Improvements To Turkey Street Station
This post on IanVisits is entitled Enfield Council Outlines Possible Rail Station Upgrades.
By reading Enfield Council documents, Ian has found possible station improvements that might happen.
Ian says this about Turkey Street station.
Redevelopment of the Exeter Road estate could contribute to public realm improvements to Turkey Street station.
I took these pictures of the station.
Note.
- The station has improved since I visited in 2014 and wrote Before Overground – Turkey Street.
- The station is rather a windy place and could do with some better shelters.
- It could also do with some lifts.
Let’s hope the station improves by a similar amount by the next time I visit.
Improvements To Edmonton Green Station
This post on IanVisits is entitled Enfield Council Outlines Possible Rail Station Upgrades.
By reading Enfield Council documents, Ian has found possible station improvements that might happen.
Ian says this about Edmonton Green station.
A proposed redevelopment of the shopping centre could add upwards of 1,000 new homes in time, and fund improvements to both the railway station and the bus station.
I took these pictures of the station.
Note.
- The station has lifts to both platforms.
- The station has some excellent period features.
- I have indicated a couple of possible development sites.
- The station does not appear to be listed.
A good architect and some good craftsmen could improve this station substantially.
Overground To London Bridge Under Consideration
The title of this post, is the same as that of a short article in the December 2023 Edition of Modern Railways.
This is the text of the article.
Transport for London is considering introducing London Overground services between Crystal Palace and London Bridge to help relieve overcrowding on the Sydenham corridor during the morning peak.
The move is one of two options outlined in a response to Lewisham’s Public Transport Liason Committee meeting on 4 October. The other is operating additional services on the existing route via the East London Line to Dalston Junction/Highbury & Islington. TfL acknowledges the London Bridge service would ‘represent a new routing for London Overground services that would necessitate significant changes to operational arrangements and driver testing’ and therefore further work is required ‘to establish the feasibility and business case for this change.’ There are no timescales for the implementation of either option.
The overcrowding follows the reduction by Govia Thameslink Railway of its Southern service to two trains per hour last September, when it replaced its East Croydon to London Bridge via Forest Hill stopping service with a Victoria to London Bridge via Forest Hill stopping service. In its response to the committee, GTR says the context to these changes is ‘the continued need to respond to the gap between our costs and revenues’, which it says is in the region of £15 million a year, with both demand and revenue having stabilised at around 80 % of pre-pandemic levels. It says its aim is to make ‘the most efficient use of the resources available to us,’ with the Victoria to London Bridge service designed to provide capacity for journeys to both stations’.
GTR says the current service has sufficient capacity and is lightly loaded outside peak times, and that while it will continue to keep passenger and feedback under review an increase from two to four trains per hour would require an increase in funding.
These are my thoughts.
Transport for London’s Long Term Plans
Plans exist to increase the frequency on various London Overground services and this graphic sums up what was planned a few years ago.
Note the extra two trains per hour (tph) between the following stations.
- Clapham Junction and Stratford
- Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace
- Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction
- Enfield Town and Liverpool St. via Seven Sisters
I think only Route 1 services have been increased.
I know signalling updates are holding up the extra trains on the East London Line, but are more trains needed to fully implement the extra services?
- Routes 2 and 3 services will need Class 378 trains because of the tunnel and these would be transferred from the North London Line.
- Route 4 would need Class 710 trains, as the service already uses them.
So there may be a need for more Class 710 trains.
This plan sees another two trains per hour (tph) running between Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace, which would help to reduce Lewisham’s overcrowding.
Would A London Bridge And Crystal Palace Service Be Easier To Implement?
It looks like the extra Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace services have been held up by two possible reasons.
- The required signalling update on the East London Line, that is needed to increase Crystal Palace and Clapham Junction services has not been performed.
- There are not a sufficient number of Class 378 trains to run the service through the Thames Tunnel. These will be released by running more Class 710 trains on the North London Line.
