London Transport Thread

[10023]

Noise from Heathrow does not affect people in central London or Kensington & Chelsea. For those people, Heathrow is a much better alternative than any Thames estuary airport, and will continue to be.

My point about frequent fliers is that this is not a "one man, one vote" matter. The opinion of a person who flies 30 times per year counts for 30x as much as that of a person who only flies once a year. Essentially, I don't think there are 12 million people whose opinions are meaningful on this subject.

[Qubert]

This idea may seem somewhat off-center, but maybe the best solution is a second channel tunnel to funnel more Continential Europe traffic onto the train system and thus would free up more space at Heathrow for the ever growing African/Asian buisness.

Also, diverting some more flights to Birmingham or Bristol connected by HSR might do the trick. After all, whose to say in 40 or 50 years a Thames estuary airport won't become hemmed in by continued development?

[scalziand]

Finally caught up on some of the Route Masters episodes, up to #5 at any rate. Are there any plans to expand Victoria Coach Station, or open another Coach terminal?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Qubert

This idea may seem somewhat off-center, but maybe the best solution is a second channel tunnel to funnel more Continential Europe traffic onto the train system and thus would free up more space at Heathrow for the ever growing African/Asian buisness.

Also, diverting some more flights to Birmingham or Bristol connected by HSR might do the trick. After all, whose to say in 40 or 50 years a Thames estuary airport won't become hemmed in by continued development?

My impression is that almost anyone who wants to ride the train from London to Continental Europe is already doing so. The people who are flying are those heading to faraway destinations, where train travel is dramatically slower.

Frankfurt is about as far as I would expect a Londoner to travel by rail. Any further than that, and they're gonna fly.

[10023]

Business travelers also fly to destinations on the Continent, even Paris. And business travel is what makes the airline industry tick.

[nito]

Originally Posted by 10023

Noise from Heathrow does not affect people in central London or Kensington & Chelsea. For those people, Heathrow is a much better alternative than any Thames estuary airport, and will continue to be.

My point about frequent fliers is that this is not a "one man, one vote" matter. The opinion of a person who flies 30 times per year counts for 30x as much as that of a person who only flies once a year. Essentially, I don't think there are 12 million people whose opinions are meaningful on this subject.

The noise contours from the present operations at Heathrow (the lowest contour is 55 dBA, equivalent to a noisy office) extend into Westminster and Southwark, beyond Kensington & Chelsea. Expansion of Heathrow – more specifically the North/North West options – would intensify the noise pollution that affects Kensington & Chelsea and a whole host of other London Boroughs. Kensington & Chelsea is but one of thirty two London Boroughs (and the City of London), let alone the wider regional economy.

An airport should provide a universally high quality experience regardless of the end user; perhaps that is why the New York (and US) airports perform poorly relative to their London and international counterparts.

Originally Posted by Qubert

This idea may seem somewhat off-center, but maybe the best solution is a second channel tunnel to funnel more Continential Europe traffic onto the train system and thus would free up more space at Heathrow for the ever growing African/Asian buisness.

Also, diverting some more flights to Birmingham or Bristol connected by HSR might do the trick. After all, whose to say in 40 or 50 years a Thames estuary airport won't become hemmed in by continued development?

The present Channel Tunnel to my knowledge still has plenty of capacity, so a second tunnel is unlikely for at least two decades, if not more. You then run into the issue of network constraints on the UK and continental side.

There are areas of improvement on the way however; Eurostars’ new class 374 trains which should begin operating next year will offer a higher top speed compared to the present rolling stock (199mph v 186mph) and more seats (950 v 750). Other projects such as the LGV Picardie in France could shave twenty minutes off the London-Paris journey time.

Part of the HS2 project involves the construction of a connection to HS1 thereby allowing Manchester trains to be re-routed to the continent. There are however two issues; the first is that the UK isn’t part of Schengen which would require platform areas to be secure, as is the case at St Pancras. The second is time: high speed works well compared to short-to-medium haul flights, Manchester-Paris could work (especially with the LGV Picardie), but Manchester-Frankfurt would be pushing things.

