A First Trip To Barking Riverside Station
I took a first trip to Barking Riverside station this morning and took these pictures.
I have a few thoughts and observations.
Through The Acton Dive-Under
As I left Ealing Broadway station to return to Paddington, it rather caught me by surprise and I only just got the camera out in time.
Hence the quality of the pictures.
Passing The Completed Acton Dive-Under
I took these pictures as I passed the Acton Dive-Under going towards Paddington.
It looks substantially complete.
The dive-under is on the Slow Line into Paddington, soon after Ealing Broadway station.
It was a very clever piece of engineering to create the Acton Dive-Under in the middle of a working railway with trains passing on either side.
I’m certain, there are other places on the UK’s rail network, where a similar technique can be used to sort out places, where two rail lines need to cross each other.
The Acton Dive-Under From The Noel Road Bridge
In From Ladbroke Grove To Ealing Broadway, I showed various pictures of the Acton Dive-Under from a train.
In the post, I used this Google Map of the Acton Dive-Under which was probably captured a few months ago.
The Acton Dive-Under
I took these pictures of the Dive-Under from the Noel Road bridge.
I got to the bridge by getting a 440 bus from North Action station. Afterwards, I walked to West Action station to get a tube to Ealing Broadway station.
From Ladbroke Grove To Ealing Broadway
I took a train to West Drayton this morning and on the way, I took these pictures of the Crossrail works . The map from carto.metro.free.fr, shows the line between Ladbroke Grove and Ealing Broadway station.
Labroke Grove To Ealing Broadway
These are the pictures I took on the same stretch of line.
The pictures show various features of the line.
- The route by which empty trains move between Paddington station and the depots at Old Oak Common.
- The depots at Old Oak Common.
- Where the Acton-Northolt Line leaves the Great Western Railway.
- The Acton Yard
- The now almost-complete Acton Dive-Under.
This Google Map of the Acton Dive-Under was probably captured a few months ago.
The Acton Dive-Under
Note the buttresses and how the other lines cross over between them.
The best information I can find on the structure of the Acton Dive-Under is this article from IanVisits. Ian sums up the Acton Dive-Under like this.
When it is all finished, that small but complex bit of work, a single line of track in a cutting will do more to cut delays on the mainline into Paddington that could ever be appreciated by its simple size and design.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the knowledge learned in this project, put to good effect in other places on the UK rail network.
Incidentally, it looks like the project cost around twenty million.
Acton Dive-Under – March 26th 2016
The track is now going in.
Modern Railways reported in the April 2016 Edition, that the civils are completed and the track is goin in. The article also says.
The new junction will enable long empty stone trains to snake westward out of the yard while eastbound Crossrail trains roll through beneath. Segregating the freight and Crossrail trains ads so much reliability into the timetable, it is well worth the investment to create it.
This article on IanVisits is entitled A look at Crossrail’s critical Acton dive under and was written in September 2015, gives a lot more details of the dive-under with quite a few pictures from inside.
Acton Dive-Under – 4th July 2015
-I took these pictures as I passed the Acton Dive Under.
On this page on the Crossrail site, this is said.
The start of excavation follows nearly two years of work to re-configure the freight yard. The work on the dive-under is being managed by Network Rail and is expected to last until 2016.
Progress would appear to be in line with that statement.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this work finished earlier than expected, as surely when the Acton Dive Under is complete, this must make the operation of the railway easier, as freight trains crossing from the sidings at Acton will cause less disruption.
Acton Dive-Under
On my way to West Drayton yesterday, I went past the site of the Acton Dive Under, where a short tunnel is being built so that freight trains can get into and out of Acton Yard. This Google Earth image shows the area.
Acton Dive Under
I think that the fenced off area by the bridge over the Great Western Main Line is the work site for the dive under.
This page on the Volkerrail web site gives full details. This links to an excellent pictorial brochure about this project. This page in the brochure shows the track layouts.
I took a few pictures yesterday as the train sped through.
But I didn’t see much! Today, I went to the bridge on Noel Road and poked my camera over the wall.
You can see the short tunnel in some of the pictures and it would be interesting to return with a camera on a stick or a very tall photographer.
I got there on a northbound 440 bus to Lynton Road, which is close to the bridge. Afterwards, I walked to West Acton station to get a Central Line back to London.
What didn’t help either was the fact that the 440 bus is a single-decker.
The Anonymous Widower 