If two tph were to be run between London Bridge and Crystal Palace, this service would have these advantages.
- The train paths are available.
- The service would not be going through the Thames Tunnel, so the signalling upgrade would not be needed and the trains would not need to be able to evacuate passengers in the tunnel.
- The service could be run by any suitable third-rail trains.
- The service could be run by any length of train, that would fit all the platforms.
I believe the service could be run by eight-car trains to really get a hold on the current overcrowding.
How Many Trains Would Be Needed?
Looking at other services between London Bridge and Crystal Palace, I believe that the journey time would be about 24 minutes.
If the service were run efficiently, I suspect two trains would be needed to provide the required service of two tph.
An eight-car service would required four x four-car trains.
What Trains Could Be Used?
If the numbers are available, then third-rail versions of both London Overground’s Class 378 and Class 710 trains would be suitable.
But this would probably mean a number of Class 710 trains to be manufactured by Alstom. This would not be a short-term solution.
In Liverpool last week, I rode in a Class 319 train and these could be an interesting stop-gap.
- Several will soon be available as West Midlands Trains renews its fleet.
- They are already fitted with third-rail gear.
- They are 100 mph trains.
- Drivers seem to like them.
I believe they could fill in until more Class 710 trains were available.
Crystal Palace Station
This Open RailwayMap shows the platform layout at Crystal Palace station.
Note.
- Platforms 1 and 2 cross the South-West corner of the map and handle services like London Bridge and Beckenham Junction, London Bridge and London Victoria, and West Croydon services.
- Platform 3 is a little used bay platform, that can terminate trains from the East London Line or London Bridge.
- Platform 4 handles services between London Bridge and London Victoria.
- Platform 5 is a bay platform, that can terminate trains from the East London Line.
- Platform 6 handles services between London Victoria and London Bridge.
- Platform 7 is a disused bay platform.
These pictures show Crystal Palace station.
Crystal Palace station has an adequate number of platforms.
Conclusion
A service between London Bridge and Crystal Palace looks to be a sound plan.
London Overground Lines To Be Given Unique Names
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Six London Overground lines are to be given unique names.
These three paragraphs explain it all.
Routes to be named include Euston to Watford Junction, Romford to Upminster and Gospel Oak to Barking, City Hall confirmed.
Seb Dance, deputy mayor for transport, said posters had been put up in stations informing people of the plans and encouraging them to get involved.
London Overground will remain as the umbrella brand, according to transport bosses.
It will cost £6.3 million.
What a waste of money!
I suppose they will all be given nice politically correct names, that no-one will use and those on thee far-right will cover with graffiti.
Yesterday, I needed to use The Drain, so I asked if it was open at Waterloo. Perhaps the first thing, that they ought to do, is teach staff all the colloquial names that my parents’ generation used.
The sooner the good voters of London give SadIQ his marching orders the better.
Cunning Electrification On The North London Line
I took a trip on the North London Line from Highbury & Islington station to Richmond station.
I took various pictures on the way.
25 KVAC Overhead Electrification
East of Acton Central station, typical 25 KVAC overhead electrification is used.
It may need to be beefed up, if more large electric locomotives haul freight trains along the North London Line.
Gunnersbury Station
Gunnersbury station is a two-platform station with London Underground four-rail electrification.
It can be used by London Underground S-Stock and London Overground Class 378 trains.
It must help that both trains were built by Bombardier in Derby.
Kew Gardens Station
Kew Gardens station is a two-platform station with London Underground four-rail electrification.
As with Gunnersbury station, both types of train can use both platforms.
Richmond Station
Richmond station is both a through and terminal station.
Note.
- Platforms 1 and 2 are through platforms for South Western main line services.
- Platforms 3 to 7 are for terminating London Underground and Overground services.
- Platforms 1 to 3 have traditional third-rail electrification.
- Platforms 4 to 7 have London Underground four-rail electrification.
