Are The Banks Serious?
When I log in to my bank, I get an advert saying I can get a wonderful rate of two percent, if I lock money away with them for two years.
At present I have a sum of money invested in Zopa and my current return to date this year is just around five percent. Admittedly, I pay tax on that so it’s effectively a rate of three percent. With Zopa’s Safeguarding promises, that money is guaranteed.
So I’m getting an effective rate that is half as good again, as I would with the best banks.
But the big advantage of Zopa has shown itself this month.
I have the last Tax bill to pay concerning the sale of my house in Suffolk and also the bill for the handrails for my staircase, which as they were custom-made weren’t cheap. Couple that with other expenses and I have a lot of bills to pay at the end of this month.
But due to the churn in Zopa, every month, I get access to about six percent of the money I have deposited in the system, as borrowers repay capital, pay interest and end their loans early. So instead of reinvesting this money as I do normally, I have withdrawn most of the money to my Current Account, so I can pay my bills.
I have a feeling that I have actually withdrawn a couple of thousand too much. But no matter, when all the bills are paid it’ll go back into Zopa. All I’ve lost is three percent gross on £2,000 for a month or a fiver.
So why do people put so much faith in the Banks, as they rip us off?
My Current Account at Nationwide is mainly just a means to transfer money to and from other accounts.
What other benefits do I get?
1. At the Angel, there is an inside ATM, that I use when it’s pouring with rain. There are also seats, so if I’m drawing out a larger amount of cash, I can sit down and put everything away properly.
2. I have a Credit Card, which is recommended by many, that if I use abroad, charges me nothing extra for the currency conversion.
3. I have an on-line bank account, that to access from anywhere in the world, only needs to have information stored in the brain, I was born with.
4. I get a basic travel insurance, which covers me for everything but medical expenses. So if easyJet or whoever, were to lose my baggage on the way to wherever I’m covered.
On the other hand, I get the following annoyances.
1. The dreaded Verified by Visa, when I use the debit or credit card on-line.
2. No contactless service on the Credit Card, which means I have to carry another credit card that does, in case I lose my Freedom Pass.
Nationwide should be pleased that I’m not thinking of leaving yet!
Krakow – A City Of Maps, Clocks, Trams And Gluten Free Food
Krakow is well-known for its buildings, but I found some other things equally fascinating in a delightful city.
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- A Large Map With Seats
All of the maps, clocks, trams and excellent gluten-free food, made the city a real joy to explore and I would recommend the city to anybody.
To see all the posts for my Home Run From Krakow click here.
A Large Map With Seats
This double-sided map with seats was close to a busy intersection in Krakow.
A Large Map With Seats
I don’t think it was the only one.
I like this and it helps to solve the problem of maps in a busy city centre. It looks like the map is also not necessarily permanent, so could be easily moved to a more important location or taken away to a workshop to be refurbished and fitted with a new map.
The map and seats doesn’t look particularly new, so it probably says that sometimes the old proven ideas are the best.
Incidentally, the map, as nearly all in Krakow, was very easy to understand.
Bins With Roofs On
These seemed to be unique to Krakow.
But surely to stop birds emptying bins they are a good idea.
What Is The New Mayor Of London Going To Do For Car Drivers?
Most of the London Mayor candidates for 2016 seem to ignore car drivers.
As a non-driver, I wouldn’t mind if the new Mayor decreed that no-one in London could own a car, but if he or she did, they wouldn’t get elected.
I do occasionally need to be transported by car and as I don’t have the expense of actually owning one, I can afford to take a black cab, which I do perhaps a dozen times a year, at a total cost of perhaps three hundred pounds.
The most difficult journeys are ones where say, a friend is picking me up and taking me somewhere, so they have to drive into Hackney and out the other side again. Which just adds to the congestion unneccesarily.
The other tricky thing for car-drivers, is those coming into London often have no convenient Park-and-Ride. I was lucky, when I lived near Newmarket, as I could park at Whittlesford Parkway and get a train into Liverpool Street.
But when years ago, when I lived near Ipswich, parking was very limited and I had to get a taxi to the station. I once had a letter from British Rail suggesting that I ask my wife to drive me to the train.
