The Anonymous Widower

Worcester Parkway Station Given The Green Light

According to this article in the Worcester News, Worcester Parkway station has been given the green light by the Government.

Clearing of the site will start this winter.

This is another station project to be given the go-ahead, since I wrote Government Focuses On New Stations And Trains. So it could  be that Chris Grayling has changed direction at the Department of Transport.

The Worcester News article gives more details of the station.

  • New Class 800 trains will go direct on the Cotswold Line to Oxford and Paddington.
  • Services between Gloucester and Birmingham will also stop.
  • The station is close to Junction 7 of the M5.
  • The station will have 500 parking spaces.

It should be noted that Worcester Foregate Street station is on a restricted site and has no parking and Worcester Shrub Hill station has only 121 spaces. I suspect that the two current stations don’t probably encourage mode shift from car to train by travellers.

The article says this about funding.

The majority of the budget for the scheme will be self-funded through station car park fees and access charges levied on the Train Operating Companies, along with £8.3 million from the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership through the Government’s Growth Deal.

Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership is very hopeful that the new station will be good for the local economy and employment.

It certainly looks like it will improve the journey of commuters and travellers from the Worcester area to Birmingham and London.

I also wonder, if once the station is built, there will be opportunities for the train companies to use trains more efficiently and add extra services to and from Worcester. Could some of these inefficiencies release valuable development land in the centre of Worcester?

Worcester Parkway is not a normal station project reliant on a lot of local and central government funding, but one with several different ways of raising the finance.

January 30, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

An Upbeat View Of Hackney Wick

Hackney Wick is the sort of area of London, where traditionally it has dumped things that most people don’t want to know about. Although, the area does have a thriving artistic and indistrial community, much of the latter has moved out.

But this article in Building Design and Construction, which is entitled 25 Million Pounds Devoted to Hackney Wick For Upgrades, paints a very different upbeat view of the area.

So where has the money for the work come from?

  • A million from Tower Hamlets Council.
  • A million from Hackney Council.

There is also a sizeable donation from the London Legacy Development Corporation.

But then an updated Hackney Wick station, will provide much better access to the Olympic Stadium and all the housing being built around the Olympic Park.

The article finished like this.

Through this, the infrastructure of this particular area of North London will be greatly improved, allowing for better property conditions, better employment opportunities and of course better transport conditions for its locals. Mister Jon Fox of Transport for London also put in a word in for the advancement of Hackney Wick Overground, which will improve the conditions of millions of people from all over the capital.

We need a lot more well-designed and much better stations to generate growth.

January 26, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Maghull North Station Gets Approval

This article in Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Green light given to Merseyrail’s new Maghull North station.

The following are points from the article about the new Maghull North station.

  • The new station forms a key part of the Sefton Council’s Local Plan.
  • The new station offers relief to Maghull station.
  • The new station will support development in the area.
  • The new station will have 156 car parking spaces.
  • The station has all the facilities passengers need.
  • The station design probably needs little work to the track and a few new signals.
  • Construction will start in August 2017, with opening expected in May 2018.
  • Visualisations show the station has two platforms outside the double-track, with lifts and stairs to both platforms.
  • The main station building is separate from the platforms and has level access to the footbridge.

The whole scheme is costing £13million.

I shall be looking forward to visiting the station, when it opens in sixteen months.

Thoughts On Revenue And Costs

It is interesting to note that Maghull station handles about 1.8 million passengers a year, who probably spend about an average of three pounds on a ticket, so the station could generate about £5million a year.

It is probably, a valid assumption to say that Maghull North station will generate a couple of million pounds a year in revenue.

But as it towards the end of the line and as the only station to the North with substantial traffic is Ormskirk, I suspect that the current four trains per hour service will handle the extra passengers from Maghull North station.

So after a quick look, I feel that Maghull North station could be paid for by the extra passengers and their revenue.

It should be born in mind, that a lot of things will and could happen to trains between Liverpool and Ormskirk.

  • From 2019, the line will see new Stadler trains, which will cut journey times and speed up station stops.
  • Trains may go from Liverpool to Skelmersdale via Ormskirk.
  • Trains may go direct from Liverpool to Preston, without a change at Ormskirk.
  • The Burscough Curves may be reinstated giving access from Ormskirk to Southport and Wigan.

All developments will generate passengers at both Maghull stations.

I hope the station design has left space to add more car parking.

Lessons For Other Station Proposals

I suspect for those, who took the decision to build Maghull North station, found it an easy decision to take.

  • The passenger demand is there.
  • The station can be built without a major blockade of the line.
  • New trains will be serving the station.
  • Related developments could increase the train frequency.

But most importantly, the station could be paid for from extra revenue.

How many other proposed stations fit these criteria?

January 24, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

A Look At New Station Projects

If as I wrote in Government Focuses On New Stations And Trains, the government is going to promote more stations, how are the various current station projects progressing?

This list of stations is not complete.

But I can make a few simple conclusions.

Some Regions Have More Stations In The Pipeline Than Others

There are probably several reasons for this.

  • Some regions like Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield have gone the light-rail route.
  • Some regions like East Anglia, East Midlands, Kent, Sussex and Teesside haven’t got their plans fully together.
  • Some regions like Bristol, London and Merseyside have got very detailed plans together.
  • Some regions like Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow have already got extensive heavy rail networks.

