The New Entrance To Battersea Power Station Station – 7th October 2025
The new entrance to Battersea Power Station station opened recently, so I went to have a look.
Note.
- The first picture shows the terrible train indicators in Moorgate station.
- Comparing the next three pictures with the first, show how much better the lighting is in Battersea Power Station station is compared to Moorgate station.
- Someone had the thought to put up a sign to indicate the new entrance.
- The entrances are at opposite ends of a spacious ticket hall.
- There are lifts to the surface.
- Exit is direct into a parade of smart shops.
- The Leon is more upmarket, than their Hanover Square outlet.
- There is a Boots, an M & S Food and a Zara close to the new entrance to the station.
- There was a lot more greenery, than when I last visited.
I finished my visit by walking down to the river to catch the Thames Clipper back to London Bridge station.
Did I Have A Funny Turn Caused By Dehydration This Morning?
I followed my usual Sunday morning routine today
- I took my drugs with a large mug of tea.
- I had a deep bath with emollient in the water.
- I put my head under the water and opened my eyes, to clear the massive amount of sleep, I get overnight in my eyes.
- I then went to Leon in Hanover Square for a good Full English gluten-free breakfast.
Unusually, Leon made a mistake and didn’t put any milk in my tea, so I didn’t drink it. So was I low on fluids?
A Transformer Is Being Moved Tonight
This press release from National Grid is entitled National Grid Prepares For Two Major Supergrid Transformer Deliveries In London.
The first one is to be moved into Redbridge substation tonight, so I went to have a look after breakfast.
- It was easy to get to the site, as it is close to Redbridge station on the Central Line.
- Out of the Underground, it was quite hot.
- By the time, I got to Redbridge station, I was feeling slightly unwell and felt my balance was poor.
- So I immediately turned around and came home using the Central and Lizzie Lines to Moorgate, where I took a bus home.
- I was certainly feeling better in the air-conditioned atmosphere of the Lizzie Line.
Since I’ve been home, I have been continuously drinking Adnams 0.5 % Alcohol Ghost Ship and I feel that I am now back to normal.
I asked Google AI “Can being dehydrated affect your balance?” and got this answer.
Yes, dehydration can definitely affect balance. It can lead to dizziness and a feeling of unsteadiness, which can make it harder to maintain balance. This is because dehydration can disrupt the fluid balance in the inner ear, which plays a vital role in balance.
I can remember an incident in my thirties, when I fell down the escalator at Oxford Circus station and went round to the Middlesex Hospital to be cleaned up.
Did Dehydration Play A Part In My Serious Stroke?
I had my stroke during breakfast in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. I’d had two or possibly three very small strokes early in the morning before and I know from measuring my weight, that I can lose up to a kilo overnight.
So I asked Google AI “Can dehydration cause strokes?” and got this answer.
Yes, dehydration can increase the risk of stroke. When the body lacks sufficient fluids, blood volume decreases, potentially leading to thicker blood and reduced blood flow to the brain. This can exacerbate existing blockages in blood vessels or make it more difficult for blood to reach the brain, potentially causing an ischemic stroke.
My late wife drunk a lot more fluids that I do and perhaps, I should have followed her example more, of always having water handy?
Moorgate Has Now Got A New Light-Controlled Crossing
The new light-controlled crossing on Moorgate is now open and I took these pictures yesterday after I shopped at Marks & Spencer and walked back to the bus.
This short shopping street has all I need for daily living and the odd bit of shopping.
- Boots
- Elizabeth Line station
- Hotel Chocolat
- Leon
- Marks and Spencers
- Timpsons
I generally visit every day.
Are There Any Plans For The Bay Sub-Surface Platforms At Moorgate Station?
I use Moorgate station regularly, as there’s a Leon Restaurant just outside the station, that looked after me properly during the Covid-19 Pandemic, so when I’m in the area and need feeding I pop in.
These pictures show the four bay platforms on the Sub-Surface lines.
Note.
- The pair of platforms to the left or South are numbered 5 and 6 and used to handle Thameslink trains, that ran to Moorgate station.
- Platforms 5 and 6 used to be electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires.
- The pair of platforms to the right or North are numbered 3 and 4 and are used to terminate some Metropolitan Line services at Moorgate station.
- Platforms 3 and 4 are electrified with London Underground four-rail electrification.
- The number for Platform 4 can clearly be seen.
This map from cartometro shows the track layout in Farringdon, Barbican and Moorgate stations.
Note.
- The multi-coloured tracks and platforms of the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines running through Platforms 1 & 2 at Farringdon, Barbican and Moorgate stations.
