost train seats between London King’s Cross and Glasgow Queen Street.
  • In Spring 2026, Lumo will add 2010 low-cost train seats between London Euston and Stirling.
  • From Spring 2026, there will be 29,732 train seats available per day between London and Central Scotland.
  • This represents a 10 % increase of seats on the trains between London and Central Scotland.

How many passengers, who normally fly, will switch to using the train?

  • Lumo may only offer one class, but you get a trolley and can order food from M & S and others to be delivered to your seat.
  • Both LNER and Lumo accept dogs. I don’t know about Avanti.
  • All services will be all-electric, when Lumo gets its new electric trains for Stirling, in a few years.
  • It looks to me like Lumo could be offering a late train back to London from Edinburgh and Glasgow.
  • Digital signalling on the East Coast Main Line should speed up services.

If Lumo to Glasgow and Stirling works out, it could also cut the total carbon footprint of travel between London and Central Scotland.

August 4, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Global Offshore Wind Capacity Reaches 83 GW, 100 GW More To Be Awarded in 2025-2026, New Report Says

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

According to a new market report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), there are now 83 GW of offshore wind capacity installed globally, with 48 GW more in the construction phase worldwide as of May this year.

The first paragraph is a quote from Rebecca Williams, Deputy CEO at GWEC.

Our report finds that there is now already 83 GW of offshore wind installed worldwide, keeping the lights on for 73 million households, and powering countries’ economic development. There is currently a further 48 GW of offshore wind [under] construction worldwide. With its unique position in the marine space, and ability to produce large amounts of reliable, homegrown power, nations around the world are pushing forward the technology to enhance their energy independence and autonomy

I doubt Ms. Williams will be on the Donald Trump’s Christmas card list.

The article is worth a full read, as it contains some interesting statistics.

This is the last paragraph of the article.

Global Wind Energy Council’s 2024 global offshore wind outlook for total additions in the 2025-2029 period was 156.72 GW, which has now been downgraded to 118.56 GW.

These are my estimates for the amount of offshore wind in the UK.

  • Currently Installed – 16, 035 MW
  • To Be Installed in 2025 – 1,235 MW
  • To Be Installed in 2026 – 4,907 MW
  • To Be Installed in 2027 – 5,750 MW
  • To Be Installed in 2028 – 480 MW
  • To Be Installed in 2029 – 1,363 MW

The UK should be installing 13,735 MW, which would.

  • Lift total offshore wind capacity to 29.8 GW.
  • This is an 86 % increase in capacity from July 2025.
  • As I write this, we are using 29.3 GW.
  • We would be adding 11.6 % of the global additions for 2025-2029, which isn’t bad for such a small country.

All this wind will need to be backed up, for when the wind doesn’t blow.

So I asked Google AI how much electricity storage we will have by 2029 and got this AI Overview.

In 2029, the UK is expected to have a significant amount of battery energy storage capacity, with estimates ranging from 27 to 29 GW, according to the House of Commons Library and Cornwall Insight. This capacity is crucial for supporting the UK’s transition to a clean energy system and ensuring a stable electricity supply.

Obviously, Google AI isn’t that intelligent, as it made the mistake made by many electricity storage companies of just giving the output of the battery, as it sounds better, rather than both  the output and the storage capacity.

Consider.

  • Most Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) can provide two hours of output.
  • Highview Power’s big batteries are 200 MW/2.5 GWh, so will provide 12.5 hours of output.

If I assume that the average storage is just two hours, that means the available storage will be at least 54 GWh.

Given that we also had 16 GW of solar power in June 2024 and if this increases at a similar rate to offshore wind power, it will certainly be able to help fill the energy storage, I think we’ll have enough renewable energy to play a big part in the next election.

About The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)

I asked Google AI for a summary about GWEC and got this AI Overview.

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has its global headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal. Additionally, they have offices in Brussels, Belgium; Singapore; and London, UK.

GWEC’s presence is not limited to these locations, as they have a global network of experts working across different continents, according to the organization’s website. Their flagship report, the Global Wind Report, is launched annually in London. For example, the 2025 report launch took place in London.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t mention an office in the United States.

The report, which forms the basis of this post, can be downloaded from the GWEC web site.

 

August 4, 2025 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage | , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Do Vitamin B12 Injections Make You Drowsy?

For the last couple of days I’ve been feeling a bit drowsy.