One of the problems with Heathrow’s location is that it has poor outward connectivity to the rest of the UK; the result is numerous low-capacity flights from regional cities. The Thames Estuary airport would go some way to relieving this by incorporating superior local and national transport connections which would tie into HS1 & HS2.

Whilst it would be entirely plausible that the present designs for the Thames Estuary airport would be unsatisfactory in 50 years, it is being designed to cope with up to 180mppa which would be equivalent to the current traffic of O’Hare, LAX and JFK combined. As for further expansion options, unlike Heathrow it is bordered by water on two sides (the land could be reclaimed), contaminated heavy industrial land to the south, and agricultural land to the west which is unlikely to ever be developed with the exception of airport facilities.

Even with the electrification of the Great Western Main Line and the new intercity rolling stock, Bristol airport is a long distance from London, isn’t located on a rail line (unlike most airports in the UK) and is on the wrong side of Bristol. Birmingham airport is already connected to Central London by rail (via the West Coast Main Line), with the quickest off-peak journey time of 72mins and trains every 10 minutes. As part of HS2, it is proposed that a new station would be built in close proximity to the airport and present railway station (connected by people mover) which would have a journey time of 38minutes, less than the present journey time on the Stansted Express.

The big issue why these airports won’t take major slack away from Heathrow is that whilst international in their offering, they aren’t international aviation hubs, and thus not major consideration by the main alliances. Essentially Heathrow creates its own snowball effect, consolidating its strengths and the weaknesses of other airports.

Originally Posted by scalziand

Finally caught up on some of the Route Masters episodes, up to #5 at any rate. Are there any plans to expand Victoria Coach Station, or open another Coach terminal?

They are actually looking to close and redevelop the present site. One (and the most likely) replacement option is to relocate the site to Old Oak Common. OOC at the moment is a mix of industrial lands, of which a part is currently being used for constructing the concrete tunnel portions for Crossrail (the factory will then be replaced with the primary Crossrail depot).

It is envisioned in the longer term that as part of the HS2 project, OOC will be entirely redeveloped around the future mega-interchange of HS2, Crossrail, Great Western Main Line, and London Overground services housing thousands of people. It would thus make a lot of sense to construct a coach station here as the land is cheap and the potential onward transport connections far more extensive than is presently the case. The downside is that OOC isn’t in Central London and it will take at least a decade to develop.

For some reason, the final episode (six) of ‘The Route Masters’ has yet to be broadcast by the BBC, a final airing date has yet to be announced.

Originally Posted by ardecila

My impression is that almost anyone who wants to ride the train from London to Continental Europe is already doing so. The people who are flying are those heading to faraway destinations, where train travel is dramatically slower.

Frankfurt is about as far as I would expect a Londoner to travel by rail. Any further than that, and they're gonna fly.

Eurostar currently has around 90% market share of the London-Paris and London-Brussels routes. With the new higher capacity and faster rolling stock, Eurostar announced this weekend that they will be offering direct London-Amsterdam services from 2016 taking four hours (it currently takes five hours with a change at Brussels), which would be competitive with the airlines.

Deutsche Bahn is also looking to providing a direct London-Frankfurt service (and London-Amsterdam) in 2016, with journey times from London to Cologne of 4hrs and Frankfurt of 5hrs.

You are correct that the scope beyond these areas for market share attraction becomes more limited without extensive infrastructure upgrades. That said there could be scope for the leisure sector, as is the case already with Eurostar services to the Alps for skiing holidays.

[10023]

Originally Posted by nito

The noise contours from the present operations at Heathrow (the lowest contour is 55 dBA, equivalent to a noisy office) extend into Westminster and Southwark, beyond Kensington & Chelsea. Expansion of Heathrow – more specifically the North/North West options – would intensify the noise pollution that affects Kensington & Chelsea and a whole host of other London Boroughs. Kensington & Chelsea is but one of thirty two London Boroughs (and the City of London), let alone the wider regional economy.

If you can hear planes taking off and landing at Heathrow from Westminster and Southwark, then you have much, much better ears than I do. I live in Kensington and I don't think I've ever heard a plane on approach or taking off from Heathrow. Nor from my friends' places in Fulham, much closer to Heathrow.

