The Anonymous Widower

Sensible Station Opening Hours

I saw this notice at Kings Cross station yesterday.

Sensible Station Opening Hours

Sensible Station Opening Hours

Copenhagen please note!

June 26, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

Impressive Structures At Liege Station

In this home run from Stockholm, I didn’t see any good modern station architecture, until I got to Liege station.

Impressive Structures At Liege Station

Impressive Structures At Liege Station

So why can’t the Swedes, Danes and Germans, do what the Belgians obviously can?

June 21, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | 1 Comment

An Inclined Lift

In one of the stations I passed through on the Stockholm Metro, there was an inclined lift.

An Inclined Lift

An Inclined Lift

Both Crossrail and the London Underground are installing some in the near future.

Hiss incidentally means lift and is easily remembered, if like me, you need the occasional pick-me-up.

June 17, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment

A Multi-Currency Toilet

On my trip this morning I needed a pit-stop and as I had to surface at Green Park station to find of the maps, I used the excellent toilets there.

A Multi-Currency Toilet

A Multi-Currency Toilet

Note how the entrance gate sensibly accepts both pounds and euros. They’ve even put the instructions in a selection of languages.

A Multi-LingualToilet

A Multi-LingualToilet

We need to do more things like this, to make London as tourism-friendly as possible.

June 13, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | 2 Comments

Tiles At South Kensington Station

The tiles at South Kensington station seem to be being cleaned and repaired.

Tiles At South Kensington Station

Tiles At South Kensington Station

The station is one of those that needs serious refurbishment and various proposals have been made.

Considering the station’s important location, with respect to the museums and Albertopolis, upgrading can’t come too soon!

June 13, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

Crap Dangerous Staircases Of East London

I have taken some pictures of the staircases in various railway stations across East London.

There is no alternatives to any of these, as they are lift-free stations. So just imagine, how the elderly, those in wheel-chairs and those with buggies cope.

June 3, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 2 Comments

Crystal Palace Station Shines In The Rain

I thought yesterday, that I’d go to see the refurbished Crystal Palace station, then perhaps have a walk in the park and some lunch in the cafe.

But the truly horrendous weather had other ideas, so I took a few pictures and then came back.

We need  more sympathetic station refurbishments like this one.

May 25, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

Changing At New Cross Gate

Coming home, I didn’t go via Clapham Junction station, as the quickest train from Redhill went via New Cross Gate station, where I changed to the Overground.

It is not far to walk, but it is not step free and I had to walk up one tricky staircase and down another.  So this would not be a route from Dalston Junction to Gatwick with a heavy case.

May 7, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

A Visit To Dorking West Station

Dorking West station has a reputation, as one of the least busy stations on the UK network.  This was reported here on the BBC, which said it only had 16 passengers in 2011-12.

incidentally, I saw at least seven or eight passengers get off the train at Dorking West station.

The station was generally clean and tidy, although it is very short on facilities, with it would seem nothing convenient to the station, except for the scrapyard. Apparently, a few years ago, the latter caught fire and disrupted the trains, according to someone in Information at Redhill. I’ve since found this report on the BBC.

The Class 166 trains were in good condition too!

It was in some ways an interesting trip, to one of the least used parts of the rail network in the South East England.

Various things have been proposed to generate traffic from electrification, to use as a route from the Channel Tunnel to Reading for freight, but it is unlikely that much will be done.

May 7, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 2 Comments

The New Pedestrian Bridge At East Croydon Station

Going south from Clapham Junction station today to Redhill, staff at Clapham said it would be quicker to go via East Croydon station.

It would appear that Network Rail is creating another of their excellent pedestrian overbridges.

This one isn’t as spectacular as Reading or Leeds, but it does seem, that Network Rail have got a concept that can be applied easily in different ways at various stations.

I should hope they’re working on a standard system, that can be used on the many stations, that need better access.

May 7, 2013 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment