Hydrogen Power – A Useful List
General
A Series Of Articles From The Guardian
Fuel Cell Mabufacturers
Trains
Manchester United By Ordsall Chord
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in Rail Engineer.
These two paragraphs introduce the article.
With the timetable change on 10 December, passengers were able to travel directly between Manchester’s Victoria and Oxford Road stations over the Ordsall Chord for the first time. Although initially there are only six trains a day each way over the chord, May 2018 will bring big changes with a major timetable recast for the North Western electrification and to make best use of the Ordsall Chord.
This will increase the train services over the chord to three trains an hour each way and provide a direct link between Piccadilly and Victoria station. These trains will be a mix of TransPennine Express and Northern Rail services from Manchester Airport to Leeds and beyond. Liverpool to Scarborough trains will be routed via Victoria instead of Piccadilly.
The words show thew complexity of the project to create the Ordsall Chord.
Some facts, history and points are given in the article.
- The chord will mean trains won’t have to reverse at Piccadilly so often.
- Platform space will be used more efficiently at Piccadilly.
- The frequency of trains between Deansgate and Piccadilly will be4 increased by three trains per hour.
- Platforms 13 and 14 will be improved by platform refurbishment and better staff organisation.
- Longer trains and digital signalling will improve capacity.
Read the article for full details.
After reading the article, I feel that by good old-fashioned operational research and squeezing improvements everywhere , that a significant increase in capacity can be created.
Angelina Jolie Gene Testing For All?
The title of this post is the same as this article on the BBC.
This is said.
Testing all women for the “Angelina Jolie gene”, even if not considered at risk, would prevent cancers, save lives and is cost effective, say doctors.
Having lived for forty years with my wife, who suffered breast cancer and then a few years later died from a squamous cell carcinoma of the heart, I know a lot about the emotional problems of cancer.
Many cancers and other diseases, like my coeliac disease, can be found in our genes.
Our youngest son died of pancreatic cancer, which was probably not helped by his smoking and poor eating and health habits.
If he had been a coeliac, which could have been likely because of my genes, that wouldn’t have helped either! But he wouldn’t be tested!
Speaking for myself, my life might have been very different, if I had been genetically tested as a child!
In the future, genetic testing will become much more the norm, as doctors, researchers, scientists and engineers will reduce the cost of doing a full genetic test.
The BBC article also says this.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, estimated the impact of screening all 27 million women over 30 in the UK.
They said it would:
- prevent 64,500 more breast cancers
- prevent 17,500 more ovarian cancers
- save 12,300 more lives
The study also said mass screening would be cost-effective for the health service.
But why stop at breast and ovarian cancer?
I feel strongly, that anybody likely to be a coeliac, should be tested at birth.
Keeping to a gluten-free diet, is getting easier every year and research at institutions like Nottingham University has shown, that coeliacs on a gluten-free diet are significantly less likely to get cancer, than the general population.
Scotland’s Gritter Tracker
Scotland’s Gritter Tracker was mentioned on BBC Breakfast.
So I had to point to it! Just click here!
Note the names!
Fosteritos
The Bilbao Metro was designed by Foster and Partners.
Under Design, Wikipedia says this about access to the Metro.
Access to the metro is provided by ‘fosteritos’, glass structures affectionately named after the architect who designed them, Norman Foster. These modern-looking tunnels stand attractive alongside the modern and innovative interior of the stations.
These pictures show some of the fosteritos.
Crossrail’s Tottenham Court Road station has two square glass structures over the entrances in front of Centre Point.
I wrote about the first in Tottenham Court Road Station Gains A Giant Fosterito. Here’s a picture taken soon after one opened.
It is such a simple idea, I wonder why we don’t see more fosteritos all over the world.
TfL To Sell And Lease Back Elizabeth Line Fleet To Finance New Deep Tube Trains
The title of this post is the same as this article on Global Rail News.
Transport for London (TfL) is under financial pressure for various reasons and desperately wants to order new trains for the Piccadilly Line.
- The current 1973 Stock trains entered service in 1975.
- 87½ six-car trains were originally ordered.
- Train technology has moved on in over forty years.
- The new trains will be walk-through, lower-weight, energy efficient trains with air-conditioning and wi-fi.
- The trains may have batteries to handle regenerative braking and power failures.
