Between Walthamstow Central And Canning Town Stations On A 69 Bus
I have a feeling, that the 69 bus route, which currently runs between Walthamstow Central and Canning Town stations, could be usefully extended to become.
- A new route through the Silvertown tunnel.
- A formal connection between the Eastern ends of the Victoria and Jubilee Lines
- Part of Superloop
I took these pictures from the front of the top deck.
Note.
- I was sitting at the front of the bus on the right side of the top deck.
- Walthamstow Central station is served by the Victoria Line and the London Overground.
- The 69 bus runs every few minutes.
- Walthamstow Central station has a well-connected modern bus station.
- Leyton Midland Road station is on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.
- The Leyton Engineer appears to be a beautifully restored pub.
- The six-lane A12 East Cross Route is crossed on a bridge just before Leyton station.
- Leyton station is on the Central Line.
- Maryland station is on the Elizabeth Line.
- The Great Eastern Main Line and the Elizabeth Line are crossed on a bridge at Maryland station.
- The prominent church is St. John’s, Stratford.
- Plaistow station is on the Metropolitan Line.
- Canning Town station is on the Jubilee Line and is a hub for the Docklands Light Railway.
- Canning Town station is suffering a degree of refurbishment at the moment and is a bit of a nightmare on foot at the moment.
The 69 bus route connects eight railway stations and at least eight railway lines.
The roads are generally wide and there are more trees than in other parts of London.
Heat-Related Hospital Admissions And Deaths In London
I never saw my father ride on a deep Underground line, like the Northern or the Piccadilly, as he always said the air was terrible.
That was despite we lived within walking distance of Oakwood station and his print works was just a hundred metres from Wood Green Underground station.
But then he was a man, who always had a car, when I knew him, so I suppose he felt he better use it.
On one occasion, he took me to the Printing Industries Fair at Earl’s Court, which is just seventeen stops on the Piccadilly Line from Wood Green Underground station, as it still is today.
His route was as follows.
He left his MG Magnette outside the print works on Station Road.
As this picture I took in 2012 shows, parking wasn’t too difficult.
We then walked up the hill to Wood Green station, which is now called Alexandra Palace, from where we took a steam-hauled local train into King’s Cross.
From King’s Cross, we took a Metropolitan Line train to Hammersmith station.
At Hammersmith, we changed stations and then took a train to Baron’s Court station for Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre.
Today, the route between Alexandra Palace and Earl’s Court stations is very different.
- You can change trains at Moorgate, Farringdon or King’s Cross.
- The oldest trains, that you’ll travel on would have been built in 2008.
- All trains will be fully air-conditioned.
I feel, that I could probably get my father to use this route. Although, I doubt it would happen, as he would have turned 120, at the start of this year.
The Growth Of Air Conditioning
Many cars since the 1980s have been airconditioned and now trains are following that route.
In London these are some dates, when trains were air-conditioned.
- Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan from 2008.
- Elisabeth Line from 2017.
- Gospel Oak and Barking from 2019.
- Greater Anglia from 2019/20.
- Lee Valley Lines from 2019.
- London Midland from 2023.
- London Overground from 2009.
- Southern from 2003.
- Southeastern from 2003.
- Thameslink from 2014.
Each year, more and more trains will be air-conditioned.
Conclusion
Has this growth of air-conditioning reduced the number of cases of heatstroke and other heat related admissions to hospitals?
London Overground: Design Work For West London Orbital Route Begins
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Plans for a new London Overground link in west London are progressing, London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has said.
These paragraphs outline what will happen.
Engineering consultants who worked on the Elizabeth line have been chosen for the West London Orbital service.
“This engineering design will help determine the cost of delivering the scheme, which is currently unfunded,” Transport for London (TfL) said.
It hopes the scheme, which would connect Hounslow with Hendon and West Hampstead, could start next decade.
My feeling, is that they should get on with it.
- There would be no major construction like tunnels.
- Four stations would need to be built.
- I doubt there will be any demolition.
- It wouldn’t need more electrification, as the route is electrified at both ends and battery-electric trains could be used.
- It would create more connections to Old Oak Common for High Speed Two.
But if it does for North West London, what the Overground has done for North and East London, it will be very much worth it.
These are a few thoughts and observations.
