An Excursion To Retford And Worksop
Today’s excursion was designed to be simple.
- Take an LNER train or a Hull Train to Retford station.
- Travel to Worksop station, have a look and take a few pictures.
- Travel back to Retford and take the first train back to London.
- In one if my two visits to Retford, have a look and take a few pictures.
- Talk to passengers and railway staff about what they felt about FirstGroup’s Proposed Sheffield Service, that I wrote about in FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service.
These were my thoughts and observations.
LNER’s Improved Ticketing
These pictures show the tickets that I bought.
Note.
- I bought my ticket to Retford from the Ticket Office at King’s Cross station.
- The ticket seller gave me a well-designed folder for the tickets.
- I was also able to buy my return ticket between Retford and Worksop on the LNER train to Retford. I’ve tried doing that before and it wasn’t allowed.
Making ticketing easier must be a good thing for passengers, staff and LNER.
£24.75 With A Railcard From King’s Cross to Retford
- The second picture shows my ticket to Retford.
- It cost me just £24,75 with my Senior Railcard.
- I also bought it about half-an-hour before the train left.
- I bought the ticket in the Ticket Office.
- I got a forward-facing window seat with an unrestricted view.
How much would the 145 mile and nearly three-hour journey have cost in a car?
I Missed My Connection At Retford Station
These pictures show my train to Worksop station in Platform 3 at Retford station, as I approached from the South.
Note.
The Northern Trains’s Class 195 train arriving on Platform 3 on the Sheffield and Lincoln Line.
- I arrived in Platform 2 at Retford station at 12:50
- There were three lifts or sets of stairs to negotiate between Platform 2 and Platform 3.
- It must take at least five minutes between the two platforms.
- One of the lifts was out of order and was being serviced by an engineer.
- There was no way, I could have caught the connection, which left at 12:51.
- At least one other passenger, had to wait the one hour and fifteen minutes I waited for the next train, which arrived at 14:03.
I feel that there needs to be a timetable adjustment here, so that as many passengers as possible avoid the long wait.
Retford Station
At least the long wait allowed me to take a lot of pictures and have a cup of coffee in the Costa Coffee on Platform 1.
Note.
- The toilets were immaculate.
- The Costa Coffee had friendly and professional staff, but only rudimentary gluten-free options.
- The station is fully step-free with four lifts.
- Platforms 1 and 2 on the East Coast Main Line can take a pair of five-car Class 802 trains, as Hull Train demonstrated.
- The Hull Train in Platform 2 was using the electrification.
- The station is in very good condition.
- The station is Grade II Listed.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- The red arrow in the South-East corner are the low-level Platforms 3 and 4.
- The red arrow in the middle marks the low-level Platforms 1 and 2.
- Network Rail’s yellow Mobile Maintenance Train is visible in the siding opposite Platform 2.
- There is space around the platforms.
The station may have development possibilities. Especially, as there are signs of To Let over some of the buildings.
Ambitious Renewable Energy
Retford and Worksop are only eleven minutes away but there were a large wind farm and solar farms between the two stations.
Note.
- I was a bit slow on the uptake and missed the large wind farm.
- The strong sun was reflecting on the windows.
- They weren’t the best of photographs.
I had intended to take more and better pictures on the way back, but circumstances intervened.
This Google Map shows the wind and solar farms.
Note.
- The Sheffield and Lincoln Line going across the map.
- There are solar panels North and South of the railway.
- This is the Walkers Wood Solar Farm, which has a nameplate capacity of 27 MW.
- H M Prison Ranby is at the top of the map.
- The scars of the wind turbines are to the West of Babworth and the crematorium.
- At the moment, I can’t find any reference to the wind farm.
These wind and solar farms are probably a classic place to position a battery.
Prisons And Recycling
Worksop Station
I took these pictures during the time I spent at Worksop station.
Note.
- The station is not step-free, although you can cross the tracks using the level-crossing.
- The station has a pub and a cafe.
- There are train services to Leeds, Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield.
- The station is in very good condition.
- The station is Grade II Listed.
- The platforms are long enough to handle a Class 802 train without any modification.
- Hull Trains could run their Sheffield service to Worksop station without any new infrastructure.
- Lidl are developing a site on the other side of the level crossing.
- There are 100 car parking spaces.
The station may have development possibilities.
