The Most Crowded Train I’ve Been On For Sixty-Plus Years
I started going to Tottenham Hotspur matches by myself somewhere between the age of fourteen and sixteen.
- I used to take the 107 bus from where we lived in Oakwood to Enfield Town station and then get the electric trains to White Hart Lane.
- I don’t remember much about the trains, but they were slam door stock.
- I remember this as we used to fold the doors back before the train entered the station and jump out when the train got to running speed.
- Coming back into Enfield Town station, this was essential, otherwise you wouldn’t be to the front of the queue for the 107 bus.
- Those trains returning from White Hart Lane were incredibly packed.
And I haven’t been on a train as crowded until today.
Today, I planned a simple mission to go to Ebbw Vale Town station and back to see the working of the new service between Newport and Ebbw Vale Town station.
- As I often do, I used my Freedom Pass on the Elizabeth Line to get to Reading.
- At Reading station, I bought a Super Off-Peak Return from Reading to Ebbw Vale Town for £47.05 with my Senior Railcard.
- By comparison, a Super Off-Peak Return from Paddington to Ebbw Vale Town is £57.55 with a Railcard.
The first train today, on which I could use my cheap ticket was the 11:13 from Reading.
- I had hoped, that there would still be a few seats left at Reading, as there are always a few, who use Great Western Railway’s fast trains between Paddington and Reading.
- I also expected, that many going to the Wales and Scotland match in Cardiff would take later trains.
- Unfortunately, quite a few Scots and Welsh supporters got on at Reading.
- It was a wrong decision, as there wasn’t a spare seat anywhere.
So in the end, I stood all the way from Reading to Newport.
I would hope that next time, that Scotland play Wales in Cardiff, that Great Western Railway add some more capacity.
Improvements To Enfield Town Station
This post on IanVisits is entitled Enfield Council Outlines Possible Rail Station Upgrades.
By reading Enfield Council documents, Ian has found possible station improvements that might happen.
Ian says this about Enfield Town station.
There’s an empty plot of land next to Enfield Town station which used to be the Enfield Arms pub until it was demolished in 2005. The council wants that site to be used for housing, and to fund improvements to the pedestrian space outside the station.
They also suggest it may also contribute to increased peak hour trains on the London Overground, which would likely need a far bigger development than could be achieved in the site.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- The station has three platforms.
- The Enfield Arms pub was at the North end of Genotin Road.
- There is a Tesco Superstore on the other side of the railway.
I took these pictures of the station.
It looks like there is building being carried out on the Royal Mail site.
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.
Enfield Town Is Almost Ready For Boris
I went through Enfield and Enfield Town station this morning before nine thirty. I used my Freedom Pass, which of course I couldn’t have done before the Overground takeover.
Apart from the 307 bus from Oakwood tube station, that I used to get to Enfield, which still thought National Rail was in charge, there didn’t seem to be too much to fault.
A First Glimpse Of The New Tube And Rail Map
There was a copy of this map at Enfield Town station.
Incidentally, I probably look at this map more than I ever look at the standard tube map, as I generally need it when coming home from an unfamiliar rail station south of the Thames.
One of these maps should be prominently displayed at all rail stations in at least the grester South East of England. This was originally said to me by a Virgin employee at somewhere like Coventry, as they’re always getting asked where unusual London stations are by passengers. So he thought one on the London-bound platform would be a good idea and passengers could look it up for themselves.
The Orange is Starting To Appear
Today, I took the Enfield branch of the Lea Valley Lines up to Enfield Town station, to see whether there was any signs of rebranding for the London Overground.
As you can see there were!
As one picture shows, they were changing what they could today for the start of service tomorrow.
Boris is coming to Enfield Town station on Monday, so they’ve obviously cleaned that station first. And very clean it was too, with lots of new shelters and seats.
The only problem was the new rubber floor had the smell of new rubber, but that will dissipate by Monday.
I chatted for a few minutes to a member of staff and to a couple of fellow travellers. All seemed very pleased and a fellow Freedom Pass holder was pleased that she could now use her pass before 09:30 in the morning.
Before Overground – Enfield Town
A Classic 1950s-built Concrete Station – Rating 6/10
I have a long history of travelling through Enfield Town station.
It was built in 1957 and that was probably about the time, I used it for the first time, as it was just a 107 bus ride away from where I lived in Cockfosters.
Coming back from White Hart Lane in the 1960s after seeing Spurs play, you folded the doors back, as you entered the station and when the train had slowed to a flat out run, you jumped. That way, you tended to beat all the other hundreds of people wanting to get a 107 bus home.
London Overground could probably make this station into one of their best, as there are no step-free problems, except a high step into the Class 315 trains. But hopefully, the step up from the platforms to the new trains will be minimised.
The Anonymous Widower 