- If needed, it may be possible to add another platform between platforms 3 and 4.
It looks like a lot of flexibility has been built in.
I have a few general thoughts.
Getting The Voltages Right
London Underground’s system used to use 630 VDC for its four-rail system, whereas Network Rail’s system uses 750 VDC.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that both trains use quality power electronics that can work on a range of voltages. This would enable London Underground to up their voltage to the same 750 VDC as used by Network Rail.
In Chiltern Sets Out New Fleet Ambitions, I talked about how Chiltern Railways could use London Underground’s four-rail electrification between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham stations to charge the batteries.
As an electrical engineer, I don’t think this is outrageous.
Are The Elizabeth Line Trains Ready To Be Lengthened?
When Transport for London updated the North and East London Lines of the London Overground in the early years of this century, they felt that four-car Class 378 trains would have enough capacity for the lines. But the lines proved more popular than, they had expected and the trains were very overcrowded. So it was decided to lengthen the trains to the five cars they are today.
This wasn’t as easy as it seems, as platforms at several stations had to be lengthened, which was disruptive and expensive.
One day last week, I was in Farringdon station and took these pictures of the platform edge doors at the back end of a Class 345 train.
Note how, that when a train is in the station, it doesn’t reach to the end.
But this is not always the case, as this picture from Paddington station shows.
Does this mean that some underground Elizabeth Line platforms are longer than others?
In Bombardier’s Plug-and-Play Train, I discuss the plug-and-play design of Aventras.
- This plug-and-play design allows trains to be lengthened or shortened by adding or removing carriages.
- Class 345 trains are actually two half-trains, with a trailer car in between them.
So is this why Class 345 trains have run services as both seven-car and nine-car trains?
The former have three-car half-trains and the latter have four-car half-trains, with an extra MS car.
Talk Of Eleven-Car Trains
If you search the Internet, you’ll find forums and web pages speculating about. whether the trains will be lengthened to ten-cars or even eleven-cars.
Consider.
- The current trains are 204.73 metres long.
- Extra intermediate cars are all 22.5 metres long.
- The trains also are probably fitted with selective door opening or can be as most modern trains have it.
This would mean, that a ten-car train would be 227.23 metres long and an eleven-car train will be 249.73 metres.
The eleven-car figure is just 27 centimetres short of 250 metres.
I wouldn’t me surprised if the maximum train length was given to Bombardier as 250 metres.
I certainly feel, that if it should be decided to lengthen the trains by adding another carriage or two, that this will not be a problem.
The Elizabeth Line’s Two Problems
These posts talk about the two problems.
In TfL Needs More Elizabeth Line Trains Because Of HS2 Delays At Euston, I talked about what happens, if High Speed Two doesn’t link initially to Euston.
In Elizabeth Line: Commuters Say Service ‘Not What Was Promised’, I talked about problems of overcrowding at the Western end of the line.
The solutions to both problems are either more trains or adding more carriages to existing trains.
In this article on Ian Visits, which has the same title as the first post, Ian says this about ordering more trains.
Although HS2 isn’t expected to open until some point between 2029-33, TfL is warning that it will need to place the orders for the new trains soon, as the cost of doing so later will be significantly more expensive. That’s because the factory lines to build Elizabeth line trains at Alstom’s factory in Derbyshire are still in place, but will be demobilised soon. If the trains aren’t ordered before that happens, then the cost of reactivating the factory lines has to be included in the bill.
I suspect, it probably applies to an order for extra carriages as well.
Problems For Alstom
But will a substantial order for more Class 345 trains or carriages cause problems for Alstom at Derby?
This extract from the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two rolling stock, describes how the Hitachi-Alstom joint venture will build the Classic-Compatible trains for High Speed Two.
Vehicle body assembly and initial fitting out of the trains will take place at the Hitachi Newton Aycliffe factory, the bogies will be manufactured at the Alstom factory in Crewe, and final assembly and fit-out, including the interiors, electronics and bogies, will take place at Alstom’s factory in Derby.