I think Merseyside is the interesting region.

  • Merseyrail is very much an independent franchise strongly controlled by the region.
  • It runs a frequent four trains per hour (tph) to most destinations.
  • It seems to be run very professionally.
  • It is proposing at least seven new stations.

In lots of areas, it appears that Merseyrail and London Overground are singing the same tune.

I have a feeling when other regions get their acts together, we’ll be seeing a lot more plans for new stations.

Several New Passenger Routes Are Being Created

In the list of stations, the same new routes arise.

  • Aberdeen Crossrail
  • Anglesey Central Railway
  • Borderlands Line
  • Bristol Metro (MetroWest)
  • Camp Hill Line
  • Canada Dock Branch
  • Coventry to Nuneaton Line
  • Devon Metro
  • East West Rail Link
  • Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway
  • Harrogate Line
  • Ivanoe Line
  • Leamside Line
  • Newcastle And Ashington Line
  • Ripley Branch Line
  • South Staffordshire Line
  • South Wales Metro

Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter and Merseyside have obviously been planning.

New Trains Stop At A Station Faster

The UK’s most frequent rail line is the Victoria Line, which is gearing up to a frequency of 36 tph or even more.

Crossrail and Thameslink will be running 24 tph through their central tunnels.

Trains like these and Bombardier’s new Aventras and Stadler’s new trains for Merseyrail will be optimised for fast stops.

  • Driver Only Operation
  • Wide doors and lobbies for easy access.
  • Optimum braking and acceleration.
  • Roll across step-free access for wheelchairs, buggies and large cases.
  • Automatic Train Operation as has been working on the Victoria Line since the 1960s

Trains like these will mean that new stations can be inserted on existing lines without degrading the service.

 

 

 

January 23, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 6 Comments

Never Underestimate Scousers With Ambition

I was looking up something at Liverpool University and came across the Liverpool Knowledge Quarter, which is a project to do what it says in the name.

One development is Paddington Village.

This is said.

Paddington Village is a £1bn flagship expansion site sitting at the eastern gateway to the city centre and has been earmarked as 1.8m sq ft of science, technology, education and health space.

In November 2016 a draft masterplan was published, outlining the plans for the site, which will be developed in three phases: Paddington Central, Paddington South and Paddington North, with phase one due to commence in the coming months.

At 30 acres, Paddington is a sizeable urban village, inspired by the sense of community you’d find in the likes of Greenwich Village in New York. Not only will it be a great place to live but a great place to work, discover and socialise, with state-of-the art workspace, labs, cafés, restaurants, shops, accommodation, a hotel and teaching, examination and events space.

The sites first two anchor tenants have already been announce and will see as new Northern Centre of Excellence for the Royal College of Physicians and a new 45,000 sq ft education and learning facilities and 262 residential bed spaces for Liverpool International College. There are also plans in place for a new train station, making this phase two of the Paddington Village development key to the new transport infrastructure for the area.

I also found some more about the Paddington Square station in other places.

This news item in the Liverpool Echo says or implies the following.

  • The new station would use some existing tunneling like the Edge Hill Spur.
  • The new station would connect to the City, Northern and Wirral Lines.
  • The new station would be close to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital.
  • The vision is to have in built in five years.

I talked about Merseyrail’s new trains in Thoughts On Merseyrail’s New Trains.

This Google Map shows the area.

liverpooluniversity

Note.

  • Lime Street station is at the West and Edge Hill station is in the East.
  • The lines into Lime Street are a dark scar between the two stations.
  • The Royal Liverpool Hospital is at the top of the map and I think the triangular site to the East will be Paddington Village with Paddington Square station.

Note that there are three abandoned freight tunnels leading from the Docks to Edge Hill station.

On which one will Paddington Square station be built?

I talked about Merseyrail’s new trains in Thoughts On Merseyrail’s New Trains.

This map from Wikipedia, shows the Loop Line under the Centre of Liverpool.

Liverpool Loop Line

Liverpool Loop Line

Could trains come in from the East and feed into this loop?

At present 12 trains per hour (tph) come in from the Wirral Line  and after stopping at James Street, Moorfields, Lime Street, Central and James Street again, they go back under the Mersey to Birkenhead.

So could trains from Edge Hill join the loop and go through Lime Street, Central and Morrfield stations before going back to Edge Hill?

If the loop was running under Automatic Train Operation (ATO) with the new Stadler trains, I suspect that the Loop could probably handle upwards of the current 12 tph. Perhaps even 24 tph, which could give.

  • 4 tph to Manchester via Warrington
  • 4 tph to Wigan
  • 4 tph to Chester via Runcorn and the Halton Curve.

Or whatever Merseyrail thought was the correct service.

Liverpool would have a unique underground railway.

It could be a superb urban railway, with services to the following destinations, from all stations in the Loop.

  • Chester
  • Ellesmere Port
  • Hunts Cross
  • Kirkby
  • Liverpool Airport
  • Manchester
  • Manchester Airport
  • New Brighton
  • Ormskirk
  • Preston
  • Rock Ferry
  • Southport
  • Warrington
  • Wigan
  • West Kirby
  • Wrexham

Passengers going between say Chester and Wigan would get off at Moorfields and wait for the next Wigan train.

