The Anonymous Widower

Treasures Found On HS2 Route Stored In Secret Warehouse

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

Treasures unearthed by hundreds of archaeologists during the ongoing construction of the controversial HS2 train line have been shown exclusively to the BBC.

These three paragraphs add detail to the story.

The 450,000 objects, which are being held in a secret warehouse, include a possible Roman gladiator’s tag, a hand axe that may be more than 40,000 years old and 19th Century gold dentures.

It is an “unprecedented” amount and array of items, which will yield new insights into Britain’s past, says the Centre for British Archaeology.

Major building developments in the UK need land to be assessed by archaeologists as part of the planning process, to protect heritage sites.

Crossrail also collected a lot of artefacts in an archaeology programme, that I wrote about in Bison to Bedlam or How To Make Friends.

Typing “TransPennine Route Archaeology” into Google AI gave this answer.

AI Overview

Archaeological investigations for the Trans-Pennine upgrades are split into two major, parallel projects: the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine road project and the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) rail project. Both have revealed significant historical, archaeological, and industrial remains.

A66 Northern Trans-Pennine Upgrade (Road)

As part of the A66 upgrade between Penrith and Scotch Corner, Oxford Cotswold Archaeology (OCA) is conducting extensive excavations.
Key Finds: Archaeologists have identified prehistoric settlements, Neolithic stone axes, and evidence of a 60-meter-wide posthole structure.
Roman Discovery: A major Roman vicus (settlement) and the original Roman road have been uncovered, revealing a “grid of Roman field systems and ditches” near Brough.
Locations: Key sites include Brougham, Brough, Kirkby Thore, and Crackenthorpe.
Significance: These findings illustrate the area’s long-distance connection, trade, and culture from prehistoric through Roman times.

Transpennine Route Upgrade (Rail)

This project, involving Network Rail and ASWYAS (Archaeological Services WYAS), is upgrading the railway between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, and York.
172-Year-Old Railway Siding: A mid-19th-century railway siding was uncovered at Hillhouse Sidings in Huddersfield, revealing two turntables and brick-built engine sheds.
Roman Settlement (Ravensthorpe): Excavations at Ravensthorpe (for a new station) uncovered a large, hexagonal-shaped feature thought to be an Iron Age or Roman-British enclosure, featuring ceramics, glass, and animal bones.
Mirfield Viaduct: An investigation of the Grade II-listed Mirfield Viaduct (built 1836-1839) was conducted to record its structure before upgrade works.

It could be a very large exhibition in the North, if High Speed Two and the two Transpennine Route Upgrades were combined in a single exhibition.

I asked Google AI, what is the largest exhibition centre in Yorkshire and received this answer.

The largest exhibition sites in Yorkshire are concentrated in Harrogate, anchored by the Great Yorkshire Event Centre and the Harrogate Convention Centre. These venues offer a combined total of over 10,000 square meters of exhibition space, accommodating major national events, conferences, and large-scale outdoor exhibitions.

I suspect Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield could have other ideas.

 

January 30, 2026 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, Environment, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Could Anglia Railways’ London Crosslink Be Recreated As Part Of The London Overground?

This is the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for the original London Crosslink.

London Crosslink was a passenger train service operated by Anglia Railways between Norwich and Basingstoke, using the North London Line to bypass central London. Class 170 Turbostar diesel multiple units were used, and the service operated between 22 May 2000 and 28 September 2002, supported by funding from the Strategic Rail Authority through its Rail Passenger Partnership fund.

Note.

  1. The service called at Diss, Stowmarket, Ipswich, Colchester, Whitham, Chelmsford, Ingatestone, Romford, Stratford, Highbury & Islington, Camden Road, Willesden Junction, West Hampstead Thameslink, Brentford, Feltham, Staines, Woking, and Farnborough (Main)
  2. It ran six times on Monday to Friday and five times on Sunday.
  3. Feltham and Woking stations have a coach link to Heathrow.
  4. Journeys took around 3 hours and 44 minutes.

Over the years, attractions and other rail  lines and stations served by the route have changed. improved and been added.

  1. In 2006, the Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium opened within walking distance of Highbury & Islington station.
  2. In 2012, the Olympic Stadium opened at Stratford and is now used by West Ham United.
  3. In 2020, Brentford Stadium opened within walking distance of Brentford station.
  4. In 2022, Romford and Stratford stations were connected to the Elizabeth Line.
  5. In 2025, Beaulieu Park station was added to the Greater Anglia Main Line.

At some point in the future, Old Oak Common Lane station will open to link the route to High Speed Two.

In Can The Signalling Of The London Overground Be Improved?, I looked in detail at the signalling of the London Overground and if it could handle more trains.

My conclusion was that on the East and North London Lines, another three trains per hour (tph) could probably be accommodated, which over an average day was probably around sixty trains.

As a restored London Crosslink would need just six paths per day, I would suspect the service could be restored, if it were thought to be a good idea.

I certainly feel that capacity would not be a problem.

These are a few other thoughts.

Would It Be Sensible To Use Lumo Branding And Trains?

Consider.

  • Lumo is trusted branding.
  • A five-car Lumo Class 803 train is 132 metres long and a pair of four-car London Overground Class 710 trains is 166 metres long, so I suspect platform length problems will be minimal.
  • I doubt there will be problems on the Greater Anglia network.
  • Stratford and Norwich is mainly a 100 mph network.
  • Not all parts of the route have 25 KVAC overhead electrification, but batteries can be fitted to the Class 803 trains, that will cover any gaps.
  • My calculations show that the modern trains will be twenty-two minutes quicker, than Anglia Railways Class 170 diesel trains.
  • At one point Anglia Railways was owned by First Group, so FirstGroup may have knowledge of the problems of the route.

I believe it would be sensible to use Lumo branding and trains.

Could The Route Be Extended?

Consider.

  • It could probably be extended to Winchester, Southampton and Bournemouth in the South.
  • If the offshore hydrogen takes off at Great Yarmouth, it might be worth extending with a reverse to Yarmouth in the North.
  • Yarmouth has a direct service from London in the past.

The service could also develop days out by the sea.

December 13, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mega Airport Costing £24billion In Europe To Rival Heathrow And Dubai

The title of this post is the same as that of this article in the Daily Express.

Note.