The Route
This is a schematic of the route from the BBC article.
Note.
- Services will be between West Hampstead Thameslink and Hounslow stations and between Hendon and Kew Bridge stations.
- If services follow the London Overground frequency, they will be four trains per hour (tph).
- The new stations are Neasden, Harlesden, Old Oak Common Lane and Lionel Road.
- Acton Central, Brentford, South Acton, Syon Lane and West Hampstead Thameslink are step-free and Isleworth is on the way.
- The fully step-free Brent Cross West station will open soon.
- Lionel Road station will serve the new Brentford stadium.
- Old Oak Common Lane will serve High Speed Two, the Elizabeth Line and the North London Line.
They look to be a useful set of stations.
Kew Bridge Station
There’s been a lot of development at Kew Bridge station, since I was last there.
There are lots of flats and Brentford’s new stadium.
I suspect all the stations between Kew Bridge and Hounslow will see similar levels of development.
Electrification Issues On The Dudding Hill Line
The Dudding Hill Line forms the Northern section of the route between the Midland Main Line and the North London Line at Acton Wells Junction.
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the junction between the Dudding Hill and Midland Main Lines.
Note.
- The Midland Main Line is shown in red as it is electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires.
- The Dudding Hill Line is shown in black, as it isn’t electrified.
This second map from OpenRailwayMap shows the junction between the Dudding Hill and North London Lines at Acton Wells junction.
Note.
- As before red tracks are electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires and black tracks have no electrification.
- The Dudding Hill Line is the black track running North-South at the West of the map.
- Acton Wells junction, where the Dudding Hill and North London Lines join is in the South-West corner of the map.
- The North London Line is shown in red running across the North-West corner of the map.
- The Great Western Main Line is shown in red running across the South-East corner of the map.
- High Speed Two will run East-West across the map and is shown dotted in red.
- The red lines in the middle of the map is the Elizabeth Line depot.
With all the 25 KVAC overhead electrification at both ends of the Dudding Hill Line, it would appear, that if this section is ever electrified, it will be electrified with this form of electrification.
There may be a problem, in that there are three or four bridges over the line.
Electrification Issues At Kew
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the triangular junction by Kew Bridge station.
Note.
- As before black tracks have no electrification.
- Mauve tracks are electrified with 750 VDC third-rail electrification.
- Kew Bridge station is indicated by the blue arrow at the Eastern point of the junction.
- Trains to Hounslow will arrive in the North-East corner of the map and go diagonally across the map to leave in the South-West point of the junction.
- Trains to Kew Bridge will arrive in the North-East corner of the map and take the Eastern chord of the junction to a new platform in Kew Bridge station.
Brentford’s new stadium and a lot of housing are in the middle of the junction.
It would seem to be obvious to electrify the triangular junction using 750 VDC third-rail electrification.
But not to the ORR it isn’t, as they won’t allow any new third-rail electrification to be installed on Health and Safety grounds.
Charging Trains At Kew Bridge Station
Consider.
- It looks like trains from Hendon will terminate in a new platform on the chord without electrification to the North of the current Kew Bridge station.
- A short length of 25 KVAC overhead electrification could be used to charge trains.
It may be sensible to build two platforms on the chord, as this could allow more flexible operation of the London Overground during engineering works.
Charging Trains At Hounslow Station
A short length of 25 KVAC overhead electrification could be used to charge trains.
Project Management Issues
I believe this could be one of those projects, where by careful selection of the order of the sub-projects, time and money can be saved and passengers will see benefits earlier.
For example.
- Early delivery of Old Oak Common Lane station would also connect the North London Line to High Speed Two and the Elizabeth Line.
- Early delivery of step-free access at Kew Bridge station would help passengers going to the new Brentford stadium.
There may be other projects, that need an early delivery.
The Feltham And Wokingham Resignalling Programme
The Feltham And Wokingham Resignalling Programme is currently underway and there are pairs of new and old signals everywhere between Kew Bridge and Feltham and also between Feltham and Richmond.
These are digital signals and according to Network Rail, they will increase the capacity, which must surely allow the extra trains between Kew Bridge and Hounslow stations.
This signalling project finishes in mid-2024, so I suspect by then the Southern part of the West London Orbital Railway will not have any problems with interaction with other services.