These tunnels were only built in 1977 and the loop is due for updating in the first half of 2017, so at least the tunnellers will know where everything is buried.

One advantage is putting all the suburban services in the basement, is that this would release platforms for services to Glasgow, across the Pennines and for HS2.

It certainly seems to be a project that can be realised.

It is an ambitious project, but then who can forget four lads from Liverpool in the 1960s, who had ambition and just imagined?

January 7, 2017 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cambridge Thinks About More Stations

This article in the Cambridge News has a headline of Support for re-opening South Cambridgeshire railway station is gathering pace.

It talks mainly about the reopening of Fulbourn station between Newmarket and Cambridge.

This is said.

The Reopen Fulbourn Railway Station group is calling for the station to be reinstated as part of a drive to boost rail connectivity in the area.

Later in the article it says that the Council also wants to open a new station at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and reopen the closed station at Cherry Hinton.

A station at Addenbrooke’s Hospital is pencilled in for the East West Rail Link and the other two stations are on the Ipswich to Cambridge Line.

Wikipedia says this about a previous attempt to reopen the station at Cherry Hinton.

Reopening of the station was proposed by Cambridgeshire County Council in May 2013 as part of an infrastructure plan to deal with projected population growth up to 2050. A proposal to reopen the station had previously been made in 1996 but 70% of residents who responded to a Council questionnaire were against it; in any event, a new station was not considered viable at that time.

There are some cynical comments to the article as well.

But circumstances have changed since 1996.

  • Cambridgeshire County Council has more responsibility for this type of spending.
  • As I said in Will We Be Seeing More Railway Stations?, it looks like design, technology, new trains and costs are making it easier to make a good case for a new station.
  • Greater Anglia will be running new high-performance trains through Fulbourn and Cherry Hinton in a couple of years.
  • Network Rail are removing level crossings in East Anglia and there are several in the area, including one at the site of Cherry Hinton station.

The level crossings could be the clincher, as there is a lot of opposition in some places to their removal.

Would Network Rail duck the problems and leave everything as it is?

December 29, 2016 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment

A Hard Look At Crossrail 2

We’re nearly into 2017 and in the last year or so various projects have been suggested and events have happened, that could affect the need, design and use for Crossrail 2.

In alphabetical order, here they are.

Bakerloo Line Extension

It now looks like the Mayor is keen to get the Bakerloo Line Extension started, so it can be completed earlier in 2029.

This will be a tube-size extension and if it goes as quietly as the Northern Line Extension, I can’t see its construction causing much disruption.

Note these points about the Bakerloo Line with its Extension.

  • It will be a feeder line into Waterloo station,
  • The line has no connection to Crossrail 2
  • The line will have interchange with Thameslink at Elephant and Castle station, which is scheduled for upgrading.
  • The line will have a useful cross-platform interchange with the Victoria Line at Oxford Circus station.
  • The line will have an interchange with the East London Line at New Cross Gate station.
  • The line connects to four main line termini; Charing Cross, Marylebone, Paddington and Waterloo.

Because it connects to so many other lines and doesn’t connect to Crossrail 2, I feel that this project should be done before Crossrail 2.

Battersea Power Station Station

To be expanded!

Brexit

Who knows what effect this will have on Crossrail 2?

Cannon Street, Charing Cross, London Bridge and Waterloo East Stations

London Bridge station  will become effectively four stations after rebuilding is finished.

  • Platforms 1 to 3 will be a three-platform through station for trains to and from Cannon Street station.
  • Platforms 4 and 5 will be an island platform through station for Thameslink.
  • Platforms 6 to 9 will be a four-platform through station for trains to and from Charing Cross station.
  • Platforms 10 to 15 will become a six-platform terminal station.

Note.

  1. Exchange between any two sets of services is step-free and by escalator or lift.
  2. Platforms 4-5 are the only island platform on Thameslink’s central core.
  3. London Bridge will become London’s most usable large station and expose St. Pancras for the fraud that it is.

London Bridge is already changing my travel patterns.

  • When coming back from South of London, I always use the station and get a 141 bus from the forecourt.
  • When returning from Waterloo, I often walk to Waterloo East station and get a train across to London Bridge..
  • Charing Cross station is difficult to access from North and East London, so I now can easily access Charing Cross services from London Bridge.

The proof of the pudding is true for me with London Bridge.

Once  the Thameslink Programme and the rebuilding of London Bridge station is finished, I believe that the improvements across the South Bank will be impressive and very convenient for passengers.

There is one project left to be defined and started.

The upgrading of the rather poor Waterloo East station should meet the following objectives.

  • Better information as to which platform to get the next train.
  • Better access from street level.
  • Faster access with perhaps a travelator from Waterloo station.
  • Better connections to the Underground.

Given the location of the station, it could be one that was redeveloped to provide commercial or residential properties with a new station underneath.

If it were updated to a modern standard, it would become a true Charing Cross South station.

Central Line Improvements

The Central Line could be considered to be Crossrail Zero and various plans exist to improve it.

The Central Line is in some ways the joker in the pack, so don’t be surprised at some of the projects that take place on this line.

Its biggest effect on Crossrail 2, is that because of it’s connections in North-East London, an improved Central Line, Liverpool Street station and Four-tracking of the West Anglia Main Line could absorb more traffic from North East to Central  and West London.