I also see problems with the new Night Tube. This will generate an amazing night life all over the centre of London and I think we’ll see large numbers of people using the Tube late into the night and early morning. Those living in London will be able to use the Tube, but as there is little adequate parking at or around stations just inside the M25, visitors and those working late in the evening, may well lead to a lot of parking congestion around the stations.
To add to that, as London becomes an increasingly twenty four hour/seven day a week city, there will be an increasing need for some form of parking for night workers.
I have checked the map and the only Tube and rail stations close to a junction of the M25 will parking, can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
I believe that London needs a ring of well-designed car/bus/train interchanges around the M25. I did propose one at Waltham Cross, but that idea was not put together properly.
The interchanges would be designed for the following services.
1. Park-And-Ride, particularly aimed at those not wanting to stay all day. So perhaps the parking charges would be sensible for say the first four hours and then draconian afterwards. Obviously, at weekends and in the evenings, they would be reduced and aimed at those perhaps going to a sporting event or seeing a show or concert.
2. Pick-Up and Drop-Off of passengers, perhaps linked to something like thirty minutes free parking.
3. Car Hire for those living in London.
4. Long Distance Coach Services
5. Motorway Services
Obviously, there would be a frequent service into Central London. The service would have to be step-free and wi-fi enabled. I also think that like Cambridge’s superb Park-and-Ride, it would be linked into the cycle network.
Get it right and it would cut vehicular traffic into London.
You Know It’s Glastonbury Time!
Last night on the Overground, an attractive young lady was humping a large rucksack, with a pair of enormous brand-new rubber boots tied to the bottom.
I said “It’s obvious that you’re going to Glastonbury!”
She said “Yes!” And smiled!
I wonder how the sales of boots leap at this time of the year. And do any of them ever get worn again?
Lunch With A Swing In Spitalfields
Sometimes on a day when the weather is good, I go for lunch in Leon’s in Spitalfields.
Today there was a free bonus cabaret with every meal! And the brave could dance! Which I’ve never been able to do!
The girls are twins and go by the name of Twin Swing. They probably fall into the “Twice the fun, but double the trouble” category. All my experience with children growing up leads me to the opinion that boys are more difficult, but I’ve met a couple of sets of very naughty girl twins. Boy twins on the other hand seem to behave well, except perhaps for Ronnie and Reggie.
They are appearing at the Waldorf Hotel on the 19th of July as entertainment for the Traditional Afternoon Tea. It’s all reported here in this article in the East Grinstead Courier. The report contains this immortal line.
Lingfield twins Jessica and Emily Evans, both 24
It would be rather unusual for twins to have different ages.
The Fences Are Up At Lea Bridge Station
Construction of the new Lea Bridge Station was supposed to start in Spring 2014, but it is only today that I have seen anything substantial on the site.
As the pictures show, they are just the fences to keep the unwanted out of the site.
But at least it’s a start!
How’s The Overground To Enfield Town Doing?
In Transport for London Do The Sensible Thing, I said this.
Various news items on the Overground like this story in the Enfield Independent, have been reporting that the Class 315 and Class 317 Trains on the Lea Valley Lines are not very reliable. I’ve read somewhere that they are spending up to two million pounds to get them running better.
So I thought I had better go and check to see how the lines to Enfield were doing, by taking the train to Enfield Town from Hackney Downs and then walking to Enfield Chase to get a Class 313 train back home.
The pictures show the following.
1. An eight-car Class 315 train was working one of the last of the rush-hour services into Liverpool Street. So hopefully, London Overground have now got all services back up to their correct length.
2. Most trains I saw seemed to have a London Overground roundel on the side, even if they weren’t repainted.
3. I travelled out to Enfield Town in a very clean eight-car Class 317 train, that had been upgraded for the Stansted Express with tables, luggage racks and First Class. When was Enfield Town last served by a train so luxurious? In some ways it’s a waste, as surely there are other places, where as soon as the replacement Class 378 trains arrive, these old Stansted Expresses could be more gainfully employed.
Perhaps, they could serve Glasgow Airport? But then the Scots would complain, that they were getting London’s clapped-out second-hand trains. I noticed as I left that the train had had a full service in September last year. Old they may be, but they are far from scrapyard-ready! I suppose an old Mark 3-based train, is still a Mark 3-based train, with all the strength and ride quality that means.