- The multi-coloured tracks and platforms of the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines terminating in Platforms 3 & 4 at Moorgate station.
- The purple tracks and platforms of the Elizabeth Line running underneath the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines and their stations.
- The maroon and white tracks and platforms of Thameslink running through Platforms 3 & 4 in Barbican station and terminating in Platforms 5 & 6 at Moorgate station.
- The black tracks of Thameslink running through Farringdon and City Thameslink stations.
- It would appear there used to be two junctions to allow trains from Moorgate to go North through Farringdon station or South through City Thameslink station.
- The Thameslink tracks have two useful crossovers.
- The black tracks of the City branch of the Northern Line running through Old Street, Moorgate and Bank stations.
- The black tracks of the Northern City Line running through Old Street station and terminating in Moorgate station.
- The red tracks of the Central Line running through Chancery Lane, St. Paul’s and Bank station.
Because of the layout of the various tracks new connections and improvements may be possible.
Extending The Northern City Line To Bank Station
In Walking Along Moorgate – 30th September 2020, I describe some of the possibilities opened up by the design of Moor House, which has been built to allow more tunneling underneath.
I believe two extensions South from Moorgate station would be possible.
- It was intended by the builders of the Northern City Line, to take the route to just North of Bank station at Lothbury.
- Has The Possibility Been Created For A Pedestrian Tunnel Between Bank And Moorgate Stations?
Note.
- As the extension to Bank station has dug tunnels all over the place, I would expect that the engineers on that project would have a good idea on the best way to connect Moorgate and Bank stations.
- I usually use the Northern Line between Moorgate and Bank stations, but sometimes the Northern Line is rather crowded.
- The Northern City Line is being resignalled and may have an increased number of trains, so more passenger capacity may be needed.
- If a new station were to be built at Lothbury, it might be possible to improve step-free access to the Northern City Line.
- A new station on the Northern City Line and a pedestrian tunnel could connect to the newly-installed travelator at Bank station.
There are certainly serious possibilities to improve connections between Moorgate and Bank stations.
Could Metropolitan Line Trains Be Turned At Moorgate Station?
Currently, there are eight trains per hour (tph) between Aldgate and Uxbridge in the Off Peak.
With the new signalling on the Sub-Surface Lines would it allow more trains to operate, if some Metropolitan Line services were terminated in Platforms 3 & 4 at Moorgate station.
Would It Be Worthwhile To Run Thameslink Trains Again Into Moorgate Station?
It would only need to terminate trains from the North, as trains from the South can terminate at Black friars Station.
Perhaps a two tph service from a convenient station would suffice.
A Pedestrian Connection Between City Thameslink Station And St. Paul’s Tube Station
I covered this in A Pedestrian Connection Between City Thameslink Station And St. Paul’s Tube Station.
From Reading To Gatwick Airport Along The North Downs Line
After writing Connecting Reading And The West To Gatwick Airport And Eurostar, I decided to go and look at the reality of the North Downs Line between Reading and Gatwick Airport stations.
I took my usual route to Reading, which is to go to Moorgate and get the Elizabeth Line direct to Reading using my Freedom Pass, after having breakfast in the Leon on Moorgate.
- I then had to leave the station at Reading, so that I could buy my ticket to Gatwick Airport.
- It would be so much easier, if there ere a couple of ticket machines on the bridge or platform at Reading station, so that passengers, who were changing trains could buy tickets quickly and easily.
In the end, I caught the 11:24 train to Gatwick with only a few minutes to spare.
From Reading To Gatwick Airport Along The North Downs Line
Along the North Downs Line, the train was a well-refreshed Great Western Railway Class 165 train.
These are some of the pictures, that I took on the route.
Note.
- The route goes through a lot of typical Surrey heathland.
- I noticed several pubs along the way.
- I suspect that there are some good walks from the stations.
- Reading and Guildford are university cities.
- Sandhurst is home to the Royal Military Academy.
- Farnborough Airport used to be home to the Royal Aircraft Establishment.
- Most of the seats on the train were taken.
I would expect that for a mainly rural route it is fairly busy.
Hitachi’s Intercity Battery Trains
Hitachi have developed an Intercity battery train and it is described on this page on their web site, where this is said about converting the trains to battery-electric operation.
A quick and easy application of battery technology is to install it on existing or future Hitachi intercity trains. Hitachi Rail’s modular design means this can be done without the need to re-engineer or rebuild the train and return them to service as quickly as possible for passengers.