Chiltern Metro Creation

Wikipedia says this about a Chiltern Metro.

New Chiltern Metro Service that would operate 4+tph for Wembley Stadium, Sudbury & Harrow Road, Sudbury Hill Harrow, Northolt Park, South Ruislip and West Ruislip. This would require a reversing facility at West Ruislip, passing loops at Sudbury Hill Harrow, and a passing loop at Wembley Stadium (part of the old down fast line is in use as a central reversing siding, for stock movements and additionally for 8-car football shuttles to convey passengers to the stadium for events).[73] This ‘Chiltern Metro’ service was not programmed into the last round of franchising agreements.

When I wrote Could A Chiltern Metro Be Created? and came to the conclusion, that it might be possible, I got several positive responses.

With Chiltern getting access to Old Oak Common station in the future, this is the sort of project that Chiltern could develop themselves, if capacity was available.

This project wouldn’t connect to Crossrail 2, so I doubt its creation will have much affect on Crossrail 2.

It would certainly be a good fit wit the Bakerloo Line at Marylebone.

Clapham Junction Station

Clapham Junction station is a station that doesn’t make use of its full potential and I suspect that it will see considerable improvement before the late-2020s.

  • The Northern Line will be extended to Clapham Junction from Battersea Power station.
  • Crossrail 2 could be built to call at the station.
  • Reorganisation of the suburban services from Waterloo through Wimbledon could see a high-frequency 20 tph service calling at the station.
  • Could a similar reorgnaisation of services from Waterloo through Richmond create a high-frequency service on that route.
  • The Overground will be providing 6 tph from Dalston Junction from 2018.

I have not talked about the other main line services into Victoria.

  • It looks like suburban services into Waterloo can be grouped into high-frequency Waterloo-Richmond and Waterloo-Wimbledon Metros.
  • Could the services out of Victoria be grouped into a similar set of high-frequency Metros?

It does appear that suburban services between Victoria and Balham call at  Clapham Junction station as follows.

  • Platform 14 – Towards Victoria
  • Platform 15 – Towards Balham

As there would appear to be around 12 tph in both directions, could the capacity between Balham and Victoria be increased using ATO.

All this could result in a much more efficient station at Clapham Junction, with high-frequency suburban services and room for more  long-distance services.

Continental Connections At Ebbsfleet And Stratford positive comments

Millions of pounds were poured into creating the inadequate station at St. Pancras International.

  • There are not enough platforms for future Continental and Midland Main Line services.
  • Connection to the Underground and Thameslink are terrible.
  • St. Pancras is not on Crossrail, which was a truly awful design crime.
  • Passenger connections between the various lines at St. Pancras were designed by someone, who never used a train.

As the Heritage Taliban would forbid the demolishing of the station, we must find ways of making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Developing Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International, as flexible interchanges for the Continent might be a workable project, to squeeze a quart into the pint bottle that is St. Pancras.

  • Some Continental trains would all go to St. Pancras and stop selectively at Stratford and Ebbsfleet.
  • Low-cost Continental services would terminate at Ebbsfleet.
  • Train stabling could be simplified by creating more at Ebbsfleet.
  • Stratford Internation and Stratford stations need a high capacity link, that means you don’t have to walk through Eastfield.
  • Ebbsfleet and Stratford would have easy access to Crossrail.
  • Tottenham Court Road station would be about 25-30 minutes from Ebbsfleet, Gatwick and Heathrow.

Sorting out Continental services by avoiding St. Pancras could lower the need to improve services to St. Pancras by building Crossrail 2.

Crossrail Collateral Improvements

Crossrail will not only go East-West across London, but it will enable other improvements.

  • Undergroud Lines at Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street stations have already got better access.
  • Whitechapel station will be a major interchange.
  • The Bakerloo Line will get step-free access at Paddington station.
  • Access to the Nortern City Line at Moorgate station will be improved.
  • The Jubilee Line will become a loop of Crossrail between Straford and Bond Street via Canary Wharf, London Bridge and Waterloo.

The last two points will dramatically increase access to Waterloo station for its revamped suburban services, which are planned to become part of Crossrail 2.

Four-Tracking Of The West Anglia Main Line

If you travel to Cambridge or Stansted Airport in the Evening Peak, it is a nightmare.

Consider.

  • The West Anglia Main Line is a double-track main line.
  • It has a 100 mph maximum speed.
  • The signalling and electrification is generally good.
  • It has several busy level-crossings.
  • Most of the stations are not step-free and inadequate.
  • It has a decent Park-and-Ride station at Whittlesford Parkway, but needs more, including one with access to the Northern part of the M25.
  • An increasing amount of freight from London Gateway could need to use the line.
  • It has two London termini at Liverpool Street and Stratford, both of which will connect to Crossrail.
  • There is space to develop comprehensive interchange stations at Broxbourne, Bishops Stortford and Cambridge South (Addenbrooke’s)
  • In the next decade it will get improved connectivity to branches and East-West routes, like the Chingford, Stanstedand Hertford East branches, the East West Rail Link and improved and possible new lines from Cambridge.

All versions of Crossrail 2 and the improvement of Cambridge and Stansted Airport services, need the West Anglia Main Line to be of the following standard.

  • Four tracks.
  • At least 110 mph running between London and Bishops Stortford.
  • Elimination of level crossings.
  • New strategic stations.
  • Creation of the space for a Northern portal to Crossrail 2.