  1. The airport will be designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Buro Happold.
  2. Initially the airport is planned to have two runways, but will eventually be expanded to four.
  3. The combined airport and railway station is planned to serve 40 million passengers per year, double the size of Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
  4. The long-term goal is about 100 million passengers per year.

These are my thoughts.

The Airport’s Location

The Wikipedia entry for the airport has a section called Location, which has this first paragraph.

The airport’s planned site is about 40 km west of Warsaw, next to the village Stanisławów which is part of Gmina Baranów in Grodzisk Mazowiecki County. The Baranow commune occupies a significant part of the Grodzisk County and, despite its rural character, has an extensive road infrastructure. The A2 autostrada and railway lines run in the immediate vicinity of the potential construction site, and Wrocław (Expressway S8) and Poznań (National road 92) is nearby.

It sounds to me, that a British equivalent airport, would be a four-runway airport at Birmingham Airport with connections to the M1, M6, HS2 and the West Coast Main Line.

Rail Connections

The Wikipedia entry says this about rail connections.

Planned train connections from the CPK will take 15 minutes to Warsaw Central railway station, 25 minutes to Łódź Fabryczna railway station, and 2 hours to most other major Polish cities, such as Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań and Gdańsk. The construction of a high-speed train to Frankfurt (Oder) is also planned, which is to shorten the travel time on the Berlin-CPK route to under 3.5 hours

I suspect that Rail Baltica’s trains between Berlin and Helsinki via Warsaw, Kaunus, Riga, Bialystok and Tallinn will also stop at the airport.

The Airport Will Become A Gateway To North-East Europe

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Central Communications Port become a low-cost gateway to the surrounding countries., like Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and hopefully Ukraine.

Polish Hospitality

Consider.

  • Most Poles speak English better, than what I does!
  • There are several large Polish cities that are worth a visit.
  • The food is excellent, as the local basic ingredients are of high quality.
  • I have spent about a month in Poland and I’ve stayed in all levels of accommodation from the lowest to the highest and have never felt need to complain.
  • They handle my gluten-free diet with no problem.

My experience of Belarus was also similar.

 

October 10, 2025 Posted by | Design, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Midlands Rail Hub Looks To The Future With Preferred Alliance Partners

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Network Rail.

The press release has a spectacular picture, which I’m showing here.

Note.

  1. High Speed Two’s Curzon Street station is on the left.
  2. Birmingham Moor Street station is in the centre.
  3. There appears to be parkland between the two stations.
  4. Is that the West Midlands Metro running across in front of Moor Street station?

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railway lines in the area.

Note.

  1. Electrified tracks are shown in red.
  2. Tracks without electrification are shown in black.
  3. West Midlands Metro tracks are shown in mauve.
  4. The red tracks going diagonally across the map are the four electrified tracks going into Birmingham New Street station.
  5. Birmingham New Street station is off the map to the West.
  6. To the North of the tracks going into Birmingham New Street station, there are the seven  platforms of High Speed Two’s Curzon Street station.
  7. The four platforms without electrification are shown South of the tracks into Birmingham New Street station.
  8. Two platforms at Birmingham Moor Street station are through platforms, that pass under Birmingham City Centre to Birmingham Snow Hill station.
  9. The other two platforms at Birmingham Moor Street station are bay platforms.
  10. The West Midlands Metro appears to take a loop around the stations.

But when you get into the words of the press release, there are a lot of vegetables and very little meat.

  • The Midlands Rail Hub could cost around £1.75bn if delivered in full.
  • The government’s recent spending review committed to progress the next stage of Midlands Rail Hub.
  • Alongside this, planning is underway to begin to deliver two smaller but significant upgrades to benefit passengers as quickly as possible.
  • The Alliance partners will be VolkerRail, Laing O’Rourke, AtkinsRéalis, Siemens Mobility, and Network Rail.

These four paragraphs indicate the work, that could be done.

The biggest change will be connecting the Chiltern main line, which runs into Moor Street, with the Camp Hill lines which run towards the South West and East Midlands via two new chords in Bordesley, near Birmingham city centre.

The transformation of the network will include running more train services on key routes through Birmingham and significantly improving connections for the millions of people who use the railway every day.

Work will be prioritised to explore how smaller, but vital, pieces of work which will provide passengers and communities with quicker benefits, including new journey options and more trains can be delivered as soon as possible.

They include reopening platform 4 at Snow Hill station so additional Chiltern Railways services can run directly between Birmingham’s business district and London Marylebone, and redeveloping Kings Norton station and the lines through it so extra Cross City trains can be added and new Midlands Rail Hub-enabled services can call there.

Three projects are specifically mentioned.

  1. The new chords in Bordesley.
  2. The reopening of platform 4 at Snow Hill station.
  3. The redeveloping of Kings Norton station.

I shall now look at each in detail.

The New Chords At Bordesley

This OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks going into and around Birmingham Moor Street station.

 

Note.

  1. Electrified tracks are shown in red.
  2. Tracks without electrification are shown in black.
  3. West Midlands Metro tracks are shown in mauve.
  4. The red tracks going diagonally across the map are the four electrified tracks going into Birmingham New Street station.
  5. Birmingham New Street station is off the map to the West.
  6. To the North of the tracks going into Birmingham New Street station, there are the seven  platforms of High Speed Two’s Curzon Street station.
  7. The black track running NW-SE is the Chiltern Main Line between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street stations.
  8. Birmingham Moor Street station is indicated by the blue arrow in the North-West corner of the map.
  9. The black track running NE-SW is the Camp Hill Line, that allows services to cross Birmingham.

Two new chords will be built where the Chiltern Main and the Camp Hill Lines cross, to allow services on the Camp Hill Line to call at Birmingham Moor Street station.

Consider.

  • The press release described these chords as the biggest change.
  • The chords will probably not be fully used, until the new stations are built on the Camp Hill Line.
  • There may be need for extra platforms at Birmingham Moor Street station to accommodate any new services.

For these reasons, I suspect that these chords could well be the project that is pushed back to a later date.

The Reopening Of Platform 4 At Snow Hill Station

This OpenRailwayMap shows the track layout at Birmingham Snow Hill station.

Note.

  1. The two lilac tracks are the West Midlands Metro.
  2. The two orange tracks are the two through tracks between Birmingham Moor Street and Stourbridge Junction stations.
  3. Platform 3 is the Southbound track to Birmingham Moor Street on the right.
  4. Platform 2 is the Northbound track to Stourbridge Junction on the left
  5. Platform 1 is a loop on left.
  6. Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are all bi-directional.
  7. The closed Platform 4 is on the right and is shown by the black track.

