A Short Cruise At Greenwich
I had taken the Emirate air-line to North Greenwich with friends and we decided we needed to go to the Cutty Sark.
So we took one of the Thames Clippers, from where I took these pictures.
About the pictures.
- The first pictures show Greenwich Power Station, which generates electricity for Transport for London on a standby basis. It must be one of oldest power stations still producing electricity, although nowadays it doesn’t use coal, but six massive gas turbines.
- The rest of the pictures show the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.
The trip between the two piers took only a few minutes.
A Tourist Route Between Bank/London Bridge/Tower of London And Maritime Greenwich
I do this route on a sunny day, when I perhaps want to show a guest around London.
- Take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Bank or Tower Gateway stations to Royal Victoria station.
- Take the Emirate Air-Line across the Thames to Greenwich. Peninsular
- North Greenwich isn’t overloaded with attractions, unless you’re seeing a show or event at the O2. But it’s getting better!
- Take the Thames Clipper one stop to Greenwich. They run every twenty minutes.
If you want to be boring you can always catch the DLR to Cutty Sark station.
A few points.
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is often thought by Londoners, commuters and visitors as a bit of a Cinderella.
However, like Cinderella she works hard all day and provides reliable and efficient transport, where the only alternatives are buses, bicycles, taxis and Shank’s pony.
Just after the 2012 Olympics, I met a big cheese in Transport for London on a DLR train. He felt that the DLR had been the star in getting everybody to the games.
It must be one of the most successful light railways in the world!
And yet, no-one has ever thought to build another running on the same principles.
- Mainly elevated track.
- Mainly step-free stations
- Universal step-free train-to-platform access.
- High-visibility trains for passengers.
- Trains every three or four minutes.
- Friendly, interested, visible staff.
- Driverless operation with a train captain looking after passengers and driving in emergency.
- Contactless ticketing
Perhaps the lack of a full-time driver on every train, means that many other places would have massive union problems.
Emirates Air-Line
I’ve taken many people on the Emirates Air-Line and few haven’t been impressed.
The best time in my view is just as the sun sets, as these pictures show.
Note that unless you want a souvenir ticket, just use your bank card to touch-in and touch-out! My last one-way trip cost me £3.50 and appeared on my credit card statement labelled TFL TRAVEL CH Conractactless.
Thames Clippers
Since I moved back to London in 2010, the Thames Clippers have been continuously expanding and improving.
- .Five new boats have been delivered since the Olympics.
- Several piers have been improved, rebuilt or added in recent years.
- Cpmtactless ticketing can be used for all services. Payments are labelled THAMES CLIPPERS.
It should be noted that if you are a holder of a London Freedom Pass, you can get a discount on tickets at a machine.
Plans exist for the following.
- Extending the route to new housing developments at Barking and Thamesmead in the East.
- A new pier at Silvertown in October 2019, which could have a walking or bus link to the City Airport.
I can also see the following.
- Extensions to the West past Putney Pier to places like new housing at Brentford and Kew Gardens.
- Further extensions to the East to support the massive housing developments.
- Better connections to the London Underground, London Overground and National Rail stations.
- More use being made of the Thames Barrier as a tourist attraction.
- Thames Clippers becoming a river tube line.
- Thames Clippers appearing on the Tube map, just as the Emirate Air-Line does!
- A quick and easy connection between the City Airport, Canary Wharf and the Cities of London and Westminster being developed.
The last would surely appeal to City businessmen and those wanting to celebrate a special event.
If Venice can run a boat between the Airport, and St. Mark’s Square why can’t London do the equivalet?
Crossrail
Crossrail is the Elephant-in-the-Room, that will surely make its presence felt along the South Bank of the Thames, when it is extended to Ebbsfleet, as it surely will be.
- There will be a short walking interchange at Woolwich between Crossrail and the Tghames Clippers.
- If Crossrail build a station at Silvertown for London City Airport, this could be another interchange.
- If Crossrail eventually terminates at Gravesend, there could even be possibilities that far East.
The possibilities of designing the Crossrail Extension in conjunction with the Thames could open up the river has as both a leisure attraction and a transport artery.
Conclusion
London will reach towards the sea, to further enhance and add space to the undoubted Capital of the World!