The Feltham And Wokingham Resignalling Programme could be considered an important enabling sub-project of the West London Orbital Railway, that is being performed early.
Richmond Station
As I came through Richmond station, there was an Overground train in Platform 3 and I noticed that Platforms 3 to 5 were allocated to the Overground.
Has the new signalling given Network Rail and train operators more flexibility and extra capacity at Richmond?
Currently, the London Overground runs four trains per hour (tph) between Stratford and Richmond.
The increased flexibility may allow the following.
- An increase in frequency of trains to Stratford.
- An increase in frequency of District Line trains, if Ealing Broadway station swaps from being a District to a Piccadilly Line terminus, as I wrote about in Extending The Elizabeth Line – Piccadilly Line To Ealing Broadway.
- Could Richmond also act as a terminal of the West London Orbital Railway during construction and engineering works?
Another benefit that could be arranged is to run the current four tph London Overground services into Platform 3.
These pictures show a Waterloo-bound South Western Railway train in Platform 2 and a Stratford-bound London Overground train in Platform 3.
As there are 8 tph between Richmond and Waterloo via Clapham Junction, this could be quite a useful cross-platform interchange for passengers going from say Staines or Windsor to Hampstead.
Trains
Consider.
- The three most likely Northern termini are Brent Cross West, Hendon and West Hampstead Thameslink.
- There could be other terminals on the North London Line or the Gospel Oak and Barking Line.
- All possible Northern terminals have 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
- The two most likely Southern terminals are Hounslow and Kew Bridge.
- There may be other possible Southern terminals like Twickenham or Richmond.
- All possible Southern terminals have 750 VDC third-rail electrification.
- The sections without electrification of the route are less than twelve miles.
- The ORR won’t allow any new third-rail electrification.
It looks like the trains will need to be dual-voltage with a battery capability.
In this article in Global Rail News from 2011, which is entitled Bombardier’s AVENTRA – A new era in train performance, gives some details of the Aventra’s electrical systems. This is said.
AVENTRA can run on both 25kV AC and 750V DC power – the high-efficiency transformers being another area where a heavier component was chosen because, in the long term, it’s cheaper to run. Pairs of cars will run off a common power bus with a converter on one car powering both. The other car can be fitted with power storage devices such as super-capacitors or Lithium-ion batteries if required. The intention is that every car will be powered although trailer cars will be available.
Unlike today’s commuter trains, AVENTRA will also shut down fully at night. It will be ‘woken up’ by remote control before the driver arrives for the first shift
This was published over twelve years ago, so I suspect Bombardier or Alstom have refined the concept.
In an article in the October 2017 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled Celling England By The Pound, Ian Walmsley says this in relation to trains running on the Uckfield Branch, which is not very challenging.
A modern EMU needs between 3 and 5 kWh per vehicle mile for this sort of service.
So for a four-car running for twelve miles, the train would need a battery capacity of between 144 and 240 kWh.
These are not large batteries.
I suspect that the best trains for the route, will be dual-voltage Class 710 trains.
- The Class 710/2 variant used on the Gospel Oak and Barking Line is dual-voltage.
- London Overground has 54 Class 710 trains.
- I am certain, that the batteries needed can be fitted to the trains.
- Aventras are still in production in Derby.
A test battery-electric version could probably be created and tested on the short Romford and Upminster Line.
There may be other places in London and the rest of the UK, where a four-car battery-electric Aventra would be the ideal train.
On The Loose In North London: Flying Gazebo Causes Train Delays
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item on Network Rail.
These paragraphs outline the story.
Residents are being urged to keep garden objects tied down and away from the railway after a flying gazebo caused 60 trains to be delayed or cancelled on Friday.
Passengers on London Overground trains running between Gospel Oak and Barking experienced disruption for around three hours. Freight trains were also affected.
The gazebo was reported to be blocking the line between Upper Holloway and Crouch Hill stations at around 0945 and trains had to be stopped while it was recovered by a Network Rail response unit.
In total, the incident caused 15 full train cancellations, 8 part cancellations and delays to 37 trains.
There is also this picture of the remains of the errant gazebo.
At least it appears, that the gazebo didn’t bring the wires down.
