Cambridge to Nice by Train
I was dropped at Cambridge early, as since my stroke I get almost paranoid about missing anything. It’s probably that I’m insecure. But then I always was a bit! I’m just moreso now. But I really had no worries as my credit card and the reference number from Eurostar got the tickets issues without any fuss.
The outcome was that I got the 7:15 out of Cambridge instead of the 7:45 and sat comfortably in First Class. I should say that the extra two single tickets from Kings Cross to Cambridge cost me just £15 for the pair. And as I’m travelling First all the way to Nice, I get First to London. First Capital Connect are not always praised for their service and punctuality, but I had no problems and arrived in London on time.
But of course it was into the main station at Kings Cross, rather than the old surburban one which is just a short walk from St. Pancras International.
Kings Cross Station
As I knew I had a fully flexible ticket, was thirty minutes early and I had to pick my tickets up from the station, I decided to see if I could catch an earlier train. It’s the paranoia again, as I was rather worried that I might miss the connection in Paris, so a few extra minutes might be welcome.
Let’s say the flexible ticket worked and instead of being on the 9:32, I was on the 8:55. But I was told there might be a problem with my gluten-free meal, so would I mention it at the gate. I think the paranoia ruled the stomach and I preferred to be early and hungry, rather than full and late. It was just as well.
The guy on the gate made a note and said that he’d try to get it sorted.
He did and the first thing the steward said when I boarded was that they had the gluten-free breakfast.
That in itself felt that at least someone was looking after me!
The trip was uneventful and I tried yet again to take a picture of the Dartford Bridge from the train. At least this time I was ready for it, not like when I took the journey a couple of months ago on a Javelin.
Dartford Bridge from Eurostar
The only other new feature of note on the English side of the Channel is the station at Stratford. For my liking it is too stark and nothing but concrete at the moment. Surely not something for the entrance point to the London 2012 Olympics. But then, I suspect it hasn’t been properly finished and a good bit of colour helps most things.
On the other side of the Channel the train rolled along as it should across the flat open countryside of Northern France.
Flat France
You can understand why they didn’t have much trouble building this high speed line, as except for Lille, it missed out all the towns and villages. But then France has a lot more space than we do.
Gare du Nord, Paris
I arrived on time into Gare du Nord or Gare Nord, as they call it now, and had ninety minutes or get to the Gare de Lyon. I had been intending to take a taxi, but as I had the extra time I took the RER D from under the station.
It was a wise choice.
A young lad about eighteen or so was by the ticket machines, dressed in a vest which said that he was there to help. He showed me how to use the machines and told me that I needed track 44. Paris is certainly trying to make sure that they welcome visitors! But then tourism is a cut-throat business these days and personal service is something that always works.
Paris RER
Note the double deck! Will Crossrail be that way? I doubt it.
Gare de Lyon, Paris
But then I had an hour to spend in the Gare de Lyon.
Le Train Bleu, Gare de Lyon, Paris
Le Train Bleu Restaurant, that evokes pre-war travel and glamour, is still there, although it does have an Express version as well. Perhaps, we don’t have as much time as we used to.
The station is being upgraded and probably not before time, as such as St. Pancras, Milan, Berlin and even dear old Liverpool Street show that a good station creates the right experience.
The train left on time for the long haul to Nice. To say it is a large train would be an understatement. It is two TGV Duplex or double-deck units coupled together. Short of a boat, it must be one of the largest people carriers around. According to Wikipedia each set carries 545 people.
You do wonder about trains though!
A friend is joining me at Nice for a few days and they have just phoned me from Lyon. Their plane has diverted there because is on the ground there because of mist at Nice! Do I hear herds of thundering tortoises?
Now I’m the tortoise, as the train threads its slow way through Toulon and all stations to Nice. Not the best.
Neither was the snack I got. Despite asking several times in my worst French, I ended up with a fish thing clearly labelled gluten. So I picked out a few bits of fish and potatoes and left the rest. I hope I’m OK. Why didn’t the silly woman show me the packet and I could have read it?
We’re barely walking pace at the moment and my friend has just arrived in Nice. Perhaps this train is always late, as it was the last time I caught it. That was between Antibes and Nice in 2007 on one of the last holidays with my late wife. It seemed strange to use it as a local train then, but everybody does.
Still the countryside is all green and it’s sunny.
TGV Duplex Arrives at Nice
Finally we arrived in Nice about a quarter of an hour late.
And then I got ripped off by the taxi driver.
Who cares? There are worse things in life! But it’s probably why I avoid them like the plague.
An Interesting Talk
This talk is a must, How to Build the Cambridge Guided Busway.
Construction firm BAM Nuttall will hold a talk later this month called How to Build the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway.
The project’s construction manager John Ely will give a lecture at the Double Tree Hotel, in Milton Keynes, on March 30 at 6.30pm.
I think I’ll go. It would a good place to vent my anger on life in general.
Do We have a Date for the Cambridge Busway?
Possibly?
Or at least mid-April seems to be suggested in this article.