Replacing one diesel engine with just one battery reduces emissions by more than 20% and offers cost savings of 20-30%. Our intercity battery powered trains can cover 70km on non-electrified routes, operating at intercity speeds at the same or increased performance.
That performance is certainly enough for Reading and Ashford via Gatwick, as only 37.7 miles in total, is not electrified.
Does The North Downs Line Mirror The East-West Rail?
Consider.
- The East West Rail will encircle London to the North, between Oxford and Cambridge.
- The North Downs Line encircles London to the South, between Reading and Ashford.
They could be considered two complimentary rail lines.
A Milton Keynes And Ashford International Service
Looking at the track layout on OpenRailwayMap, it would appear that one of Hitachi’s proposed Intercity Battery Trains fitted with dual voltage could pick its way elegantly along the East West Rail and the North Downs Line between Milton Keynes and Ashford International via Oxford, Reading and Gatwick Airport.
An Occasional Sheffield And Ashford International Service
If you could run a service between Milton Keynes and Ashford International, why not extend it to Bedford or even Sheffield in the North?
I believe if you put these Hitachi’s proposed Intercity Battery Trains on a cross-country route, that they will quickly suffer from London Overground Syndrome. This is my definition of the syndrome.
This benign disease, which is probably a modern version of the Victorian railway mania, was first identified in East London in 2011, when it was found that the newly-refurbished East London Line and North London Line were inadequate due to high passenger satisfaction and much increased usage. It has now spread across other parts of the capital, despite various eradication programs.
Put simply, it can probably be summed up as Quality Attracts Passengers.
Serving Heathrow
There have been various plans to get rail access into Heathrow from the West, but none have so far got off the starting blocks.
It is my view, that in the interim period, after my trip last weekend in the superb Wrightbus hydrogen double deck bus from Sutton to Gatwick, that I wrote about in Sutton Station To Gatwick Airport By Hydrogen-Powered Bus, that we should ask Wrightbus, who are designing a hydrogen-powered coach, to design the ultimate coach to connect rail hubs to major airports.
I would then run these coaches every ten minutes between Reading station and Heathrow Airport.
Serving Attractions
I believe that pairing Hitachi’s proposed Intercity Battery Trains with Wrightbus’s hydrogen coach could be a winner for passengers and operators.
As an example, Lumo are hoping to run an open access service between Paddington and Carmarthen, if Heidi the Spoilsport permits. Would it not be sensible, if one of Wrightbus’s hydrogen coaches did the last mile duties to the ferry for Ireland at Fishguard harbour.
British Buses For British Bottoms
Occasionally, I catch the 153 bus, as it goes between the Leon, where I often go for breakfast, and the William Harvey Heart Centre, where I volunteer as a lab-rat.
Lately, I’ve noticed that the route is being run by new Wrightbus GB Kite single-decker battery-electric buses.
This morning I had a ride.
Note.
- The buses are battery-electric.
- This page is the bus’s home page.
- This bus is the short 10.2 metre long version.
- It was certainly a well-built, smooth-riding and comfortable bus, that was approved by my sensitive British bottom.
This Press Release from Wrightbus is entitled Wrightbus Sets Sights On Further European Expansion After Hydrogen Buses Land In Germany.
This is the sub-heading.
Leading zero-emission bus pioneer Wrightbus has announced plans for further expansion into Europe following the arrival of a landmark hydrogen bus order into Germany.
These are the first three paragraphs.
All of the 31 buses for operator Regionalverkehr Köln Gmbh (RVK) are now in situ – the first ever Wrightbus vehicles on European soil – with testing underway before the fleet goes into service across the Cologne region.
Named the fastest-growing bus manufacturer in Europe, Wrightbus has enjoyed a remarkable year. Alongside further hydrogen bus deals for Saarbahn, Vestische, Cottbus and West Verkehr, and the opening of a new European service centre in Bruhl, Wrightbus is also hiring staff to supply buses to France and Benelux.
In October, it also signed a landmark deal worth up to half-a-billion pounds to supply more than 1,000 buses to operator Go-Ahead over the next three years – 90 per cent of which will be zero-emission.
The press release says that deals are possible in France and Benelux.
A Funny Sunday Morning
I didn’t sleep that well and I got up about 05:45.
But by 06:30, I’d completed and entered the Sunday Times Prize Sudoku, as I always do.
The odds of winning must be exceedingly long, as I complete it every week and have not won anything yet.
I had my bath and flushed the sleep from my eyes in the hot water as I always do and by 10:15, I was sitting in Leon at the Angel having my usual gluten free Full-English breakfast.