Could The Fenchurch Street And Grays Service Be Handed Over To The Elizabeth Line?
Before I discuss the suggestion in the title of this post, I will write down some thoughts.
The Capacity And Connection Problems At Fenchurch Street Station
If you read the Wikipedia entry for Fenchurch Street station, this paragraph sums up some of the problems of the station.
Fenchurch Street is one of the smallest railway terminals in London in terms of platforms, but one of the most intensively operated. It is the only London terminal with no direct interchange with the London Underground. Plans to connect it stalled in the early 1980s because of the lack of progress on the Jubilee line, but it is close to Tower Hill on the Underground and to Tower Gateway on the Docklands Light Railway.
I live in Dalston and if I want to use the services out of Fenchurch Street station to get anywhere it is a struggle.
As all services out of Fenchurch Street station stop at Limehouse, West Ham and Barking stations on the approach into London, I will usually go via either West Ham or Barking stations. As the three services out of Fenchurch Street are each two trains per hour (tph), this can mean a near-thirty minute wait at either West Ham or Barking stations, which at some times of the year are not the most customer-friendly of stations.
More services out of Fenchurch Street station would help to ease the problem, but the station is at capacity and nothing short of a complete rebuild of the station will solve the problems the capacity and connectivity..
There is a section called Future in the Wikipedia entry, where this is said.
There have been proposals to move the station 380 yards to the east to allow the station to expand to 6 platforms, (up from the current 4) and would be built partly on the site of Tower Gateway DLR station, which would likely be permanently closed.
The new station could be built with direct interchange with Tower Hill tube station, which could also have a replacement DLR station for Tower Gateway as Transport for London have looked into closing Tower Gateway and constructing a replacement on the Bank branch to increase capacity.
This project sounds like it would take a long time and cause a lot of disruption and inconvenience. But it would add capacity and connectivity.
This Google Map shows the location of the station.
Note.
- Fenchurch Street station is towards the bottom of the map in the centre.
- It is completely hemmed in by buildings.
- There is just a small square in front.
I feel it would be very difficult to rebuild a larger station in the same place.
Services Into Fenchurch Street Station
Currently, there are three services into Fenchurch Street station.
- Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness via Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Upminster, West Horndon, Laindon, Basildon, Pitsea, Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell, Westcliff, Southend Central, Southend East and Thorpe Bay.
- Fenchurch Street and Southend Central via Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Upminster, Ockendon, Chafford Hundred Lakeside, Grays, Tilbury Town, East Tilbury, Stanford-le-Hope, Pitsea, Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell and Westcliff
- Fenchurch Street and Grays via Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Dagenham Dock, Rainham and Purfleet.
Note.
- All services are two tph.
- All services call at Limehouse, West Ham and Barking.
Each station gets the following frequency of trains.
- Barking – 6 tph
- Basildon – 2 tph
- Benfleet – 2 tph
- Chafford Hundred Lakeside – 2 tph
- Chalkwell – 4 tph
- Dagenham Dock – 2 tph
- East Tilbury – 2 tph
- Grays – 4 tph
- Laindon – 2 tph
- Leigh-in-Sea – 4 tph
- Limehouse – 6 tph
- Ockendon – 2 tph
- Pitsea – 4 tph
- Purfleet – 2 tph
- Rainham – 2 tph
- Southend Central – 4 tph
- Southend East – 2 tph
- Stanford-le-Hope – 2 tph
- Thorpe Bay – 2 tph
- Tilbury Town – 2 tph
- Upminster – 4 tph
- Westcliff – 4 tph
- West Ham – 6 tph
- West Horndon – 2 tph
c2c would appear to be offering a service, that is well-balanced about the stations it serves.
Can Elizabeth Line Trains Reach Barking?
This map from cartometro.com shows Woodgrange Park junction, where the Gospel Oak and Barking Line crosses over the Great Eastern Main Line.
Note.
- The Gospel Oak and Barking Line is shown in orange.
- Gospel Oak station is to the North-West and Barking is to the South-East.
- The Elizabeth Line tracks are shown with a dash of purple.
- It looks to me, that a train on the Elizabeth Line going East could come through Platform 2 in Forest Gate station and then take the Gospel Oak and Barking Line through Platform 2 at Woodgrange Park station.
