Hackney On The Rise
BBC Radio 5 asks this morning about views on the economy. I sent them this text.
Three years ago, I retired to Dalston after a stroke stopped me driving. Every month the area gets better and a lot is down to the London Overground, which takes people to jobs, shopping and leisure activities. It shows how investment in transport can improve the lot for us all! Next year Tottenham gets the overground. We live in interesting times.
So has the Overground really improved things?
I first rode the Overground towards the Olympic Park in July 2010, before I moved here in December of that year. Since that first short run, the system has expanded. but gone are the dingy stationsa, dirty trains and lack of staff of the pre-Overground era. The Class 378 trains, started as three cars, but as they couldn’t handle the demand, they were lengthened to four cars and now they’re going to five. Have we ever built a railway, for which much-need extra capacity can be provided so easily?
But the capacity is needed, as more and more people use the line contributing to the affluence and well-being of the areas it serves, like Hackney.
You could call the Overground a rebranding exercise, but that would be unfair. Give a railway line, better clean stations, reliable frequent trains, visible staff and a simple ticketing system and the passengers will arrive. Visitors will also come and bring prosperity to an area.
London will use the Overground to run trains on the Lea Valley Lines to Tottenham, Enfield, Cheshunt and Chingford. North East London will surely be on the up.
One of the great things about the way the Overground is implemented, as effectively a rebuilt, resignalled and fully-staffed train line first with a deep clear of trains and stations and Oyster ticketing, means that the concept can be brought in, in affordable stages.
I suspect that the Lea Valley lines have a good enough line and signalling for a few years, so it’ll be the grotty and unstaffed stations, and the ticketing, that get the most attention at first. As new Cl;ass 378 trains are delivered, they can of course be run in combination with the ageing Class 315 trains on the lines at present, as their bigger brother, the Class 379 does already. Dripping new trains in surely gives passengers hope that something is happening to improve their dismal line.
With a grand project like Crossrail, you only see the improvement, when the line opens. With the Overground, the upgrade is continuous and now the London boroughs seem to be getting involved in the development of the stations, many of which are on prime sites.
I suspect that the way the Overground has been implemented could be applied to various train lines around the country. The Cambridge to Ipswich line, which I know well could benefit, especially if the main line was electrified for freight and the various councils got involved, to facilitate the development of the stations. Bury St. Edmunds station, is a classic, where a good architect could create a mixed housing and commercial development that did justice to the town.
I believe that if you get the railway right, then the investment and development around stations will follow.
Birdstrike On An Electric Locomotive
It would appear that whatever bird this Class 90 hit, didn’t have much of a chance.
Birdstrike On A Class 90
But then none of us would, if hit by 84.5 tonnes of electric locomotive.
Cats Will Be Cats
This story from the Metro on Tyneside is a good one.
East Tilbury Level Crossing
After hearing about this level crossing a couple of weeks ago, I just had to visit.
East Tilbury may be loved by some, but it was all I had expected. I didn’t get a demonstration about how it is a real problem for emergency vehicles, but that was probably just as well.
Work Starts On A Bigger Overground
I found this article about work at Clapham Junction station to prepare for longer trains on the London Overground at the end of 2014.
You don’t hear or read many complaints about London’s newest railway, from passengers or even moans from staff. In many ways this is a tribute to the engineers and architects, who’ve turned a very shabby almost-derelict railway into a superstar.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from how Transport for London has created the Overground, that should be applied to transport projects throughout the world.
In some ways , the stars of the line are the Class 378 trains. You rarely hear of train failures and the interiors still seem pristine after nearly four years of service. And now, because of their design, they’re being extended by the simple addition of a fifth carriage in the middle.
And of course they were all designed and built in Derby!
Gradually, the stations are being improved and in a few years, some of the grubbier will be up to the standard of the best.
On a personal note, as well as giving me a lot of transport options, in common with many others who live along the line, the Overground has probably contributed to the rise in the value of my house.
Engineers Will Be Engineers
Coming back from Ipswich last night, as the train sped through Stratford, I was reminded of a story from the time I worked for ICI at Welyn Garden City in the 1960s.