The only legitimate noise concerns around Heathrow are in places like Hounslow, and the airport predates most of the residents. I have as little sympathy for them as I did for people living in Elk Grove Village and other suburbs near O'Hare Airport in Chicago when its expansion was debated.

[nito]

24 Hour Tube
Transport for London have announced that from 2015, the tube will commence 24hr operation on Friday and Saturday nights across the core sections of the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly & Victoria lines (139 station in total). This is all possible in part to overnight maintenance techniques borrowed from Hong Kong’s MTR and various system upgrades in recent years.

TfL have also announced the closure of all remaining ticket offices (97% of all journeys are made using Oyster), although all stations will retained a manned presence to provide assistance to travellers.


Image sourced from Transport for London: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/proj...mes/28868.aspx
Larger version: http://i2.minus.com/izWBerrYT1y0r.jpg

[Pretext]

^^

The 24 hour Tube service is very welcome news, roll on 2015

[M II A II R II K]

London leaps aboard electric bus revolution

Read More: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...bus-revolution

Two electric buses have hit the streets of London as part of a trial to see if the technology is suitable for shorter routes around the capital. The 12-metre single deck buses will service Victoria, Waterloo and London Bridge stations running on routes 507 and 521 from today until August 2016.

According to Chinese manufacturer BYD Auto, the zero-emission buses should reduce running costs by about three quarters compared to a diesel bus and can travel up to 250km (155 miles) on a single four or five hour charge - sufficient to operate for a full day without the need to recharge.

Six further electric buses are set to be introduced into the TfL fleet in early 2014, four of which were secured with funding from the Department of Transport's Green Bus Fund with a further two funded from Transport for London's technology demonstration budget.

And more zero emission buses may be forthcoming if London beats off competition from seven other European cities to win a partnership funding bid to trial a range of pure electric and hybrid vehicle technologies and charging techniques.

.....

[Swede]

^Nice! Electric buses will change cities to a degree many will find surprising. Less exhausts is the one thing I think most are expexting, but the smoother rides and the reduced noise will make for a big change as well.

/Stokcholm is getting a few plug-in hybrid buses next year. A couple are aldreay in use in Gothenburg and have shown some excellent resulsts.

[hughesnick312]

So to travel 155 miles the busses have to charge for five hours, that just won't work, a bus could only do a couple of routes and then has to charge up for five hours, just to do another couple of routes before charging up for another five hours, I don't see how that can work. They need to improve the range and reduce the battery charge time to make this viable, otherwise the companies would have to buy twice the number of busses just to keep the number of routes the same

[hughesnick312]

I think most cities are waiting until the technology is improved before committing to buying fleets of these electric buses, I hope London doesn't buy lots of these buses now, then in two or three years when the better ones are developed, having to replace these ones for the newer ones, we should just wait until actual viable electric buses are made before spending lots of money on something which will be redundant technology within a few years

[Swede]

Originally Posted by hughesnick312

So to travel 155 miles the busses have to charge for five hours, that just won't work, a bus could only do a couple of routes and then has to charge up for five hours, just to do another couple of routes before charging up for another five hours, I don't see how that can work. They need to improve the range and reduce the battery charge time to make this viable, otherwise the companies would have to buy twice the number of busses just to keep the number of routes the same

Did you read the article? These will be used on two specific routes chosen based on the limitations of the technology at this time. Also, they'll hardly be the only buses on those lines.

Originally Posted by hughesnick312

I think most cities are waiting until the technology is improved before committing to buying fleets of these electric buses, I hope London doesn't buy lots of these buses now, then in two or three years when the better ones are developed, having to replace these ones for the newer ones, we should just wait until actual viable electric buses are made before spending lots of money on something which will be redundant technology within a few years

Again, did you read the article? They're getting two (2) fully electric buses now. That's hardly replacing a significant chunk of the fleet. It is more like helping the development along by providing real-life testing, thus giving more experience to both TfL in the running of them and creating plenty of real-life experience for the designers to work with. For all the new buses for urban routes to be fully electric I think we'll have to wait upwards of 10 years. Plug-in hybrids will dominate for a while and will keep doing so for several more years for inter-city routes.

