Thameslink Begins Testing At Redeveloped London Bridge
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in Rail Magazine.
This is said.
Direct trains from Blackfriars to London Bridge stopped in January 2015, but will resume this month once further testing and driver training has been completed. A full service introduction is planned for May.
That sounds like good news to me!
Legal & General To Invest £350m in UK Rail Infrastructure
The title of this post, is the same as this article on Railway Technology.
Wikipedia says this about Legal & General.
The company offers a wide range of products for individuals and corporate businesses. Its investment management is the UK’s largest investment manager of UK pension fund assets and has a growing US business, based in Chicago, Illinois.
So in a few years time, your pension might own a couple of nuts and bolts on a train.
MP Calling For Borders Link To High-Speed Rail Network
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in the Southern Reporter.
My feeling is that I don’t think the MP should worry about this one.
Consider.
- When High Speed 2 opens to Crewe in 2027, London to Glasgow trains will take under four hours.
- The West Coast Main Line will be improved between Carlisle and Glasgow.
- Freight traffic between England and Scotland is increasing.
- A large freight interchange could be built at Longtown.
- Increased services between Liverpool/Manchester and Edinburgh/Glasgow are starting.
- Carlisle station is being refurbished.
All this will lead to more through traffic at Carlisle.
I would think it would be extremely likely, that the West Coast Main Line between Carlisle and Longtown will be improved substantially.
If this happens, then any extension of the Borders Railway will have a fast link to HS2 at Carlisle, from where it will probably join the West Coast Main Line in the Longtown area.
It should also be noted, that High Speed 2 is being designed to give benefits to as many places as possible.
A Borders Railway connected to Carlisle fits this strategy.
TfL Plans To Sell Part Of Its Tube Trains To Raise £875m For New Piccadilly Line Fleet
The title of this post is the same as this article on the International Business Times.
Why not?
London’s Underground and Overground trains are well-built and well-cared for assets, that will probably be in service for excess of forty years.
Both parties win!
- Transport for London, get a pile of cash, that can be invested in new trains.
- The leasing company get a safe investment, in which to invest pension funds and other funds looking for long term investments.
In some ways, the leasing company’s biggest risk, is that new technology comes along, which means that TfL decide to change the trains and the trains are returned to the leasing company.
So long as the terms and costs are right, I’m all for it!
Would Third-Party Rail Ticket Machines Be A Good Idea?
I travel extensively on the UK rail network and my journeys are generally of three types.
- Local journeys within the London Zone 1-6 Travelcard area, for which I use my Freedom Pass.
- Journeys to places like Brighton, Hastings, Ipswich and Rochester, where I generally buy a ticket from a machine.
- Long distance journeys, where I use the Internet and pick up the ticket at a machine.
I suspect that many travellers across the UK, have a similar pattern of use.
The Changing Nature Of Cash Machines
Forty years ago, there were an adequate number of cash machines, but they were generally associated with bank premises.
I can remember my delight, when I first found a machine in a motorway service area.
Now, cash machines are everywhere and all are free. Although, there are mutterings, that charges might be made and the number of machines will drop, due to contactless cards.
A Third-Party Rail Ticket Machine
At present, the nearest to this are the ticket machines on the London Overground.
The latest ones allow you to do all the normal ticketing functions, with these valuable additions.
- Buying a ticket between any two stations in the UK.
- Buying an extension ticket from the London Zone 6 boundary.
- Prices are generally the lowest you can purchase, on the Internet without using Advance Tickets for specific trains.
These feature means, that if say I’m going to a football match outside London in a few days, I’ll buy my ticket from the Overground.
Ticket machines will add more and more features.
- Train information.
- Itinerary printing.
- Buying Advance tickets for a specific train.
- Seat reservations.
- Special tickets like Plus Bus, Plus Tram and Rover and Ranger tickets.
- Selling railcards
Imagine turning up in a city and being presented with a screen on the same machine, which allows you to buy Travelcards and tickets for local attractions.
As the machines get more sophisticated, I believe there will be less need for ticket machines to be at train stations.
So could we see companies like The Trainline putting ticket machines in places like shopping centres, superstores and the smaller shops that service Oyster in London?
If the financial model stacks up, I’m sure we will see ticket machines everywhere!
Ticket Machines On Platforms And In Ticketed Areas
In Germany, there is often a ticket machine after you have passed the gate.
I find it very useful, as they can be used to buy tickets for a later journey or look up future connections.