Project management also says, that this should be done before Crossrail 2, as otherwise the disruption to the West Anglia Main Line will be so high as to be a total nightmare.

Liverpool Street Station

The new Greater Anglia franchise has ordered £1.4billion on new trains.

Will Liverpool Street station be able to cope with all the increased services?

In An Idea For A New Station At Shoreditch High Street, I wrote about plans to create extra platforms North of the station in the area of Shoreditch High Street station.

It’s an idea, but also consider the following.

  • Crossrail will remove some local trains from the station.
  • Platforms at Liverpool Street station will be lengthened.
  • Overground services from the station will be getting new Class 710 trains.
  • The new trains should be able to turn round faster in the station.
  • Other Services might terminate at Stratford.

After Crossrail, the Overground and Greater Anglia have settled down, there will probably be some reorganisation at Liverpool Street station.

Perhaps extra platforms at Shoreditch High Street for Overground services from Liverpool Street station might be a good idea.

  • This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines around Shoreditch High Street station.
Lines Around Shoreditch High Street Station

Lines Around Shoreditch High Street Station

Consider.

  • The new platforms would be in the right place for the lines approaching from Bethnal Green and Hackney.
  • The new platforms could have extension development on top.
  • There would be good connection to the East London Line.
  • Up to four platforms could be released in Liverpool Street station.
  • What would connect all the knitting would be high-quality fast pedestrian links between the new platforms at Shoreditch, the main Liverpool Street station and Crossrail and the various Underground Lines.
  • As the Central Line is not deep underground, could it be opened up so all the terminal platforms at Shoreditch had their own escalators and lifts to the line?
  • Lea Valley services would gain their own well-connected dedicated terminal.
  • Cambridge and Stansted Airports could have the prime positions in the main Liverpool Street station.

Improving services up the Lea Valley, would fulfil some of the objectives of the North East leg of Crossrail 2.

Northern City Line Improvements

Use a station like Essex Road on the Northern City Line  and it’s like going back to the first few years of the Twentieth Century.

But the following improvements are scheduled.

  • New six-car Class 717 trains.
  • 12 tph all day with more in the Peak.
  • Some station improvements would also be welcome.
  • A well-designed interchange to Crossrail, the Underground and main line services out of Liverpool Street, enabled by a massive double-ended station  at Moorgate.
  • Will the operating procedures be modernised?

The line will also be renamed the Great Northern Metro.

It probably doesn’t affect Crossrail 2, but it will provide increased capacity from Hertfordshire into the City and Canary Wharf.

Northern Line Improvements

I may complain about some of the crap 1960s design on the Victoria Line, but many stations on the Northern Line have really been bodged together.

Would improving the line to the standard of the best of the other deep-level tube lines be a cost-effective way of creating a pair of modern North-South routes across London?

Once Camden Town station is rebuilt, Transport for London’s long term objective of splitting the Northern Line into two can be achieved.

  • Edgware to Battersea Power Station via Charing Cross and Waterloo
  • High Barnet to Morden via Bank

Probably the most difficult part, would be choosing understandable names.

The only effect on Crossrail 2, would be that once the Northern Line is split, it will become another feeder route for Waterloo.

Old Oak Common Station

If Old Oak Common station ever gets designed and built, it will enable interchange between a lot of lines.

  • Bakerloo Line
  • Central Line
  • Chiltern Line
  • Crossrail
  • HS2
  • North London Line
  • West Coast Main Line
  • West London Line

The station won’t directly affect Crossrail 2, but it could enable a lot of journeys to be done without it.

I also feel that Old Oak Common station should be built before Crossrail 2 because of its usefullness in avoiding Crossrail 2 territory.

Penge Stations

Various reportsincluding one from TfL have proposed an interchange between Penge East station on the Chatham Main Line with Penge West station on the East London Line.

This could create more capacity between Orpington and Highbury and Islington stations, without going through Victoria.

Piccadilly Line Improvements

I lived on the northern reaches of the Piccadilly Line for the first eighteen years of my life. Quite frankly the stations have changed little since the arrival of the unpainted aluminium 1956 Stock in  the late 1950s.

  • There are a lot of dingy stations.
  • There are very few step-free stations.
  • Some of the Central London stations have very narrow platforms.
  • Interchange with other lines often involves a lot of walking.
  • Compared to other lines, the trains seem slow.
  • The trains are still overcrowded.

Perhaps the biggest change to the line from that period, was the building of the  cross-platform interchange at Finsbury Park station with the Victoria Line, which improves access to Centra London.

But changes are happening.

  • The New Tube for London could be in service on the line by the mid-2020s.
  • The trains will run under ATO.
  • Train frequency will be improved from the current level of around 24 tph most of the week.
  • Crossrail could mean that less passengers use the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow.
  • Holborn station is scheduled for a rebuild.

Hopefully, the new trains will give the line a whole new persona.

Look at this map from carto.metro.free.fr of the lines through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square stations.

Piccadilly Circus And Leicester Square Stations

Piccadilly Circus And Leicester Square Stations

Note.

  1. These two stations desperately need better and step-free access.
  2. Piccadilly Circus was originally to be a Crossrail 2 station, but this has been dropped.
  3. Both stations have a large Art Deco ticket hall underneath major road junctions.
  4. Neither station has any surface buildings of architectural merit.

