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Post by spsmiler on Jul 11, 2021 22:24:59 GMT
yes but what a time - just when far more people than usual will be travelling! As I understand it Chiltern Railways have also got a reduced service today, although this is affecting people from destinations on the route to Birmingham Snow Hill - and not from London. Chiltern services are deliberately reduced north of Banbury and via Amersham to allow for additional trains and stock to serve Wembley. Thanks Jack, the information I saw only talked about stations that would not be served, with warnings to passengers wanting to go to the football that they will not be able to get home ... instead they should drive to a different station. There was nothing about enhanced services to other stations.
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 11, 2021 21:01:58 GMT
yes but what a time - just when far more people than usual will be travelling!
As I understand it Chiltern Railways have also got a reduced service today, although this is affecting people from destinations on the route to Birmingham Snow Hill - and not from London.
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 10, 2021 10:27:54 GMT
With trial operations now underway, various details have now made their way into the public domain with the conformation of a 6 tph peak and 5 tph off-peak service on the NLE when it first opens rising to a 12 tph peak and 10 tph off-peak service after in 2022 (presumably after the Bank Branch blockade). Mill Hill East is also confirmed as getting the remainder of it's direct service restored. TFL Press Release hereDoes this mean that Battersea trains will go to Mill Hill East? Sort of a self-contained service?
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 10, 2021 10:06:41 GMT
Any other extensions planned? Perhaps more pertinent... has anyone found the magical money tree that will find all this? (I'm willing to throw 2/- or even as much as 2/6 into the begging bowl but can't fund it all by myself!)
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 5, 2021 9:32:09 GMT
Are any of these computer controlled systems any cheaper to run than a man in the signal box with levers, or the programme machine with relays? Are they cheaper to install? Are they more reliable or safer? ISTR when the Vic was opened reading that it required more ATOs than guards for one-man operation. The ARO's pay was higher than that of a guard. Axle counters in open sections are susceptible to "things on lien line" such as the local yobbos pressing them up and down to give false readings (several cases in Lincolnshire on the main line). Can computers deal with things a driver might have to contend with such as someone who chucks a load of barbed wire on the track that gets tangled round shoe gear? Remove dead animals stuck between juice rails and running rails causing a dead short on the 750volt side? Real life situations that I had to deal with as a BR driver. Absolutely issues that primarily apply to open air sections of railway. Things like fallen trees, supermarket trolleys and even bed mattresses could be added to that list. Then there are human trespassers. Perhaps full unattended automation should be reserved for tunnels and (perhaps) fully new-build services. Such as in cities like Lille France and Vancouver Canada. Maybe when they get their new trains the underground sections of the Central, Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines could be converted to full automation, but with staff at the front of the trains on surface sections? Of course it will be expensive - for instance: every station served by driverless trains would need platform doors (or half-height gates). This is something that has been done on the Paris Metro, so the concept is already known. Individual line characteristics and sheer practicality suggests that perhaps Southgate station would be excluded from automation? Of course, if our beloved decision makers are *that* keen for a London Underground line which includes surface sections of railway to be 'driverless' then I think more people would agree to it if it was a brand new Underground line where the surface sections could be designed from the outset to be suitable for fully automated trains. Although not on-topic for this thread I feel sure that there are paper crayonista plans for a brand new service that links Brent Cross with west London.
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 3, 2021 17:26:54 GMT
Trains from the Bayswater direction sometimes queue to enter Edgware Road, when this happens it would seem better if there was the option to reverse at the station before - Paddington - which for many passengers IS their destination. It would also reduce overcrowding caused by waiting passengers.
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 3, 2021 17:17:34 GMT
I read about this somewhere else.
It is disappointing to hear but it is not known whether it was an engine or a battery fire. Obviously not having been there at the time I do not know what actually happened and why ... but what I do know is that whilst both diesel and battery buses have been known to catch fire it is very rare and has not become a cause for any alarm. Certainly ever more battery buses are entering service on our streets, and this would not be happening if the various authorities thought that they pose a safety hazard.
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 2, 2021 16:58:25 GMT
Surely if the trains used end door cutout or if the end passenger doors were a little further in along the length of the train then more of the back of the train could be in the tunnel, allowing the cab to still be in the station when calling at stations.
I'm not sure which but either Merseyrail or the Tyne & Wear Metro are adopting the second of my options to allow longer trains to be used.