A
The Crossrail Portal At Pudding Mill Lane Station
These pictures show the Crossral portal at Pudding Mill Lane station, as it is approached on a DLR train from Stratford station.
The portal does appear to be rather functional.
TfL Awards Contract For New DLR Fleet To Replace 30-year-old Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
I don’t think this is a surprise, as the winning design is based on CAF’s Metro train, which is in widespread use, in Europe and around the world.
The Trains
They would appear to be of a similar specification to most modern Metro trains, as would be expected.
The Possibility Of A Second Order
In Bombardier Transportation Consortium Preferred Bidder In $4.5B Cairo Monorail, I indicated that as the trains on the Tyne and Wear Metro and the trains on the Docklands Light Railway, are of a similar height and width, it might be possible to use the same same car bodies on both trains.
So now that CAF have got the first order for the Docklands Light Railway, they must be in prime position to obtain the Tyne and Wear Metro order!
Plans Shown Off For A Bridge Across The Thames At The Barrier
The title of this post is the same as that of an article on IanVisits.
This Google Map shows the location of the Thames Barrier.
Note the City Airport to the North and Charlton to the South.
I think it could be a valuable link for pedestrians and cyclists.
The Northern End
The Northern end of the bridge would be a pleasant five-minute stroll through Thames Barrier Park to the Pontoon Dock DLR station, as this Google Map shows.
Note that there is a cafe in the park.
The Southern End
What would happen at the Southern end of the bridge is less clear, as this Google Map shows.
The Thames Barrier is visible at the top of this map.
Could a network of cycle and walking routes be created between Maryon Park and the bridge?
These could also extend East to Charlton station and The Valley and West to Woolwich Dockyard station, which is just on the map.
Conclusion
I think it could be a valuable link for pedestrians and cyclists, through a new cross-river park.
Bombardier Transportation Consortium Preferred Bidder In $4.5B Cairo Monorail
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Toronto Star.
This the first three paragraphs of the article.
Bombardier Transportation says its consortium has been named preferred bidder in a C$4.5 billion contract to build and supply a new monorail system in Egypt’s capital.
The company’s potential share of the design and build contract for the system in Cairo is C$1.8 billion with an operations and maintenance deal valued at about C$1.67 billion over 30 years.
The 54-kilometre monorail will connect East Cairo with the New Administrative City and a second 42-km line will connect 6th October City with Giza.
The railway division of Bombardier Inc. will deliver the project in partnership with two Egyptian companies Orascom Construction and the Arab Contractors with the trains being developed and built in Derby, Britain.
The article then mentions the Bombardier Innovia monorail.
- The latest Innovia 300 monorail is automated and driverless.
- These trains can travel at 80 kph
- They can handle 48,000 passengers per hour in both directions.
- The latest versions are manufactured in Brazil, Canada and China
- The latest versions are installed or planned in Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.
I think there must be more to this project than the article in the Toronto Star.
What Are The Strengths Of The Innovia 300 Monorail?
This is Bombardier’s video of the monorail.
It looks to be a well-designed system, that has several strengths.
- It is automated and driverless.
- Cars are short and the trains can take quite curves, with as low as a 46 metre radius.
- Trains can have up to eight cars. The Cairo trains will be four cars.
- The latest cars look stylish, with cab design not unlike an Aventra.
- The cars appear to be walkthrough.
- The track is a slender concrete beam with walkways on either side for passenger evacuation and maintenance.
- The tracks wouldn’t necessarily have to be elevated.
- Construction could be quicker than a conventional railway.
- It could also be built to travel over roads, railways, water and building, by placing the beam at the right height.
I would like to see one in operation, but Brazil is a long way, so I’ll stick with the video for the moment.
Why Develop And Build In Derby?
Why would a big company like Bombardier, with already three production lines for the monorail, want to setup another production line in Derby?
Bombardier say that the trains will also be developed in Derby.
Perhaps, some or all of these reasons apply.
- The cross-section of an Innovia 300 monorail car looks to be about the size of a British train.
- Can Derby’s manufacturing technology that has been used successfully to build Electrostar and Aventra bodies be applied to the Innovia monorail.
- Derby has good relations with a large number of appropriate suppliers in the UK and Europe.
- The new version will use the Aventra parts bin to cut development and manufacturing costs.