I only know of one ticket machine inside the ticketed area in the UK and that is on Platform 8 at Stratford station.
We need more of these!
Would a third-party company be more likely to provide them? Especially, as they’d quickly identify the most profitable places, where there were large numbers of interchange or waiting passengers.
Collateral Benefits
Making rail tickets more available will surely increase sales. Suppose you live in Nottingham and your mother lives in Peterborough. You’ve just had a bad drive across the Midlands to see her for her birthday.
Will a ticket machine in your local superstore, lead youto investigate the trains as an alternative?
If it does, it must surely lead to more passengers on the trains.
Train companies are notoriously bad, at making sure that a weekend service has enough carriages.
Making it easier to buy tickets would surely give them a better estimate of passenger numbers.
But would the train companies make use of the information?
Conclusion
We’ll see a lot more ticket machines.
Some will be from third-party operators. Just like cash machines!
Why I Went To Redhill
My trip to Redhill this morning had two purposes.
Although, I was interested to see the recent Platform 0 works, the main purpose was to get a feel of the town for a US Corporate Lawyer, who helps companies set up bases in the UK. Redhill was the subject of my visit, as one of his clients wants to set up a base near to an Airport with myriad links to Europe.
The town appears to fit the bill in this case.
Platform 0 At Redhill Station Is Now Open
I took these pictures at Redhill station and in the town of Redhill today.
Note.
- Platform 0 at Redhill station is very long, Could it accept two eight-car Class 700 trains working as a pair?
- Platform 0 has four train information displays.
- Platform 1B is used to reverse Great Western Railway’s Class 165 trains, that run between Reading and Gatwick Airport stations.
- Platform 1 appears to be fully-electrified.
When finished, it would appear that Platform 0 like all Platforms at Redhill station will have full step-free access.
Conclusion
It looks to me, that the works at Redhill station have done a good job in future-proofing the station for any operations, that train companies might propose.
- Platform 0 seems to have been built for the longest possible trains that might use the route.
- Platform 1 seems to have been rebuilt into a long bay platform, that would accept an eight-car train on Reading-Gatwick services.
- Platform 1 is electrified, so that it could be used efficiently by a bi-mode train or one with batteries.
I would expect to see changes to Redhill services in the next few years.
London Bridge Station Gets The Last Five New Platforms
The last five platforms, numbered 1 to 5, at London Bridge station, opened this morning.
It is now possible to judge the station as a whole.
The Spacious Concourse
In my experience, the layout of the spacious concourse is unique in all the stations I have visited. And I’ve visited quite a few! And not just in the UK, but all over Europe.
Effectively, it is like a city square, with separate stations on viaducts above.
- The one-platform station (Platform 1) for trains from Cannon Street to SE London and Kent.
- The two-platform island station (Platforms 2 and 3) for trains from SE London and Kent to Cannon Street.
- The two platform island station (Platform 4 and 5) for trains for Thameslink services going North and South,
- The two-platform island station (Platform 6 and 7) for trains from Charing Cross and Waterloo East to SE London, Kent and Sussex
- The two-platform island station (Platform 8 and 9) for trains from Waterloo East to SE London, Kent and Sussex to Charing-Cross and Waterloo.
- The six-platform terminal station (Platforms 10-15) for trains to SE London, Surrey And Sussex.
All platforms have two or more escalators, stairs and a lift to and from the spacious concourse.
- The circulation space is uncluttered with just one fast food outlet discretely to one side. Others will be slotted in.
- The lighting is excellent, with lots of natural light. Many stations are dingy, despite having been built or rebuilt in the last few years.
Ticketing and security is ensured by several lines of ticket gates, leading to a surrounding unticketed concourse.
The Double-Concourse Design
|Effectively, London Bridge station has two concourses.
The ticketed concourse, that connects to all the platforms and the trains.
There is also a second concourse surrounding the ticketed concourse.
- This second concourse extends through the station from Tooley Street to St. Thomas Street.
- The streets outside the station are effectively parts of the second concourse.
- Level walking routes to the Underground, the River, Guys Hospital and London Bridge are provided.
- A separate escalator connection links to the bus station, from the second concourse.
- There are more shops and a ticket office.
Where else could this concept be employed?
The obvious example is surely Manchester Piccadilly station, where there will effectively be three stations.
- The HS2 station.
- A terminal station for trains going to and from the South.
- A two-platform through station capable of handling sixteen trains per hour, replacing the dreaded Platforms 13 and 14.