I would expect that this reopening could be fairly straightforward and may also have worthwhile benefits.

  • Would an extra platform, allow all Chiltern services to serve both Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Show Hill stations?
  • Chiltern would probably find it easy to extend services from Birmingham to the North-West of the city.
  • In this century, services have run as far as Wrexham from Marylebone.
  • If all Chiltern services terminated at Birmingham Show Hill station would this have operational and/or marketing advantages?
  • If all Chiltern services terminated at Birmingham Show Hill station would this, make it easier for some passengers to get a train to London and the South?
  • If all Chiltern services terminated at Birmingham Show Hill station would this release a platform at Birmingham Moor Street station for other services?

These are a few pictures of Birmingham Snow Hill station.

Platform 4 at Birmingham Snow Hill station could be a Build One Platform-Get One Free At Another Station situation!

The Redeveloping Of Kings Norton Station

This will probably be needed for running services on the Camp Hill Line, so why not get some of the work done early, so the rebuilding doesn’t effect existing services?

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Eastern end of Kings Norton station

Note.

  1. Electrified tracks are shown in red.
  2. Tracks without electrification are shown in black.
  3. The station has four platforms, but some are unused.
  4. Two platforms are on an island, with a single platform on either side.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Western end of Kings Norton station.

The notes to the previous map apply.

These two paragraphs from the Wikipedia entry for Kings Norton station, describe the station.

With the development of both bus and tram services, the need for such a large facility reduced from the 1930s onwards. The result is that today although all four platforms remain in place, only the outer two are in passenger use, with the middle island platforms now derelict.

Refurbished as part of the Cross-City line in 1978, it retained some of its original features following refurbishment, unlike the other ‘cross city line’ stations. The original station building survived, leased out for commercial purposes, until it was demolished in February 2006 for safety reasons. An extension car park provides a Park and Ride facility.

Disabled-access doesn’t seem to be the best either.

These pictures show the station.

Note.

  1. As I guessed, there is no disabled-access.
  2. But there are Braille  markings on the handrails down to the platforms.
  3. Two CrossCountry trains are seen going through the station.
  4. The local Class 730 trains, lights and information screens appeared to be new.
  5. Three platforms are electrified, but the fourth is not.
  6. The electrification structure could probably be used to electrify the fourth platform.
  7. Only the two outside platforms ; 1 and 4 are in use, with the central island platforms ; 2 and 3 left derelict.
  8. There is car parking and possibly space for more.
  9. The two active platforms are 150 metres long and the six-car Class 730 trainstrains appear to be 144 metres long.
  10. The Class 220 trains, that are run by CrossCountry Trains appear to be 93 metres long.

It was one of the scruffiest stations, that I’ve ever seen.

These are my thoughts on the station.

Handling The Camp Hill Line

Refurbishing Kings Norton Station

I don’t feel, that this will be the most horrendous of jobs, as it is very much a job, where all the rubbish and wild forest is removed and new platforms and a bridge are built.

 

 

 

August 29, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Completing Northern Powerhouse Rail

The Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two Connection To Manchester Airport Station

This OpenRailwayMap shows the rail connections that terminate at Manchester Airport station.

Note.

  1. The two runways are clearly shown.
  2. Manchester Airport station is indicated by the blue arrow near the top of the map.
  3. The orange tracks are rail lines.
  4. The green lines are Manchester Metrolink tracks.
  5. Rail and tram services approach the airport station from the East.
  6. The red dotted line is the current proposed path of Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two
  7. The black dotted line appears to be an extension of the tram line to the airport.

This second OpenRailwayMap shows the lines around the airport station to a larger scale.

Note.

  1. Manchester Airport station is indicated by the blue arrow at the bottom of the map.
  2. The orange tracks are rail lines.
  3. The green lines are Manchester Metrolink tracks.
  4. The red dotted line is the current proposed path of Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two.
  5. The Manchester Metrolink now makes a loop around the Airport.

I think the following will happen.

  • A large proportion of passengers and staff travelling between Manchester Airport and Manchester City Centre will use Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two.
  • Passengers and staff, who live locally will use the Manchester Metro loop.
  • Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two will replace some of the current train services.
  • Some services on the Castlefield Corridor will migrate to Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two.

There could be as many as twelve trains per hour (tph) between Manchester Airport and Manchester City Centre on Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two. But a new urban line like that, which was mostly in a tunnel could probably handle 20 tph.

Manchester Airport And Crewe

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways between Manchester Airport and Crewe stations.

Note.

  1. Manchester Airport station is indicated by the blue arrow at the top of the map.
  2. The orange tracks are rail lines.
  3. The red track going down the left hand side of the map is the West Coast Main Line.
  4. The green lines are Manchester Metrolink tracks.
  5. The red dotted line is the current proposed path of Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two.
  6. Crewe station is at the bottom of the map in the middle.

There could be as many as 12 tph between Manchester Airport and Crewe.

Manchester Airport And Manchester Piccadilly

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly stations.

Note.

  1. Manchester Airport station is in the South-West corner of the map.
  2. The orange tracks are existing rail lines.
  3. The green lines are Manchester Metrolink tracks.
  4. The red dotted line going up the middle of the map is the current proposed path of Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two.
  5. Manchester Piccadilly station is at the Northern end of Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the City Centre between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria stations.

Note.

  1. Manchester Piccadilly station is in the South-East corner of the map.
  2. The red dotted lines creeping into the map is the current proposed path of Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two.
  3. All the platforms in Manchester Piccadilly station can be picked out, with the Castlefield Corridor breaking away to the West.
  4. The current plans will need demolition of buildings to the North of Manchester Piccadilly station.
  5. Manchester Victoria station is in the North-West corner of the map.
  6. The green line of the Manchester Metrolink route picks out the walking route between Manchester’s two main stations.
  7. About halfway between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria stations is the open space of Piccadilly Gardens.

This Google Map shows Piccadilly Gardens.

Note.

  1. The Manchester Metrolink running through.
  2. There are two Metrolink stops ; Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens, in the area.
  3. It appears any stop on the Manchester Metrolink can be reached with no more than a single change from one of these two stops.

Looking at the map showing Victoria and Piccadilly stations, I wonder, if a Lizzie Line of the North could be built under Manchester City Centre.