- Supporting the Egyptian system from Derby will not be difficult.
- Canada has better relations with the UK, than Brazil or China.
But even so, development could surely have been continued in Canada.
So Bombardier must have very good reasons!
Are Bombardier Proposing A Closely-Related Design For The Tyne And Wear Metro?
The current Class 994 trains of the Tyne and Wear Metro have the following dimensions.
- Width – 2.65 metres
- Height – 3.45 metres
- Car Length – 27.8 metres
- Train Length – 55.6 metres
The Class 710 train, which is an Aventra has the following dimensions.
- Width – 2.77 metres
- Height – 3.76 metres
So it would appear that the standard Aventra might be too large to fit the Metro, where Bombardier are approved bidders.
It does appear that Bombardier have designed the Aventra’s body from three aluminium extrusions, so these could be resized to fit the smaller dimensions of the Metro.
But looking at the video of the Innovia 300 monorail, I get the impression, that above the floor, the body might be almost the same size as that needed for the trains for the Metro.
So Bombardier would need to design an appropriate chassis, to replace that used for the monorail.
This could mean that the bodies on both trains could be identical.
- Four fifteen metre cars, would give a length of sixty metres.
- If longer trains are needed, then extra cars could be inserted up to a length of eight cars.
- The trains would be walk-through with lots of doors for easy exit according to the video.
- The four-car design would enable tight curves could be negotiated.
- There would surely be advantages in support and maintenance.
- Cabs could be provide for the driver if required.
I also believe that any new trains must have step-free access between train and platform. This picture shows a current train at South Shields station.
That is not bad for a system that opened forty years ago.
I would think that Bombardier will make the access better, when designing a new chassis from scratch.
But the big advantages of commonality between the Innovia monorail and the Metro cars, would be in the areas of support and expansion or lengthening of the fleet in the future.
What About The Docklands Light Railway?
The Docklands Light Railway like the Tyne and Wear Metro, is another one-off system, that is incompatible with most other rail systems in the UK.
The DLR is intending to replace the rolling stock and Bombardier has been shortlisted.
The current trains of the DLR have the following dimensions.
- Width – 2.65 metres
- Height – 3.47 metres
- Car Length – 28 metres
- Train Length – 56 metres
Give or take a few millimetres, they are almost the same size as the trains on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Could we see similar trains on the Tyne and Wear Metro and the Docklands Light Railway?
Wikipedia says that the new DLR fleet will be 87 metres long, so could that mean six 14.5 metre cars?
A Possible Tram-Train?
Bombardier build trams and have supplied them to the UK.
The UK has just started to develop tram-train systems, with the South Wales Metro being developed in the next few years with Class 399 tram-trains.
If Bombardier use the concept, I’ve outlined here for the Tyne and Wear Metro and the Docklands Light Railway, I believe it is only a short development to get a tram-train, that could run in the UK
I’m sure that they could get it to work in Blackpool, where the company supplied their trams for the Blackpool tramway.
Are Bombardier Expecting Orders From Europe?
It was only in 2014, that the first Innovia 300 monorail route, Line 15 (São Paulo Metro), opened in Brazil.
But since then, have several Transport Authorities, City Councils and Governments visited Brazil to have a look?
Do Bombardier feel that they will be selling other systems in Europe?
If so, then Derby will be an excellent sales, development, production and support base.
Could We See Some Monorails In The UK?
If you look at the list of Bombardier Innovia systems on Wikipedia, there are several short systems at places like airports and theme parks and a few longer systems of which the Cairo system will be the longest.
I can see opportunities for the shorter distance systems.
- As a part of developments of Heathrow Airport’s third runway.
- As a part of the development of Gatwick Airport’s second runway.
- Linking Ebbsfleet International and Northfleet stations.
- Linking East Midlands Airport to East Midlands Parkway station.
- Linking the proposed Eden Centre at Morecambe with Lancaster station.
- Linking Bristol Airport to the City Centre
- Greenhithe station to the Bluewater shopping Centre.
- It could be a modern replacement for the Liverpool Overhead Railway.
There are probably other locations at stations, airports and theme parts, where Innovia monorail systems could be installed.
As to a longer system in the UK, the only one I can think off would be to link High Speed Two at East Midlands Hub station to Derby and Nottingham and perhaps East Midlands Airport.