If more Class 345 trains are to be built at Derby, does it mean a rethink by the joint venture?
In Battery EMUs Envisaged In Southeastern Fleet Procurement, I talked about how Southeastern were looking for new trains. Given that Aventras from Alstom could be in the frame for these new trrains for Southeastern, does that give Alstom more complications?
Riding The SL8 Bus Between Shepherd’s Bush Market And Uxbridge Stations – 16th July 2023
This draft map from TfL illustrates the concept of the Superloop.
The spoke on the Western side of the map is route SL8 between White City and Uxbridge stations.
This morning I rode the route between Shepherd’s Bush Market and Uxbridge stations and took these pictures.
Note.
- Some of the buses have still to be painted in the new white-topped Superloop livery.
- The buses are diesel-powered.
- The stops have their own livery.
- I estimate the route is 12.3 miles long and the bus took 67 minutes.
- The frequency appeared to be typically four buses per hour.
- The route is mainly dual-carriageway to the West of Ealing Hospital.
Route SL8 used to be route 607 and except for the branding nothing has changed.
I have few thoughts.
The Concept
The concept seemed to work well, where the roads were free of traffic.
But we get get a bit delayed through places like Ealing Broadway, where parking reduced the width of the road.
The Route
The route connects quite a few stations and other important locations.
From East to West they include.
- Westfield Shopping Centre
- Shepherd’s Bush station for the Central Line and the Overground.
- Shepherd’s Bush Market station for the Hammersmith and City Line
- Acton Central station for the Overground
- Ealing Common station for the District and Piccadilly Lines.
- Ealing Broadway station for the Central, District and Elizabeth Lines.
- Ealing Broadway
- Ealing Town Hall
- Ealing Hospital
- Southall Broadway
- Hayes
Note.
- The route is very much the same as the now-abandoned West London Tram, which was proposed twenty years ago.
- The tram was opposed y the three London boroughs on the route, as it cut them in half. But buses don’t cause the same problems.
- The Superloop map shows that the SL8 bus calls at Hayes and Harlington station, but we went nowhere near it today.
- The route with its sections of dual carriageway and congested shopping streets was a bit like the route o Birmingham’s hydrogen buses, that I wrote about in Riding Birmingham’s New Hydrogen-Powered Buses.
I feel as the route is very similar to the West London Tram, which was probably extensively researched, that there won’t be too many changes to this route.
Parking Along The Route
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more parking restrictions along the route, to speed up the buses in the crowded shopping streets like Acton, Ealing Broadway and Southall Broadway.
The Buses
The buses are Egyptian-built eVoSeti diesel buses, which use a Volvo chassis.
- I don’t like these buses as they don’t have a flat floor and I’ve seen some passengers struggling with the stairs on the lower deck.
- At least the stairs to the upper deck aren’t too bad.
We used to have them locally in Dalston and I used to avoid them, if there was another bus close behind.
This new route, though should be served by zero-carbon buses, so that pollution and carbon emissions are reduced.
- Between White City and Uxbridge takes over an hour.
- A battery-electric bus would need recharging during the day.
- It looks like there’s not much space at White City and Uxbridge stations, to install charging stations.
- A hydrogen-powered bus could probably manage all day on one filling.
For these reasons, I suspect that hydrogen buses would be the preferred option.
Khan’s Stupid Plan To Rename The Overground Lines
renamThis page on the TfL web site is entitled Naming London Overground Lines.
This is the first paragraph.
London Overground lines are to be named to make the network easier to navigate and ensure the Capital’s transport system reflects its rich and diverse history. We aim to make the changes by the end of 2024.
So why do I feel it is a stupid plan?
London Wouldn’t Stomach A Load Of Woke Names
When Khan and his fellow politicians choose the names, they will probably be a load of woke rubbish and this could cause problems with some political groups.