Worksop Station Cafe
These pictures show the Worksop station cafe.
Note.
- It is run by two ladies; Jo and Lyndsey.
- As one is coeliac, there were lots of gluten-free cakes.
- It was cosy and warm on a cold day.
This is definitely one of the better station cafes.
A Double Incident
My journey back to the capital was I suspect untypical.
- I’d arrived at Worksop at 14:14 and finally left at 16:38 on a train for Retford and Lincoln.
- The delay was because someone had been hit by a train between Barnsley and Sheffield, which resulted in cancelled trains.
- When I arrived at Retford at 16:49, there was an LNER train in the platform.
- It was the 15:15 from Leeds and I was told by LNER staff to catch it and get my ticket on the train.
- The train finally left Retford for London 69 minutes late at 17:07.
- We arrived in Peterborough at 19:27, where the train was now 170 minutes late.
- The delay was because someone had been hit by a train at Newark, which results in delays everywhere.
- LNER decided to give up on the train and all passengers were put on other trains.
- I got on the 14:30 from Edinburgh, which arrived in King’s Cross at 20:22, which was 96 minutes late.
Worse things happen at sea.
I am adding this a day after my trip to the North.
This article on the BBC is entitled ‘Major Disruption’ After Person Hit By A Train.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Train services on the East Coast Main Line have been seriously disrupted after a person was hit by a train in North Yorkshire.
Network Rail said the incident happened just before 07:00 GMT between York and Thirsk, with emergency services attending the scene shortly afterwards.
The line was blocked, resulting in delays and cancellations.
Three in two days us three too many.
Merthyr Tydfil Station – 28th November 2023
Yesterday, I went to South Wales to look at the progress of the South Wales Metro.
I took these pictures at the station and in the town.
Note.
- It is only a single-platform station.
- The platform and track appear to be reasonably flat.
- Several bay terminal platforms in the UK like four of those at Dalston Junction and Highbury & Islington stations near me are able to handle four trains per hour (tph).
- The Class 150/2 trains in the are 19.74 metres long and have a maximum capacity of 149.
- The new electric Class 398 tram-trains are 40.07 metres long and have a capacity of 252.
The platform appears to be long enough for the new trains.
These are my thoughts.
Capacity To And From Merthyr Tydfil
Consider.
- Currently, there are two Class 150/2 tph.
- This means current capacity is 298 passengers per hour.
- After electrification, there will be four Class 398 tph.
- This means future capacity is 1008 passengers per hour.
That is an increase of 238 % in the capacity.
Where Is The Electrification?
This OpenRailwayMap shows the proposed electrification at Merthyr Tydfil station.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red.
- Unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- The railway is single-track until past Troed-y-Rhiw, after which it is double track to Merthyr Vale station.
- Between Merthyr Vale and Abercynon is single-track, with a short length of unelectrified double-track at Quaker’s Yard station.
It appears that the section of the Merthyr Line at Merthyr Tydfil station will not be electrified.
- The tram-trains’ batteries must be large enough to climb the unelectrified section .
- There must also be enough power to nudge the tram-train back down the hill, after the climb has been completed.
- At least the pictures show, that the track in Merthyr Tydfil station, is reasonably flat.
It looks to be a neat piece of cost-saving design.
Why Did I Feel Better In Merthyr Tydfil?
I have been feeling under the weather lately, but I felt a lot better in Merthyr!
Was it the altitude of 180 metres?
My cardiologist friend, says most people feel worse at altitude. But I seem to be the other way round.
My wife was certainly feeling rough, when I drove a car up to 13,000 feet in the Andes of Ecuador, whereas I was fine.
Incidentally, the car was coughing and wheezing like a good ‘un.
Portway Park & Ride Station – 10th August 2023
Portway Park & Ride station, opened on the first of this month, so I went to visit today.
Note.
- The Portway Park & Ride is served by both buses and trains.
- Buses serve the City Centre and rugby and football at Ashton Gate stadium.
- Trains serve Avonmouth, Bristol Temple Meads, Severn Beach, Weston-super-Mare and a large number of other Bristol stations.
The M5 crosses over the railway to the West of the station.
This Google Map shows the M5 and the Portway Park & Ride.
Note.
- The M5 goes diagonally SW-NE across the map.
- The wide river is the Avon.
- Portway Park & Ride with its station is in the middle of the bottom of the map.