  • There would be underground platforms at Piccadilly station, with two through platforms and two to terminate trains from the South.
  • Local services from Piccadilly station could continue as now, although services to Manchester Airport could be simplified.
  • There would be an underground station at Piccadilly Gardens with two through platforms , to connect with an expanded Manchester Metrolink, buses and walking routes.
  • There would be underground platforms at Victoria station, with two through platforms and two to terminate trains from the East.
  • Local services from Victoria could continue as now.
  • There could be as many as 12 tph between Manchester Victoria, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.

Just as the Lizzie Line was slotted into London, with the minimum of disruption, I am fairly certain, a similar but smaller construction process could be carried out in Manchester City Centre.

  • Manchester doesn’t have an Underground to avoid.
  • The stations could be very similar to each other and like Custom House station on the Lizzie Line, they could be built with giant concrete Lego.
  • There would only be four stations to create.
  • The tunnel would be about fifteen miles at most.
  • The tunnel would not need to be electrified as the trains could run on batteries.

As a Manchester Rail Tunnel has been talked about for decades, I suspect there is a big knowledge base of ground conditions, which would help with the design and construction.

Between Manchester Victoria And Leeds

Consider.

  • The electrification between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge stations has recently been switched on.
  • Part of the electrification between Leeds and York stations has been switched on.
  • Full electrification is being installed between Leeds and Manchester Victoria stations.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Huddersfield Line between Manchester Victoria station and a few miles short of Huddersfield station.

Note.

  1. Manchester Victoria station is indicated by the blue arrow in the South-West corner of the map.
  2. Huddersfield station is just off the map in the North-East corner.
  3. Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge stations is fully electrified and shown in red.
  4. Stalybridge and Huddersfield stations is being electrified and is shown as black and red dotted.
  5. Electrification between Huddersfield and Leeds is underway under the TransPennine Upgrade.

This section will be completed, when the Manchester City Centre Rail Tunnel is connected to the Huddersfield Line.

Connecting The Manchester City Centre Rail Tunnel To The Huddersfield Line

This Google Map shows where the Huddersfield Line crosses the M60 Motorway to the West of Ashton-under-Lyme.

Note.

  1. The newly-electrified Huddersfield Line runs across the map.
  2. The M60 Motorway is on the left.
  3. There are facilities for athletics, cricket and football.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Eastern portal of the Manchester City Centre Rail Tunnel was in this area.

But looking at Google  Maps between this site and Manchester Victoria, there are other sites.

Conclusion

I now feel that it is possible to create a Northern Powerhouse Rail/High Speed Two route using a tunnel under Manchester.

Obviously, there is more work to be done.

August 15, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Nigel Farage Speech: Persistent Offenders Would Face Life Sentences

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.

This is the sub-heading.

The Reform UK leader pledged more prison spaces, deportation of criminals and zero-tolerance policing as part of a six-week Lawless Britain campaign drive.

These three paragraphs give more detail about what criminals can expect and how much it will cost.

Every shoplifter would be prosecuted and stop and search powers used to “saturation point” under Nigel Farage’s pledge to make Reform UK the “toughest party on law and order this country has ever seen”.

He said that a Reform government would crack down on prolific offending by imposing life sentences on those who commit three or more offences.

The Reform leader set out plans to spend £17.4 billion to cut crime by half in the first five years if the party wins the next general election — an annual cost of £3.5 billion.

At least hanging and flogging aren’t mentioned. But he does suggest sending one of our worst child murderers to El Salvador and that Britain would leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

This paragraph says how he will pay for this law and order policy.

Farage said Reform would pay for the £17.4 billion law and order crackdown by ditching HS2 and net zero policies — money which has also been pledged for other policies.

I have just done a little calculation about how much offshore wind power should be commissioned by January 2029, which will likely be before the expected 2029 General Election.

  • In October 2023, there was 15,581 MW of operational offshore wind.
  • Currently there are 10,842 MW under construction, that should be commissioned by January 2029.
  • There is also 2,860 MW of smaller wind farms, which have yet to be started that should be commissioned by January 2029.
  • That all totals up to 29, 285 MW or 29.3 GW.
  • Another 12 GW of offshore wind is scheduled to be commissioned in 2029 and 2030.

Currently, as I write this we are generating 29.3 GW from all sources.

I asked Google AI how much solar energy we will have in January 2029 and got this answer.

In January 2029, the UK is projected to have a significant amount of solar energy capacity, with the government aiming for 45-47 GW of total solar power by 2030.

Let’s assume the sun only shine half the time and say 20 GW on average.

 

We’ll also have 4.4 GW from Hinckley Point C and Sizewell B, as all other nuclear will have been switched off.

I asked Google AI how much energy storage we’ll have by January 2029 and got this answer.

In January 2029, the UK is projected to have around 120 GWh of battery energy storage capacity, according to a European report. This is part of a broader goal to reach 400 GWh by 2029 for the EU-27, with the UK contributing significantly to this total.

If there’s say another Great Storm, the dozens of interconnectors between the UK and Europe should keep us all going.

It looks to me that by January 2029, we’ll be substantially on the way to being powered by renewables.

Most of the net zero money will have been spent and we’ll be almost at net zero.

Phase One of High Speed Two has a target date of 2030, and I suspect that the engineers working on the project will get trains running between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street stations before the General Election, just because if NF’s going to cancel the project, they might as well do their best to get him to lose the election.

So at best he might get a year’s savings from stopping High Speed Two, but an unfinished High Speed Two, will be a joke on NF and make him look a complete laughing stock!

 

July 21, 2025 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage, Transport/Travel, World | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Darlington Station – 26th June 2025

I visited Darlington station, three times on my trip.

These pictures are in chronological order.

Note.

  1. The station is being given a major upgrade, so it can handle more trains.
  2. The station has a large number of top-quality Victorian features.
  3. The station is Grade II* Listed.
  4. Inside the enormous train-shed are two long platforms, that handle most of the trains and two South-facing bay platforms.
  5. Two new platforms, which are numbered 5 & 6,  and possibly a double-track avoiding line are being added outside the train-shed on the East side.
  6. In images with a comment saying Note Platform 5, the new long electrified Platform 5 can be seen.
  7. Platform 5 appears to be already electrified at its Southern end.

These three OpenRailwayMaps shows the future layout.