[hughesnick312]

LONDON OVERGROUND TO GET 25 NEW STATIONS

Twenty-five new stations will be built and added to the overground when two east London suburban rail services are incorporated into the transport for London network.

The services, which run through bethnal green and hackney, link Enfield town, chestnut and chingford to Liverpool street station. They will appear on the tube map as part of the overground from next year.

The latest extension will include stations for white hart lane, stoke newington, Stamford hill and London fields, all of which will link to Liverpool street via hackney downs.

The takeover of the suburban west anglia main line is part of tfl'a wider adoption of national rail lines serving London, revealed in its latest business plan.

Demand for London overground services has grown by 160 percent in the past five years, and when the east London section opened in 2010 overall demand quadrupled.

Mike Stubbs, tfl'a director log London overground, said:"in July 2013 the Secretary of State agreed to devolve some west anglia main line services to the mayor and we are working with the department of transport and abellio greater anglia to deliver a full transfer in 2015."

THERE ARE ALSO PLANS TO UPGRADE 23 OVERGROUND STATIONS BY 2016.

[M II A II R II K]

Since they're in the same fare zones and in service anyway it'll just be a switch in who runs those stations, and not necessarily amount to added service.

[nito]

At first, TfL will effectively inherit the present station decor and trains, but it wants to bring in new trains, and improve and update the standards at these stations which will typically (with the exception of the busier stations) lack a staff presence outside of the morning rush hour, ticket barriers or step-free access.

TfL are interested in acquiring these London rail lines because the present rail operator model is biased towards longer distance/intercity services which are more profitable; lines such as the Lea Valley lines (which the above article refers to) have subsequently been neglected with outdated operating stock and dilapidated stations. Another core reason for TfL's interest in these (and a whole range of other) lines is that it provides a more cost effective solution to remedy congestion on the tube & bus network, driven not only by London's rapidly growing population (circa 100,000+ per annum), but appetite for public transport. Many of these lines also happen to be at the heart of major redevelopment zones.

The present off-peak service on the lines into Liverpool Street are as follows:
- 2tph from Cheshunt (via Seven Sisters)
- 4tph from Enfield Town
- 4tph from Chingford


Source: National Rail: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/statio...ions/maps.aspx

The problem with increasing the number of services (into Liverpool Street) is the capacity constraints on the approach into Liverpool Street; around 20tph per London-bound track. A more likely outcome for capacity increase in the short-term will be that TfL opts for class 378 trains (as found on the Overground) as these have longitudinal seating, thus creating more standing room.

Upon the completion of Crossrail and at a later date Crossrail 2 (the line via Tottenham Hale will be its northern branch), there would be potential to increase the number of services into Liverpool Street. Another potential solution to increasing frequencies could be to add new services which would terminate at Stratford; the majority of the infrastructure is already in place to facilitate this, and it would be useful for commuting to Canary Wharf.

In the longer-term, it might not be too farfetched to envision the lines becoming the basis of a future Crossrail route if demand really takes off.

[M II A II R II K]

Bombardier wins Crossrail train contract

Read More: http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/t...-contract.html

Bombardier Transportation has beaten bids from Hitachi and CAF to be selected for the contract to supply and maintain trains and a depot for London's Crossrail project, the Department for Transport and Transport for London announced on January 6. With a capital value of £1bn, the 32-year contract is to be signed following the 10-day standstill period required by European procurement rules.

Bombardier's Derby plant will produce the 65 nine-car 25 kV 50 Hz electric multiple-units, branded Aventra by Bombardier and allocated Class 345 in the national numbering system. There is an option for a further 18 trainsets. Crossrail Ltd has previous said that 'a revolutionary new train design is not required', and it is seeking a fleet 'based upon technology already developed by the worldwide rolling stock market for deployment on other railways'.

The high capacity air-conditioned trainsets from Bombardier will be 200 m long and able to carry up to 1 500 passengers, with wide gangways and real-time travel information. There will be 'an emphasis on energy efficiency and use of intelligent on-train energy management systems', according to DfT. Dr Francis Paonessa, Managing Director of Bombardier Transportation UK, said winning the contract 'is a resounding endorsement of our proposed Bombardier Aventra train for Crossrail, which has proudly been designed and developed in the UK as an iconic and world-technology leading train for London'.

.....

[nito]

Crossrail
Crossrail has now reached the half-way mark and on course for its opening in 2018! Meanwhile it has also been announced (http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/arti...-of-milestones) that TBM work on Crossrail’s western tunnels (Royal Oak to Farrington) and London’s newest tunnel under the Thames (Plumstead to North Woolwich) is now complete; in total 70% of 42km of tunnelling is now complete.

Another random fact: one million tonnes of earth has been removed (http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/arti...london-tunnels) and is being used to create new wetlands in the Thames Estuary.


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...528434/sizes/l


Image sourced from Crossrail: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/arti...-halfway-point


Image sourced from Crossrail: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/arti...-of-milestones

Canary Wharf Station
Construction has commenced on the timber roof that will house a park and cafes. Source: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/arti...ssrail-station


Image taken by constructionchest on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/constru...335776/sizes/l

Pictures of various works in and around Custom House station (with new station building under construction on the opposite side of the road) and the approaches to the Connaught Tunnel

Image taken by unravelled: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unravel...161865/sizes/l


Image taken by unravelled: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unravel...969876/sizes/l


Image taken by unravelled: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unravel...527994/sizes/l


Image taken by unravelled: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unravel...142645/sizes/l

In other Crossrail news, twenty Roman skulls (http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/arti...verpool-street) were discovered whilst constructing a utility tunnel at Liverpool Street. More than 10,000 archaeology items have been discovered including coins, a 9,000 year old Mesolithic tool-making factory, remains from victims of the Black Death, gold and various pieces of pottery.


Image sourced from Crossrail: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/arti...verpool-street


Pudding Mill Lane
Due to the tunnel approaches of Crossrail into Stratford station, the DLR line (that runs adjacent to the Great Eastern Main Line) is being diverted. The present Pudding Mill Lane is also being rebuilt a few metres south of the present station which will be demolished to make way for the Crossrail tracks.


Image taken by unravelled on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unravel...277735/sizes/l


Image taken by Martin Deutsch on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teflon/12089426046/sizes/l


London Cycle Hire Scheme
Whilst Barclays will no longer be the sponsor of the scheme and there has been vocal pressure to improve safety for cyclists due to a rash of deaths (mostly due to lorries and hazardous junctions), the scheme has expanded again.

Covering 100 sq km, 2,000 new bikes, 150 new docking stations and 5,000 docking points, the bikes can now be found in Clapham Junction, Hammersmith, Fulham & Putney areas of west and south-west London. Further information: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/29170.aspx


Image sourced from Transport for London:


Zero Emission Electric Bus
Trials will commence on the 19th December on routes 507 (Waterloo Station to Victoria Station) and 521 (Waterloo Station to London Bridge Station) for London’s first all-electric buses. Further information: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/29229.aspx


Image taken by JLVPhotography: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jashenl...340513/sizes/l


London Bridge Redevelopment
As part of the ongoing Thameslink works, London Bridge is beginning to show noticeable signs of transformation. From left to right in the first image below, we can see the six present through platforms (which will increase to nine by the end of the project), and the emergence of the new terminating platforms (previously nine, but reduced to six). The red crane to the right indicates roughly where the new street-level concourse (refer to the third image) will be created under the platforms. Note as well that unlike the old platforms, the new platforms will be entirely under shelter.

The second picture shows the new viaduct that will be used by the new though trains to Charing Cross once the new through platforms have been constructed. In essence, the lines heading west of London Bridge will be grade separated for services to Charing Cross, Thameslink and Cannon Street allowing for higher frequencies and improved operation performance.


Image taken by potto at skyscrapercity.com: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...&postcount=575


Image taken by potto: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...postcount=1698


Image sourced from Network Rail: http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co...ation-unveiled


Great Eastern Main Line Upgrade
At the present moment it takes around 2hrs to travel from London Liverpool Street along the Great Eastern Main Line to its terminus in Norwich; a major regional city in the East of England. The Treasury and Network Rail have announced (http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/11/11/norwich-in-90/) that they are looking into upgrading sections of the GEML (including speed improvements and new track) to reduce journey times between London and Norwich by 25% to 1hr 30mins. Journey times from Ipswich to London which are currently over an hour and 10mins would be reduced to under an hour.