Could adding extra passageways, escalators and lifts to these two stations do the following?

  • Make both stations step-free.
  • Give step-free and fast easy access between the Bakerloo and Piccadilly Lines at Piccadilly Circus station.
  • Give step-free and fast easy access between the Northern and Piccadilly Lines at Leicester Square station.

This would give Piccadilly Line passengers easier access to the soon-to-be-extended Northern and Bakerloo Lines.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a radical solution in this area linking the important visitor destinations.

  • Covent Garden.
  • Leicester Square
  • Piccadilly Circus
  • Soho
  • Trafalgar Square

It might start with pedestrianising the entire area.

A Piccadilly Line with more capacity, a good interchange at Piccadilly Circus and a better ambience could be an alternative  route to Crossrail 2 for many of those it is designed to serve.

Thameslink Collateral Improvements

Very little has been said about the benefits of an improved Thameslink in Central London.

The features and improvements that could have far reaching affects are.

  • Finsbury Park and Elephant and Castle stations will be rebuilt or upgraded.
  • Will Camberwell station be built?
  • The link to the Piccadilly, Victoria and Northern City Lines at Finsbury Park station could get heavy use to avoid the long walks at St. Pancras.
  • Gatwick Airport has lots of ambitions for a new station to serve most of the South.
  • Thameslink will run initially at 24 tph, but will this limit be increased?

A lot of the plans aren’t finalised yet and it will be interesting to see what develops.

Vauxhall Station Improvements

I use the link at Vauxhall station, between the Victoria Line and Waterloo suburban services occasionally and every time I do, it seems to have been improved.

I suspect Network Rail and Transport for London have ideas to improve the interchange further.

Victoria Line Improvements

Dear Old Vicky – The Silver Queen of them all, who keeps on giving.

There is not much left to do with this line, but more capacity can be handled by doing the following.

  • Create a reversing loop at Brixton via a single platform station under Herne Hill station, which would improve frequency.
  • Create a double-ended station at Walthamstow Central to improve safe capacity and add lifts.
  • Further improve the interchange to services to and from Waterloo at Vauxhall station.
  • Improve stations like Tottenham Hale, Highbury and Islington and Oxford Circus.

As with the Central Line improvements, an improved Victoria Line could provide extra North-East to Central London capacity, prior to the building of Crossrail 2.

Victoria Station Improvements

Victoria station will be getting an upgraded Underground station in 2018.

Victoria is effectively two stations.

  • One for Southeastern services going down the Chatham Main Line.
  • One for Southern services going down the Brighton Main Line.

It is a crazy situation, with London’s most Westerly Southern terminal being the main terminal for the most Easterly services.

The Southern services via Clapham Junction, Balham and East Croydon are not too much of a problem, but the Southeastern services are designed more by the accident of history, than the needs of a modern railway and its passengers.

The typical 2015 off-peak service run by Southeastern is:

  • 4tph to Orpington via Herne Hill and Bromley South
  • 2tph to Dartford via Lewisham and Bexleyheath
  • 2tph to Dover Priory via Bromley South and Chatham
  • 1tph to Ashford International via Bromley South and Maidstone East
  • 1tph to Canterbury West via Bromley South and Maidstone East
  • 1tph to Ramsgate via Bromley South

All of these services have to be timetabled across South London and often cause bottlenecks and troubles at places like Herne Hill.

It has led to a suggestion of a tunnel from Battersea to Bromley under Brixton, that I wrote about in A Tunnel Under Brixton.

Waterloo And City Line Improvements

The Waterloo and City Line is not even a Cinderella Line, but one of her poor rats.

A new high-capacity step-free entrance in Walbrook Square at the Bank station end is opening in 2017.

This will mean that capacity is unbalanced. So could we see the following?

  • Larger capacity and step-free  entrance at the Waterloo end of the line.
  • Higher frequency and larger and more trains working the line.
  • Trains running automatically without drivers.
  • 24/7 operation.
  • The Night Drain, so that bankers can drink and gamble all night!

The upgrading of Bank and Waterloo stations for other services must have their own positive effects.

I believe that the Drain will be a very different animal in 2025.

It will act as a link line to all those suburban services going out of Waterloo. Perhaps an escalator connection between the suburban platforms at Waterloo and the Drain should be provided.

Waterloo Station Improvements

There are various improvements happening at Waterloo station.

  • The Eurostar platforms are being brought into use for suburban services.
  • This extra platform capacity will allow other platforms at Waterloo to be lengthened.
  • South West Trains are currently commissioning a fleet of 30 new Class 707 trains.
  • Improved services are being provided by Southeastern between Charing Cross and London Bridge stations via Waterloo East station, which are made possible by the Thameslink Program.

Whilst Waterloo is not a Crossrail 2 station, a fair proportion of its services via Wimbledon are planned to be transferred to the new line.

How will all the Waterloo developments affect this? I’ve no idea, but TfL could know after the end of 2017 and certainly will by the end of 2018.

Waterloo Station Suburban Services Proposed To Move To Crossrail 2

These suburban termini and their routes are due to be connected to Crossrail 2.

I have written An Analysis Of Waterloo Suburban Services Proposed To Move To Crossrail 2, which investigates the issues in detail.