 

The first OpenRailwayMap shows the junction, where the branch to Newton Aycliffe, Shildon and Bishop Auckland connects.

Note.

  1. The red tracks are electrified and indicate the East Coast Main Line.
  2. The track curving off to the North-West is the Bishop Auckland Branch.
  3. The black tracks are not-electrified.
  4. The Bishop Auckland Branch is shown dotted black and red, as it will be electrified, so that Hitachi can get their new trains to the East Coast Main Line.
  5. The two tracks of the East Coast Main Line are very straight and the map shows them to have a 125 mph operating speed.

The second OpenRailwayMap, shows the lines immediately to the South of Darlington station.

 

Note.

  1. The red tracks are electrified.
  2. The black tracks are not electrified.
  3. Tracks are number 4, 3, 2 and 1 from the West.
  4. The Southern ends of Platforms 1 and 4, and Platforms 2 and 3, which are inside the current train-shed appear to be virtually unchanged.
  5. Platform 1 is electrified and will probably still cater for Southbound trains.
  6. Platforms 2 and 3 are bay platforms without electrification for trains terminating at Darlington.
  7. Platform 4 is electrified and will probably still cater for Northbound trains.
  8. There is an electrified avoiding line to the East of Platform 1.
  9. The brick wall of the current train shed is in the white space to the East of Platform 1.
  10. Outside the current train shed are two electrified 125 mph lines, an electrified through platform and a South-facing bay platform without electrification.
  11. The  new electrified platform looks very long. Could it be long enough to handle a pair of High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains? I suspect though it is long enough to handle the splitting and joining of a pair of five-car Hitachi Class 80x trains.
  12. The new bay platform looks longer that the current bay platforms 2 & 3. Is it long enough to handle a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train?
  13. It does appear from the track layout, that the new electrified platform is connected to the East Coast Main Line, the Saltburn branch and stabling sidings to the North of the station.
  14. The new bay platform appears to be connected to the Saltburn branch.

The two new platforms also appear to be adjacent to an area of the station, which is labelled Darlington Station Gateway East. I would assume, that this proximity will be used to make the station easy for changing trains.

The third OpenRailwayMap shows the section of the station between the two previous maps.

Note.

  1. The red tracks are electrified.
  2. The black tracks are not-electrified.
  3. The Darlington end of the Bishop Auckland Branch is shown dotted black and red, as it will be electrified, so that Hitachi can get their trains to and from the East Coast Main Line.
  4. Both Platforms 1 and 4 appear to connect to the East Coast Main Line, so high speed services can operate as they do now, by taking a diversion through the current Darlington station.
  5. To the East of the East Coast Main Line, there appear to be some very useful stabling sidings.

I have some general thoughts about Darlington station.

Will Trains Not Stopping At Darlington Station Use The New 125 mph Lines Through the Station?

It does appear that the two 125 mph lines through the new part of the station are very straight.

  • They are shown as 125 mph, but could be faster.
  • It should be remembered that according to Wikipedia, British Rail built the Selby Diversion for 160 mph in 1983.
  • Between Durham and York stations is 66.2 miles of mainly 125 mph railway.

I believe that cutting out the need for trains to slow to go through Darlington station could save several minutes.

Will Trains Stopping At Darlington Station Use The Current Platforms 1 And 4 As They Do Now?

The track layout would seem to allow this and those changing to another train, would not have to walk a long way.

Can Trains Stopping At Darlington Station Use The New Eastern Platforms?

I have examined the second and third maps in detail and it looks as if the track layout will allow trains on the East Coast Main Line in both directions to stop at the long electrified platform.

The shorter bay platform appears to be only connected to the Tees Valley Line to Middlesbrough and Saltburn.

How Long Are The New Eastern Platforms?

Estimating against the scale on the map, I reckon these are the likely lengths.

  • Long electrified platform – 400 metres – Appears to be numbered 5
  • Bay platform – 200 metres – Appears to be numbered 6.

These are very useful lengths.

An Aerial View Of The New Platforms

This image from Tees Valley Combined Authority shows the Northern ends of the new platforms and the new footbridge.

Note.

  1. The original four-platform Victorian station is on the right, which is the Western side.
  2. The East wall of the Victorian train shed can be clearly seen.
  3. The two absolutely straight 125 mph lines, that allow trains to bypass the original station are closest to the wall.
  4. The long electrified platform, which appears to be numbered 5, also appears to be absolutely straight.
  5. The unelectrified bay platform, which appears to be numbered 6, is to the left.
  6. Platforms 5 and 6 would seem to be separated by a wide island platform, which would make interchange easy.

This page on the Network Rail web site, gives more information.

Car Parking At Darlington Station

This image from Tees Valley Combined Authority shows the Northern end of the station.

Note.

  1. The three sections of the Victorian station.
  2. The two new platforms ; 5 and 6 at the top of the image.
  3. The two 125 mph lines bypassing the Victorian station.
  4. There are two new footbridges connecting the Victorian station to the land on the other side of the 125 mph lines.

To the left of the station, there appears to be a massive multi-story car-park.

I asked Google about the new car park at Darlington station and got this reply.

The new multi-story car park at Darlington Station will have a capacity of more than 650 vehicles. This is part of a larger £140 million redevelopment of the station, which also includes new platforms and an eastern concourse. The car park will include accessible parking bays and electric car charging points.

This image from Tees Valley Combined Authority shows the car parking from the South.

Note.

  1. The building appears to be a five-story car park.
  2. There appears to be a very easy connection between the car park and the bridge to the station.
  3. From the roof layout, there appears to be several lifts.
  4. It looks like there will be a large area between the platforms and the car park, where travellers can meet and socialise.
  5. The bay platform 6 already has a pair of red buffer stops.

Railways may have come to Darlington two hundred years ago and it looks like they are getting the car parking at the station ready for at least the next two hundred.

Further Electrification

If as I expect, the UK embraces battery electric technology for local and regional trains, I can see the three South-facing bay-platforms being electrified, so they could charge he battery-electric trains.

This picture shows that bars have been placed across Platforms 2 and 3, that could be used to support the electrification.

This method has been used in Victorian stations in the UK before. I show some installations and discuss electrifying Victorian stations in Could Hull Station Be Electrified?.

 

Darlington Station And High Speed Two

This graphic shows the original service pattern for High Speed Two.

Note.

