SBB To Sell Bitcoin
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in Global Rail News.
If you don’t know; SBB stands for Swiss Federal Railways.
It’s an interesting development to say the least!
Especially, when you read the last paragraph.
And you can’t buy SBB train tickets using your shiny new currency, it isn’t an accepted payment method by SBB.
I wonder how long it will be before, I can buy and use bitcoin on a UK rail station?
Exploring The Shepperton Branch Line
The Shepperton Branch Line could be incorporated into Crosssrail 2, so when I went to Fulwell station to look at the drainage works, I looked at the rest of the branch.
I’ve separated my thoughts into sections.
Fulwell Station
The pictures I took at Fulwell station, are shown separately in Fulwell Station And The Drainage Works.
It is very much a simple suburban station, but because it is next to Fulwell bus garage, it appears to be well served by buses.
Shepperton Station
Shepperton station wasn’t intended to be the terminus of the branch. Wikipedia talks of original plans crossing the Thames, to the East of Chertsey Bridge, but this plan was abandoned in 1862.
Looking at maps, there wouldn’t be any space between the houses to extend the line, over a 150 years later.
Around Shepperton Station
The station is South of the well-marked Sunbury Golf Course.
It is in some ways, a curious mix.
- A long single platform.
- No toilets, coupled with none on the trains.
- Not a great deal of car parking.
- Services for the passengers are only minimal.
- Although only one train per hour runs on Sundays, the single line branch can handle more.
But it has a large modern station building.
I needed the toilet, so I went round the corner to a Costa and had a coffee and did my business.
Kempton Park Station
Kempton Park station is not one of the best on the line.
I would suspect that the racecourse would welcome this station being on Crossrail 2.
Crossrail 2
If Crossrail 2 comes to the Shepperton Branch Line, it will have effects on the line its stations and the surrounding area.
This document on the TfL web site is entitled Crossrail 2 factsheet: Services between Norbiton, Kingston and Shepperton, gives details.
This is said.
On the Shepperton branch up to 8 trains per hour, in each direction, would serve Norbiton, Kingston and Hampton Wick stations. 4 trains per hour, in each direction, would run west of Hampton Wick to Shepperton, calling at all stations.
The delivery of Crossrail 2 will be accompanied by station improvement work at a number of locations, including platform work and the installation of new lifts or ramps where there is currently no step-free access.
It is also proposed that a second platform at Shepperton station is provided.
Obviously, with up to eight trains an hour (8 tph) in each direction, there will need to be a second platform at Shepperton station.
This Google Map shows the station area in detail.
Shepperton Station
Note.
- The White-roofed building to the North-East of the station symbol, is the new station building.
- The station will get four tph of 1500-capacity Crossrail, with perhap 2 tph going to Waterloo in the Peak.
- A second platform could be a tight fit, but it is probably possible.
Some will argue, that Shepperton, doesn’t need this massive increase in capacity.
,There would appear to be few places on the Shepperton Branch to reverse the trains.
This Google Map shows.Teddington station.
Teddington Station
A rebuilt or remodelled Teddington station would be a serious possibility.
- The station has some space.
- A reversing siding or a bay platform could be squeezed in.
- The trains could also use a siding at Strawberry Hill Depot to reverse.
- Reversing 4 tph could probably be easily handled at Teddington.
The Wikipedia entry for Crossrail 2, says this.
Shared use of the Shepperton Branch Line with 6-8 train per hour to Teddington and 4 trains per hour to Shepperton.
So perhaps to Crossrail 2, using Teddington station is more than a possibility.
Crossrail 2’s biggest problem on this line is not the trains or stations, but the level crossing at New Malden, that I wrote about in A Very Bad Level Crossing Problem.
Linking Chiltern To Crossrail
In the November 2016 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an interview with Dave Penney of Chiltern Railways, as the company is opening their service to Oxford station on the twelve of December.
In Connecting To Crossrail, this is a summary of what is said or implied.
- Chiltern could get a couple of platforms at Old Oak Common station, sandwiched between the Crossrail platforms.
