Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition Display At Waterloo Station
As I passed through Waterloo station, yesterday, I happened upon, this display of the designs for the Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition.
If you are interested in design or have movement difficulties at times on the UK rail network, and regularly pass through the station, it is worth taking a look.
Mayor Drops Plans To Close London Overground Ticket Offices
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The Mayor of London has dropped plans to close ticket offices at 51 London Overground stations.
Busy stations will continue to operate as usual, though many will have opening hours reduced to just two-and-a-half hours per day, City Hall said.
Although the Unions objected to the Mayor’s original plans and this has probably prompted the Mayor’s U-turn, I think that staff in ticket offices will disappear within perhaps five years.
The only time, I see anyone use the Ticket Office at Dalston Junction station, is probably to sort out a ticketing issue with the machines, which are becoming increasingly rare, as Transport for London are increasing their numbers and replacing older machines with better designs.
Also as Dalston Junction is a busy station, there is usually someone manning the gate-line, who can help.
But over the next few years, the following will happen.
- More and more passengers will use contactless ticketing with bank cards.
- Contactless ticketing will expand widely, so that for most journeys in the UK, you would just touch-in and touch-out.
- Oyster will cease to be used and be withdrawn.
- Gateline technology will get better.
- Staff working on the gateline and platforms, will be better equipped with mobile technology to sort out problems.
- Ticket machines will develop into sophisticated multi-language help points.
- Cash will disappear from daily life and stations.
- Train companies will continue to be short of drivers and will look for other staff that can be retrained.
On a related note, increasingly, London Underground and Overground are being targeted by organised gangs of beggars. This means they need more staff on the gateline to control the problem.
I can see a time, when working in a ticket office will be a very lonely and boring job, that no-one will want to do.
So like the dinosaurs, they will just die out!
Balloons On The Line Blamed For £1m Worth Of Train Delays
The title of this post, is the same as this article in The Times
This is the first two paragraphs.
Families have been told to stop bringing helium-filled balloons into railway stations after they were blamed for delays that cost the network £1 million a year.
In the latest version of “leaves on the line”, Network Rail said there were 619 “balloon-related incidents” across Britain in the past 12 months.
Liverstock farmers don’t like them either, as they fall into fields and get eaten.
I don’t like banning things, but surely some regulation and sensible rules are needed.
Scotrail Boss Pledges More Seats And Stops On Borders Railway
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Southern Reporter.
If you live near or use the Borders Railway, I suggest you read the article.
Alex Hynes, who is Managing Director of ScotRail has promised.
- Three-car Class 170 trains will replace the current two-car trains.
- More drivers will be trained.
- Extra stops including at Stow will be added to services.
- In 2015, in the Peak, there were 850 seats out of Edinburgh. After the new trains are introduced, there will be 1,400.
He also said that things would happen in months not years.
This is a paragraph from the article, as spoken by Alex Hynes.
The three-carriage Class 170 trains accelerate and brake more quickly that the current two-carriage trains. That means we can put a stop at Stow in all the time without it affecting our performance, but to do that we need Class 170 trains on the route all the time and to be able to make sure that stop doesn’t affect our service performance.
It’s a good explanation of why you need fast trains on stopping services.
There is also something that is worth noting about the Class 170 trains.
Currently, they are diesel trains with a hydraulic transmission. But Porterbrook, who are the leasing company, who actually own the trains, are planning to test a new diesel-electric hybrid system in 2020, that will increase the performance of the trains, in terms of speed, acceleration, noise and emission.
I wrote about this important upgrade in Rolls-Royce And Porterbrook Launch First Hybrid Rail Project In The UK With MTU Hybrid PowerPacks.
I will be watching this development with interest, as if it is successful, passengers, residents, train companies and staff will benefit.
New Facility To Power Liverpool’s Buses With Hydrogen
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Air Quality News.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Arcola Energy will build a facility to develop hydrogen and fuel cell technology for buses near Liverpool.
The company has secured 15,000 sq. ft of newly-built premises in Knowsley which will house the company’s manufacturing, installation and maintenance facilities.
The manufacturing area of the new site will be used to produce and install hydrogen fuel systems into a fleet of double-decker buses for the Liverpool City Region, after the city region was awarded £6.4m for the project by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles.
The article says this about the design of the buses.
The buses have been developed through a partnership between Arcola and Alexander Dennis, the world’s largest double-decker bus manufacturer.
Arcola Energy‘s Head Office is just round the corner from where I live, by the Arcola Theatre in Dalston.
Could London Get A New Tube Line Between Canary Wharf And Euston?