  1. There are seventeen paths terminating in the South at Euston station.
  2. Six of these paths go to Leeds, Newcastle or York.
  3. As the Eastern leg has been abandoned, that means there will be no High Speed Two trains to Leeds HS2, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle via the East Coast Main Line.

Darlington was to be served by these hourly services.

  • Train 17 – Birmingham Curzon Street and Newcastle via East Midlands Hub, York, Darlington and Durham.
  • Train 23 – London and Newcastle via York and Darlington.

Both trains would have been a single 200 metre long High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train.

Joining And Splitting Trains At Darlington

As Platform 5 looks like it would be a 400 metre long platform, it would look like it would be possible to handle a pair of High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.

But these trains will not now be serving Darlington in the near future, as the Eastern leg of High Speed Two has been cancelled.

A pair of nine-car Class 801 trains would be 467.4 metres long and might be able to fit into Platform 5.

But a pair of seven-car trains would certainly fit into a 400 metre Platform 5.

In Do Class 800/801/802 Trains Use Batteries For Regenerative Braking?, I found this snippet in an Hitachi document.

To simplify the rearrangement and management of train configurations, functions are provided for identifying the train (Class 800/801), for automatically determining the cars in the trainset and its total length, and for coupling and uncoupling up to 12 cars in
normal and 24 cars in rescue or emergency mode.

So I suspect with software updates two nine-car trains could run together.

Suppose LNER wanted to attack the airlines on the London and Scottish route.

  • Two seven- or nine-car Class 800 or 801 trains would leave Edinburgh working as a pair.
  • First stop would be Platform 5 in Darlington.
  • The trains would split in Darlington.
  • One train would go to King’s Cross stopping at perhaps Doncaster and Peterborough.
  • The other train would go to St. Pancras stopping at perhaps Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham and Bedford.

Note.

  1. A seven-car Azuma would be under 200 metres long.
  2. Seven-car trains would fit in St. Pancras.
  3. LNER have run an Azuma train into St. Pancras.
  4. The train would interchange with East-West Rail at Bedford.
  5. Travellers to and from East Anglia would change at Peterborough.

Large areas of England would have a fast route to and from Scotland.

 

 

 

 

June 30, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Farage Wants HS2 Scrapped

The title of this post, is the same as a sub-title in this article on The Times. which is entitled HS2: Labour confirms delay until 2033.

This is the sub-heading.

Nigel Farage has called for the whole HS2 project to be scrapped.

These two paragraphs give NF’s view.

The Reform UK leader told the Commons: “Has the moment not come, rather than having another reset, to recognise this is a failure?

“Let’s scrap HS2, let’s use the tens of billions of pounds we can save in the next decade to upgrade railway lines across the entirety of the United Kingdom to the benefit of many millions and spend the rest on other national priorities in these financially straitened times.”

Farage’s simplistic plan will appeal to his disciples, but the major thing that is needed, is more capacity between South and North. Or North and South depending on where you live!

HS2 will provide an extra seventeen paths between London and a large triangular junction in the West Midlands.

If HS2 Is Not Built There Will Be More Cars And Trucks On The Roads

In Footage Released Of East West Rail’s First Commercial Freight Train, I wrote about the SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton (SLPN), which would generate lots of road and rail traffic. Without developments like HS2, the roads will just get clogged up.

High Speed Two’s Originally Proposed Service Pattern

This graphic shows the original service pattern for High Speed Two.

Note.

  1. There are seventeen paths terminating in the South at Euston station.
  2. Six of these paths go to Leeds, Newcastle or York.
  3. As the Eastern leg has been abandoned, that means six extra trains can run between London and the large triangular junction in the West Midlands.

Six extra trains running to the West side of England and Scotland could give a substantial improvement of services.

High Speed Yorkshire

HS2 needs to be paired with High Speed Yorkshire, which would mainly be an upgrading of the East Coast Main Line running at up to 160 mph to serve Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, the North-East and East Scotland.

Note.

  1. British Rail built the Selby Diversion in the 1980s to run at 160 mph.
  2. Digital signalling is currently being installed on this route and this will allow trains to speed through the two bottlenecks of the Digswell Viaduct and the Newark Crossing.
  3. Times of three-and-a-half hours between King’s Cross and Edinburgh, should be possible.

These times should give the airlines a good kicking on London-Newcastle and London-Scotland routes.

Fast services would run on High Speed Yorkshire to Alnwick, Barnetby, Barnsley, Beverley, Berwick, Bradford, Brough, Cleethorpes, Darlington, Doncaster, Durham, Edinburgh, Goole, Grantham, Grimsby, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Lincoln, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Peterborough, Pontefract, Retford, Rotherham, Scarborough, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Skipton, Stevenage, Sunderland, Wakefield, Worksop and York.

Most of these towns and cities are already served by Hitachi or other high speed trains from King’s Cross.

A high proportion of the services to Yorkshire destinations will be under two hours from London.

When the current trains need replacing, they could be replaced by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.

Onward From Handsacre Junction

Services to the North-West and Scotland will join the Trent Valley Line at Handsacre junction.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Trent Valley Line between Crewe station and Handacre junction.

Note.

  1. The proposed route of High Speed Two is shown as a dotted line, running diagonally across the map.
  2. The red track to its West is the Trent Valley Line, which is a section of the West Coast Main Line.
  3. Handsacre junction is in the South-East corner of the map.
  4. The blue arrow indicates Stafford station on the West Coast Main Line.
  5. The main High Speed Two tracks will not connect to Stafford or Stoke-on-Trent stations.
  6. Crewe station is in the North-West corner of the map.
  7. Crewe station and Handsacre junction are 37.6 miles apart.

With the exception of the 6 mile twin-track section between Stafford Trent Valley and Colwich junctions, it appears that Crewe station and Handsacre junction is all quadruple track.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Trent Valley Line between Stafford stationand Colwich junction.

Note.

  1. The Trent Valley Line, which is a section of the West Coast Main Line, runs across the map.
  2. The arrow in the North-West corner of the map indicates Stafford station.
  3. Colwich junction is in the South-East corner of the map.
  4. About three-quarters of the way across, the track is shown in cream. This is the twin-track Shugborough Tunnel, which is around a half-mile long.
  5. The Shugborough Tunnel has a 100 mph maximum speed.
  6. The portals of Shugborough Tunnel are Grade II Listed and the Wikipedia entry for the tunnel is certainly worth a read.