- It also looks as if trains could go through Platform 1 at both Woodgrange Park and Forest Gate stations to go West on the Elizabeth Line.
I don’t know whether they still do, but c2c trains used to use Woodgrange Park junction to access Liverpool Street station, when Fenchurch Street was closed or at weekends.
At Barking station, they would take the flyover over the station call in Platforms 7 and 8 in the station.
From the Eastern ends of Platforms 7 and 8, trains can use one of three routes.
- The London Overground route to Barking Riverside station.
- The c2c route to Grays via Purfleet.
- The c2c route to Upminster.
Note.
- The platforms at Barking Riverside station are probably too short for the Elizabeth Line trains.
- The Class 345 trains would fit into the bay platforms at Grays and Southend Central.
The simplest thing to do would probably be to divert the two tph between Fenchurch Street and Grays to either Liverpool Street or Paddington at the London end.
Each station would now get the following frequency of trains.
- Barking – 6 tph
- Basildon – 2 tph
- Benfleet – 2 tph
- Chafford Hundred Lakeside – 2 tph
- Chalkwell – 4 tph
- Dagenham Dock – 2 tph
- East Tilbury – 2 tph
- Grays – 4 tph
- Laindon – 2 tph
- Leigh-in-Sea – 4 tph
- Limehouse – 4 tph
- Ockendon – 2 tph
- Pitsea – 4 tph
- Purfleet – 2 tph
- Rainham – 2 tph
- Southend Central – 4 tph
- Southend East – 2 tph
- Stanford-le-Hope – 2 tph
- Thorpe Bay – 2 tph
- Tilbury Town – 2 tph
- Upminster – 4 tph
- Westcliff – 4 tph
- West Ham – 4 tph
- West Horndon – 2 tph
Only Limehouse and West Ham would get fewer trains.
But there would surely, be an extra pair of paths between Fenchurch Street and Barking.
I have also looked at trains through Pitsea, Upminster and Westcliff it appears that nearly all of the traffic is c2c’s passenger trains.
So would it be possible, with perhaps improved signalling to add an extra two trains between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness?
Each station would now get the following frequency of trains.
- Barking – 8 tph
- Basildon – 4 tph
- Benfleet – 4 tph
- Chafford Hundred Lakeside – 2 tph
- Chalkwell – 6 tph
- Dagenham Dock – 2 tph
- East Tilbury – 2 tph
- Grays – 4 tph
- Laindon – 4 tph
- Leigh-in-Sea – 6 tph
- Limehouse – 6 tph
- Ockendon – 2 tph
- Pitsea – 6 tph
- Purfleet – 2 tph
- Rainham – 2 tph
- Shoeburyness – 4 tph
- Southend Central – 6 tph
- Southend East – 4 tph
- Stanford-le-Hope – 2 tph
- Thorpe Bay – 2 tph
- Tilbury Town – 2 tph
- Upminster – 4 tph
- Westcliff – 6 tph
- West Ham – 6 tph
- West Horndon – 4 tph
More stations are getting four and six tph.
Conclusion
There are certainly possibilities to improve c2c by running services on the Elizabeth Line route.
Barking Riverside To Barking – 8th August 2022
This post and Woodgrange Park To Barking Riverside – 8th August 2022 are a pair and show the area on the date given. This is so I can show it as it develops in the next few years.
I took these pictures returning from Barking Riverside station.
Note, that this side of the line, is dominated by Barking substation, lots of overhead cables and views of the viaduct.
This 3D Google Map shows the viaduct from the West.
Are there any other viaducts, which comprise a whole branch line?
Woodgrange Park To Barking Riverside – 8th August 2022
This post and Barking Riverside To Barking – 8th August 2022 are a pair and show the area on the date given. This is so I can show it as it develops in the next few years.
I took these pictures going to Barking Riverside station.
Note.
- The route passes the ventilation shaft for High Speed One.
- It goes through and over the concrete viaducts and bridges of Barking station.
- Renwick Road station could be built in the area to serve five thousand proposed houses.
- It then crosses over the Barking Freight Terminal, which is sure to be developed either as a larger freight terminal or housing.
- The houses of Barking Riverside have sheds in their gardens.
What are the circular structures in the penultimate picture for?
The Anonymous Widower 