But then that would then be a system on Derby’s doorstep.
Conclusion
There are possibilities and with a billion pound-plus order, the project could be on its way!
But surely, the big advantage to Bombardier is if they get the orders for the new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro and the Docklands Light Railway, they can create trains with a lot of shared components for all three applications.
The two UK systems would get trains that weren’t totally unique, which must ease maintenance and future expansions of the respective systems.
The Future Of The Emirates Air Line
I’ve always liked the Emirates Air Line, but I hadn’t used it for some time until today.
As I was in the area, I used it to cross the river, this morning.
I can make these observations.
The Weather Could Have Been Better
The cable-car needs sunny weather, although I did once go across in the snow.
The Cable-Car Wasn’t Busy
Compare today’s pictures wit this one taken in February 2014.
The Cable Car Was Busy
One of the attendants said it was becoming more of a tourist attraction rather than a means of transport.
This meant today, I had a car to myself and didn’t have to share it with several excited kids.
I think too, that the weather was against visitors and tourists now know the best times to use the cable car.
In my view, when the sun is setting is by far the best.
There Are A Lot More Skyscrapers
The last time I rode across was in March 2016, after which I wrote Riding The Cable Car.
There has been a lot of high rise building in the intervening years.
I suspect that as more and more skyscrapers are built, a ride between them all across the river will become more popular.
The Line
The Line is a sculpture trail, that runs from Greenwich to the Olympic Park. The cable-car has to be used by non-swimmers to cross the river.
The Line is connected OR or close to London’s railways as follows.
- Stratford – Central Line, Jubilee Line, DLR, London Overground, National Rail and in the future; Crossrail.
- Stratford High Street – DLR
- Pudding Mill Lane – DLR
- Bromley-by-Bow – District and Hammersmith & City Lines
- Star Lane – DLR
- Canning Town – Jubilee Line and DLR
- Royal Victoria – DLR
- North Greenwich – Jubilee Line
All these connections mean that it can be done in sections.
The Tide
The Tide is an partly elevated five km route, that will be linked to the cable-car, that will be fully-open in two years.
Crossrail
Crossrail will affect all travel in East London and it connects at Stratford stayion to The Line.
I don’t know the route of the Tide, but it may make walking from the O2 to Woolwich sttion for Crossrail much more relaxing.
Although it doesn’t serve Greenwich directly, I believe Crossrail will draw more tourists to the cable-car.
Docklands Light Railway
The DLR is getting new trains in the next few years and an extension to Thamesmead.
As with Crossrail it will draw more tourists to the area and the cable-car.
Thames Clippers
These are expanding and they will bring more tourists to the cable-car.
Conclusion
These and other factors, such as tourists venturing out of the centre of London, will mean that more vistors will explore the East and use the cable-car.
Could London Get A New Tube Line Between Canary Wharf And Euston?
The title of this post is the same as that as this article on CityMetric.
The article makes some interesting points.
- The line has been proposed by the owners of Canary Wharf.
- Getting to Canary Wharf from Euston, Kings Cross and St. Pancras is difficult.
- Property developers have always decided where London’s railways go.
- The plan would seem to have just one intermediate stop at Blackfriars station.
These new or improved services will be happening in the next ten years.
- More and faster services to/from the Midlands and the North West at Euston.
- High Speed Two services at Euston
- More and faster services to/from the East Midlands and Sheffield at St. Pancras.
- More Continental services at St. Pancras
- More and faster services to/from Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland at Kings Cross.
These lead me to the conclusion, that a new rail link is needed across London.
A Possible Western Extension To The Docklands Light Railway
In A Connection Between City Thameslink Station And The Docklands Light Railway, I wrote about a possible Western extension of the Docklands Light Railway.
his map from Transport for London, shows this possible Western extension of the DLR.
This was my analysis.
With all the problems of the funding of Crossrail 2, that I wrote about in Crossrail 2 Review Prompts Fresh Delays, could this extension of the DLR, be a good idea?
Consider,
- Victoria, Euston and St. Pancras are prosposed Crossrail 2 stations.
- It would link Canary Wharf and the City of London to Eurostar, Northern and Scottish services and High Speed 2.
- It would give all of the Docklands Light Railway network access to Thameslink.
