The Future Of The Overground Arrives In November
This article on Rail Technology Magazine is entitled TfL Reveals Ultramodern London Overground Trains.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until November to have a ride in the new Class 710 trains.
Moorgate Is Being Refurbished In Readiness For Crossrail
I took these pictures as I walked from between Moorgate and Bank stations.
With Moorgate station about to become the Western end of the enormous Crossrail station at Liverpool Street, the office developments in the area are being refurbished or rebuilt, so that commuters have appropriate places to work.
Progress On Access To Platforms 20-24 At Waterloo Station – June 21st 2018
These pictures show the creation of the new access routes between Platforms 20 to 24 and the Underground at Waterloo station.
I suspect there will be a lot more retail outlets.
The New Wide Pedestrian Entrance To London Bridge Station
These pictures show the entrance to London Bridge station from the bus station.
It will also be the way many people enter the station after walking across London Bridge.
From notices on the walls, it would also appear that there will be a new Marks and Spencer Simply Food.
West Ealing Station – 21st June 2018
The progress to create new station buildings at West Ealing station seems to be painfully slow, as these pictures show.
It looks like there are now no platforms on the fast lines and the actual platforms for Crossrail and the Greenford Branch Line appear to be complete except for finishing off.
There appeared to be no if any work going on to built the new station building and the fully-accessible bridge.
But there did appear to be some electrification gantries and wires over the Western end of the bay platform.
Were Network Rail making sure that if it were decided to electrify the Greenford Branch Line, it would not be a difficult job?
If on the other hand, it was decided to use battery trains on the Greenford Branch, I suspect that sufficient electrification could be installed to charge the batteries.
Surprising Electrification At Oxenholme
I took these pictures of the Windermere platform, which is numbered 3, at Oxenholme station on the 7th May 2018.
Note the overhead wires for electric trains.
This picture is from an earlier post dated the 1st May 2015.
There are no overhead wires in the picture.
In the Electrification Proposal section of the Wikipedia entry for the Windermere Branch Line, this is said.
On 20 July 2017, it was announced that electrification of the Windermere branch was cancelled. As an alternative, Northern plan to utilise Class 769 multiple units on the route; these are Class 319 electric multiple units converted to function as bi-mode units, capable of operating under electric power between Manchester and Oxenholme, and under diesel power on the Windermere branch.
Did Grayling’s announcement come too late to stop these wires being erected?
This Google Map shows the station.
Note how Platform 3 is accessible from the South. North of the station, Platform 3 only leads to the Windermere Branch Line.
Bi-Mode Trains
The short length of additional electrification would be ideal for a bi-mode train, like the Class 769 train, which will be working the line in the near future.
Going towards Windermere, the train would arrive in Platform 3 having used electrical power at speeds of up to 100 mph from Manchester Airport. The pantograph would be lowered and the train would move on to Windermere using diesel power.
Coming from Windermere, the train would change from diesel to electric power in Platform 3.
It is a very conservative method of changing power source, to do it in a station, as if anything goes wrong, the passengers are only stranded in a station, rather than in the middle of nowhere.
In their previous incarnation as dual-voltage Class 319 trains, the voltage changeover was always done in Farringdon station.
Battery Trains
The Windermere Branch Line is ten miles long, so out and back from Oxhenholme should be well within range of a battery electric multiple unit, if not now, in a couple of years time.
A battery electric multiple unit, perhaps developed from Bombardier’s Class 379-based BEMU demonstrator, would be ideal for the Windermere to Manchester Airport service.
- The Class 379 trains were built in 2010-2011, for the Stansted Airport service.
- They will be released by Greater Anglia in 2019.
- They are 100 mph trains.
And then there’s the Class 230 train!
These trains would do a good job running an hourly shuttle between Oxenholme and Windermere, but they could be unsuitable for long-term use.
- The capacity would be too low.
- They are too slow to run on the West Coast Main Line.
- Running a service between Windermere and Manchester Airport might be too far.
But undoubtedly, a well-designed battery train would be able to work the Windermere Branch Line.
- Services between Windermere and Manchester Airport would charge batteries on the electrified lines.
- Batteries could be topped up as required in Oxenholm station.
- There would be no need to electrify the Windermere Branch Line.
Wordsworth would have written a poem about battery trains gliding quietly through the Lake District.
Conclusion
Network Rail have future-proofed the electrification at Oxenholm station in a very professional way.
Double Trouble For Southgate
Southgate is famous for its Underground station, which is Grade II* Listed.
Last night, there was an explosion, reported like this by Wikipedia.
On 19 June 2018, at around 19:00 BST there was an explosion at the entrance of the station, injuring five people.
Hopefully, everything will be fine!
And today, there is this report on the BBC, which is entitled World Cup 2018: England Manager Gareth Southgate Dislocates Shoulder.