When The Lines Are Renamed, Will They Then Start On Station Names?
This could open a real can of worms, as some station names are totally unacceptable to some groups of people.
When Arsenal moved from Highbury, Spurs fans mounted a campaign to get Arsenal tube station renamed to its original name of Gillespie Road.
Londoners Use Their Geographic Names
I use the Overground regularly and use their geographic names like.
- Cheshunt Line
- Chingford Line
- East London Line
- Enfield Town Line
- Gospel Oak and Barking Line
- North London Line
- Romford and Upminster Line
- South London Line
- Watford DC Line
- West London Line
I also use The Drain for the Waterloo and City Line.
Thameslink And Moorgate Services
It is likely, that some or all of the Thameslink and Moorgate routes will go to Transport for London.
These would need more names.
Cost
Transport for London (TfL) have a financial crisis and I believe, that the money spent on signage and branding could be better spent on other projects like hydrogen buses or creating the West London Orbital Railway.
If Another Political Party Took Power Would They Rename Everything?
Probably! And this would be more cost!
Conclusion
Sadiq Khan is a vain and stubborn man. Renaming lines will open a nest of vipers.
With the mess Khan has got in over ULEZ, this could be another problem caused by his bad judgment.
The Shuttle Lift At Whitechapel Station
Whitechapel station is an unusual station on the London Overground/Underground network, as the two Overground tracks are underneath the two Underground tracks.
But then Marc Brunel and his more famous son; Isambard didn’t realise that their Thames Tunnel would eventually be part of London’s circular Overground railway.
The interchange is further complicated, by the Elizabeth Line being dozens of metres below the Overground, so that is connected to the main station bridge concourse by a giant three-barrel escalator.
A single shuttle lift and a set of stairs connect the bridge concourse to the Northbound Overground platform.
Note.
- The route is well used, as passengers have realised it is the fastest way between the Elizabeth Line and the Northbound London Overground.
- Judging by the number of passengers, who exit from the first car of Northbound Overground trains, this route could be a popular one for passengers from South London, who are continuing their journey on the Elizabeth Line.
- I use the route to come home with shopping, I’ve bought along the Elizabeth Line. I can manage the Lizzie Line escalators with two shopping bags and after rising from the depths at Whitechapel, I can take this lift to the first car of a train for Dalston, where there is a lift to the street and a bus to home.
- The lift has only two stops and one button is used to shuttle it, between the stops.
- The lower lift stop is perhaps ten metres from the first car of Northbound Overground train.
- The upper lift stop is perhaps ten metres from the bridge concourse and twenty from the escalator to the Elizabeth Line.
Strangely, the lift and stairs arrangement is more complicated on the Southbound platform of the Overground.
London’s transport network needs more simple shuttle lifts like this.
Elizabeth Line’s £29million Fares Bonanza As Passenger Numbers Hit New High
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item on msn.
These four paragraphs outline the story.
The Elizabeth line has enjoyed a £29m fares income bonanza due to record passenger numbers, it was revealed on Wednesday.
But the positive state of its finances – alongside a prediction that it will break even this year – came as line managers belonging to the TSSA union announced they would strike on May 24 in an unresolved pay battle.
This threatens to close the central section of the £20bn line, between Paddington and Abbey Wood, and embarrass Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London as the walkout falls on the first anniversary of its opening.
Latest figures from TfL show the Elizabeth line is carrying 3.5m passengers a week – and at times almost four million.
After the experience of continuously rising passenger numbers after the opening of the London Overground, it looks like the so-called mathematicians of Transport for London have got their numbers wrong again.
I have some thoughts.
When There’s A Sniff Of Money, The Unions Strike
This seems to be the case.
Perhaps Now Is The Time To Expand The Elizabeth Line?
I would add extra services between Oxford and Southend Victoria.
The extra fare revenue could be spent on trains.
The Anonymous Widower 