Freight at Micheldever
Whilst waiting for my train to Fratton at Micheldever, a very long freight train came through. Network Rail have been doing a lot of work recently to make it possible for the larger W10 containers to get from Southampton to the West Coast Main Line for travel to Birmingham, the North and Scotland. I detailed this in Boxing Clever and it would appear that the strategy is being exploited. After all, every box moved by rail, doesn’t have to go on the road.
There were also some curious freight wagons in the sidings at the station.
Micheldever Station
My train for Fratton is just approaching and you can see the line of wagons begind it. They appeared to have end doors only.
An Alternative to Toll Roads
A report today, says that toll roads are not the answer to Britain’s crowded roads.
But is an alternative here already?
The A14 is one of the UK’s most crowded roads. A lot of the traffic is trucks carrying containers to and from the docks in the Haven Ports (Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich).
Over the next two years, Network Rail are upgrading the railway from Felixstowe to the East and West Coast Main Lines, so that large amounts of this traffic can go by rail. Network Rail are also upgrading the rail network to Southampton and other places to put the heavy freight where it belongs and the traffic figures are now showing that rail is carrying more freight traffic of this type than a few years ago.
The problem is that rail needs depots to transfer the containers for the final collection or delivery and planning permission for these is often difficult to get, due to local opposition from those same people, who will benefit from less freight traffic on the roads.
We may not have space in this country for a new motorway, but there is often space to fit in another rail track or two alongside an existing line.
Boxing Clever
Boxing Clever is the title of two articles in September’s edition of Modern Railways magazine. They detail the works being done to upgrade the major freight lines of Felixstowe to Nuneaton and Southampton to Birmingham, so that they can take the larger 9 ft 6 in high containers (boxes) from the ports to and from industrial centres. In times of austerity and climate change, it is interesting to see how these projects which will cut out hundreds of thousands of lorry journeys are being carried out and managed using some very innovative solutions. So much so,m that it appears that the second project might be £10m under its £70.7m budget.
It is an example of very good project management and shows how by spending money wisely to remove freight bottle-necks is to the good of us all. You could argue for instance that Felixstowe to Nuneaton enhancement might be the equivalent of adding extra capacity to the A14, which is a road, that really can’t be widened too easily, as the Orwell bridge was only built for two lanes each way.
I particularly liked the way that the 1847 Southampton Tunnel was made larger. Rather than use the traditional approach and closing the tunnel for two to three months, as they did when they upgraded Ipswich Tunnel, they did it a track at a time closing for only three weekends and over Christmas 2009, saving a year on the project.
It is my belief that we can save a lot of money on infrastructure projects, like roads, railways, hospitals ands schools by thinking things through with a great deal more innovation, enterprise and by borrowing good and proven ideas and methods from other countries and industries.
How Trains Have Changed
I travelled down to Ipswich for the match against Burnley on Saturday, by changing from the East Coast train that had brought me from Edinburgh to the National Express East Anglia one that took me the rest of the way. The train was a comfortable Turbostar and I sat cosily in First Class, which is one of the perks of a Senior Railcard, as I get one third off. I had thought about sleeping, especially as Ipswich is the end of the line, but in the end I talked about football and trains to two drivers from East Midlands Trains, who were positioning back from Ely to Norwich.
It was a pleasant journey in rolling stock that is a far cry from what we used to have to endure. We all had to agree though, that according to reports some of the newer trains that cross the Pennines are a lot better and have been consistently praised for the quality of the ride.
I arrived at Ipswich on time with ninety minutes before kick off after a six hour journey from Edinburgh.
A point to note is that the Felixstowe-Ipswich-Peterborough route is being upgraded to handle more and longer container trains to and from Felixstowe, by selective dualling of the line between Felixstowe and Ipswich and also between Soham and Ely. It is estimated that this and other schemes will take almost 250,000 lorry journeys off the road. To me this is a good thing, especially as the cost is probably less than adding an extra lane to sections of the A14. But there is a downside. I was told that these heavy freight trains can damage the track and make the ride of passenger trains worse.
Towards The Olympic Park
When I left Dullingam, I had had the vague intention of taking the newly rebuilt North London Line, either to Richmond or Stratford to see the Olympic Park for 2012. Access to the line is just one stop away from King’s Cross at Highbury and Islington.
A few minutes later, I was on the platform there waiting for my brand-new train to Stratford.
What impressed me was the attention to detail. Look at this staircase for example.
Stairs at Highbury and Islington
Now I am not disabled, but the grip in my left hand is not good and I have some issues with my eyesight, in that I miss objects at a low level. But here the rails and step edges are in bright orange, so I had no difficulty negotiating them at all.
Have they also have decided that on an outdoor station, that flowers rather than art is the best way to decorate the stations. Note the hanging baskets shown here as the train arrives.
The Stratford Train arrives at Highbury and Islington
The trains are a far cry from the old stock that used to creep around the North London Line, when I used to take it from Broad Street to Willesden to get to Metier at Stonebridge Park. They were third rail electric trains then, but now they are fed from an overhead catenary. This is a first for London Underground or Overground, but it is so they can get freight trains from East London to the main West Coast Main Line.
Here a load of containers are trundelling towards Stratford and then probably up the Norwich line to the port of Felixstowe.
My train was on time and I took it all the way. The last part of the journey is through the Olympic Park.
Here the main stadium is rising towards completion.
The Olympic Stadium Rises
And this is the aquatic centre.
Aquatic Centre
It is all very different from when as a child, I used to go to Stratford to bunk the engine sheds to collect engine numbers. I don’t think kids do that any more!
At Stratford, you have several choices about how to continue your journey.
- North London Line – You could take the line across the city, with its superb views of central London, to have a walk in Hampstead Heath.Kew Gardens or along the river at Richmond.
- Central Line – This is the quickest way back to the City and central London.
- Jubilee Line – This will take you to Greenwich, Canary Wharf and the West End, through some of the most spectacular stations on the planet.
- Docklands Light Railway – This is the route for people, who like to explore. Get a good guide book and just go to a station and walk around what I say is the real London, with its markets, churches, canals and historic buildings. And of course, its rich tapestry of people!
I chose the last and took the driverless train to Canary Wharf.
The Anonymous Widower 