I came to the following conclusion.

Crossrail 2’s proposals for the suburban branch lines from Waterloo to the four destinations of Chessington South, Epsom, Hampton Court and Shepperton stations, can be fulfilled using the following.

  • Modern high-performance 100 mph trains like Class 707 trains.
  • Some improvements to track and signals between Waterloo and Wimbledon stations.
  • Wimbledon station would only need minor modifications.
  • A measure of ATO between Waterloo and Wimbledon stations.

What effect will this have on the design of Crossrail 2?

Waterloo Station Links To The North,South and East

Waterloo station is well connected to the North,South and East, in the opposite directions to the lines to Vauxhall, Clapham Junction stations and all points South-West.

  • Bakerloo Line between Queen’s Park and Elephant and Castle stations
  • Charing Cross Branch of the Northern Line between Camden Town and Kennington stations
  • Jubilee Line between Baker Street and Stratford.stations.
  • Passengers using the Victoria Line to get to and from Waterloo, will use the cross-platform change at Oxford Circus.
  • Waterloo and City Line, to Bank station.

But it will be even better connected by 2029.

  • The Bakerloo Line will go between Queen’s Park and Lewisham stations.
  • The Northern Line could be split into two, with the branch through Waterloo, going between Edgeware and Battersea Power Station stations.
  • The Waterloo and City line will have new entrance in Walbrook Square.
  • Waterloo East station will have frequent connections between Charing Cross and London Bridge stations.
  • Possible improvements at stations like Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus could create excellent links to the Victoria and Piccadilly Lines.

Waterloo station will have superb connections.

I can’t see any reason why, two routes to the South-West branches of Crossrail 2 couldn’t be provided; one through the central tunnel and the other from Waterloo station.

Wimbledon Station

The current plan requires Wimbledon station to be seriously rebuilt and this is causing problems with the natives, which I can understand.

In the plan, twenty tph will come together at Raynes Park or Wimbledon stations and take the tunnel to the North.

But why do all trains have to go through the tunnel?

Some could start at Clapham Junction or Wimbedon stations.

I’m sure that a better plan for Wimbledon will arrive.

An Initial Conclusion

The more I write about rail projects in Central London, the more I’m convinced that a lot of the objectives of Crossrail 2 can be met in other ways.

As an example of my thinking, I believe that new faster Class 707 trains or something similar could double the frequency from 2 tph to the Crossrail 2 frequency of 4 tph on the suburban services out of Waterloo via Wimbledon.

This would mean.

  • Wimbledon station would not need substantial rebuilding.
  • 20 tph would use the slow lines between Waterloo and Wimbledon,
  • Trains would stop as required at Clapham Junction, Earlsfield and Vauxhall.
  • Waterloo to Wimbledon would probably need ATO like Crossrail or Thameslink, but handling 20 tph is not exceptional.

But surely, the biggest factor is that Waterloo to Wimbledon local services would have at least double the capacity.

A Conclusion About Automatic Train Operation

You could argue, that as a Control Engineer, I’m biased, but it seems to me, that if ATO were installed on the lines through Clapham Junction to Waterloo and Victoria capacity could be increased on the following suburban routes.

  • Waterloo to Wimbledon
  • Waterloo to Richmond
  • Victoria to Balham

Whether the Unions would agree to its introduction is another matter.

But then the automation would only need to be to Victoria line standard with driver monitoring.

A Virtual Crossrail 2

I am drawn to thinking that we could have a high-capacity link along generally the route of Crossrail 2, that could be upgraded in the future as circumstances dictate that more capacity is needed.

The existing West Anglia Main Line is congested and it needs to be four-tracked from Coppermill Junction to Broxbourne for several reasons.

  • To accomodate Crossrail 2
  • To handle more trains to Stansted Airport and Cambridge.
  • To handle more freight trains.
  • To increase line speed.

This project would be backed by Greater Anglia, Stanstad Airport, Cambridge and Transport for London.

If the lines out of Waterloo were upgraded, as I mentioned in the previously, there would then be the problem of creating the middle section of a Virtual Crossrail 2.

If an extension to Liverpool Street station were to be built as I indicated earlier to the North of the main line station beside Shoreditch High Street station, there could be at least three routes.

  • Crossrail to Bond Street and then the Jubilee Line.
  • East London Line to Canada Water and then the Jubilee Line.
  • Walk to the Waterloo and City Line.

Good design of the extra platforms might m,ake this work well!

Conversion From Virtual To Real Crossrail 2

The big problem is that those living close to the intermediate stations (Like me!), would not get a brand new railway.

This would need a tunnel to be bored from Tottenham Hale to Wimbledon, which could be delayed until it is really needed and the money can be raised.

There would be ways to cut the cost.

  • The line could be tunnel only and would not connect to surface railways.
  • There would be no station in Chelsea
  • An alternative Southern terminus for Crossrail 2 could be Clapham Junction, Balham or Tooting Broadway stations, but that would mean that Balham and/or Tooting didn’t get their station.
  • It could be created as a small-bore tube between Tottenham Hale and Wimbledon.

Consider the services to the possible Southern termini, if lines through Clapham Junction were to be upgraded with ATO.

  • Wimbledon could be getting 20 tph from Waterloo and 2 tph from Thameslink
  • Balham currently gets 12 tph from Victoria and a few other services.
  • Tooting Broadway will just get the Northern Line.

