Moorgate Is Getting A Light-Controlled Crossing
Whilst, the building of 101 Moorgate was ongoing, crossing Moorgate has been a bit of a nightmare.
But now, as this picture shows a light-controlled crossing is being installed.
The gap in the building behind the traffic lights on the far side of Moorgate leads through to Finsbury Square.
This Google Map shows the City of London between Moorgate and Liverpool Street stations.
Note.
- Finsbury Square Gardens is in the centre of the map.
- Moorgate station is to the West of the gardens with Moorgate and its North-South buses in between.
- There is a Marks and Spencer department store on Moorgate to the North of the gardens.
- The shops and offices of Broadgate and Liverpool Street station are to the East of the gardens.
Especially, when it is good weather, there is a pleasant East-West walking route across the map.
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.
Is British Airways Getting A Boost From The Lizzie Line?
This article in The Times is entitled Everyone Bashes It But BA Is Surging Ahead …What’s Its Secret?
Various managerial reasons are given, but the Lizzie Line is not mentioned.
live in Dalston and for Heathrow, I take a twenty minute bus-ride and then use the Lizzie Line from Moorgate.
Before Lizzie, I used to take a variety of much slower routes.
If you get on a Lizzie Line train to or from Heathrow in Central London, it’s often very crowded, showing how popular it is with knowledgeable passengers.
London’s new line has made it easier, quicker and more affordable to get to Heathrow by train for many people in England.
So are passengers flying from Heathrow more?
And who’s the dominant carrier at Heathrow? BA!
Struggling To Get Home From Moorgate Station
In most cases to get back to my house, I take a convenient 141 bus from Moorgate station.
- The bus stop at Moorgate is the same side of the road as the exit from Moorgate station.
- At the stop at my home, I just cross the not very busy road and there is a zebra crossing, if the road is busy.
- The walks at both ends are not more than fifty metres.
- The 141 bus, used to share the route with the 21 bus, which meant there was a bus every five minutes.
- The 21 buses are more comfortable New Routemasters.
Now, that the 21 bus no longer shares the route, timings of the 141 are much extended, with sometimes a wait of as long as 15 minutes.
This is because.
- The traffic has got a lot heavier.
- One fleet of buses, is taking both groups of passengers.
- Islington has laid out numerous Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
Consequently, the remaining 141 buses have a much higher passenger density and I don’t always get a seat.
This Saturday and Sunday, the Elizabeth Line wasn’t running, so the buses were overcrowded.
On both days, I had to get a 76 bus from Moorgate to De Beauvoir Town, as I had waited for a long time and one had not been shown on the app.
Yesterday, I would have had to wait 26 minutes for the 141 bus to do the last mile to get home.
So I walked and took these pictures of Islington’s not so pretty pavements.
Compared to Hackney, they are not a pretty sight. And the pavements did make walking difficult.
As I did the last leg to my house, five 141 buses passed me, as Transport for London don’t believe in spreading them out, where there are punters.
Luckily, I wasn’t carrying anything heavy!
Today, I was even luckier in that a 141 bus stopped, soon after I got off the 76.
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.
Travelling Between London Stations
When I came home from Moorgate this morning, I took my usual 141 bus.
I sat next to a lady about forty, who from her bags looked like she’d just arrived by plane at Gatwick Airport.
After a couple of attempts at conversation, it became obvious, that we didn’t have a common language.
She then produced her phone and indicated that she needed Liverpool Street station.
The 141 bus doesn’t serve Liverpool Street station, but it does serve the Western entrance to Liverpool Street station on the Elizabeth Line.
It looks to me, that she had been told by a human being, an app or the Internet, that the easiest way from London Bridge bus station to Liverpool Street station was to take the 141 bus from in front of the station and walk across to Liverpool Street station from Moorgate.
But.
- The Western entrance to Liverpool Street station has no information to indicate, that it gives access to Liverpool Street station.
- The bus information system indicates Moorgate station.
- The bus information system does not announce, that for Liverpool Street station, you should alight at Moorgate station.
Perhaps, the bus information system should indicates Moorgate/Liverpool Street station.
Conclusion
How many other transfers between London stations are similarly confusing?
ICE Report Shows Majority Open To Net Zero Changes
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the sub-heading.
A new report has found that a majority of the UK public is amenable to the behavioural changes needed to hit the country’s net zero targets.
These two paragraphs summarise the findings of the report.