I also went round the corner to the Marks and Spencer to buy a few items I needed.
- Bananas – I can never have too many
- British Strawberries – Strawberries are rich in magnesium and coeliacs can be low, so when I see quality strawberries I usually buy.
- Liver and Bacon Ready Meal for One – I have one a week to keep up my B12 levels and Ocado didn’t have any yesterday.
- Packet of Chocolate Cakes – I am slightly addicted.
The strawberries were from Dyson Farming, which I would have thought was the wrong side of the political spectrum for Islington.
My left knee also had a funny turn, which I was looking for the liver. Was it just reminding me that, if it didn’t get its B12, it would play up something rotten or was my brain using my knee to signal that it was low in B12 after the superb work on the sudoku?
Thirteen years ago I had a serious stroke and two or three serious doctors have said I’ve made a remarkable recovery.
From what I can gather on the Internet in the United States, I would have been given B12 injections for my stroke.
But then I am, as I am coeliac and Addenbrooke’s prescribed the injections, when I was diagnosed as coeliac in the 1990s. So is that behind my excellent recovery from stroke or did the Chinese doctors in Hong Kong diagnose my stroke as worse than it was?
Since I swapped to Ocado for my food purchases about two months ago, I have found it easier to buy the Marks and Spencer’s Liver and Bacon. I now eat one every week to top up my B12 and the arthitis, I occasionally get in my joints has reduced.
So I asked Dr. Google if arthritis gets worse after a stroke.
They pointed me to this paper on the National Library of Medicine. They also helpfully gave me this AI-derived answer to my question.
Yes, arthritis can worsen after a stroke:
Osteoarthritis
A common type of arthritis that can worsen after a stroke. This can be due to spasticity that develops after a stroke. Osteoarthritis can also make it harder for stroke patients to recover during rehabilitation.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Patients with RA may experience worse functional outcomes after a stroke due to pain and swelling in their extremities. RA patients may also have an increased risk of ischemic stroke.
Other types of pain that can occur after a stroke include: Headaches, Tingling sensations, Shoulder pain, and Central post-stroke pain.
Pain after a stroke can range from headaches that resolve on their own to chronic, severe joint pain.
Ic like the answer, as it fits my symptoms. Is artificial intelligence going to do some doctors out of a job?
I certainly get the tingling sensations.
I’ve just prescribed myself Liver and Bacon for a late lunch.
I’ll report back later!
Note, that I’m eating in front of the computer with the new keyboard.
The Odd Sugary Snack May Be Good For You (But Lay Off Sugary Drinks)
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Tunes.
I shall be discussing this research with my cardiologist. My relationship with him is as doctor/patient, researcher/lab-rat and just friends. I am also coeliac and very much feel that I need to take the odd sugary snack to keep my energy levels up. I also had a serious stroke at 64, thirteen years ago, due to atrial fibrillation.
Sweden and coeliac disease could be another complicating factor here, as Sweden went the wrong way to try to eliminate coeliac disease after WW2 and just created a lot more.
I found about this Swedish research in a peer-reviewed paper entitled Coeliac Disease: Can We Avert The Impending Epidemic In India? in the Indian Journal of Research Medicine.
A History Of Sugary Snacks And Drinks And Me
Growing up in London, after World War 2, I didn’t get much sugar, as it was rationed.
But I did put it in tea and coffee.
I never ate many cakes, except for some chocolate ones.
My habit of not eating cakes and proper puddings really annoyed my mother-in-law.
I was a sickly child and I didn’t really get better until I was found to be coeliac at 50.
I am fairly certain, that my consumption of sugary snacks has got more, as I’ve got older.
But because American drinks, sweets and snacks could use sugar made from wheat, I don’t touch any American sweetened products.
But I haven’t put on any weight, since I was fifty.
Thanks to the likes of Leon, Marks and Spencer and the cafe at Worksop station for excellent sugary gluten-free snacks to keep me going!
More Mushroom Management On TfL Buses
After my experience in Mushroom Management On TfL Buses, I’ve changed my weekend breakfast routine at weekends, to one where on Saturdays and Sundays, I eat breakfast in London’s poshest Leon at Hanover Square, which I wrote about in A Quality Takeaway With A Station And A Large Garden.
It is a large restaurant.
It has comfortable seating.
It is within my not very long walking distance of the Bakerloo, Central, Elizabeth, Jubilee and Victoria Lines, and Oxford Street with all its buses.
There is a garden with seating in the square.
This picture shows the frontage of the building.