When the 1967 Stock trains on the Victoria Line were replaced, the new fleet had a similar number of 2009 Stock trains.
So will TfL order 87½ trains again?
According to the November 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, this is proposed.
- Ordering a hundred trains.
- Installing new signalling.
- Increasing frequency from 24 to 33 trains per hour.
This would give a capacity increase of 60 %.
The five pre-qualiofied bidders were Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, Hitachi and Siemens. However since this was announced, the following has happened.
- Bombardier and Hitchi are submitting a joint bid.
- Alstom and Siemens have merged their rail transportation businesses.
As the order could lead to a total of 250 new trains, I suspect competition will be keen.
I can understand why, TfL are leasing the Crossrail trains to raise money for the purchase.
I would assume that TfL will lease the new Piccadilly Line trains, just like they lease the London Overground trains.
Some might think, that the trains should be purchased outright!
That means TfL would need to raise a lot of money up front.
- What also helps is that trains are an asset that last a long time, with many still being in peak condition at forty years old.
- So institutions with large amounts of cash assets like Pension Funds find trains a good place to use money to create an income for beneficiaries.
- Given that rolling stock and especially electric trains are good for the environment, it could be considered an ethical investment.
Various models are used by different transport authorities, with Merseyrail actually buying the trains and then leasing them to the train operating company.
First Train Tries Out New Northern Line Extension Track
The title of this post is the same as this article on IanVisits.
Ian says this.
The very first train has travelled on the extension of the Northern Line to Nine Elms and Battersea.
Two new junctions which will connect the extension to the existing Northern Line have now been completed, and the first train to travel over them was photographed on New Year’s Day.
As other reports say that more track will be installed, I wonder how far the train actually went!
How To Recycle A Station
Hanborough station on the Cotswold Line in Oxfordshire in being expanded.
Wikipedia says this, about theplans announced in 2016.
Plans were announced to increase services from Hanborough Station, by Great Western Railway. A launch event was held in Witney, at which GWR’s managing director Mark Hopwood said that the investment needed was £275 million. Double tracking would be reinstated between North Oxford and Long Hanborough and two disused platforms reopened. The local constituency MP and Prime Minister David Cameron told delegates at the meeting ” am utterly convinced of the necessity of investing in this line. I will do everything I can to give this vision a boost.”
This article on IanVisits, is entitled How Crossrail’s Legacy Could End Up In Rural Oxfordshire.
The article describes how the temporary station at Abbey Wood station, during Crossrail construction.
My picture comes from a post called Crossrail Build A Temporary Station.
The station buildings that could go to Hanborough are on the right behind the fence.
New Bridge In Tottenham Marks The Beginning Of Restoring A Line Lost During The Beeching Era
The title of this post says it all and is the same as this article on Rail Professional.
Some might argue that Beeching got it wrong!
My feelings though are the politicians and British Rail managers of the day generally didn’t have any vision about how the railways should be simplified to on the one hand save money and on the other perhaps create paths, cycleways and leisure facilities, for the good of everyone.
Harold Wilson’s view that everybody would have their own car and the railways were finished didn’t help either.
The Lea Valley was my childhood playground and I’d regularly cycle to the area. But unlike now, much was closed to the public.
This Google Map shows the location of the bridge.
Note.
- The railway line is the West Anglia Mail Line, running South from Tottenham Hale stations.
- The bridge carrying the Easter pair of tracks is being replaced.
- Tottenham South Junction is North of the bridge and the line going West is the Tottenham South Curve, that links the West Anglia Main Line to the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.
- The Markfield Beam Engine is to the West.
- The Walthamstow Wetlands are to the East.
The area will get even more complicated in the future, when Crossrail 2 is built.
These are various pictures of the bridge site, taken on different dates
The bridge will be an important link in the development of the railways in the area.
Open Banking
Open Banking – Not for me.
But as a retired world-class programmer, I can envisage an AI-based computer system, that you can run on your laptop to guide your financial decisions!
In my lifetime, I have come across various pieces of financial advice, that proved to be totally crap.
For a start, I’ve met at least four people, who used the strength of the Icelandic banking system to lose all their savings.
Every financial expert told me not to touch Zopa. But it has paid me five percent before tax on my savings for ten years.
There’s an old City joke.
The best way to make a small fortune is to give a large one to a financial adviser.
Many a true word was spoken in jest.
The Anonymous Widower 