Published by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure (APPGI), the report was based on a survey of 1,000 respondents. It found that 57 per cent were open to change, with 23 per cent described as net zero enthusiasts who were likely to have already altered their behaviours, and 34 per cent wanting change, but feeling they needed further empowerment to achieve it.
However, there is far from universal agreement when it comes to behavioural change around climate action. The report found that 30 per cent of people were ‘reluctant followers’, largely acknowledging that the UK must act on emissions, but not feeling personal responsibility for that action. This segment will likely only change their behaviours if forced to do so or seeing a majority of others doing it first. Finally, 13 per cent of those surveyed were classed as ‘net zero resistors’, people who don’t believe action is necessary and have no intention of doing so.
Summing the figures up gives us.
- Net-Zero Enthusiasts – 23 %
- Wanting Change – 34 %
- Reluctant Followers – 30 %
- Net-Zero Resistors – 13 %
All politicians should be forced to read the full report.
What Would I Need To Do To Achieve a Personal Net-Zero?
My circumstances probably cover a lot of people.
- I am a widow living alone.
- My house is well-insulated with solar-panels on the roof, but heated by gas.
- I don’t have or need a car.
- I do nearly all my shopping by public transport and carry it home.
- When I go away in the UK I use trains.
- If I go to Europe, I either go or come back by train.
- I am coeliac, which means I need to eat some meat to stay healthy.
My largest carbon-emitted is probably my house, but it would be unsuitable for most current solutions.
I would put myself in the Wanting Change group, but I could move to a Net-Zero Enthusiast, if the right technology came along.
- I have seen one bolt-in electric replacement for by boiler and when the right one arrives, I’ll probably fit one.
- An affordable battery to work to with my solar panels and also allow me to use Off Peak electricity would be nice.
- As I’m coeliac, I tend to buy in the same food each week from Marks and Spencer to eat in. I might be able to cut my carbon footprint by getting Ocado to deliver. Especially, as some deliveries seem to be bike.
- If TfL decarbonised the bus, that I use most days to and from Moorgate would that lower my carbon footprint?
I suspect the largest amount of carbon outside of my house’s heating, that I’ll emit, will be tomorrow, when I take a train to Newquay.
How Do We Convert The 13 % Net-Zero Resistors?
The recent protests by French and Belgian farmers indicate, that these farmers are probably in this group. And there are other forthright groups!
The only way, that they’ll be converted, is if technology allows them to earn the same amount of money and have the same outgoings, as they do now!
Moorgate Station’s Soldiers Are Now Painted
The City of London’s soldiers outside Moorgate station have now been painted.
But the plastic barriers haven’t been removed yet.
It looks like the station entrance could be finished soon.
If you want a bollard like this for your drive ATG Access make and sell them.
Will 22 Ropemaker Street Have Shops?
As I walked past 22 Ropemaker Street on Sunday, the builders appeared to be finishing off the Ground Floor.
Looking at the building’s web site, there is no mention of retail.
- But the web site does show off the transport and walking connections.
- It also has its own entrance for cyclists.
- Car parking is not mentioned on the web site.
- The web site also details the building.
It’s certainly a well-designed office building.
Hertford North Station – 6th December 2023
I went to Hertford North station this morning and took these pictures.
Note.
- Getting to Platform 1 is not easy.
- There would appear to be no obvious place for a lift.
- The traditional signals are still working.
- There is a cafe/shop in the station.
With some sympathetic refurbishment, it could be an excellent station.
I have some thoughts.
Digital Signalling
The digital signalling is currently being rolled out on the Northern City Line.
- The Class 717 train seemed to be running faster than I can remember.
- Had Network Rail been weeding the signals, as there only seemed to be one between each pair of stations?
- Currently, Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City takes around 50-53 minutes.
- Currently, Moorgate and Stevenage takes around 66-67 minutes.
- The average speed between Moorgate and Stevenage is only about 32 mph, which is slow for an 85 mph train.
Could the digital signalling find more time between Hertford North and Stevenage reduce the journey time to something less than an hour?
Trains For Current Schedule
I estimate that the current off-peak schedule of two trains per hour (tph) needs nine trains.
So as there are extra trains in the peak, the fleet of twenty-five Class 717 trains should be enough to be able to run the extra peak trains.
Could Four Trains Per Hour Be Run On Both Routes?
Four tph on both routes, would need something like eighteen trains, which leaves seven spare trains.
The Anonymous Widower 