Image taken by mira66 on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/2180443...645639/sizes/l


King’s Cross Square
With the new ‘reverse waterfall’ western concourse open and the Olympics over, it was possible for Network Rail to take the final steps in the regeneration of King’s Cross station: the demolition of the dilapidated concourse built in the 1970’s. The removal of the old concourse allowed for the site to be opened up, providing better views of the historic 160 year old station frontage (as well as the adjacent majestic St Pancras station), and improved pedestrian flows around the station.


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...155123/sizes/l


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...154123/sizes/l


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...154453/sizes/l


[B]Level Crossing Closures/B]
Network Rail has closed 10% of level crossings in the last few years which has led to a risk reduction of 25% to trains, vehicle and pedestrian traffic. In the Anglia area alone, 90 crossings have been closed which should reduce the number of incidents involving railway infrastructure in the years ahead. Source: http://networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/...2010-1f9a.aspx


Twickenham Station Redevelopment
With England hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2015, Twickenham station (which is the primary station serving England’s national stadium of the same name) is to be upgraded to cope with increased traffic flows. The development will come in two phases, with step-free access, a new foot bridge and widened platforms being delivered by May 2015. After the World Cup, the station will undergo a second development which will see a new concourse developed.


Image sourced from Network Rail: http://networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/...-Cup-1fa9.aspx


Peckham Rye Redevelopment
Located a few kilometres south of central London, Peckham Rye is a station on the London Overground’s East London Line and other commuter services. In the last few years the station has like many other stations experienced major growth, with the number of passengers using the station doubling since 2006.

The station is also odd in that the rather grand grade II listed Victorian-era station building is hidden from the street by an unsightly development, furthermore the two sets of platforms are separated (due to the lines branching off to the east) with a large poorly utilised gap in-between. Network Rail is looking to smarten the area up with a £25mn project for new developments, restore the station, and open the station up to the surrounding area with a new square. A walk-through of the initial development plans is available here: http://peckhamryestation.com/2014/01...sign-proposal/


Image sourced from Network Rail: http://networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/...lopm-1f85.aspx


Image taken by diamond geezer: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/8241407677/sizes/l


Northampton Station
Located in-between London and Birmingham, Northampton is a middle-of-the-road town that is both in the catchment of Birmingham and London. The five platform station was rebuilt in the 1960’s and is on Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line; it was previously a major junction station for a variety of rural lines but these have since closed. There are around four trains an hour into London Euston, with an average journey time of around an hour.

The town has also experienced strong (10%, 18,000) population growth in the last decade, whilst the at-capacity station experienced passenger growth of 218,000 last year alone (equivalent to 1,000 new passengers using the station every year). To resolve this, Network Rail and the local authorities are building a new £20mn station adjacent to the present site, which is due to be completed later this year.


Image sourced from Northampton Station: http://www.northamptonstation.co.uk/.../photo-gallery


Image sourced from Northampton Station: http://www.northamptonstation.co.uk/.../photo-gallery


Image sourced from Northampton Station: http://www.northamptonstation.co.uk/.../photo-gallery


Tottenham Hale Redevelopment
Skyscrapercity forum member dimlys1994 has discovered renderings of the future re-built Tottenham Hale station in north-east London. Tottenham Hale is a major interchange on the Underground’s Victoria Line and West Anglia Main Line for people travelling to Stansted Airport, Cambridge and various other commuter towns up through Hertfordshire, Essex & Cambridgeshire. Tottenham Hale is also in a major growth area with plans for 20,100 homes and 15,000 earmarked for the surrounding area. A temporary ticket gateline has been constructed for the WAML platforms in preparation for works on the National Rail, Underground & bus station which should take eighteen months. Further information: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...ive/29243.aspx


Image sourced by dimlys1994 at skyscrapercity.com: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...postcount=3115


Image sourced by dimlys1994 at skyscrapercity.com: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...postcount=3115