- Access to Northolt Junction is possible, to allow services to connect to the Chiltern Main Line using the Acton To Northolt Line.
- Marylebone is almost at capacity.
- Old Oak Common would give Chiltern a second London terminus and access to Crossrail.
- Two trains per hour (tph) could start from Old Oak Common.
- Aylesbury and High Wycombe could get access to Crossrail.
Chiltern would also get access to all the services calling at Old Oak Common.
I think it is an exciting concept.
Progress On The Cowley Branch
I first wrote about the Cowley Branch in Oxford Takes A Leaf Out Of Cambridge’s Book In November 2014.
Much of my post was based on this article on the BBC, which is entitled Cowley line passenger train service planned for Oxford.
So how is the planning of the branch progressing?
In the November 2016 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an interview with Dave Penney of Chiltern Railways, as the company is opening their service to Oxford station on the twelve of December.
In Science Park Next?, this is a paragraph.
Extending services from Marylebone through Oxford’s platform 3 to Kennington Junctionfor the Cowley Branch might be trouble; the problem is coming back, with Oxford Parkway-bound services having to cross the main lines on the flat at Kennington and into constrained line capacity on the route into Oxford station Extending the down goods loop into the station would help here, but that is some way down Network Rail’s list of priorities, so an Ocford Science Park service seems unlikely to happen anytime soon.
But help might be at hand, in that a new Oxford station might be built, which I wrote about in Could This Be A Ground-Breaking Idea In Station Design?
Surely, if a new station is built, current and possible future services will be taken into account, in the design.
I have no idea if the Cowley Branch will be opened to passenger trains.
I do think that there could be good reasons to create this service.
- Oxford Science Park, Oxford Business Park, Oxford United Stadium and the Mini Factory would gain a passenger rail link.
- Extending Along The Cowley Branch may make operation easier.
- It fits well with the East West Rail Link
- It would greatly increase Chiltern’s catchment area in Oxford.
But, I don’t think we’ll see any progress until planning and building of the new Oxford station has started.
This is Google Map shows the route of the Cowley Branch.
Kennington Junction is where the branch leaves the Oxford to Didcot Line and then curves across the South of the City to the Mini Factory, which is the massive set of light-coloured buildings in the North-East corner of the map.
The Oxford Science Park is indicated by the red arrow, with the stadium to its East.
Meet Coventry’s Battery Boffin Taking On Tesla
This is the title on an article in the Business section of The Sunday Times.
Read it, but if you can’t here’s a quick summary.
- Professor David Greenwood at the Warwick Manufacturing Group is developing a battery for Jaguar and Land Rover.
- Plans are afoot to build a massive battery factory in Coventry.
- Greenwood and his team are working to give the Nissan Leaf more range and a more affordable battery.
I don’t believe that the team in Coventry are the only group in the world with similar aims.
Note that in How Big Would The Batteries Need To Be On A Train For Regenerative Braking?, I reckoned that one battery from a Nissan Leaf could handle the regenerative braking energy of a four-car Class 710 train, running between Gospel Oak and Barking.
We are approaching the era of battery transportation at a fast pace.
ScotRail In Trouble
This article on Rail News is entitled Major improvement plan for struggling ScotRail. This is the first paragraph.
The ScotRail Alliance has unveiled a plan to improve performance, after managing director Phil Verster had described the task of upgrading the network while running trains day-to-day as like ‘performing open heart surgery while doing a marathon’.
After my troubles at the weekend on n Northern Rail with overcrowded trains around Blackburn, I wonder if a pattern is emerging.
Consider.
There is a lot of work going on in Scotland to electrify Glasgow to Edinburgh under the EGIP scheme.
There are delays to the electrification.
ScotRail will soon be receiving a a new fleet of Hitachi Class 385 trains.
There has been a union dispute.
Similar patterns are seen across the network, including in the following places.
- Manchester Area
- Northern England
- Southwards from London
- Thames Valley
- Valley Lines In Wales
I do wonder if the announcement of jam, milk and honey in a few years, prompts people to anticipate the new services and the passenger numbers grow, prior to the new services.