That sound’s painful! Having met a few footballers, I suspect he’s being heavily teased.
New Bank Tube Station Entrance In Final Stages Ahead Of Opening
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on IanVisits.
Ian suggests that the new entrance under the Bloomberg Building, which will give better access to the Waterloo and City Line, will open in August 2018.
This picture shows the covered Underground roundel on the side of the Bloomberg Building.
Note the workers putting scaffolding on the truck behind.
Underground, these fire doors, which lead to the new escalators and lifts, look ready to be opened for passengers in the area between the travelator, the connecting tunnel and the Waterloo and City Line platforms.
IWill the area be tiled or just painted?
described the tunnel to the left with the blue entrance rail in The New Tunnel Under Bank Station.
This picture was taken from the tunnel on the left, looking at this area.
The tunnel takes passengers right into the heart of the station.
Other Developments
The new entrance at Bank station is the first of several major transport developments, that will happen in the next few years.
New Trains On The Northern City Line In Autumn 2018
The Northern City Line is London’s forgotten train line, with a history coloured by the tragic accident at Moorgate in 1975.
The first development, a year or so ago, saw the Northern City Line introduce seven days a week working.
Now, the Class 313 trains, which are some of the oldest in the UK, are being replaced with new Class 717 trains, that will offer increased capacity, frequency and passenger comfort.
The Northern City Line terminus at Moorgate station will also be linked directly to Crossrail, when that line opens.
For many travellers in the Northern part of London and Hertfordshire, their route to the City will be much improved.
The final frequency has not been published, but it looks like there will be at least twelve tph on the Northern City Line to and from Moorgate station.
With a step-free cross-platform interchange at Highbury & Islington station, effectively Moorgate station will become a second Southern terminus of the Victoria Line.
Crossrail Between Paddington And Abbey Wood Stations In December 2018
This will be the first phase to be delivered and Crossrail will initially provide a twelve trains per hour (tph) service between Paddington and Abbey Wood stations from December 2018.
This will mean that the double-ended Jumbo Crossrail station, which will serve Moorgate station at its Western end and Liverpool Street station at its Eastern end, will open a short walking distance to the North of Bank station.
For those not wanting to walk, the link will also be one stop on the Central or Northern Lines.
Crossrail Between Paddington And Abbey Wood Stations In May 2019
This will be the second phase to be delivered and Crossrail will initially be provided a twelve tph service between Paddington and Shenfield stations from May 2019.
Crossrail To Heathrow And Reading In December 2019
The full Crossrail service will open in December 2019 and will provide the following services from Moorgate-Liverpool Street.
- Six tph to Heathrow
- Two tph to Reading
- Two tph to Maindenhead
- Twelve tph to Abbey Wood
- Twelve tph to Shenfield
In the Central section, there will be twenty-four tph between Padsdington and Whitechapel stations.
Bank Station Upgrade In 2022
Bank station is being upgraded and this is said in Wikipedia.
TfL is also retunnelling and widening the Northern line platforms, and adding lifts and new entrances on King William Street and Cannon Street. The work, agreed in 2015, will be carried out from 2016 to 2022 and will boost capacity by 40%, with 12 new escalators, 3 new lifts and a new travelator (or moving walkway) to connect the Northern Line and DLR to the Central Line.
It is a massive upgrade, as this visualisation shows.
Note that the two larger diameter tunnels at the left of this visualisation are the tunnels and platforms for the Central Line. The third tunnel is the pedestrian tunnel that links the Waterloo and City Line to the main station.
The capacity upgrade at Bank station, will surely mean more people will be drawn to the area.
Bank Junction Improvements
The City of London has a project called All Change At Bank, which aims to improve the roads and pedestrian routes at Bank Junction.
Their web site gives these objectives.
- Reduce casualties by simplifying the junction
- Reduce pedestrian crowding levels
- Improve air quality
- Improve the perception of place, as a place to spend time in rather than pass through.
At present Bank Junction is restricted to buses and cyclists on Monday to Friday, between 0700 and 1900.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this restriction increased, especially as more pedestrians are drawn to the City at weekends and in the evening.
The Future Of The City As A Leisure And Tourist Destination
When I lived in the City in the early seventies, nothing happened in the City in the evenings or at the weekends.
Over the years, the City has started to use these freer times for other activities.
- The Barbican Arts Centre and Tate Modern have opened.
- Quality shopping has greatly increased and improved.
- Pubs, bars and restaurants have often increased their hours.
- Better walking routs along and over the Thames have opened.
With its superb transport links, I can see the City of London becomes a much more important leisure and tourist destination.
Conclusion
The City of London is becoming a 24/7 area of London and the Waterloo and City Line must go with the flow.
It should run seven days a week, as do all other Underground lines.
