Transport Secretary Urged Not To Derail Aylesbury Spur Plans
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Bucks Herald.
This is the sub-heading of the article.
Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, Martin Tett has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urging him to confirm Government support and funding for the much needed Aylesbury link section of East-West rail.
I think this Aylesbury link needs very careful thinking.
There are certainly a lot of issues to consider.
The Aylesbury Link
The Great Central Main Line used to run from London Marylebone station to the East Midlands and North.
Much of the route closed in the 1960s and the only section with a regular passenger service is that that run by Chiltern Railways, between Marylebone and Aylesbury Vale Parkway station.
North of Aylesbury Vale Parkway this rail link connects to the East-West Rail Link.
It was originally proposed to run a service between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.
High Speed Two
High Speed Two is the herd of elephants in the room and it could have multiple effects all over the country.
Is High Speed Two For London, The Midlands, The North And Scotland Or For The Whole UK?
The answer surely, is that High Speed Two is for the whole UK.
Train Services Between Wales and the West Of England And The North Of England And Scotland
Consider.
- North Wales is well served by a change at Crewe for passengers from the North and Scotland.
- Mid Wales is served by a change at Crewe or in Birmingham.
- South Wales, Bristol and the West and South-West of England are well-served by high speed trains from London Paddington and Reading.
Could South Wales, Bristol and the West and South-West of England, be better connected to the North and Scotland?
One of the ways to improve these services could be with a connection between High Speed Two and East-West Rail Link to allow trains to connect to the Great Western Railway at Didcot Junction.
Train Services Between East Anglia And The North Of England And Scotland
One of the ways to improve these services could be with a connection between High Speed Two and East-West Rail Link to allow trains to connect to and from Cambridge and East Anglia.
A High Speed Two Station At Calvert
Calvert is a village surrounded by landfill and wildlife sites to the South of where High Speed Two and East-West Rail Link cross to the North of Aylesbury.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- Calvert is the village in the middle of the map.
- The light-coloured area to the South-East of the village is one of London’s biggest landfill sites.
- The single-track railway to Aylesbury runs along the North-East side of the landfill.
- To the North of the village, this railway connects to the East-West Rail Link.
This Google Map shows the junction between the two railways in greater detail.
Note.
- The Northern part of Calvert is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The East-West Rail Link crossing across the North of the map
- The railway to Aylesbury running SE-NW across the map, to the East of the village of Calvert.
- The chord connecting the two railways, which allows trains to and from the South to connect to the East.
This map from High Speed Two shows the route of the new railway through the area.
Note.
- High Speed Two is shown in yellow (cutting) and embankment (red).
- High Speed Two appears to run either on the same route or alongside the route to Aylesbury.
The Oakervee Review into High Speed Two, says this on Page 53, about a new station at Calvert in Buckinghamshire.
The Review also heard evidence from a number of informed stakeholders suggesting there should be a new station near Calvert, where HS2 would cross East-West Rail proposals to improve connectivity along the OxfordCambridge corridor. Previously, due to the impact on speed, no interim station had been planned between London and Birmingham Interchange.
The Review concluded that the DfT should consider making passive provision for a future HS2 station near to Calvert. If it is decided that a HS2 station should be built near to Calvert, passive provision will help prevent any disruption to HS2 services. There could be merit in developing an HS2 station in the future here if local plans support a significant residential and commercial development in this region, and if there is passenger demand to justify the cost of developing a station here. Without this coordinated planning, the experience of HS1 stations risks being repeated. The Review notes that the cost of developing a future station near Calvert could be shared with others including potentially the East West Rail Company.
I must admit, that I like the concept of a new station at Calvert.
- The double-track High Speed Two and the single-track Aylesbury Link run alongside each other and a station wouldn’t be a very expensive one.
- High Speed Two Trains will be very powerful and should be able to do a quick stop perhaps losing about two minutes.
- The important Milton Keynes Central station would get a good High Speed Two service, with a change at Calvert.
- Trains between Oxford and Cambridge could serve Calvert station.
It might also be possible for one of High Speed Two’s Classic Compatible trains to join High Speed Two at the station with a reverse.
This could enable a service between say Cardiff and Edinburgh.
- Intermediate stops could be Newport, Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Oxford, Bicester Village, Calvert, Birmingham Interchange, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle.
- It might even join and split at Swindon and Carlisle, with a second Classic Compatible train going between Penzance and Glasgow, which stopped at Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol Temple Meads, Bath, Swindon, Oxford, Bicester Village, Calvert, Birmingham Interchange, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle.