All this probably says, is that we should have a long term plan for the railways, which doesn’t get cut back, the next time government has a budget crisis.
Coal’s Economic Victims
Coal still claims victims, but these days, the biggest ones are economic and corporate.
In the United States, this article has been published on Bloomberg, with a title of Coal Slump Sends Mining Giant Peabody Energy Into Bankruptcy.
The article makes these points.
-
Biggest U.S. producer felled by cheap gas, China slowdown
-
Environmental costs could complicate miner’s reorganisation
How many US pensions have lost value because Peabody was considered a safe investment?
As fracked cheap gas is given as the reason for Peabody’s fall, don’t think that the US is swapping one dirty fuel for another!
- When you burn coal, which is virtually pure carbon with impurities, you create a lot of carbon dioxide and spread the impurities, which are sometimes quite noxious over a wide area.
- But natural gas is mainly methane, which is one carbon atom and four of hydrogen. So burning gas creates a lot of water, as well as less carbon.
I seem to remember that to get the same amount of heat energy from natural gas, as from a given quantity of coal, you only create about forty percent of the carbon dioxide.
This page on the US Energy Information Administration probably can lead you to the answer.
In the UK, there are two recent stories on Global Rail News.
Rail freight is going through a bit of a crisis in the UK, because we are burning much less coal in power stations.
As coal is moved to power stations by diesel-hauled trains in the UK, from open-cast sites and the ports, the burning of less coal in power stations is having a serious effect on rail freight companies.
At least, if any train drivers are made redundant, there are plenty of vacancies for drivers of passenger trains and I’ve yet to meet a freight train driver, you likes the dreaded Class 66 locomotives, with all their noise, vibration and smell, that generally pull coal trains.
But it’s not all bad news, as this article from the Railway Gazette, which is entitled Freightliner wagons use recycled coal hopper components, shows. This is said.
Freightliner has taken delivery of the first of 64 open wagons which are being built by Greenbrier Europe using bogies and brake components recovered from coal hoppers made redundant as a result of the decline in coal traffic.
Freightliner Heavy Haul needed a fleet of high capacity box wagons for a new contract to haul construction materials for Tarmac, and decided to investigate the possibility of using recycled parts from redundant Type HHA 102 tonne coal hoppers. With assistance from engineering consultancy SNC Lavalin, Freightliner and Greenbrier Europe identified that with some modifications the bogies and some of the braking equipment would be compatible with an existing design of Greenbrier box wagon.
To a small extent, the movement of aggregates around the country by rail instead of truck, is replacing the coal trains on the the railways.
Will The Chelmsford Avoiding Line Be Rebuilt?
I took this picture at Chelmsford station yesterday.
Note the wide space between the two tracks. This was for an avoiding line as detailed in Wikipedia.
There were originally three lines through the station: two platform lines and an avoiding line between them. An unusual signal box (being some five storeys high at the rear) on the London-bound platform controlled the station including, at the eastern end, a set of sidings that served the goods yard and Hoffman ball bearing factory. The signal box ceased to be used in 1994 but the structure has remained in situ since. The avoiding line has been removed and the sidings were reduced to serve only a mail sorting office and building materials yard.
Given that more and faster trains will be running through the station, could the avoiding line be reinstated?
- Faster trains could overtake trains, that were stopped in the station.
- It would probably make it easier for trains to terminate at Chelmsford, as they would block a platform.
- Modern slab track means that lines can be more precisely positioned.
- It might be possible for freight trains to use the avoiding line.
- Does Norwich-in-Ninety need the avoiding line?
I also suspect that it is probably about time, that the track was fully relaid.
Factors against reinstatement include.
- The modern trains arriving in a few years all have a higher cruising speed, so the need to overtake may be needed less.
- The modern trains will be able to perform a stop, reload and start at a station much quicker than the current stock.
- It is probably reasonable to assume that both fleets of trains; Flirts and Aventras, will have a similar performance and stop profile.
- A new station could be built at Beaulieu, which is a few miles North of Chelmsford and might be a better terminus in the area.