How Many High Speed Two trains per hour (tph) will use the Trent Valley Line route?

The original proposal in the graphic earlier shows these trains.

  • 4 – London to Lancaster/Liverpool Lime Street – Splits at Crewe
  • 5 – London to Liverpool Lime Street
  • 6 – London to Stafford, Stoke -on-Trent and Macclesfield
  • 7 – London and Birmingham Interchange to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly
  • 8 – London to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly
  • 9 – London to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly
  • 10 – London and Birmingham Interchange to Preston, Carlisle, Edinburgh Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central – Splits at Carlisle
  • 11 – London Euston to Preston, Carlisle, Edinburgh Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central – Splits at Carlisle
  • 12 – Birmingham Curzon Street to Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Edinburgh Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley Or Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell  and Glasgow Central- Services alternate.
  • 13 – Birmingham Curzon Street to East Midlands Hub, Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly
  • 14 – Birmingham Curzon Street to East Midlands Hub, Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly

Note.

  1. It looks like there will be eleven High Speed Two tph on the Trent Valley Line.
  2. As East Midlands Hub will not be built, I will assume trains 13 and 14 will be Birmingham Curzon Street to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.
  3. Other trains will need to use the route.
  4. I suspect that freight trains, that couldn’t maintain 100 mph would not be allowed.

I believe that digital signalling can handle all the trains between Handsacre Junction and Crewe.

  • Trains 10 and 11 would run every thirty minutes to give two tph between London and Glasgow Central and two tph between London and the two Edinburgh stations.
  • Each of these trains would lead a flight of trains behind them through the Trent Valley Line.
  • The last trains going North in the flights, would be trains 4 and 6, as they stop on the Trent Valley Line section.

I have written a lot of scheduling algorithms in the last fifty years and I wouldn’t be surprised if flights could be up to 7 or 8 trains, running 3 or 4 minutes apart.

It would be an impressive sight.

What Timings Would Be Possible On High Speed Two Using Handsacre Junction And The Trent Valley Line?

In Where Is Handsacre Junction? I calculated some times on High Speed Two to various destinations, using Handsacre junction and the Trent Valley Line. This is a more comprehensive table.

  • London and Blackpool North – 205 mph – 1:55
  • London and Blackpool North – 140 mph – 2:12
  • London and Carlisle – 205 mph – 2:45
  • London and Carlisle – 140 mph – 3:01
  • London and Crewe – 205 mph – 1:03
  • London and Crewe – 140 mph – 1:19
  • London and Edinburgh Waverley  – 205 mph – 4:14
  • London and Edinburgh Waverley  – 140 mph – 4:30
  • London and Glasgow Central  – 205 mph – 4:22
  • London and Glasgow Central  – 140 mph – 4:38
  • London and Handsacre junction – 205 mph – 0:35
  • London and Handsacre junction – 140 mph – 0:51
  • London and Lancaster – 205 mph – 1:50
  • London and Lancaster – 140 mph – 2:06
  • London and Liverpool Lime Street  – 205 mph – 1:46
  • London and Liverpool Lime Street  – 140 mph – 2:02
  • London and Manchester Piccadilly  – 205 mph – 1:41
  • London and Manchester Piccadilly  – 140 mph – 1:57
  • London and Preston – 205 mph – 1:31
  • London and Preston – 140 mph – 1:47
  • London and Stafford  – 205 mph – 0:45
  • London and Stafford  – 140 mph – 1:01
  • London and Stoke-on-Trent – 205 mph – 0:55
  • London and Stoke-on-Trent – 140 mph – 1:11
  • London and Wigan North Western – 205 mph – 1:17
  • London and Wigan North Western – 140 mph – 1:33

Note.

  1. 205 mph could be the average speed between London Euston and Handsacre junction for High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
  2. 140 mph could be the average speed between London Euston and Handsacre junction for Class 390 trains.
  3. Times are in hh:nn.
  4. For times North of Handsacre junction are typical Class 390 times.

A typical timing between London Euston and Handsacre junction for Class 390 trains is 71 minutes, so if High Speed Two services were run using Class 390 trains, twenty minutes would be saved on all services via Handsacre junction compared to current Avanti West Coast services.

I have some other thoughts.

Using Class 390 Trains Is Not My Idea

This article on Rail nBusiness UK is entitled Viewpoint: Buy tilting trains and finish Delta Junction to salvage HS2, says Gibb.

This is the sub-heading.

UK: Procurement of a fleet of tilting trains and a focus on Birmingham – Manchester services are key to making the most the descoped High Speed 2 scheme, former Virgin Trains executive Chris Gibb tells Rail Business UK.

Chris Gibb has the right experience. and has been used as a go-to man, when projects are in trouble.

The major points of his plan are as follows.

  1. Connect High Speed Two to the Trent Valley Line to go North from the Midlands.
  2. Initially, use Class 390 trains or Pendelinos on Liverpool, Manchester and Scottish services.
  3. Run Class 390 trains at 140 mph between Euston and Handsacre junction.
  4. When the Pendelinos need to be retired, buy a new set of tilting trains.
  5. Complete the North-to-West leg of High Speed Two’s triangular junction, so that trains can run between Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester.
  6. Gibb proposes a Blackpool service, that splits and joins with a Liverpool service. I assume he means train 5.

Gibb feels a fundamental review of the operating principles and fleet requirements is now needed.

It is a well-thought out viewpoint and very much a must-read.

 

 

 

 

June 21, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Unlocking Euston Station

I dread using Euston station.

The connections to the London Underground in the station, involve a long walk to or from your train and then outside the station to.

  • The Northern and Victoria Lines just outside the station.
  • The sub-surface lines at Euston Square station, which is a long walk.

There is no connection to the Lizzie Line.

I have probably written more project management software, than any other individual in the world.

Good project managers and probably a few bad ones too, talk about getting all your ducks in a row or doing everything in the right order.

If High Speed Two is going to terminate at Euston, then the first sub-project must be to connect Euston station properly to the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City or sub-surface lines of the Underground, which have new spacious air-conditioned trains and run on a line that is digitally signally, so the capacity can be easily increased.

The sub-surface lines also link, the National Rail stations of Liverpool Street, Moorgate, Farringdon, King’s Cross, St. Pancras, Euston, Paddington, Victoria, Charing Cross and Blackfriars, and could be connected to Fenchurch Street and Marylebone. It also has links to the Lizzie Line.