In those days staff travelled up to the major plant at Wilton on Teesside quite regularly. One of my tales is detailed here.
Usually, staff travelled from Stevenage, as the fast trains didn’t stop at Welwyn Garden City.
One day, the train staff announced on a trip down, that the train would not be stopping at Stevenage for some reason and passengers would have to alight at Kings Cross and get a train back.
There was quite an ICI contingent on the train, and one was a railway enthusiast, who knew the speeds and distances of the line.
He calculated that if the communication cord was pulled so many seconds after the train crossed the Digswell Viaduct, the train would coast safely into Welwyn Garden City station.
The plan worked perfectly and anybody who wanted to, disembarked safely at the station.
British Railways were not amused!
A Day Of Lots Of Misses And Rain
Yesterday was one of those days. I went to Portman Road to see Ipswich play Charlton.
I got there on time, but only just, as the journey to Liverpool Street was a succession of misses, buses and Underground trains. I had to skip lunch, as my usual pit-stop at Carluccio’s at Spitalfields was closed for New Year’s Day. The alternative of sandwiches from Marks and Spencer was also not on, as they were closed.
No Sandwiches
Luckily, I was able to get a couple of EatNakd bars from Boots, although after I’d bought them, I found that the Camden Food company had a bigger selection.
I was soaked, by the time I got to my seat and the rain was so bad, they’d had to move some spectators to a drier part of the stadium.
To say the match was ruined by the rain, would be an understatement. That makes it three out of the last four matches that I’ve seen, have been ruined by the weather.
To add to the misses, David McGoldrick missed a penalty, so the match was only drawn.
Coming back, I wasn’t as fast as normal to the station and as the match finished late, I missed the train and had to wait for forty minutes in the cold.
And then coming back from Liverpool Street, I decided to take the dry route to Barbican station to get a 56 bus. And as i walked to the stop, the bus I wanted roared past. So I had to take a 153 and then a 38!
It was not the best of days! It probably summed up my miserable Christmas. But speaking to others at the match, mine seemed to have just about this year’s norm. Next year, I won’t be here!
Beefing Up The Wires
The overhead lines on the East Coast Main have a reputation for not being of the most robust design.
So it was pleasing to see that they have been upgraded at Peterborough.
Old And New Overhead Wires
The new overhead lines at Eccles are to a similar robust design.
So are we going to see less disruption from wind, trains or vandals pulling the wires down?
To Peterborough In An Inter City 125
My paternal grandmother was born in Peterborough and as it was a wet day, I thought that it might be a good place to go to the city for lunch and to take a look at the rebuilt station.
So I boarded one of East Coast’s Inter City 125s at Kings Cross.
The train certainly doesn’t betray its age, even if it’s probably been refurbished a few times since it was built in the late 1970s.
But then after travelling by train in many of the countries of Europe recently, I would rate it, one of the most comfortable Second Class rides in Europe. If not the most comfortable!
When they write the definitive history of the first three hundred years of trains in the United Kingdom, these trains will be the only class running today, that will get their own chapter. But then the author of the book, will be able to sample a ride in one of these trains, as they will defy the odds and outlive everything else.
TfL’s Big Problem For 2015
look at this map for the London Overground.
TfL’s Big Problem For 2015
When the Lea Valley Lines come under the control of TfL in 2015, it’s going to give them a terrible problem about how they incorporate them into the maps.
But that’s only the start, as Crossrail will appear in 2018. But that has already shown on a map.
The picture shows the short-lived Lego version at Kings Cross station, this summer.
they’ve also got the problem of what to call Crossrail, if they do change the name. there has been some talk of calling it the Queen Elizabeth line, by such as Boris Johnson. I suspect, it’ll be called Crossrail or something similar like Across or EastWest line, if Boris doesn’t get his way.
If we called it Across, then Crossrail 2 could be called the Diagnonal line!
Of all the wonderful feats I have performed, I think yesterday I performed the most wonderful. I produced unanimity among 15 men who were all quarrelling about that most ticklish subject — taste
I think Brunel would have loved this problem, judging by this quote from the engineer.
It’s not a problem, I would like to have to solve.
The Anonymous Widower 