London City Airport Appoints Former Crossrail Boss Rob Holden As New Chairman
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on City AM.
If this doesn’t get the extra station on Crossrail at Silvertown, that London City Airport needs and wants, then nothing will.
West Hampstead Station – 7th July 2018
The new bridge at the West Hampstead station is now in use and it looks like the new station will be completed by the end of the year.
As the last picture shows this could be one of those station developments, where a deck could have been built over the North London Line to increase the number of flats built in the development on the South side of the railway.
This Google Map shows West Hampstead station on the North London Line and West Hampstead tube station on the Jubilee and Metropolitan Lines, although the latter don’t stop.
Note the development stretches a long way to the West between the North London Line and Underground Lines.
There have been plans to create a West Hampstead Interchange on West End Lane.
As these envisaged moving the Overground station to the East side of West End Lane and the new station is being built on the West side, It would appear there’s been a rethink.
Perhaps the Underground station is to be moved to the West side of West End Lane and will have an entrance on the small square in front of the M & S Simply Food and alongside the new Overground station.
This Google Map shows an enlargement of the area.
The new station could have platforms on the following lines.
- Jubilee Line
- Metropolitan Line
- Cjhiltern Railway
It would be a very worthwhile interchange. Especially, as passengers could do the following.
- Walk across the square for the Overground for East London.
- Walk perhaps another hundred metres to West Hampstead Thameslink station, which is also proposed as the terminus of the West London Orbital Railway.
There could also be a development on the top of the new station, which would hopefully contribute to the cost.
I have no idea, if anything will happen here, but Transport for London are looking to create new stations with over-site development. The Mayor also seems keen on the West London Orbital Railway, as it is based on under-used infrastructure and requires no new track or tunnels.
Meridian Water Station – 14th June 2018
Since my last post on Meridian Water station, that was called The Site Of The New Meridian Water Station – 25th April 2018, things have moved on at a good speed.
Note.
- It will be a four-platform station.
- It will have fullstep-free access, with five lifts.
- It will be ready for Crossrail 2, if that line ever arrives.
- It will also be a step-free bridge over the railway., for those not using the trains.
- It will be very handy for Tesco and IKEA.
It also looks like it could be ready for use in May 2019, which is the planned opening date.
The Site Of The New Meridian Water Station – 25th April 2018
These pictures show the site of the new Meridian Water station.
The site is substantial and the station will feature four platforms and a walking and cycling route over the West Anglia Main Line.
Meridian Water Station – 27th September 2017
I took these pictures from the top deck of a 341 bus, as it passed the site of Meridian Water station.
It doesn’t look like it will be a small station.
Will Elland Road Stadium Ever Get a Railway Station?
The traffic getting to Elland Road for the match between Leeds United and Ipswich Town was horrendous. But then the crowd was over 34,000!
You can see Elland Road stadium as you come into Leeds on the trains from London, and this Google Map shows the relation between the rail line and the stadium.
My friend actually parked her car alongside the rail line and we walked to the ground along Elland Road.
I took these pictures from where we parked.
Development is happening between the railway and the stadium including a new ice rink.
So will a new station be built on this line, if Leeds United won promotion to the Premier League?
This article in Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Plans For Three New Leeds Railway Stations Unveiled. It says that a new station at theWhite Rose Shopping Centre could be built.
This Google Map shows Elland Road Stadium and the White Rose Shopping Centre and the two rail lines in the area.
Note.
- The line through Cottingley station is the Huddersfield Line.
- Cottingley station is currently the nearest station to Elland Road Stadium.
- The Huddersfield Line passes alongside the White Rose Shopping Centre.
- The Huddersfield Line is not electrified.
After the traffic, I saw at the match, something needs to be done.
TransPennine Improvements
The Huddersfield Line will be improved to form part of a strategy for 125 mph trains across the Pennines.
The map from Wikipedia shows the lines between Leeds and Batley stations, that go through Cottingley.
Note.
- The White Rose Centre is probably near the closed Churwell station.
- The four kilometre long Morley Tunnel, which if it is in good condition could be reasonably easy to electrify.
- After Batley the route diverges and serves nemerous towns in the area like Bradford, Brighouse, Halifax and Huddersfield.
There is surely scope for a comprehensive and frquent service to the West of Leeds.
A Digitally-Signalled Trans-Pennine Route
The complexity of the routes around Leeds must be a nightmare to operate.
In this article on Rail Technology Magazine, which is entitled Grayling Commits £5m To Install Digital Signalling On TransPennine Route, the Transport Minister advocates the use of digital signalling to increase capacity and stability on the line.
Having waited at Leeds station to get a train to Guiseley, operation of the suburban routes in Leeds seems to be incredibly complicated and I suspect difficult for both passengers and the operators.
The Ordsall Chord will give Manchester a cross-city route, so could digital signalling open up an East-West route across Leeds and thread it through all the long distance services serving Leeds?
New stations at Apperley Bridge, Kirkstall Forge, Leeds-Bradford Airport, Thorpe Park and White Rose Shopping Centre would all fit this pattern and I believe digital signalling could be the key to making it work, with four trains per hour to each terminus.
More Suburban Electrification In Leeds
In some ways the most important stretch of electrification needed in Leeds would be the route from Neville Hill depot to York, as this would add the following.
- Ease movements of trains between York and the depot.