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Post by spsmiler on Jul 2, 2021 11:32:21 GMT
Not a possibility unique to axle counters either. I seem to recall an incident at King's Cross main line some years ago where the track circuit had at least 3 ends through pointwork and a rail was left out in error but the track circuit transmitter and receiver ends were still present and the missing rail went undetected until an alert train driver noticed it and stopped in time to prevent a derailment. wow, just wow ... oh the possibilities, even at low speed
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 28, 2021 22:06:31 GMT
Upminster and Barking drivers do not go beyond HSK. This goes back to C stock days. yes but why would they? ... as history states that this is Metropolitan territory! I suppose that this also means that in the days when the District operated some of the Circle line trains (on Sundays) these were not crewed by Upminster or Barking staff.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 28, 2021 22:03:16 GMT
I think 4tph is seen as the minimum needed to offer an easily understood 'turn up and go' service that does not benefit from checking train times on a timetable.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 28, 2021 21:54:20 GMT
A tweet showing the 4TC in action
btw, as a reply to that tweet I asked the question quoted below ... the reply was in the affirmative, which quite possibly is what we see occurring in the photo!
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 22, 2021 18:35:44 GMT
Which platform did it go into?
Platform 1 (next to the District line platform) or platform 7/8?
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 21, 2021 21:41:44 GMT
Brunel Line, etc, etc, still indentifies NONE of : train direction stopping pattern short workings Route codes B2, etc also do not. The 4 letter Paris RER system (after the line designations A B etc) do all of this. The North London Lines route codes did reference short running plus fast trains (headcode began with A) and non passenger workings (C). Also, trains between Broad Street and the Watford line that were routed via Primrose Hill had a different headcode to those that went via Hampstead Heath. In days past through trains from Broad Street went to Richmond, Watford Junction and Croxley Green, plus there were short workings to Willesden Junction, Harrow & Wealdstone and Bushey & Oxhey. So the service was much more variable than today with more through 'one seat' journey possibilities. Until circa 1952 the North London Lines electric trains also served a branch to Rickmansworth (in competition with the Metropolitan / Great Central [etc] Railways service). However, whilst Bakerloo line trains also sometime ran short workings they only served Watford Junction (not Croxley Green as a passenger destination) and did not carry headcodes. This thread here at DD includes all these codes and how they changed over the years (scroll down)... districtdavesforum.co.uk/thread/28099/class-501-set-numbersAs for stopping pattern, I recall using the local electric service into Liverpool Street in the rush hours in the 1980's when there were many trains that skip stopped stations (often several stations) and despite the often complex nature of the service pattern we all managed very well - even though the trains did not show route or stopping pattern headcodes.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 21, 2021 19:42:30 GMT
re: the Vivarail train carrying show visitors at Rail Live last week, I think this tweet will be of interest - external and internal views of the train in action (you may wish to look at the doors to accept that the inside really is a former D Stock train!)
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 20, 2021 12:23:05 GMT
As previously stated, the benefit of a diversion is in case of unforeseen issues affecting the ECTS that temporarily closes the line to all trains.
Faster acceleration combined with higher speed capability are useful when trains are running late, even if not used as a part of the daily timetable. Whilst the closely spaced stations mean that the benefits will not be significant if only applied to the tunnelled route but if part of a route / system-wide speed uplift then (to parody an advertising slogan) 'every little bit helps'!
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 20, 2021 11:15:01 GMT
I did not realise there were any through trains to Ongar, always thought it was a branch service. I have only once saw a 62 stock show Ongar at Snaresbrook, however I do not think it went there and may be set wrong. I think that in the days when the service only operated at rush hours there were regular start / end of peak hour service journeys that ran as far as Loughton.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 20, 2021 10:57:15 GMT
The present-day trains are not designed for route codes, such as B2 (Broad Street - Watford via Primrose Hill) so line names would be the easiest to implement.
The use of compass points (north south east west) would be best excluded from route names - not just to avoid complications (eg: where southbound East London line and eastbound North London line trains serve the same station) but to mask the reality that the South London line as a route name has been euthanised and West London line subsumed in to the North London line.
Brunel line and Hampstead line are perhaps suitable (confusion free) alternatives? As with the Underground it is possible to have a line which has several branches that serve different destinations. (Confusion is unlikely because very few people will know that there was once a different Hampstead line).
Goblin is already well known.
Euston Watford is already often called 'Watford line' so for simplicity this should be used.
Romford Upminster is so short and so far removed (physically) that it does not require renaming, but if one wants to treat all lines equally than it could be named Emerson line!
West Anglia services could perhaps either be named something like Hackney line (all trains serve Hackney Downs station and it would perhaps delight local people to have their area recognised in this way) or named after their remote destinations (Enfield, Chingford, etc). The downside of this latter option is that it would then require differentiation on already crowded maps, although it would make it easier to show that Chingford trains do not serve all stations. That said, Underground maps have never normally shown that Metropolitan line trains often skip certain stations.