All would be linked by a huge London Bridge-sized area under the tracks, with both a ticketed and unticketed area.
- The tram station would be at the same level as the concourse, accessible from the unticketed area.
- Shops would be mainly in the unticketed area, with a minimum in the ticketed area.
- A clutter-free design is needed.
The aim would be to ensure that quick and easy interchange between various transport modes was created.
The concept would also work at a rebuilt Euston and should probably have been used instead of the very passenger and staff-unfriendly design at St. Pancras, where interchange between separate services is not for those that are not 100% fit.
I also think that a similar concept of a split concourse, with ticketed and unticketed areas could be applied at a traditional terminal station like Brighton, Liverpool Street, Liverpool Lime Street or Waterloo, where significant numbers of passengers interchange between services at the station.
- A second ticketed concourse could be created between the gate line and the actual platforms.
- The concourse outside the ticket gates should be extended into the surrounding streets, as it effectively has been at Kings Cross.
- A lot of decluttering should go on.
Hopefully, as each new station is designed, the concept will be improved.
Wide Island Platforms
Can platforms be too wide? Probably only accountants can answer that question.
But we certainly need more island platforms!
They make it so easy for passengers to reverse direction, without going up onto a bridge or down into a subway.
If say you were going between Bedford and Cambridge on Thameslink, perhaps with a heavy case or in a wheel-chair, it might be easier to go as far South as London Bridge station, where you could just cross the platform for the second train.
Unfortunately, no-one thought to build the important Thameslink station at St. Pancras with an island platform.
Lights Above The Ticket Gates
The lights on some of London’s ticket gates are difficult to see, as you approach, but these are so much better.
Surely, as people will line up a few metres away and walk straight towards the gate, this might increase passenger throughput.
Can we have more of this please?
Information Above The Escalators And Stairs
This is good, but it could be better.
Imagine a one-line display on top of the main display, which could be used for title, important or emergency information.
Examples could be.
- Trains To Waterloo East And Charing Cross
- Way Out!
- Do Not Enter!!
- RMT Call Off Strike Tomorrow!
The standard display for the various platforms at London Bridge could be.
Platform 1 – Cannon Street To SE London And Kent
Platform 2 and 3 – To Cannon Street
Platforms 4 and 5 – Thameslink – 4 To South – 5 To North
Platform 6 and 7 – Charing Cross To SE London, Kent And Sussex
Platforms 8 and 9 – To Waterloo East And Charing Cross
Platforms 10 to 15 – To SE London, Surrey And Sussex
Ticket Machines
There are no ticket machines in the ticketed area.
In Germany, there is often a ticket machine after you have passed the gate.
I find it very useful, as they can be used to buy tickets for a later journey or look up future connections.
I only know of one ticket machine inside the ticketed area in the UK and that is on Platform 8 at Stratford station.
We need more of these!
The need will get more urgent after Crossrail and Thameslink are fully open.
Suppose you are doing a journey from somewhere in the Oyster/contactless card area like Ealing Broadway or Ilford to perhaps Hastings, Ipswich or Oxford, which are not.
- You might not be starting your journey at a station with a ticket office.
- Because you never go outside the Oyster/contactless card area, you haven’t bought a ticket in some time.
- You might like me be a Freedom Pass holder.
So you might arrive at London Bridge or Stratford, without a valid ticket for the rest of your journey.
Currently, at London Bridge station, you have to go outside the ticketed area to get your onward ticket.
A ticket machine or machines inside the ticketed area would be better.
It could also.
- Provide information.
- Print intineraries
- Display advertising.
Perhaps, like cash machines, ticket machines might be provided by third-party operators?
Seats
Are there enough seats?
Time will tell! But I think more will be added!
The Pizza Restaurant With No Cheese
Last night, two friends and myself, tried to have pizzas at Pizza Express in Walthamstow.
We left, as they’d run out of cheese.
It is not the standard I expect from this chain of restaurants.
But in the past, I’ve also found their Walthamstow restaurant had no gluten-free pizza dough and offered terrible service.
I doubt, I’ll be going again!
What Is It With All These Fires?
Grenfell, California, Manchester, New York, Mumbai, Portugal in the Summer and now, Liverpool!
Luckily, last night’s fire didn’t see any sentient casualties!
It’s almost, as if we’re losing our fear of fire and precautions that previous generations took in the design of buildings, vehicles and life are being side-lined.
The Anonymous Widower 