- Trains could also overtake at Beaulieu.
In addition, does Chelmsford need all the disruption?
I think that for the near future, the modern trains and Beaulieu station may be sufficient to allow Norwich-in-Ninety and Ipswich-in-Sixty to be fully implimented.
But long term, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new Chelmsford station built at the site.
Will c2c Push For Access To Stratford And Liverpool Street?
On Sunday in An Excursion To Shoeburyness, I indicated how instead of coming back the way I came via West Ham, I got off at Stratford and did some shopping at Eastfield.
But would c2c like to serve Stratford and Liverpool Street more?
The Current Weekend Service From Shoeburyness To Stratford And Liverpool Street
Currently two trains per hour (tph) run from Shoeburyness to Stratford and Liverpool Street at weekends, when there is no conflicting engineering work.
Incidentally, with my excursion, I think that I had to come back by c2c as the Great Eastern Main Line was closed for Crossrail work.
If nothing this engineering disruption shows the value of Southend being served by two independent rail lines.
The Stratford Effect
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the Shopping Centre at Stratford will have a porofound effect on the operation of c2c’s trains.
This page on the c2c web site is entitled Christmas shoppers get direct c2c trains to Stratford.
This is said.
c2c will run two trains an hour on both Saturdays and Sundays that divert to Liverpool Street instead of Fenchurch Street. These will provide direct access to the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre plus easy access to London’s West End. This is in addition to the two trains an hour that run to Chafford Hundred, for the Lakeside shopping centre, as part of c2c’s existing service.
I think the news item dates from 2014, but it does show a level of intent.
There is also this article in the Southend Echo, which is entitled Extra trains planned as West Ham’s stadium move puts added pressure on c2c network.
This is said.
TRAIN operator c2c are running extra and longer trains for fans travelling to West Ham matches at the club’s new stadium in Stratford.
This won’t be a problem for weekend matches, but what about matches on weekday evenings?
c2c’s spokesman went into more detail.
When asked about direct trains running from Southend to Stratford to make the journey as quick and simple as possible for fans, c2c said they already run direct trains to Stratford from Southend and Basildon,but not Grays, and there will be two trains per hour direct to Stratford most weekends – and two more trains per hour to West Ham.
From Grays, all four trains an hour go to West Ham.
For weeknight games and during weekend engineering work, all trains run to West Ham.
At present, the weekend trains between Shoeburyness and Stratford, satisfy the weekend sopping and football, but what about other events at the Olympic Park? The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is only going to get busier.
So are the current services really what c2c and its customers want and need?
Car parking is fairly comprehensive at the outer stations according to this page on the c2c web site.
It wasn’t very busy on the Sunday I took this picture at West Horndon station, but for encouraging weekend leisure trips, the availability of car parking must be an asset.
I would imagine that c2c are pushing the authorities for permission to run evening services into Liverpool Street via Stratford.
The Crossrail Effect
When you talk about any of London’s railways, this herd of elephants, with its 1,500 passenger capacity Class 345 trains, always bursts into the room.
For c2c trains to get to Stratford, they need to take the Gospel Oak to Barking Line (GOBlin) between Barking and Woodgrange Park, where they join the slow lines into London.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines around Woodgrange Park station.
As the GOBlin is currently being electrified and improved, I suspect that there will be no operational problems on the short stretch of shared line.
Will there be problems though, after Crossrail opens and there are increased frequencies of trains to and from London?
In the Peak, Crossrail will be running 16 tph to and from Shenfield, so as they are only running 8 tph in the Off Peak, I suspect that at weekends, there will be capacity for c2c’s 2 tph to Stratford.
It is interesting to look at Crossrail’s proposed Peak service on the Shenfield branch.
- 8 tph between Shenfield and Paddington
- 2 tph between Shenfield and Reading
- 2 tph between Shenfield and Maidenhead
- 4 tph between Gidea Park and Liverpool Street
This says to me, that there are probably paths in the timetable to squeeze 4 tph in the Off Peak into Liverpool Street, as the Gidea Park service is Peak-only.