4. In the meantime, this Class 317 train, is probably doing a good job in pacifying the natives of Enfield.
5. After my walk through Enfield Town centre, I got on a Class 313 train to get back to London. Now that is a clapped-out train and I wonder how many passengers for London from Enfield are thinking about changing their point of departure for London. If you commute and have a Freedom Pass, this is now unrestricted from Enfield Town, so this must have an effect on commuting pstterns.
6. I took the picture of the pantograph on the Class 313 train, as this is a special job, so that the trains can run in the restricted tunnels to Moorgate. It only needs to fold away very snuggly, as that section of line uses third rail for its electricity.
I will ask this question, about what I saw.
London Overground have put an option for 249 extra vehicles in the order for the Class 378 trains, as I reported in Have Transport for London Other Plans For The Overground?
So will some of these optional vehicles in the Class 378 order end up working the Great Northern lines into Moorgate and Kings Cross?
They have a lot going for them.
1. They are certified for working in tunnels, as on the East London Line, they run sixteen times each hour both ways through the Thames Tunnel.
2. There is a dual-voltage variant of the Class 378 train.
3. There would be the problem of designing a new pantograph well and certifying them for the Great Northern tunnel, but that is not as great a task as designing a whole new class of train.
It would probably be a special variant of the Class 378 train, but it hopefully, it would not be a difficult design to create.
We can do a little calculation on where the 249 extra vehicles might go.
Various documents show that by 2030, London Overground wants to be running six-car trains on the North and East London Lines. So if the existing fleet was all made six car, that would probably need 63 vehicles, as there are 57 trains on the system currently and another six are on order.
If we assume that Transport for London’s other target, the Dartford Lines, comes with some fairly new trains, this may or may not use up some of those options.
Taking the 63 off the 249 gives us 186 vehicles, which leaves 186, which can be 62 three-car trains or 46 four-car ones, with a few vehicles left over. Intriguingly, they could also be configured as 31 six-car trains.
So how many trains would be needed? At present the line is worked by 44 3-car trains. So if it was deemed that under London Overground, the service would be as now, there would be plenty of vehicles.
But as I pointed out, 186 vehicles gives us 31 six-car trains. Wikipedia states that the tunnels to Moorgate will accept trains of this length, so would it be a simple decision to make all the Great Northern trains six-car to turn the service into a higher-capacity, seven days a week, Metro service? As this would be a distinct variant, they might even be given a bit more performance to ease them along the East Coast Main Line to Hitchin. After all other members of the family to which a Class 378 belongs are 100 mph as opposed to 75 mph trains.
Running six-car walk-through trains into Morgate, rather than two three-car ones coupled together, gets rid of one of the restrictions of running in tunnels, which insists that passengers can walk through the train to get out in case of trouble.
So the more I look at this, the more I think, that Transport for London has an option on trains to work the Great Northern services.
As Transport for London have said, they might like to take over some of the inner Thameslink services, I suspect that the flies on the wall in meetings between Govia Thameslink Railway and Transport for London will have interesting tales to tell.
Have Transport for London Other Plans For The Overground?
It is now widely-publicised that Transport for London have started the process to get Class 378 trains delivered for the Lea Valley and Gospel Oak to Barking Lines. This article in Rail News gives full details.
But the History section in the Wikipedia entry for the Class 378 trains has this paragraph.
On 19 June 2015 it was announced that Bombardier had won a contract to supply a further 45 units, with an option for a possible 249 additional vehicles. The 45 units would comprise of 30 sets to replace class 315 and 317 units on the recently taken-over former Greater Anglia routes, one unit for use between Romford and Upminster, six to strengthen the existing London Overground fleet and eight units to replace the class 172 diesel units on Gospel Oak to Barking services.
So what are TfL proposing to do with the optional 249 vehicles, if it eventually is part of the order?
If they are four-car trains that would be over sixty sets, which as they need thirty sets for the current Lea Valley operation, would mean they could support two similar services of the same size.
It is an open secret,that Transport for London wants to be responsible for Dartford services from London, so that would probably require thirty to forty sets, which still leaves enough to takeover another service or perhaps add an extra car to all the five-car sets on the North and East London Lines.
Or could they be looking at the Great Northern services out of Moorgate and Kings Cross? These currently use forty-four rather clapped-out Class 313 trains, comprising 132 vehicles.
It just seems that we’re going to get a Big Orange!
The Anonymous Widower 