- Avonmouth station is in the North-West corner of the map.
The Portway Park & Ride seems to be an extremely well-connected Park & Ride.
These are my thoughts.
Are There Any Other Park & Ride Sites, Where A Station Could Be Added?
Consider.
- I wrote about a possible new station at Leicester Forest East in A Station At Leicester Forest East.
- In A Look At New Station Projects, several possible Park & Ride stations are mentioned.
Has Portway Park & Ride been developed to see if sites served by buses and trains are a good idea?
Is Portway Park & Ride The Solution To Big Matches At Ashton Gate?
Consider.
- Ashton Gate Stadium has a capacity of 27,000.
- Wikipedia says that buses from Portway Park & Ride are used to bring supporters to games.
- The platform at Portway Park & Ride might be able to take a five-car Class 802 train for a big match.
I wouldn’t be surprised that Portway Park & Ride has been designed for large crowds at big matches at Ashton Gate.
A Pair Of Toilets At Peterborough Station
Coming back from Lincolnshire yesterday, I had a few minutes to wait for my train to London on Platform 3. As there was a sign to toilets, I thought I’d sort myself out before the train arrived.
I found two spacious identical unisex toilets.
If you were of any sexual orientation, in a wheelchair, needed a place to change a baby or just wanted a quick splash and dash, I don’t think, anybody would find a problem with this pair.
They were also scrupulously clean. But then most station toilets generally are these days. Earlier in the day, I’d used the toilets at Lincoln station and they were very clean too!
I do think that the quality and cleanliness of toilets has been one of the biggest improvements of train travel in the UK, in the last fifty years in the UK.
LED Lights Illuminate London’s Elizabeth Line
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on E & T Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Using LEDs to light up the stations, escalator shafts and concourses of the Elizabeth line was a bold move from Transport for London; especially as when they decided on its use back in the late 2000s, LED technology was yet to break into the lighting world.
These points are also made in the article.
- The Elizabeth line is one of the first sub-surface infrastructure projects to be lit entirely by LEDs.
- The decision to use the technology was based on industry evidence that its use will help reduce energy consumption and maintenance requirements.
- The Crossrail team used the light-grey, matt-textured, glass-reinforced concrete lining of the station and escalator tunnels to reflect light onto the passenger areas.
- The main lighting and the emergency lighting are incorporated in the wayfinding totems.
The article certainly explains how the excellent lighting was designed.
These pictures show some of the LED lighting on the Elizabeth Line.
Note that uplighters on the Underground are not new, as these pictures from Turnpike Lane station show.
They were installed in the 1930s and were also used on the Moscow Metro, where London Transport installed the escalators.
Lighting Can Calm Passengers
This is a paragraph from the article.
Both Kerrigan and Clements agree that the lighting infrastructure makes the Elizabeth line unique to all its predecessors seen across the London Underground and that they have met their goal to create a soothing environment to enhance the passenger experience. “We wanted to create a relaxed commuting environment that is the opposite to the poorly lit and cramped environment of the Central line, for example,” Clements admits. “And we believe that the lighting has a massive amount to do with this.”
Does this explain why passengers seem generally calm?
Passenger Behaviour On The Lizzie Line
The Elizabeth Line has been open for some weeks now and I am fairly certain it is true to say that I have yet to see any passenger behaviour, that even the most picky passenger would complain about.
I wonder, if this is partly down to the design of the stations, with wide platforms and passages and often two escalators in the direction passengers are travelling.
If you are not being jostled, as you are sometimes on the Underground, you’re surely less likely to react.
These pictures also show the wide entrances on the Central section.
Passengers do seem to get in and out without bumping into other.
The Quality Of The Ride On The Lizzie Line
This morning I went from Moorgate station to Paddington station on the Lizzie Line.
I was in a virtually empty car and I could gauge a good estimate of ride quality.
In my opinion, the gold standard in the UK for some time has been the British Rail Mark 3 coach.
- But Mark 3 coaches don’t always run on modern slab track, which must give a smoother ride.
- Each track under London also has its own tunnel, so there is no buffeting, when you pass a train going in the opposite direction.
- Acceleration is also very smooth, due to the high proportion of powered axles.
I am getting very close to naming the Class 345 train, as the new gold standard.
The New Entrance At Hackney Central Station – 2nd July 2022
The new entrance at Hackney Central station opened yesterday.