Eventually, there will be a need for a Night Drain!
Elon Musk Goes Underground With High-Speed Trains
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the Business section of last Friday’s Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Futuristic electric trains will soon be whizzing under the streets of Chicago at up to 150 mph after Elon Musk’s tunnelling company was chosen by the city to build a new high-speed commuter link.
Currently, the Blue Line train takes about forty-five minutes for the eighteen miles at a cost of five dollars.
Heathrow Airport is eighteen miles from the City of London and Crossrail will do the trip for thirty-three minutes when it opens, next year for a cost of under a tenner.
So what is Musk proposing?
- A journey time of twelve minutes.
- Passengers will ride in skates, which will carry up to sixteen people on concrete tracks.
- Skates will run at a frequency of 120 per hour for 20 hours a day.
- The fare would be twenty-five dollars.
- The system would cost about a billion dollars.
It is a technically ambitious proposal.
There’s more in this section called Chicago in the Wikipedia entry of The Boring Company.
A competition to build a high-speed link from downtown Chicago to the soon-to-be-expanded O’Hare Airport had been reduced to just two bidders by March 2018. The Boring Company was selected in June 2018 and will now negotiate a contract to be presented to the Chicago City Council. Construction is to be entirely financed by The Boring Company, which is subsequently to maintain and operate the link. The system will transport passengers in automated electric cars carrying 16 passengers (and their luggage) through two parallel tunnels running under existing public way alignments, traveling from block 37 to the airport in 12 minutes, at speeds reaching 125 to 150 miles per hour (200 to 240 km/h), with pods departing as often as every 30 seconds
It states it is two parallel tunnels!
Comparison With London’s Crossrail
Crossrail will effectively do the same job in London and a comparison between the two systems may produce some interesting conclusions.
Capacity
Musk’s system will have an hourly capacity of 1920 passengers per hour, based on 120 skates each carrying sixteen people.
Crossrail are talking of six trains per hour, each with a capacity of 1,500 people or 9000 passengers per hour.
I think that Crossrail will need to increase capacity, as Heathrow expands and longer trains and higher frequencies are possible.
But if Musk’s system is a runaway success, can it be expanded easily.
Journey Time
Musk’s system has a journey time of 12 minutes, as against Crossrail’s of 33 minutes
But Crossrail will stop up to ten times!
Intriguingly, the twelve minute is not the headline speed of 125 to 150 mph, but a slower 90 mph.
Routes
Little has been said of the route for Musk’s system, except that it goes between Downtown and O’Hare Airport.
Heathrow to the City of London, also goes direct to London’s major shopping area and the new business area of Canary Wharf.
It is also integrated with London’s existing Underground, Overground and rail lines at several places.
Does Musk’s system have a route structure, that won’t appeal to a lot of possible users?
Musk’s Thinking
This is an extract from the Future Goals section of the Wikipedia entry for The Boring Company.
According to Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX board member Steve Jurvetson, tunnels specifically built for electric vehicles have reduced size and complexity, and thus decreased cost. “The insight I think that’s so powerful is that if you only envision electric vehicles in your tunnels you don’t need to do the air handling for all carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, you know, basically pollutants for exhaust. You could have scrubbers and a variety of simpler things that make everything collapse to a smaller tunnel size, which dramatically lowers the cost … The whole concept of what you do with tunnels changes.
The philosophy is not unlike that of Crossrail.
- I believe that Crossrail has been designed holistically, using the best tunnel and train technology.
- The tunnel power supply is a simple end-to-end rail.
- The Class 345 trains have batteries to make best use of electricity and provide emergency power.
- The batteries will handle regenerative braking, thus minimising heat-producing electric currents in the tunnel.
- Platform-edge doors and aerodynamic trains reduce mechanical energy losses.
- The electric trains do not emit anything into the tunnel, except perhaps a small amount of hot air.
I suspect that Crossrail’s tunnel section will be a very energy-efficient railway.
Conclusion
Summing up both systems we get.
Musk’s system is.
- A billion dollar cost.
- Twelve minute journey time.
- A vehicle every thirty seconds.
- Only for the few, who want to go from O’Hare to Downtown, who can pay a premium fare.
- Limited capacity.
A Crossrail-like solution would be.
- Perhaps a ten billion dollar cost.
- Twenty minute journey time.
- A train every few minutes.
- For everyone, who wants to travel from O’Hare to most places in Chicago with possibly a change, at a normal fare.
- Expandable capacity.
Musk’s system will appeal to the rich and those who like novelty, but I don’t think it is a long-term solution and just like London, Chicago will eventually have a modern railway linking it to the wider Chicago area.
Where Musk is right, is that he believes that tunnelling methods can be improved and become more affordable.
This will mean that more audacious railway schemes will be built.
The Anonymous Widower 