- It would need extra two-hundred metre long platforms at Swindon, Oxford, Bicester Village and Calvert.
If this train ran hourly, there would certainly be a need for an hourly feeder train between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.
But as yet, it hasn’t been decided to provide provision at Calvert for a possible High Speed Two station.
Rolling Stock For The East-West Rail Link
In July 2019, I wrote Tender Set To Be Issued For East West Rail Rolling Stock.
I analysed if battery electric trains could run services on the East West Rail Link.
I said this.
Consider.
-
- All the major stations except Oxford have electrification.
- Sections of the route are electrified.
- The route is not very challenging.
- The longest section without electrification is around forty miles.
All this leads me to believe that a battery-electric train with a range of forty miles could handle the route, if there was the means to charge the train at Oxford.
Possibly the easiest way to achieve the charging station at Oxford station, would be to electrify between Didcot Junction and Oxford stations.
Since then Hitachi have released the Hitachi Regional Battery Train, whose specification is shown in this infographic.
I believe this train could work the East-West Rail Link and also between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.
I also believe, that other manufacturers could provide battery electric trains for the route.
These or similar trains would also be suitable for the decarbonisation of Chiltern’s diesel multiple units, that run the suburban services.
Conclusion
High Speed Two could have a station at Calvert.
If it does, there will certainly be a need between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.
To be continued…
Never Remove A Feature In A Computer Program
One of my golden rules in updating computing programs, is never to remove a feature however obscure it is. The reason is obvious, in that if the feature exists someone will find an extremely useful way to use it.
Here are two changes in other software systems that are annoying me at present.
The Windows 10 Photo Viewer
I use an SD card to capture images in my camera..
On my old laptop with Windows 7, if I was looking at a folder of images, I could scroll past the last image to the first and vice-versa, which was a very useful feature, when looking for an obscure image.
Windows 10 doesn’t have this feature and it is very annoying.
Zopa’s New System
I invest some of my savings in Zopa and use it as a high-interest one month-access deposit account in a concept that I call hybrid banking, which I wrote about in The Concept Of Hybrid Banking.
The old system used to give two figures about your money, that was yet to be invested.
- The money sitting there waiting in the queue for new borrowers.
- The allocated money waiting for the borrower to be checked and sign up.
The first figure was invaluable, as by watching it, it enabled me to see how constipated the system was. There’s not much point, of putting more money in Zopa, if it will just sit there. It could be more productive in crowdfunding an outstanding idea.
But in the new system, they have added these two figures together.
It’s not catastrophic, but it’s a nuisance.
Conclusion
Never disobey, the title of this post!
Jaguar Car Brand To Be All-Electric By 2025
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
It would appear, that some of the larger vehicles will be powered by hydrogen.
But it is an interesting, even if it is an inevitable move.
I find these two paragraphs interesting.
But it has dropped plans to build an electric version of its XJ saloon at the Castle Bromwich plant, meaning the site will eventually stop making cars.
Chief executive Thierry Bolloré said the plant would focus instead on “non-production” activities in the long term, without giving details.
Note.
- Castle Bromwich is a large site.
- It’s probably not in the best place to build thousands of cars.
- Would turning it into a giant battery-pack factory be classed as non-production?
It sounds like there’s a cunning plan.
- As an engineer, I believe, there’s only one way to build an electric car and that is as light in weight as possible to make sure the car goes as far as possible on each charge of the battery.
- So this will mean the sort of construction methods used for Formula One cars and aircraft.
- Will this in turn mean a brand new factory, that makes cars in radically different ways?
I think there’s a lot more to be disclosed.
The Welsh Find A Use For Japanese Knotweed
I had to laugh at a story, which is the secondary story in this article on Rail News, which is entitled New Station Opens Quietly – And Knotweed Is Useful At Last.
The main story is about the opening of Bow Street station to the North of Aberystwyth.
When the London Overground took over the Lea Valley Lines, I comforted a semi-distraught London Overground manager, who had just found that one station was totally overrun with this heinous invader. It was so bad, he couldn’t even check how bad it was!
But it does seem, that the Welsh have come up with a solution on the line of Make The Bugger Work.
This is the paragraph, which describes the solution.
Bow Street has also made use of a plant pest which had been growing in the area, because 5000 cubic metres of Japanese Knotweed was treated and re-used for fill at the site, saving 400 lorry loads which would otherwise have been taken to landfill.