Improve the interchanges and this marvelous Victorian system could unlock London’s transport system like no other.

Five years ago, a similar arrangement to that at St. Pancras was proposed with subways under Euston Road that linked to extended platforms at Euston Square Underground station, by means of lifts and escalators.

Why has this new link between National Rail at Euston and sub-surface Underground not been built? I estimate that it would have taken a couple of years and have fitted in with all the work being done in front of Euston station.

The current Mayor never mentions the project, but then it is a North London project, so it doesn’t interest him and his supporters.

The Design Of The Updated Euston Underground Station

Ian showed this visualisation of the updated Euston Underground station.

At a first look, it appears to be a very similar concept to the entrance to the Underground in front of St. Pancras station.

Click on the image to show it large and you can pick out the following.

  • West is to the left and East is right.
  • Much of the construction appears to replace the original car park and taxi rank.
  • The upper level looks like where passengers enter and leave the station.
  • The subway to Euston Square station and the new Gordon Street entrance joins to the upper level towards the Eastern end.
  • There is grade access between the upper level and the High Speed Two concourse.
  • There are lots of escalators to travel between levels. The square orange columns could be lift towers.
  • The lower level is the Interchange/Ticket Hall level.
  • The lower level is not much higher than the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line.
  • The design seems to make clever use of levels to make changing easier.
  • The access between the lower level and the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line at the Western end of the station, appears to be comprehensive and step-free.
  • The access between the lower level and the Victoria Line and the Bank branch of the Northern Line, appears to use the current route, which will probably be upgraded to be fully step-free.

 

This second image shows the design from above the platforms of the conventional section of Euston station.

Click on the image to show it large and you can pick out the following.

  • The complicated passages, escalators and lifts of the existing four platforms serving the Bank branch of the Northern Line and the Victoria Line.
  • The cross passage connecting these lines to the platforms of the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line.
  • The two up and two down escalators leading to the existing ticket hall.
  • The Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line curving in and away from the station. See the earlier map of the Underground lines.
  • The eleven High Speed platforms on the West side of the station.
  • The thirteen Classic platforms on the East side of the station.
  • The new Northern entrance to the Underground between the two sets of platforms. How convenient!
  • There appears to be a wide passage between the Northern and Southern entrances, with connections to the lines branching off.
  • The subway to the new Gordon Street entrance is shown at the top of the image.

The design seems to have separated access to the two branches of the Northern line, by creating a new high-capacity route to the Charing Cross branch.

I also think, that the design allows the station to be built without disrupting passengers using the Underground and the current Euston station.

  • A large hole for the station can be excavated, without touching existing access.
  • It could then be fitted out section by section.
  • Once the new access to the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line is complete, the current access to the Northern and Victoria Lines can be refurbished.

Arriving At Euston

Imagine you are a passenger arriving from the North, who knows the Underground line, you need to take, you would then enter the Underground station using the new Northern entrance.

  • For the Bank branch of the Northern Line or the Victoria Line, you would go through the existing ticket hall and down the escalators, much as you do now! Except that you’d enter the ticket hall on the other side from the East side of the passageway connecting the two entrances. New lifts appear to be shown.
  • For the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line, you would take the passages, lifts and escalators on the West side of the passageway connecting the two entrances.
  • If you wanted the sub-surface lines, you would just keep going and take the new subway, which connects to the Eastern ends of the platforms at Euston Square station.

It will certainly do me fine, if I arrive at Euston, as I’ll walk through the subway and get in the front of any Eastbound train for Moorgate station, where being in the front is convenient for the exit and the nearby bus stop to my home.

This route will surely be one of the ways arriving passengers at Euston will get Crossrail to Abbey Wood, Canary Wharf and Shenfield stations. In Crossrail – Northern – Northern City Interchange At Moorgate Station, I show some visualisations of Moorgate station and the connectivity.

June 19, 2025 Posted by | Computing, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Where Is Handsacre Junction?

Handsacre Junction is where High Speed Two trains from London Euston and Birmingham will join the Trent Valley Line to complete their journeys via Stafford and Crewe.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the junction.

Note.

  1. The solid red track going diagonally across the map is the Trent Valley Line, which is a section of the West Coast Main Line.
  2. The station on the Trent Valley Line at the top of the map is Rugeley Trent Valley.
  3. The station on the Trent Valley Line at the bottom of the map is Lichfield Trent Valley.
  4. The dotted tracks running North-South show the proposed route of High Speed Two.
  5. Only the dashed sections of tracks will be built for Phase 1 of High Speed Two.

From the map, I estimate that that High Speed Two will join the Trent Valley Line at the mid-way point between the two stations.

According to Real Time Trains, the stations are these distances from Euston.

  • Lichfield Trent Valley – 116.4 miles
  • Rugeley Trent Valley – 124.4 miles

So this puts Handsacre Junction at 120.4 miles from Euston.

Searching the Internet, I find the distance between Euston and Handsacre Junction on High Speed Two as 192.77 km. or 119.8 miles.

It would appear that the High Speed Two route is 0.6 mile longer.

Euston And Handsacre Junction Times

This table shows Euston and Handsacre junction times at various speeds.

High Speed Two Average Speed – 205 mph – 35 mins.

Class 390 Train Average Speed – 140 mph – 51 mins.

Euston And Glasgow Central Times

If I assume, that the trains take the same three hours and 47 minutes between Handsacre junction and Glasgow Central as Class 390 trains do now, I get these times.

High Speed Two Average Speed – 205 mph – 4 hour and 22 mins.

Class 390 Train Average Speed – 140 mph – 4 hours and 38 mins.

Euston And Liverpool Lime Street Times

If I assume, that the trains take the same 71 minutes between Handsacre junction and Liverpool Lime Street as Class 390 trains do now, I get these times.

High Speed Two Average Speed – 205 mph – 1 hour and 46 mins.

Class 390 Train Average Speed – 140 mph – 2 hours and 2 mins.

Euston And Manchester Piccadilly Times

If I assume, that the trains take the same 66 minutes between Handsacre junction and Manchester Piccadilly as Class 390 trains do now, I get these times.

High Speed Two Average Speed – 205 mph – 1 hour and 41 mins.

Class 390 Train Average Speed – 140 mph – 1 hours and 57 mins.

June 18, 2025 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

« Previous Entries