- Improve the performance of services between Liverpool and Newcastle via Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
- Allow electric services from Thorpe Park to destinations on the other side of the city.
There must be an exceedingly good reason, why this route has not been electrified.
Conclusion
Leeds could expand the Metro dramatically by doing the following.
- Running services through two through platforms in Leeds station.
- Building several new stations.
- Electrifying between Neville Hill depot and York.
- Using digital signalling.
- Obtaining some bi-mode trains. Even Class 769 trains would do the job.
The network of lines around Leeds could give Leeds a Metro of a very high standard, at a very affordable cost.
Merseyrail To Skelmersdale – Skelmersdale Station
In Merseyrail To Skelmersdale – How To Plan A New Rail-Link, I talked about a new Skelmersdale station.
From Kirkby, I took a taxi to look at the sites of Headbolt Lane and Skelmersdale stations.
These pictures were taken in and around the Concourse Shopping Centre at Skelmersdale.
The Shopping Centre has everything needed for a railway station, if one should be built nearby.
This Google Map shows the Concourse Shopping Centre.
As the rail line from the junction to the East of Rainford station comes in from the South, I’m sure that Merseyrail have a good place to put the station, so that passengers can walk into the Concourse Shopping Centre.
Passengers might even be able to use the existing bridge.
Merseyrail To Skelmersdale – Headbolt Lane Station
In Merseyrail To Skelmersdale – How To Plan A New Rail-Link, I talked about Headbolt Lane station.
From Kirkby, I took a taxi to look at the sites of Headbolt Lane and Skelmersdale stations.
These pictures were taken at the site of the proposed Headbolt Lane station.
Plans for the station talk about a single platform.
This Google Map shows the railway line, which runs alongside Headbolt Lane.
Note the footbridge in the bottom left corner of the map.
Merseyrail would seem to have a lot of space to put the station.
An Addenbrooke’s Train Station Has Got The Thumbs-Up From The Transport Secretary
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the Cambridge News.
These are my thoughts.
Location
Cambridge South station, if they follow the convention of the name of the newly-opened Cambridge North station, has the ideal location.
- It is South of the City of Cambridge in a similar position to how Cambridge North station is North of the City.
- The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway could be diverted to serve the station.
- Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus could be a short walk or a travelator ride away.
- Addenbrooke’s bus station could be moved to be adjacent to the new train station.
- Services between both Liverpool Street and Kings Cross stations and Cambridge would call.
- There is space for a large car park for both train passengers and hospital patients and visitors.
- In the future, trains on the East West Rail Link will be able to call.
The location would also allow trains or guided buses on a reopened Stour Valley Railway to call.
Trains
When Thameslink opens fully, it looks like the trains going through Cambridge South station could include.
- 1 tph – CrossCountry – Birmingham New Street to Stansted Airport.
- 1 tph – Greater Anglia – Norwich to Stansted Airport.
- 2 tph – Greater Anglia – Liverpool Street to Cambridge/Cambridge North/Ely
- 3 tph – Great Northern – Kings Cross to Cambridge/Cambridge North
- 1 tph – Great Northern – Kings Cross to Kings Lynn
- 2 tph – Thameslink – Brighton to Cambridge/Caambridge North
- 2 tph – Thameslink – Maidstone East to Cambridge/Caambridge North
Note tph is trains per hour.
This totals to twelve tph. And that’s only for starters.
- The East West Rail Link will surely add 2 tph to Oxford.
- All these services to Kings Cross and St. Pancras must surely hit Greater Anglia’s Liverpool Street services. Will this mean they use some of their massive fleet of new trains to provide extra services to Liverpool Street and Stansted.
It should also be noted that Greater Anglia serves the City, Stratford and connects to Crossrail, whereas Great Northern doesn’t!
The Stour Valley Railway
If Cambridge continues to be one of the most successful cities in the world, I can’t believe that the Stour Valley Railway won’t be reinstated as another route across East Anglia.
I discuss this proposal in detail in An Affordable Reinstatement Of The Stour Valley Railway.
I came to this conclusion.
Reinstatement of the Stour Valley Railway would be the ultimate modern railway for one of the world’s most high-tech cities.
I think it will be built at some time.
Cost
The usual suspects will complain about Cambridge South station being another station in a city near London, that already has two stations.
This is said about the cost of Cambridge North station in Wikipedia.
On 19 August 2015, Cambridge City Council approved Network Rail’s new plans for the station, which were not substantially different from the original plans put forward by Cambridgeshire County Council in 2013. Following Network Rail’s intervention, the cost of the station was revised upwards to £44 million.
When first proposed by Cambridgeshire County Council in around 2007, at the cost was £15 million, with a benefit-cost ratio of 3.09.
So much for Network Rail’s costing systems.
Incidentally, Kirkstall |Forge station in Leeds, which is a two-platform station on an electrified line with full step-free access cost £16 million. So as Cambridge South will probably have an extra platform and lots of parking, I would reckon £25 million would cover the cost of building the station.
To put this sum in context, two Cambridge companies have recently been sold.
- ARM Holdings was sold to Softbank Group for £23.4 billion.
- Worldpay was sold to Vantiv for £10.4 billion.
These two deals must have generated a lot of tax revenue.
Conclusion
A start on Cambridge South station should be made next week.
The Anonymous Widower 