It’s very innovation and totally appropropriate.
Could We Set Up Covid-19 Vaccine Tourism?
Consider.
- We are a country, which lots of people want to visit for business and/or tourism.
- We have got lots of Covid-19 vaccine.
- It appears that the one-shot Janssen vaccine will come on stream soon from the factory on Teesside.
- We have accurate methods of detecting, if people have the virus.
I also think that in a few weeks time, it might be possible to check, that an incoming tourist from many countries, is totally free of the virus.
So could we operate a system, where incoming passengers from safe countries, go through a procedure similar to this?
- They are tested for Covid-19 before departure and aren’t allowed to fly after a positive test. This is the current procedure.
- On arrival in the UK, they go to a hotel for a night.
- On arrival at the hotel, they are tested for Covid-19.
- If the test is positive, they go straight back in the morning.
- They are then vaccinated with the Janssen vaccine.
After appropriate checks, they are allowed to leave in the morning.
- Those just coming for the vaccination could go straight back from where they came from.
- Those coming for business or tourism, would follow the normal procedure.
I’m certain, that a procedure could be developed, that would be approved by the UK Government.
It would be ideal for a low-cost airline, who could set it up with a local hotel.
Travelling From Countries On The Banned List
Those entering from countries On The banned list would out of courtesy be offered a free vaccine.
Will We Be Able To Open Up In The UK At The End Of April?
This page on Statista is entitled Population Of The United Kingdom In 2019, By Age Group.
Adding their numbers into groups gives.
- Over 70 – 9 million
- 50-69 – 16.2 million
- 30-49 – 17.3 million
- 20-29 – 8.7 million
- Under 20 – 15.6 million
This adds up to a total of 66.8 million.
Consider.
- Over the last three days, over half a million first doses of the vaccines have been given.
- In the first thirteen days of February an average of 443,525 jabs per day were administered.
- In the first thirteen days of February, half a million first doses was exceeded four times.
- Around 80-90 per cent of the four most at risk groups have had their first dose.
- There are at least 70 days to go before the end of April.
I feel it is not unreasonable to expect that we can vaccinate half a million first doses per day, so by the end of April we should administer another 35 million first doses.
If the rate is only 400,000 first doses per day, that is still 28 million first doses.
Conclusion
It looks to me, that everybody over the age of twenty could be offered a first dose of vaccine, with some to spare for those under twenty. in higher risk situations.
So will we be able to open up the UK at the end of April?
It is my view, that the computer could say Yes! It certainly doesn’t say No!
In memory of Dame Barbara and Sir Henry, we should Carry On Jabbing!
Station Reopening At Bow Street Brings First Trains For 56 Years
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
Hopefully, I shall be able to visit this summer.
It must be around sixty years since I was last in that area. I can remember my father driving his MG Magnette (676 RME) on the beach at Borth, whilst we spent a few days at a B & B in Savage’s Garage in Aberystwyth.
Memories Of Old Money
I don’t specifically remember Decimalisation-Day on the 15th February, 1971, which is fifty years ago today.
But I do have a few memories of the old currency.
- Before 1970, I served in pubs and will always remember that three bottles of Guinness at 1/8 each cost five shillings.
- I once complained to British Rail about a late train from Glasgow to Manchester and received a nine shilling postal order in return.
- I also remember the Kings Head theatre pub did everything in old money for some years, until the till broke.
You just got on with the change.
Nine Elms Underground Station – 14th February 2021
Nine Elms Underground station, is now recognisable as a station.
Note.
- It certainly looks like an Autumn opening is not impossible.
- I couldn’t past the station to have a look at Arch 42, which I wrote about in Nine Elms Gateways By Projects Office.
I walked to the station from Vauxhall station this morning, through a forest of new skyscrapers.
Is A Crossrail For Leeds On The Way?
This article on Insider Media is entitled Schemes Totalling More Than £140m Backed By Investment Committee.
This is introductory paragraph.
Schemes totalling more than £140m to support the region’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, have have been backed by West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Investment Committee.
These are the two main schemes.
A £24.2m million (including £17m Combined Authority funding) rail station between Morley and Cotttingley on the Transpennine route at White Rose/
A 31.6m (including £13.9m of Combined Authority funding) parkway rail station at Thorpe Park on the Leeds to York section of the route.
There are also several other schemes for West Yorkshire.
White Rose Station
This Google Map shows the White Rose Centre.