  • The physio at my fitness class possibly noticed it on Friday.
  • I certainly had a good siesta on Friday afternoon.
  • This morning I went back to bed after the Ocado delivery at 06:30 and slept for an hour.

Google AI gave this answer to my question.

Cyanocobalamin is a form of vitamin B12 that is used to increase vitamin B12 levels. It is available in a variety of forms over the counter as a supplement and by prescription as an injection or nasal spray. Some common side effects may include headache, feeling weak or tired, and nausea.

I certainly didn’t have any headache or nausea. But then I rarely have the first and only have the second, when I see Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin on the television.

According to the BBC, we have been having unusually low atmospheric pressure for this time of year.

So I also asked Google AI if low atmospheric pressure can make you drowsy.

Google AI gave this answer to my question.

Yes, low atmospheric pressure can make you drowsy. This is because low pressure systems, often associated with stormy or cloudy weather, can lead to decreased sunlight exposure, which can disrupt the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm) and increase melatonin production, the hormone that promotes sleep. Additionally, low pressure can reduce oxygen saturation, potentially causing fatigue.

As my now-retired GP felt I was badly affected by low atmospheric pressure, I’ll go along with that!

As that GP and myself felt that low atmospheric pressure drew water out of my body and made me dehydrated, I asked Google a supplementary question – Does dehydration make you drowsy?

Google AI gave this answer to my question.

Yes, dehydration can definitely make you feel drowsy. When your body is dehydrated, it doesn’t have enough fluids to function optimally, which can lead to fatigue and drowsiness. Dehydration can also cause a drop in blood pressure, which can reduce blood flow to the brain, further contributing to feelings of tiredness and sleepiness, according to A.Vogel UK.

I’ll go along with that.

Conclusion

Did the combination of the B12 injection and the low atmospheric pressure combine to make me unusually drowsy?

It’s certainly a possibility.

The more I ask Dr. Google questions, that he passes to his computerised assistant, the more I like and trust the system.

 

 

August 2, 2025 Posted by | Computing, Health | , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Reform Declares War On County’s Net-Zero Projects

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

Reform UK leaders in Lincolnshire say they have “declared war” on green energy projects.

These three paragraphs outline their policies.

Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, Greater Lincolnshire’s mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns and Councillor Sean Matthews, who leads the county council, launched a campaign at a press conference held in Boston earlier.

They said they opposed wind and solar farms and battery storage facilities, with Tice adding: “It is an absolute outrage what the madness of net stupid zero is doing to our county, as well as to our country.”

The government said green energy was vital in delivering energy security, while Labour MP Melanie Onn argued Reform’s stance posed a risk to thousands of jobs.

It should be noted that Lincolnshire has a lot of projects, that will be concerned with renewable energy.

Lincolnshire is one of the UK counties, with the highest level of wind power.

  • There are over 7 GW of wind farms, that already do or will land their electricity in the county including 5.5 GW from the world’s largest offshore wind farm; Hornsea.
  • There is approaching 300 MW of onshore wind in the county, which includes England’s largest onshore wind farm at Keadby, which is 68 MW.

I asked Google how much solar there was in the county and I got this AI Overview.

Lincolnshire has a significant amount of solar power capacity, with several large solar farms and numerous smaller installations. The county is a major location for solar energy development, with some projects aiming to power tens or even hundreds of thousands of homes.

In the real world of wind and solar energy, all of this renewable energy will need backup and the county has it in hundreds of megawatts.

  • Keadby One is a 732 MW gas-fired power station owned by SSE Thermal.
  • Keadby Two is a 849 MW gas-fired power station owned by SSE Thermal.
  • Keadby Three will be a 910 gas-fired power station, fitted with carbon capture, that is being developed by SSE Thermal.
  • Keadby Next Generation Power Station is a 1800 MW hydrogen-powered power station, that is being developed by Equinor and SSE Thermal. I wrote about it in Consultation On Plans For Keadby Hydrogen Power Station To Begin and it will generate 900 MW of zero-carbon electricity.

Now that it what I call backup.

Conclusion

Lincolnshire generates a lot of renewable energy and Reform UK want to throw it all away.

As I showed in US Gov’t Withdraws All Offshore Wind Energy Areas, Trump’s policies against renewable energy and wind in particular are not good for investment and employment.

We don’t want Trump’s policies in the UK.