- A pair of well-designed termini at Euston and St. Panras would probably increase frequency and capacity on the Bank branch of the system.
- The DLR is getting new higher capacity trains.
- Bank station is being upgraded with forty percent more passenger capacity.
- Holborn station is being upgraded and hopefully will be future-proofed for this extension.
- One big advantage at City Thameslink, is that Thameslink and the proposed DLR extension will cross at right-angles, thus probably making designing a good step-free interchange easier.
- The Bank Branch of the DLR currently handles 15 tph, but could probably handle more, if they went on to two terminal stations at St Pancras and Victoria..
- Waterloo and City Line can run at twenty-four tph.
Cinderella she may be, but then she always delivers, when there is a desperate need, just as she did magnificently at the 2012 Olympics.
The only problem with this extension of the DLR, is that compared to the rest of the system, the views will be terrible.
For myself and all the others living along the East London Line, with a step-free change at Shadwell, we would get excellent access to Euston, Saint Pancras and Victoria
But could the line still be called the Docklands Light Railway, as it spreads its tentacles further?
Will Cinderella come to the help of Canary Wharf for a second time?
I remember, when the Lewisham extension of the DLR was built without fuss, fanfare and cost and time overruns a couple of decades ago.
It was a triumph of sensible engineering.
Royal Mint Gardens
Royal Mint Gardens is a housing development to the East of Fenchurch Street and Tower Gateway stations.
These are a few pictures of the development.
But this doesn’t tell the full story.
This Google Map shows the position of the development.
Note.
- Fenchurch Street station is towards the top-left corner of the map.
- The c2c tracks running to the East from Fencurch Street station.
- Tower Gateway DLR station is just to the right of the centre, just above the green space.
- The tracks of the Docklands Light Railway running to the East from Tower Gateway DLR station.
The three concrete towers at the right of the map, lying to the South of the railway tracks, are the three structural towers of Royal Mint Gardens.
This Google Map shows a close up of Royal Mint Gardens.
Note how the Docklands Light Railway splits into two to the East of the development.
- The Northern pair of tracks skirt the development to the North to go to Tower Gatewat DLR station.
- The Southern pair of tracks go underneath the development to go to Bank DLR station.
The new development has put the Bank branch in a concrete tunnel.
So in an area of the world, where land is a very expensive commodity, this area is being used twice at the same time.
Royal Mint Gardens On The BBC
BBC London television has been covering various aspects of the building of Royal Mint Gadens in local news for most of the day.
The developer, the architect, Network Rail and the reporter, all seemed very positive about what is being created.
The architect felt up to 250,000 houses could be created on similar sites across London.
How many houses could be built over rail lines in the rest of the UK?
Conclusion
Building over rail lines like this, will increasingly be seen as a way of adding new housing in densely populated cities.
The New Escalators At Limehouse Station
Limehouse station now has a smart pair of escalators on the Westbound platform.
Are escalators going to be added to the Eastbound platform and the c2c platforms?
Automated Shuttle Trains With A Train Captain
There are various short routes on the UK rail network, where shuttle trains work a frequency of perhaps two or three trains per hour (tph), that is generally felt by passengers and train operators to be inadequate.
Examples include the following.
Could the frequency on these lines be increased using automation?
The Automated Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is not a simple railway, but it is fully automated.
- Trains are driverless
- A Train Captain is responsible for patrolling the train, checking tickets, making announcements and controlling the doors.
- The Train Captain can take control of the train if required.
It is a system that seems to have worked well for many years.
An Automated Shuttle With A Train Captain
Could a similar principle be applied to a shuttle train?
As an example, I’ll use the Bromley North Line.
Consider.
- The line is two miles long and trains take five minutes each way.
- The current frequency is three tph.
- There are problems at Grove Park station with connections in the Peak.
- The route is double-track.
- The current service is operated by a single train, manned only by a driver.
It would appear if the Bromley North Line could be run at four tph, this would be a welcome improvement.
One of the problems of driver-operated shuttle services like this, is that at each end of the route, the driver must change ends, which takes a couple of valuable minutes.
To operate a frequency of four tph, the round-trip must be performed in fifteen minutes.
- Each leg takes five minutes.
- There are four stops in a round trip; one at Grove Park, one at Bromley North and two at Sundridge Park.