So it is Tooting Broadway that is in the greatest need of extra services.

If extra services are needed at Wimbledon or Balham, the capacity could be on the existing lines signalled under ATO, which could certainly handle 24 tph.

So would it be logical to not pass through Tooting Broadway station, but use it as the Southern terminal?

Or could a loop tunnel from Clapham Junction go through the following stations?

  • Wandsworth Common
  • Balham
  • Streatham Common
  • Tooting
  • Tooting Broadway and/or St. George’s Hospital
  • Earlsfield

The tunnel is probably too long to be single-track with single-platform stations, like the Loop under Liverpool on the Wirral Line.

But fast trains and good design of track and stations, might just make an affordable Crossrail 2 serving both Balham and Tooting Broadway.

Who knows?

I don’t!

But I have seen some crazy ideas work on my travels around the railways of Europe and we must not put limits on what we think is possible.

Conclusion

I shall be surprised if Crossrail 2 is built before 2040, as various projects and ATO will create enough capacity to push the line futher into the future.

December 28, 2016 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The New Beam Park Station

Beam Park station is a new station that is to support a large housing development of the same name, which will be built on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, between Dagenham Dock and Rainham stations.

This map shows the development, with the station numbered at six.

Beam Park

Beam Park

The station is the Westernmost number on the Southern boundary of Beam Park.

  • It is possibly located where Kent Avenue crosses over the railway.
  • Note that some sources call it Beam Reach station.
  • With up to 5,000 new homes in the area, I would think that the station is needed.

I think it is interesting that London is getting two new stations; Barking Riverside and Beam Park, in the same area of London.

October 17, 2016 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Stations On The Chingford Branch Line

I have pulled this post out of What Might Have Been At Walthamstow And Woodford, as I want to have a series of linked posts that described the various ways that the Chingford Branch Line could be improved.

In the Future Developments section of the Wikipedia entry for the Chingford Branch, it is said that there may be a station at both Forest Road and Chingford Hatch, either side of Highams Park station.

This map shows the area.

Around Highams Park

Around Highams Park

The red arrow indicates Chingford Hatch, with the two stations shown being Highams Park in the middle and Wood Street at the bottom.

Chingford Hatch Station

This Google Map shows the location of Chingford Hatch between Highams Park and Chingford stations.

Chingford Hatch

Chingford Hatch

Chingford station is at the top and Highams Park station is st the bottom.

I suspect if the station is built, it will be somewhere near the roundabout. The railway is a short distance to the East.

As the railway appears to be on a bridge, it won’t be a simple station to build.

Forest Road Station

This Google Map shows the probable location of a new station on Forest Road in Walthamstow.

Forest Road Station

Forest Road Station

The station would probably be built where Forest Road crosses the railway line.

I suspect that if the station was built, it would be a simple affair with platforms on either side of the current line.

At present there is no more information on either station.

Walthamstow Village Station

This Google Map shows the up-and-coming area of Walthamstow Village.

Walthamstow Village

Walthamstow Village

The railway is in a deep cutting and I suspect despite what the locals might think a station wouldn’t be practical.

But I suspect, there would be space for a reversing siding, that could be used by trains reversing at Walthamstow Central station.

Conclusion

Both proposals look sound, but passenger statistics will define if new stations are built.

Related Posts

Improving The Chingford Branch Line

Could Electrification Be Removed From The Chingford Branch Line?

Could Reversing Sidings Be Used On The Chingford Branch Line?

Could The Hall Farm Curve Be Built Without Electrification?

Crossrail 2 And The Chingford Branch Line

Rumours Of Curves In Walthamstow

Will Walthamstow Central Station On The Victoria Line Be Expanded?

Wikipedia – Chingford Branch Line

 

September 7, 2016 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | 8 Comments

A Second New Stations Fund Is Launched

This article in the European Railway Review is entitled £20m fund for new railway stations across England and Wales.

The twenty million pounds is the second New Stations Fund, which provides up to seventy-five percent of the cost of a new or reopened station.

The first fund was used to help fund the following stations.

Note that all stations are on existing railway lines.

Incidentally, I use Lea Bridge station about three or four times a month, as I have a direct bus connection to the station to connect to trains along the Lea Valley.

Which stations in Wikipedia’s lkist of possible proposed stations, do I think will be funded by the next New Station Fund?

These are a few that I think could be possible.

Note.

  1. Bristol seems to have a lot of possibilities, but that is because they are creating MetroWest.
  2. I have rejected several schemes as they are rather large and I reckpon, there is a practical limit of a station costing say five million pounds.
  3. I have also rejected stations, where a whole line like the Camp Hill Line or the Wealden Line is proposed to be reopened.
  4. Leiston, Soham and Wisbech are additions of my own, based on my thoughts in Making Sense Of The New East Anglia Franchise.
  5. There are no new Welsh proposals outside South-East Wales, which got Pye Corner in the first New Stations Fund.

I suspect that now the fund has been announced, some good proposals will be put forward.

Out of interest, these are the numbers of new and reopened stations of the last few years.

  • 2013 – 1
  • 2014 – 3
  • 2015 – 12
  • 2016  – 4

I think that 2015 has the highest total, due to the reopening of the Borders Railway.

 

 

 

August 27, 2016 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

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