And especially in Lincolnshire, where all this energy can attract jobs.

 

 

August 1, 2025 Posted by | Energy, Finance | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hotel Tycoon Reveals Heathrow Expansion Proposal

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

Hotel tycoon Surinder Arora has announced he is submitting a Heathrow expansion plan which rivals a proposal from the airport’s owners.

These three paragraphs add more details.

The billionaire’s Arora Group said the “primary benefit” of the plan it submitted to the government was a shorter new runway which would avoid the costly and disruptive need to divert the M25 motorway.

Building a 2,800-metre (9,200 ft) third runway instead of the full-length 3,500-metre (11,500 ft) runway planned by the airport would result in “reduced risk” and avoid “spiralling cost”, the company said.

The airport declined to comment on the Arora Group’s proposal.

Note.

  1. In Heathrow Willing To Build Shorter Runway After Airline Outcry Over Cost, I proved to my satisfaction, that a shorter third runway would work.
  2. Any scheme that involves diverting the M25, is not fit to get to be on the short list, as construction will be too disruptive.
  3. I also remember the problems of the M 25, during the construction of Terminal 5.

The last paragraph is the most important, as it illustrates Heathrow’s attitude to outside ideas.

Perhaps, Heathrow’s management suffers from Not-Invented-Here Syndrome?

Conclusion

I suspect that Surinder Arora’s project will be a non-starter.

 

July 31, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

US Gov’t Withdraws All Offshore Wind Energy Areas

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has rescinded and de-designated all Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The WEAs are areas in the US federal waters that BOEM previously identified as suitable for wind energy development and, following a multi-stage process, designated Wind Energy Areas for which a lease sale may be proposed.

This first paragraph adds more details.

“By rescinding WEAs, BOEM is ending the federal practice of designating large areas of the OCS for speculative wind development, and is de-designating over 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters previously targeted for offshore wind development across the Gulf of America, Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon, and the Central Atlantic”, the US agency said on 30 July.

Trump may not be able to do anything about windmills in Scotland, but he has certainly killed them off in the seas around the United States.

The last paragraph of the article contains the words of Stephanie Francoeur, SVP of Communications & External Affairs at Oceantic Network, who are a US offshore renewable energy industry organisation.

“This will result in even higher energy costs, increased blackouts, job loss, and billions of dollars in stranded investments, further delaying shovel-ready projects supported by a domestic heavy manufacturing supply chain renaissance that spans 40 states. Crippling affordable and reliable wind energy makes no economic sense and undermines the administration’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. We urge the Department to adopt policies which put all sources of American energy on an even playing field.”

Donald! The lady has warned you! And she seems angry!

Could This Decision Be Beneficial To Other Wind Projects Around The World?

I wouldn’t be surprised, as there will now be a lot of quality resources and assets in the United States, that will be looking for work.

July 31, 2025 Posted by | Energy | , , , | Leave a comment

Lumo Will Extend Its King’s Cross And Edinburgh Service To Glasgow

This article on the BBC is entitled New Train Services Approved On East Coast Main Line.

This is the sub-heading.

Additional train services will run on the East Coast Main Line from December, the rail regulator has said.

This will be the additional services for Lumo according to this document from the Office of Road and Rail.

  • Lumo (Newcastle): one additional return service between London King’s Cross and Newcastle on weekdays and one additional service in opposing directions on a Saturday and Sunday.
  • Lumo (Glasgow extensions): the extension of existing London King’s Cross-Edinburgh services so that Lumo can provide two northbound services and one southbound service between London King’s Cross and Glasgow on weekdays and one in each direction on Sundays.

I have some thoughts.

Train Lengths

The Office of Road and Rail document doesn’t mention train lengths.

  • Hull Trains have been running most services as five-car trains, with some running as ten-car trains.
  • In Ten-Car Hull Trains, I talked about Hull Trains and their mixing of 5- and 10-car trains and how it increased the number of seats on the route by 16.7 %.

I suspect that Lumo will use pairs of trains on some services to increase and also balance the number of seats.

A Possible Timetable

Consider.

  • Currently, there are five Northbound trains every day with five Southbound trains on Monday to Saturday and four on Sunday.
  • Lumo seem to run a reliable service.
  • Would it be a safe and sensible idea to base the new timetable on the current timetable?
  • Perhaps, the Glasgow services could be add-ons to the current timetable.

