To And From Turf Moor
I took these pictures of the walk to Burnley’s ground; Turf Moor and the walk back by a route avoiding the dreadful pedestrian-unfriendly roundabout by the station.
Burnley is a town that needs a few more light-controlled crossings, as both walks involved lots of crossing of major roads, often with iron railings to get in your way.
Many clubs would organise a bus service on match days, especially as the climb back to the station is quite severe.
Burnley Manchester Road Station
Burnley Manchester Road station must be one of the most rudimentary stations, that serve a major town in England, as these pictures show.
But at least they would appear to be building a new station. It’s detailed here.
It is badly needed, as there is little shelter on the platforms, virtually no facilities and steep climbs up to the road above the station, that serves as a footbridge. You could argue that my old station at Dullingham is better, although the train service is probably less comprehensive.
The Bridge In Leeds Station
A few weeks ago, I visited Reading station and took pictures of the new overbridge there.
Today at Leeds I got a close look at the similar bridge over the tracks at Leeds station.
It is not so impressive as the bridge at Reading, but it is a few years older and probably built to a tighter budget. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more stations being built or rebuilt on similar lines.
Leeds shows one of the advantages of this design, in that on the bridge at the station, is a large coffee outlet, an information kiosk and plenty of seating. This seems to put them all where they are needed on the walking route for passengers changing trains. As the sides of the bridge are to a certain extent closed in with glass, it is much better place to wait for your train, than on the draughty platforms below.
If there is a problem, it is that there is possibly not enough escalators, although each platform does have a lift.
Good News For Thurrock
C occasionally used to make appearances in the County Court at Grays, which is part of Thurrock. She used to say it wasn’t the best part of Essex and I’ve heard people say there is only one near-World Class buildimg in the town, and that is the disused State cinema.
But today, it has been announced that the station at Stanford-le-Hope is getting a big makeover, courtesy of London Gateway. It’s all here in the Thurrock Gazette.
Is It Illegal To Sell Pens In Stations?
Yesterday, I dropped my pen on the way to Clapham Junction station.
So I thought, I’d buy one there!
But I couldn’t, despte trying about six of the many kiosks in the station.
I got no luck!
In fact, I don’t think I’ve managed to buy a nice standard-issue Bic biro in a station in perhaps the last ten years.
In the end, I bought two in a small general store in Bognor.
But that’s a long way to go for a pen!
I did ask the ticket collector on the train and he said he’d had to buy one himself before he started work. He certainly didn’t think that they were ever used for attacks on staff or other passengers.
I think the solution is to have pen dispensers on stations, where say for a pound or two, you can get a suitable pen. All profits could go to a charity like Railway Children.
Lea Bridge Station May Be Reopened
Tucked away in the May 2013 edition of Modern Railways, is a statement that Lea Bridge station in Walthamstow may be reopened.
If they do reopen the station and the nearby Hall Farm Curve, this would link the Chingford branch directly to the Lea Valley Lines. Wikipedia says this about the project.
Transport for London ran a study on the feasibility of reopening the curve for 2016 that produced a result with a benefit-cost ratio ranging between 8:1 and 14:1 depending on the length of trains involved. In 2007, the Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy published by Network Rail suggested that construction of the curve could be possible by 2019 or later.
Designs for new services run using the curve have been suggested to reduce journey times between Walthamstow and Stratford or Tottenham Hale to 12 minutes from their current duration of 34 minutes and 43 minutes respectively.
It would appear that house prices in Walthamstow and Chingford should soon be on the rise, if the project goes ahead.
I believe that small projects like this can often give great benefit to passengers and the railways. This one is one of three that have just been proposed. The others are Ilkeston and Pye Corner. They all follow Cambridge Science Park station, which will start construction next year.
London’s Disliked And Loved Tube Stations
This report on the BBC web site talks about a survey of Londoners most disliked and loved Underground stations.
Bank came out as the most disliked and it is not one of my favourites. Having thought I’d cracked getting from the DLR to the 141 bus in an efficient way, this morning I found it was all change today and we had to use a lift, as another escalator was being replaced.
I suspect, it’ll be all right in the end! But when will that be?
The survey also ranks the most disliked stations as Bank, Acton Town, Oxford Circus, Aldgate East and Brixton. I’ve never been to Acton Town, but my five stations in this category with reasons would be
- Bank – It’s just a confusing maze.
- Green Park – So far to walk.
- Clapham North – Dangerous platforms
- Kings Cross – A massive labyrinth
- Euston – Tired and pokey!
The public’s most loved stations are Canary Wharf, Baker Street, London Bridge, Charing Cross and Victoria, which is a pretty nondescript bunch, except for the first. Baker Street isn’t very special except for the tiles, London Bridge is another maze, Charing Cross is rather dingy and Victoria at the moment is a building site.
I would make my list of five from these stations.
Canary Wharf – Just spectacular
Canning Town – Everything an interchange should be.
Farringdon – On completion of Crossrail and Thameslink, it could be the best.
Southgate – Charles Holden‘s masterpiece
Stratford – The Olympic hero!
A Chocolate Brownie At Pattiserie Valerie
Patisserie Valerie was one of C’s favourite places for coffee, although she didn’t usually have one of their cakes.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a cup of tea in their cafe at Kings Cross station with a friend.
Pattiserie Valerie At Kings Cross Station
As it is in a generous-sized china cup and I was in the station again getting tickets for a trip tomorrow, I decided to have another tea today. On asked if I’d like anything else, I said that I was gluten-free and that I didn’t think they had anything, But I was wrong, as the picture shows.
A Chocolate Brownie At Pattiserie Valerie
Although it was plastic wrapped, it was one of the best brownies I’ve ever tasted. Plastic wrapping is acceptable to preserve gluten-free status, when the cake is of this level of quality.
The large cup of tea and the brownie was reasonably priced at £4.60.
Kings Cross station and its neighbour St. Pancras are getting to be very far removed from the tired memories of British Rail’s curled sandwiches and dreadful coffee of the past.
i know it is the policy of Network Rail to take this good food route and they are to be congratulated on their approach.
Around Budapest Station
Budapest station is an old station, that was probably built in the grand manner.
Compared to say, a British station of similar importance, it didn’t seem so busy. Perhaps, rail travel isn’t as important in Hungary.
Dalston Junction Station Gets Free Wi-Fi
My local station now has free wi-fi.
Dalston Junction Station Gets Free Wi-Fi
Not that I had my tablet with me this morning!
The Anonymous Widower 