The title of this post is the same as that as this article on CityMetric.
The article makes some interesting points.
- The line has been proposed by the owners of Canary Wharf.
- Getting to Canary Wharf from Euston, Kings Cross and St. Pancras is difficult.
- Property developers have always decided where London’s railways go.
- The plan would seem to have just one intermediate stop at Blackfriars station.
These new or improved services will be happening in the next ten years.
- More and faster services to/from the Midlands and the North West at Euston.
- High Speed Two services at Euston
- More and faster services to/from the East Midlands and Sheffield at St. Pancras.
- More Continental services at St. Pancras
- More and faster services to/from Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland at Kings Cross.
These lead me to the conclusion, that a new rail link is needed across London.
A Possible Western Extension To The Docklands Light Railway
In A Connection Between City Thameslink Station And The Docklands Light Railway, I wrote about a possible Western extension of the Docklands Light Railway.
his map from Transport for London, shows this possible Western extension of the DLR.
This was my analysis.
With all the problems of the funding of Crossrail 2, that I wrote about in Crossrail 2 Review Prompts Fresh Delays, could this extension of the DLR, be a good idea?
Consider,
- Victoria, Euston and St. Pancras are prosposed Crossrail 2 stations.
- It would link Canary Wharf and the City of London to Eurostar, Northern and Scottish services and High Speed 2.
- It would give all of the Docklands Light Railway network access to Thameslink.
- A pair of well-designed termini at Euston and St. Panras would probably increase frequency and capacity on the Bank branch of the system.
- The DLR is getting new higher capacity trains.
- Bank station is being upgraded with forty percent more passenger capacity.
- Holborn station is being upgraded and hopefully will be future-proofed for this extension.
- One big advantage at City Thameslink, is that Thameslink and the proposed DLR extension will cross at right-angles, thus probably making designing a good step-free interchange easier.
- The Bank Branch of the DLR currently handles 15 tph, but could probably handle more, if they went on to two terminal stations at St Pancras and Victoria..
- Waterloo and City Line can run at twenty-four tph.
Cinderella she may be, but then she always delivers, when there is a desperate need, just as she did magnificently at the 2012 Olympics.
The only problem with this extension of the DLR, is that compared to the rest of the system, the views will be terrible.
For myself and all the others living along the East London Line, with a step-free change at Shadwell, we would get excellent access to Euston, Saint Pancras and Victoria
But could the line still be called the Docklands Light Railway, as it spreads its tentacles further?
Will Cinderella come to the help of Canary Wharf for a second time?
I remember, when the Lewisham extension of the DLR was built without fuss, fanfare and cost and time overruns a couple of decades ago.
It was a triumph of sensible engineering.
Chatham Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Chatham station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- The station building is above the tracks.
- There are two staircases from the building to each platform.
- The platforms are reasonably wide.
It might not be an easy station to provide full step-free access.
Installing Step-Free Access
This Google Map shows the Eastern side of the station building.
You can just see the stairs at the back of the building.
In stations with similar layouts, Network Rail have built new stairs and lift structures, like these at New Cross Gate station.
Could something similar be squeezed in at Chatham station?
It would be difficult but podssible, in a station that handles nearly three million passengers per year.
Herne Bay Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Herne Bay station is on the list.
These pictures show the station and the current subway.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- The station has two platforms, with a closed third platform.
- The Eastbound platform is Platform 2, with the Westbound platform numbered 1.
- The two platforms are connected by a very bad subway, with steep stairs at either end.
- There are three trains per hour (tph) in both directions through the station.
Whilst I was at the station, there were three guys with bikes using the trains.
Consider.
- In my experience, coastal stations attract visitors with buggies and bikes.
- There are a higher proportion of older passengers.
- Good weather can increase passenger numbers.
It is without doubt the sort of smaller station on the coast, that needs step-free access.
Installing Step-Free Access
When I first saw the subway, I thought it could be possible to just add a lift at each end.
But looking at the station and the pictures on this page, I wonder if a bridge would be better.
- The subway is rather cramped and might not be wide enough for a large wheelchair or buggy to pass another.
- Digging the lift shafts would probably close the subway for at least a few weeks.
- There appears to be space at the Eastern end of the station for a bridge.
- Adding a bridge wouldn’t interfere with the siubway operation.
- If the station had both a bridge and a subway, the extra capacity would be welcome and might help reliability.
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
Could a factory-built bridge like this be used at Herne Bay station?
- The bridge would be designed to fit.
- Platform 2 would probably need to be widened, so passengers could pass the steps to get to the lift.
I think it could be made to work very well!
The Anonymous Widower 