The Huddersfield Line runs North-South alongside the Centre and there must be plenty of space for a new White Rose station.
From Wikipedia and other sources, the following seems to be on the agenda for the station.
- Two platforms.
- Ability to take six-car trains, with a possibility to extend to eight-cars.
- Two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
- Up to 340,000 passengers per year.
- Lots of parking.
The station would be about 3.5 miles to the South-West of Leeds station.
Thorpe Park Station
This Google Map shows the area where the station could be built.
Note.
- The Selby Line curving across the Northern side of the map.
- Cross Gates station is the next station to the West.
- Going East on the Selby Line, you pass through Garforth, East Garforth and Micklefield stations before the line divides for York to the North and Selby and Hull to the East.
- The M1 Motorway passing to the East of Leeds.
Other features of the proposed station and the area include.
- Wikipedia says that the station will have two island platforms and the ability to handle inter-city trains.
- The route through the station would be electrified.
- High Speed Two could be routed to go close to the station.
- Lots of parking.
The station would be about 4 miles to the East of Leeds station.
A Crossrail For Leeds
Could these two stations in the future become stations on a high-capacity route across Yorkshire centred on Leeds?
- The Western end of the route could be Huddersfield.
- The Eastern end of the route could be both York and Hull.
- Plans exist and projects have started to fully electrify between Huddersfield and York.
- Both stations will be Park-and-Ride stations with good connections to the motorway network.
- Intermediate stations between Leeds and Huddersfield could include Cottingley, White Rose, Morley, Batley, Dewsbury, Ravensthorpe, Mirfield and Deighton
- Intermediate stations between Leeds and York could include Cross Gates, Thorpe Park, Garforth, East Garforth, Micklefield, Church Fenton and Ulleskelf.
- Intermediate stations between Leeds and Hull could include Cross Gates, Thorpe Park, Garforth, East Garforth, Micklefield, South Milford, Selby, Wrassle, Howden, Eastrington, Gilberdyke, Broomfleet, Brough, Ferriby and Hessle.
With the exception of the two new stations and the electrification, infrastructure needs would not appear to be large.
These are some thoughts.
Distances And Timings
These are some distances and estimated timings from Leeds.
- Huddersfield – 27 miles – 32 minutes – 51 mph
- Hull – 52 miles – 55 minutes – 57 mph
- York – 15,5 miles – 23 minutes – 40 mph
Note.
- With full electrification, timings could be improved.
- York and Huddersfield would be under an hour.
- Kull and Huddersfield could be under ninety minutes.
These timings would certainly be achievable by a 125 mph Class 802 train, but I suspect, that they could be achieved by a 110 mph electric train like a Class 730/1 train.
Current Services Through White Road, Leeds and Thorpe Park Stations
These services currents pass through the three stations or their proposed sites.
- TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh
- TransPennine Express – Liverpool Lime Street and Scarborough
- TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Newcastle
- TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Redcar Central
- TransPennine Express – Manchester Piccadilly and Hull
Note.
- All of these trains are one tph.
- There could be five quality tph on the route, most of which would be five-car Class 802 trains.
In addition the following services would pass through Leeds and Thorpe Park stations.
- CrossCountry – Plymouth and Edinburgh/Glasgow
- Northern Trains – Blackpool North and York via Bradford Interchange
- Northern Trains – Halifax and Hull via Bradford Interchange
Note.
- All of these trains are one tph.
- Two trains serve Bradford Interchange.
These services could mean eight tph between Thorpe Park and Leeds stations.
In addition the following services would pass through Leeds and White Rose stations.
- Northern Trains – Wigan Wallgate and Leeds
- TransPennine Express – Huddersfield and Leeds
Note.
- All of these trains are one tph.
These services could mean seven tph between White Rose and Leeds stations.
A Possible Future Service
I believe that services across Leeds could be recast to give the City a network of railways that would satisfy the needs of the City.
Possible services could include.
Four tph – York and Huddersfield via Thorpe Park, Leeds and White Rose in under an hour.
Two tph – Hull and Huddersfield via Thorpe Park, Leeds and White Rose in under ninety minutes.
Two tph – Halifax and Thorpe Park via Leeds and Bradford
Note
- There are a lot of possibilities.
- Services would be timed to make interchange easy with other services at Leeds.
I would also arrange for East to West and West to East services to share the same island platform at Leeds.
Conclusion
Leeds will get the electrified local railway the city deserves.
The Anonymous Widower 