So it looks to me, that the extra trains will be scheduled using an innovative timetable.

  • I wouldn’t be surprised if the Glasgow to London King’s Cross train was a pair of trains in the evening to balance the service and get two trains to London King’s Cross for the start of the next day’s services.
  • This would also give travellers as long a day as possible in Glasgow.
  • Would the two London King’s Cross to Glasgow trains, start as a pair of trains at London King’s Cross that split at Edinburgh, with one train returning to London King’s Cross and the other going on to Glasgow?
  • Glasgow gets ten cars per day from London King’s Cross and sends ten cars back to London King’s Cross.
  • Could the Sunday services both be a pair of trains?

The only new paths needed for the service, would be.

  • Two between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
  • One Southbound between Glasgow and London King’s Cross at the end of the day.

Otherwise the main timetable is as it is now.

How Long Will London King’s Cross and Glasgow Take?

Consider.

  • The fastest Lumo trains take around 4 hours and 23 minutes between London and Edinburgh.
  • The fastest ScotRail trains take around 50 minutes between Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street stations.

I would expect a time of around 5 hours and 13 minutes is possible.

This is slower than the typical 4 hours and 31 minutes of Avanti West Coast between Euston and Glasgow Central stations, but improvements to the signalling may reduce the time that Lumo takes between London and Edinburgh.

What Time Are The Last Train From Glasgow and Edinburgh To London?

These would appear to be the last trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London.

  • The last Avanti West Coast train would appear to be the 18:40 from Glasgow Central, which gets in to London Euston at 23:40.
  • The Caledonian Sleeper leaves at 23:40 from Glasgow Central, which gets in to London Euston at 07:00.
  • The last LNER train for London King’s Cross, would appear to be the 19:37 from Edinburgh, which gets in to London King’s Cross at 01:14.
  • The last LNER train for Leeds, would appear to be the 21:00 from Edinburgh, which gets in to Leeds at 00:42.
  • The last LNER train for Newcastle, would appear to be the 22:00 from Edinburgh, which gets in to Newcastle at 01:14.
  • The Caledonian Sleeper leaves at 23:40 from Edinburgh, which gets in to London Euston at 07:00.

Note.

  1. The timetable seems to assume, that if you are spending a day in Edinburgh or Glasgow and need to return to London, you will use the Caledonian Sleeper.
  2. Unless you use the Sleeper, you can’t see an evening football match and easily go home to anywhere South of Edinburgh.
  3. One of the last trains to arrive in London King’s Cross station is the 19:58 Lumo service from Edinburgh, which arrives at 01:00 in London King’s Cross station.
  4. Surprisingly, London King’s Cross station seems to have several trains moving in and out all night.

There’s certainly a large gap in the evening, where an extra service could run between Glasgow and London King’s Cross.

I wonder how late Lumo could bring a train into King’s Cross station?

  • I came in once to King’s Cross  at about 01:30 and still got a taxi home.
  • There are also lots of 24-hour buses.
  • There is little or no car parking.

I still think Lumo will operate a train as late as Network Rail will allow them.

Could Passengers Sleep In Lumo’s Seats?

I’ve certainly managed it. But then I’ve never had a problem falling asleep.

Does The Extended Service To Glasgow Pass The Granny’s Birthday Test?

Suppose it’s your granny’s birthday and you want to go to her family party, which is in the afternoon.

You should be able to take a morning train up to Glasgow and then take the late train back afterwards.

Conclusion

Lumo have spotted a gap in the timetable and they intend to fill it.

 

 

 

July 30, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Every High Street Should Have One!

The pictures show the latest shop to open on City Road between Old Street and Moorgate stations.

As it is by a 141 bus stop on my way home from the Elizabeth Line, next time I need something, I can just get off the bus, buy what I need and catch the next bus home.

It’s even open on Sundays.

July 30, 2025 Posted by | Shopping | , , , | Leave a comment

I See My First Driverless Car

The pictures show the first driverless car, that I’ve seen.

It was happily going along the Balls Pond Road, where it stopped immaculately at the lights, at the junction with Southgate Road.

Recently, a pedestrian was killed at those lights by a truck. It looks like he didn’t understand the sequence of the lights and stepped out, when he shouldn’t.

As a Control Engineer, I have a feeling, that driverless cars will never live up to the hype.

July 30, 2025 Posted by | Computing, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , | 1 Comment