But Cllr Roy Pegram, cabinet member for growth, infrastructure and strategic planning, told a cabinet meeting at Shire Hall today that the stand-off could be at an end thanks to a meeting between the council and BNL.
He said: “The meeting was productive and actions have been agreed by both parties, commencing with early technical meetings this week, which if carried through, should lead to the resolution of the issues.“Provided there is the expected progress during the coming weeks, both parties are hopeful that it will be possible to indicate by the middle of April the target date for trialling and then operating the busway.”
Why Guided Bus?
Go to the Guided Bus page in Wikipedia and there is a list of guided bus systems around the world.
There aren’t many and what you notice is that about half have been discontinued; Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Mannheim for a start. So why were these systems discontinued? You can’t be sure, but some were short distance systems to get round bottlenecks, but probably they just didn’t get the ridership they needed, that justified the system.
So why is the government pushing guided bus?
I don’t know.
If we take the Cambridge system, it is now so over budget and late that no matter what happens, it will not be a financial success. It is a classic project that really has failed because of poor specification and bad project management. I would love to have one of my Artemis mates look at all the details. Big George would have a field day. But then so did Atkins.
Perhaps with hindsight, we should have designed a completely different system.
Cambridge’s biggest transport problem for those like me, who live outside the city is Addenbrooke’s Hospital. I have gone a lot recently and although the multi-story car park usually has spaces, it is expensive. But how else can you provide space for everyone who works there and has to visit?
However, the railway passes to the rear of the hospital on land that will eventually be developed as a large medical campus to compliment one of the best hospitals in the world. So why haven’t they for a start created a proper transport interchange there with a new Addenbrooke’s station and lots of parking for the hospital, park and ride to the city and those that want to catch the train.
Note that, it is virtually impossible for people like me to catch the train to London from Cambridge as car parking is bad in the city. So I usually drive to London. That is bad for all sorts of reasons. Remember too, that with the completion of the Hitchin flyover and other measures capacity on the Cambridge London line will be increased.
I have also been an advocate of another station at Chestert0n Sidings to serve the Science Park and the north of Cambridge. The two stations should probably be linked by a tram, or dare I say it a guided bus, going through the city. The trouble is that fitting it through would be difficult unless it ran with all the other traffic. But it has been done successfully in other cities all over the world. On the other hand if a tram run through the city every five to eight minutes from large car parks how many people would still want to take cars into the city?
But it won’t be done! Certainly not now!
Blunt from Bluntisham
I don’t normally print articles in full from other publications, but this one from Fred King in the Hunts Post deserves to shown almost in full.
Maths was never my strongest subject but I do know what two plus two equals, and judging by the figures for the Guided Bus that have been banded about by Cambridgeshire County Council finance officers, I have my doubts that they do.
The original estimate for the Busway was £116million, £92m from the Government and £24m from the developers of Northstowe (don’t hold your breath as no houses have been built yet).
There is an overspend – all parties agree on this – and the council is set to borrow £40m this year to cover this. What was not widely published is that they will borrow a further £10m next year to pay the contractors, and I understand that the final bill for the Busway will be £161m. Bearing in mind that none of the predicted £24m from the developers has materialised that leaves £69m to recover.
I am not conversant in commercial law but it seems strange to me that a client pays a bill in full and then has to resort to legal action to recover part of that sum back from the contractor.
However robust the council thinks its contract is, I have my doubts.
Despite the council saying that the Busway will cost the ratepayer nothing it will be interesting to see how much the rates increase in the future.
The letter writer was from Bluntisham.
And the government is thinking of building some more of these busways. Surely, if they were that good, there would be busways everywhere.
The Busway Makes the BBC
At last, the row about the Cambridge Busway seems to be getting serious.
It’s made the BBC.
Standoff on the Cambridge Busway
Cambridgeshire County Council has now blamed the contractor for the delays to the Cambridge Busway according to this report. Independent inspector Atkins have also been called in.
Atkins points to several defects which must be fixed before the busway is handed over. They include the St Ives Park and Ride site being built at the wrong gradient, the River Great Ouse viaduct leaking water and the maintenance track which runs alongside the busway being constantly flooded.
It would appear that the contractor disagrees.
I’m glad that this project is not needed for the London Olympics.
No Cambridge Busway but Council Pays
This would appear to perhaps not be the best news for the taxpayers of Cambridgeshire County Council, who seem to be paying for the busway.
Millions of pounds will be handed over to the team building the guided bus – and then council chiefs will claw the cash back.
Cambridgeshire County Council has borrowed £40 million in order to pay for the work up front.
But it insists taxpayers will not be a penny out of pocket on the £116 million bill originally agreed with contractors BAM Nuttall.
As I said in an earlier post, this is looking more and more like one for the lawyers.
But we still haven’t got an opening date for busway.
Will I Be On The Busway Soon?
This slogan is now displayed on all the new Stagecoach buses bough for the Cambridge Busway.
At least someone hasn’t lost their sense of humour.
The Anonymous Widower 