Access To Liverpool Street
Liverppool Street station has two problems.
- There are not enough platforms – This is a difficult one to solve, although Crossrail might only need a single platform to handle the limited number of services not going through the core tunnel. London Overground regularly turns 4 tph in a single platform.
- The platforms are too short – This will be remedied once Crossrail trains are using the core tunnel.
I’m certain, that in a few years Liverpool Street in the Off Peak, will be able to handle 2 tph with a length of 12-cars for c2c.
It is interesting to note, that my train on Sunday was only eight-cars. Was this because of limitations at Liverpool Street?
Should c2c Stop At Woodgrange Park?
Currently, they don’t, but after the GOBlin is reopened would it be a good idea to create a step-free change to get to and from a lot of stations across North London.
The change at Barking between the two lines is not easy and the alternative is to improve it.
c2c Needs Access To Crossrail
c2c’s current route structure has no connection to Crossrail.
As an example to go from West Horndon to Heathrow Airport, you’d need to change twice.
- At West Ham onto the Jubilee Line.
- At Stratford onto Crossrail.
Neither change is a short walk, but both are step-free in busy stations.
If however, it’s a Saturday or Sunday, you could take a train to Stratford and I suspect when Crossrail opens, just wait on the same platform until a Heathrow train arrives.
It should be remembered, that c2c runs an all-Electrostar fleet and I suspect that these are Crossrail compatible with respect to platform height, so the change at Stratford would be easy with heavy cases, buggy or even a week-chair.
What Will The Future Hold?
From what I have written, it would certainly be possible for there to be two 12-car trains every hour in the Off Peak between Shoeburyness and Liverpool Street calling at Basildon, Upminster and Stratford.
But this would have limitations and possible problems.
- Passengers from stations like Grays would want the Crossrail connection too!
- If it is needed in the Off Peak, is it needed in the Peak?
- Would passengers changing at Stratford cause congestion?
There would also be the mother of all battles between the train companies involved, to make sure they kept market share.
My ideal world scenario would be something like.
- 4 tph all day go into Liverpool Street.
- 2 tph on both c2c routes through Basildon and Grays go into Liverpool Street.
- Chafford Hundred is served from Liverpool Street
- Ticketing is such, that Stratford to Southend can use either route and either Southend station.
- c2c trains to and from Liverpool Street, call at Woodgrange Park for the GOBlin.
My wish list may not be possible, but there is certainly tremendous scope for improvement.
We could even see, a station like Grays, Pitsea or Southend becoming a Crossrail terminus.
Who knows? I don’t!
An Excursion To Shoeburyness
After I saw the Class 387/3 trains for c2c at Crewe, I thought that if the weather was nice, I’d take a trip to Shoeburyness. So as the weather was good on Sunday, I bought an extension ticket for under a tenner and went.
It is very much a trip into deepest Essex.
A few points.
- As I changed trains at Whitechapel station, it looked like they’re starting to fit out the passageways.
- I was surprised to see lots of disused space on the District Line platforms between Barking and Upminster. I guess that was so they could run long trains all the way to Shoeburyness.
- There are quite a few level crossings on the line.
- The Shoeburyness Depot isn’t small.
- The track to Tilbury Riverside station is still visible.
- There appears to be electrification gantries on the single-track leading to Platform 1 at Barking station, which Gospel Oak to Barking trains have used as a terminus for years.
- I came back via Stratford to do some shopping at Eastfield.
Unlike many other rail companies and possibly because they are a smaller franchise, c2c doesn’t seem to have too many published plans and ambitions, other than to keep satisfying their customers.
But then there is very little of an expansionist nature that they could do!
- In future years, there may be a need for a station at London Gateway.
- Would housing and leisure developments around Tilbury Riverside, make it worthwhile reopening the station.
- Much of the infrastructure work will be minor improvements for safety or to gain a few seconds here and there.
- There could be a program of level crossing removal.
- A new station will probably be built at Beam Park, to support housing development.
But there is no major project, like some proposed by companies like Chiltern Railways.
The Anonymous Widower 