I believe that a single automated train, with a Train Captain on board to look after safety, open and close the doors and start the train after each stop, should be able to handle the much-needed four tph on the Bromley North Line.
How Would The Automation Work?
Many years ago, a Central Line driver explained to me how the original automation of the Victoria Line worked.
- A train would arrive in the station and stop in the correct place automatically with high precision.
- The doors would be opened.
- After passengers had unloaded and loaded, the doors would be closed.
When the doors were closed and everything was safe, the driver would push a button to ask the automation to take the train to the next station.
Automation has moved on since the 1960s, and I believe that some form of on-train automation would be able to handle a simple shuttle.
- Only one track would probably be need to used to remove the complication of points.
- Only one train would be used for the shuttle, as this increases safety.
- Sensors would determine the exact position of the train.
- CCTV cameras, including ones looking forwards and backwards, would be relayed to the Train Captain and their Control Station in the middle of the train.
- The Train Captain would have an Emergency Stop Button.
If something goes wrong or the train is being taken to and from the depot, the Train Captain would go to the forward cab, switch off the automation and drive the train in the normal manner.
I am sure, that it would not only be a very safe system, but if it made full use of the capabilities of modern trains, it would speed up services sufficiently, so that frequencies could be increased.
What Trains Would Be Suitable?
I think that the choice of trains would be wide, but I think they must have the following characteristics.
- An ability to perform a station stop and restart quickly.
- Fast acceleration and deceleration.
- Level access between platform and train.
- Walk-through interior, to help the Train Captain perform their duties.
- Lots of wide double doors and large lobbies.
All these characteristics would enable the train to save time on the route.
Power would be anything that could be used on the route. For the Bromley North Line, that would be either third-rail electrification or battery power.
Battery power, though on this route, would have a problem.
If the train is running an intense shuttle service, with stops taking a minute or even less, the train never stops long enough to charge the batteries. As the route is electrified with 750 VDC using third-rail, this would need to be used on the Bromley North Line.
Although, I have used the word train in this section, I suspect trams, tram-trains or light rail vehicles could be used.
All vehicles would retain their driving cabs for the following reasons.
- If there is a problem, the Train Captain can drive the train, as happens on the Docklands Light Railway.
- If the train needs to be positioned to and from a depot, the train could be driven manually.
I also feel that for these reasons, the Train Captain would be a fully qualified driver.
Examples of vehicles that could be used, if appropriate automation were to be fitted include.
Class 399 Tram-Train
Class399 tram-trains are working successfully in Sheffield and they have been ordered for the South Wales Metro, where they will run under both overhead and battery power.
As an Electrical Engineer, I believe that it would not be the most difficult piece of engineering to fit these tram-trains with the ability to run under third-rail power.
The tram-trains would have similar capacities, cross-section and performance to the current Class 466 trains.
The only modifications that would be needed to the route, would be to adjust the platforms used by the tram-train to give level access between tram-train and platform.
A Three-Car Aventra Or Similar
Three-car Class 730 Aventra trains, have been ordered by West Midlands Railway and Aventras have also been ordered to run using third-rail power.
As with the Class 399 tram-train, these trains could probably work the route successfully, subject to suitable platform modification.
How Fast Could Stops Be Performed?
I have timed stops on the London Overground and the London Tramlink rarely do you find a time from brakes on to brakes off in excess of a minute, without a red signal being involved.
I have measured some London Overground stops are at thirty seconds some London Tramlink stops at twenty seconds.
If a shuttle had the track to itself and the train was a modern design, I could see maximum timings on the Bromley North Line as follows.
- Bromley North – One minute
- Sundridge Park – Thirty seconds
- Grove Park – One minute
Surely, with station stop times like these and perhaps faster running than the current 30 mph, the goal of four tph could be comfortably achieved.
What Happens With Delays?
Suppose, an incident occurs, and the train is delayed.
After the incident is successfully sorted, the train could just carry on or wait until it was on schedule for the next train.
Within a few minutes, the train would be running to time.
Some Other Selected Routes
Over the next few days, I will be adding calculations for other routes.
Slough And Windsor & Eton Central
Extra routes will be added here.
Conclusion
On the Bromley North Line, selective automation should be able to enable a four tph service using one train or tramtrain.