Pre-empting future likelihoods, and to avoid confusion with the Northern line, the Northern City service that is likely to become part of the Overground could be named after one of the stations it serves. Palace line (all trains serve Alexandra Palace station) would be a simple, easy to remember name. Ideally that name would have been used by the Stratford - Palace Gates service but as that is now in memorandum it remains 'available'.
ps: DLR needs line names too - a topic for elsewhere.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 14, 2021 20:32:37 GMT
Maybe before being unleashed on the main part of the Central line the test train should first work on the Woodford - Hainault service?
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 14, 2021 20:29:28 GMT
I've often wondered why this was not being done - for many reasons it makes such sense.
Thoughts turn to using a similar solution to reopen the GWR Brentford branch.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 14, 2021 20:21:05 GMT
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn always has its service suspended.. Dresden version too! Coming back to London, I wonder whether the very impressive works to lower the SSR during the rebuilding of Westminster station without actually closing the line for months on end saw the tracks being suspended 'very frequently' whilst workmen dug down inch by inch?
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 12, 2021 20:49:46 GMT
I was on a 9 car east side train yesterday - I was actually at Stratford waiting for a Hainault via Newbury Park Central line train when the 'next train' announcement said that a 9 car train was approaching. I made my way to the back of the train and noted how it remained outside the stations when the train stopped. I knew that Maryland was a really difficult (space constrained) location but was surprised that the platforms at Forest Gate and Manor Park stations have also not been extended. Ditto Seven Kings, although as I alighted at Ilford I did not get to see this station on this journey. Having looked at the track layout from the new part of the platform I still remain convinced that the bay platform track (for platform 5) could have been retained if there had been a desire to do it. I used to work for a maintenance company at Ilford and the other stations out to Brentwood. The platform 4 extension crossed the points for platform 5 which could only accommodate a 4 car train. thats not how I recall things - yes the points would have needed relocating (and the crossover to enable trains from the bay platform to reach the London-bound track) but the bay platform was plenty long enough to easily accommodate 8 car class 315 and 9 car class 306 trains - I know this from direct experience using this station since the 1980s. Ilford-Class306EMU-plt4-DMU-plt5The diesel train at platform 5 has 5 carriages! 315x2-306081-Ilford9 car class 306 train at platform 3 plus 8 car class 315 trains at platforms 4 and 5 btw, the timetable changes during a recession which saw the number of trains in the rush hours being reduced is also the cause of significant overcrowding on the route (once passenger numbers increased again) which only ceased because of the covid situation
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 10, 2021 23:35:24 GMT
Yes but HMRC benefit via a so-called back door when railways are closed - people switch to driving and therefore motor fuel taxes increase. Electric cars will end that...
On the topic of matters financial, as we know TfL desperately need people travelling and paying fares, but what is nowadays known as the Delta variant is spreading and I wonder if we will soon see people thinking twice again about how they travel - I have already been told that I should cancel all my public transport travel plans and either stay at home or only use a car for travelling to locations that cannot be reached by walking.
This will be very bad news for all public transport operators, not just those here in London.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 10, 2021 23:15:30 GMT
I was on a 9 car east side train yesterday - I was actually at Stratford waiting for a Hainault via Newbury Park Central line train when the 'next train' announcement said that a 9 car train was approaching.
I made my way to the back of the train and noted how it remained outside the stations when the train stopped. I knew that Maryland was a really difficult (space constrained) location but was surprised that the platforms at Forest Gate and Manor Park stations have also not been extended. Ditto Seven Kings, although as I alighted at Ilford I did not get to see this station on this journey.
Having looked at the track layout from the new part of the platform I still remain convinced that the bay platform track (for platform 5) could have been retained if there had been a desire to do it.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 10, 2021 22:57:15 GMT
Glad to say that Ilford station entrance has now reopened Which entrance? It cannot be the main one on Cranbrook Road as that one is nowhere near ready to open.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 10, 2021 22:52:35 GMT
Maybe the line speed could be increased from the current 30mph? Excellent idea, although for historic reasons there are many good reasons for southbound trains from Old Street to Moorgate to be restricted to slowish speeds.
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 5, 2021 8:51:41 GMT
Alas, I doubt it will be possible for anyone here in the UK to visit Berlin in September this year 2021 but am more hopeful for next year 2022
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 5, 2021 0:03:54 GMT
Rush hours only, I assume?
Has TfL or LU said anything to the public (Twitter?) about this?
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Post by spsmiler on Jun 4, 2021 23:08:37 GMT
Thats the impression gained from this Twitter photograph!!
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Post by spsmiler on May 30, 2021 23:21:46 GMT
Its my understanding that whilst they are indeed running in Essen (even as 'ye olde traditional' street trams, for part of route U17) No.11, which was first used in Manchester and later carried HM The Queen as part of the official opening ceremony, has been scrapped. I am not sure why, it might be related to damage after a fire but I am not 100% sure.
As with the London B90 and B92's, the P86 / P89 units are scheduled for replacement. I do not know whether Essen intends to preserve any of them.
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