Note.
- The cafe must be fairly good, as it has two flavours of gluten-free brownies.
- I may have a touch of arthritis these days, but stairs like these are fine for me, as there are two right-handed paths.
- There is a second set of stairs down from the footbridge to speed passengers on their way to Hackney Downs station.
- There is a light-controlled crossing over Graham Road.
- Bus stops in both directions are only about twenty metres from the crossing.
- The station buildings appear to have green roofs.
- The is plenty of bike storage, but no car parking.
- There is no lift, although the design should allow one to be added later, if it is thought one is needed.
I’ve seen bigger budgets produce worse designed station entrances than this one.
My Use Of The Graham Road Entrance At Hackney Central Station
I suspect, I will use the new entrance mainly in one of two ways.
Going West On The North London Line
If I want to go west on the North London Line, the obvious one is to get a bus to Highbury & Islington station from the closest stop to my house and get the train from there.
But that route has got more difficult in recent years.
- Our South London Mayor in his wisdom cut the 277 bus back to Dalston Junction station.
- So there is only the 30 bus left and the route uses badly-designed Egyptian-built buses. I’ve nothing against Egyptians, but these buses don’t have the flat floor, that people expect from a bus these days.
- Since the roundabout was rebuilt, it seems to be a longer and more difficult walk for pedestrians.
So I’d prefer to take another route.
- Canonbury station is probably the closest station, but it is an uphill walk from my house.
- Dalston Kingsland station is a possibility, but the steps to the platform aren’t the safest.
- Dalston Junction station is another possibility, as it is step-free, but it means more changes of mode and train.
Going via the new Graham Road entrance has advantages.
- From my house, there are frequent 38 buses to the new entrance.
- The 38 bus stop at Hackney Central is only a few metres from the station entrance.
- There is a coffee stall in the station entrance.
- The steps in the entrance are easy for me.
I will try out this route the next time, that I go to the West on the North London Line.
Coming Home From Stratford With Shopping
If I need a big Marks & Spencer or a John Lewis, it is convenient to go to Eastfield at Stratford and come home on the North London Line.
I will usually use the The Canonbury Cross-Over to double-back and get a bus home from Dalston Junction station.
It is an easy route, but sometimes the trains mean a wait of nearly ten minutes at Canonbury station.
The new entrance at Hackney Central gives an alternative route.
- You would get in the back of the train at Stratford.
- Alight at Hackney Central.
- Exit the station through the new entrance.
- Cross Graham Road on the light-controlled crossing.
- Walk about twenty metres to the 38 bus stop.
- Wait for a frequent 38 bus.
Today, I waited just a minute.
Conclusion
The entrance was first mentioned in an article on Ian Visits in October 2019 and I wrote about it in Will Hackney Central Station Get A Second Entrance?.
In May 2021, I wrote £3m Hackney Overground Station Upgrade To Begin In June.
The entrance seems to have gone from a concept to reality in under three years and once the starting pistol was fired, it was built in under a year.
How many parts of the UK rail network could be improved, by small projects like this?
Why Can’t More Bags Be Like This?
I recently had my shoes fixed in Timpsons.
This was the bag that the company gave me with the shoes
Surely, paper bags score highly in many ways; practicality, affordability, recyclability and as advertising.
Why don’t we see bags like these more often?
Wheelchair Provision On Elizabeth Line Trains And Platforms
These pictures show the provision for wheelchairs on trains and platforms of the Elizabeth Line.
Note.
- The generous spaces for a wheelchair. There are four spaces in the middle carriage of the nine-car trains.
- There is a blue wheelchair symbol, that marks where wheelchair entry to the trains is easiest.
- There are blue wheelchair symbols on the floor at doors closest to the wheelchair spaces.
- There are a lot of wheelchair signposts on all platforms.
- There are no steps to negotiate taking a wheelchair in or out of the train.
- At Canary Wharf there was a small screen showing the next five trains in each direction, which appeared to be positioned at the right height for a self-propelled wheelchair user.
Whilst I was coming back from Canary Wharf, the wheelchair space opposite was occupied by a very elderly lady in a wheelchair, who was accompanied, by a couple I took to be her daughter and son-in-law.
Judging by the smiles and compliments all round, they all seemed well satisfied with the provision.
The Anonymous Widower 