It’s certainly not your average takeaway or fast food outlet.
Normally, Hanover Square is a very easy location for me to travel to.
- I walk round the corner to the stop for the 38 bus.
- The 38 buses are usually every 3-4 minutes and I travel to Tottenham Court Road station.
- I go one stop on the Elizabeth Line, travelling in the rear of the train to Bond Street station.
- I’m then at the right end of the station to exit directly into Hanover Square, after riding up from the depths on a long escalator.
Leon is just a fifty metre walk away.
Today, there were no problems, although I did cut it a bit tight.
But all was fine in the end and I had a good full-English breakfast.
A Difficult Journey Home!
When, I set off from home, I wasn’t sure which way, I would come home.
In the end, I decided to come home the simple way of taking the Elizabeth Line to Moorgate station and then getting the 141 bus from there, as it stops close to my home.
But this route has the Elizabeth Line end-changing problem, in that the Hanover Square entrance at Bond Street station is at the Eastern end of the train and the Moorgate entrance at Liverpool Street station is at the Western end of the train.
So at some point in the journey, I would have to take a two-hundred metre walk, either on the platform or inside the train. The latter is not easy on a train to and from Heathrow, as it is often stuffed full with cases in the aisle. Why do people want to take all the contents of their house on holiday?
So I decided to go via a reverse at Whitechapel, where I positioned myself at the Western end of the train for exit at Moorgate.
It really was necessary to install travellators at Liverpool Street station on the Elizabeth Line, as between the two entrances is a long walk, as this graphic shows.
Note.
- Moorgate is to the left
- Liverpool Street is to the right.
But then Transport for London wanted a spectacular line with spectacular stations, that would win awards. Which it has!
I alighted from the train at the Moorgate end of the station, which meant that after two escalator rides and a short walk, I was at the 141 bus stop on the surface.
But there were no buses of any numbers calling at the stop.
This was because of the Lord Mayor’s Show, which meant there were no buses through the City.
But.
- There were no posters at stations saying that the show was taking place and buses would be diverted.
- Displays on bus stops were not saying anything about the show.
- The BBC hadn’t mentioned the Lord Mayor’s Show on the TV this morning.
- The BBC doesn’t have a local news at weekends, which would surely have mentioned the show and its effects on public transport.
- The display on the bus stop at Moorgate was still broken, as it has been for six months.
- There was a small information poster on the bus stop, but it was positioned too high for me to see.
- Taxis seemed to be avoiding the City.
There were a few stewards about and one suggested, that I walked to Old Street, which would not be easy on my legs.
In the end, I decoded that a retreat via Whitechapel and Dalston Junction was probably the best way to get home, as the Overground would be unlikely to be effected.
But I made the mistake of getting on a Circle Line train at Moorgate, so I didn’t get to Whitechapel.
Instead, I walked to the 141 and 21 bus stop at Monument station and caught a 21 bus North. I hoped that I would be able to connect to the 141 bus, that I needed to get home.
I did get safely home, but only after two long waits at bus stops, where I changed bus routes twice.
Conclusion
Transport for London need to devise bus plans for all major events and publicise them well in advance.
In London’s New 733 Bus Route, I described how Transport for London put in a temporary bus route between Finsbury Square and Oval stations to replace the Northern Line during the upgrade of Bank station.
As the Lord Mayor’s Show happens every year, surely the same plan can be rolled out each year, with any appropriate changes.
I’d be interested to know whether other large cities have plans for big celebrations in city centres.
I’m Getting Fed Up Being Coeliac
I’m not getting fed up with the benefits.
- The inability to get serious doses of the covids, as was shown by the University of Padua and I documented in Risk Of COVID-19 In Celiac Disease Patients.
- The lower rate of cancer, compared to the general population as has been shown by Nottingham University.
- Coeliac diease and the B12 injections I take, indirectly helped my recovery from the stroke I had. But that was just luck!
I haven’t had a dose of the covids, but I have had all my vaccinations.
But increasingly, restaurant chains like Carluccio’s and Le Pain Quoitidien are closing only to be replaced by chains that don’t even pay lip-service to coeliacs.
Some chains, even treat being gluten-free as a fad. That is an insult to people like me and the doctors and other medical staff, who diagnosed us.
I’m getting feed up as more and more vcoeliac-friendly cafes and restaurants close.
Coeliac disease indirectly killed my son and probably my paternal grandfather and is present in at least 1-in-100 of the UK population.
We should identify all of those, who have the genes, using the genetic test, which is only a simple blood test costing a few pounds.
The Anonymous Widower 