Paddington Station
Works have finally finished on the new north-eastern entrance to Paddington station in Central London which included a new taxi rank (the old taxi rank is currently a construction site and future home for the Crossrail platform box) and a refurbishment of the Hammersmith & City line platforms. In addition a new office development was recently unveiled that would be built to the side of the new entrance. Further information: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...ive/29287.aspx


Images souced by dimlys1994 on skyscrapercity.com: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...postcount=3114


Images souced by dimlys1994 on skyscrapercity.com: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...postcount=3114


Images souced by dimlys1994 on skyscrapercity.com: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...postcount=3114


Victoria Station Expansion
The Underground station at London Victoria is one of the busiest on the network (82mn ppa) and often suffers from closures to stop dangerous overcrowding on the platform areas. To remedy this, the Underground station is undergoing a £0.5bn expansion, which includes a new north ticket hall (opening in 2016) with entrances, a doubling in size of the south ticket hall (opening in 2018), new escalators and relief passenger tunnels.


Image sourced from Tunnel Talk: http://www.tunneltalk.com/London-Mar...rade-award.php


Image sourced from TfL: http://beta.tfl.gov.uk/travel-inform...jects/victoria


Heathrow Terminal 2/East
Works continue at London’s newest terminal which will be the future home of all Star Alliance members at Heathrow, and is on course to open this summer. Once all Star Alliance members have relocated from T1 to T2, T1 will be demolished in 2016 to make way for a northern extension to T2 and enable eastern development of Heathrow into the ‘toast rack’ configuration to maximise upon the limited available space.


Image sourced from Heathrow Airport: http://www.heathrowairport.com/about...ing-terminal-2


Image sourced from Heathrow Airport: http://www.heathrowairport.com/about...ing-terminal-2


Image sourced from Heathrow Airport: http://www.heathrowairport.com/about...ing-terminal-2


Image sourced from Heathrow Airport: http://www.heathrowairport.com/about...ing-terminal-2


High Speed 2
Some further information on the benefits and scale of HS2 which will have a staggering impact on what is already one of the largest intercity rail markets in Europe. Operating at up to 400km/h, HS2 would reduce journey times from Central London to Birmingham, Manchester & Leeds to only 49, 68 and 83 minutes respectively. In addition to this, the line is expected to be the by far the busiest high-speed corridor in Europe with several trains an hour to multiple destinations. Upon the completion of Phase I, 12tph would depart from Euston, rising to 18tph when Phase II is complete.

Despite being far smaller in length than France’s TGV and Germany’s ICE networks, HS2 aims to have comparable passenger volumes; with approximately 380,000 passengers expected to use the line each day. To put the scale of the project into perspective, 148,000 journeys are expected to be made each day between London & Birmingham alone; that is higher than the entire Amtrak network.


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...027974/sizes/l


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...983856/sizes/l


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...028864/sizes/c


Image taken by Department for Transport: http://www.flickr.com/photos/transpo...029604/sizes/l


Western Rail Access to Heathrow (WRAtH)
Network Rail is developing proposals for a new rail link that would provide western rail access (via tunnel) to Heathrow airport. Whilst Heathrow is currently accessed by two rail routes; both approach from the east: the Piccadilly Line and a branch off the Great Western Main Line. Subsequently rail passengers heading (and vice versa) to Heathrow from Cardiff & Wales, Bristol, Bath, Reading and the South West would have to journey into Paddington and then back out again which is a cumbersome journey (although the Old Oak Common interchange would relieve a part of this journey).

WRAtH would permit GWML London-bound trains to be diverted to Heathrow (where they could either terminate or continue on to Paddington), as well as allow for Heathrow Express services to be extended westwards towards Slough and Reading. Journey times to and from Heathrow would be reduced by 53, 45 & 27 minutes respectively for Swansea, Cardiff & Reading. Slough and its giant trading estate (the largest single estate in Europe) would be only six minutes away. Heathrow Airport and the local authorities are very keen on this project because it would drastically reduce the number of potential car & coach journeys to the airport and deliver an economic stimulus to the area.

Fortunately as well, Heathrow Terminal 5 station beneath the terminal building was built with six platforms, two of which are unused, so there would be little need for expensive construction works below the airport terminal. Proposals are now being drawn up, with the expectation that the line would be constructed via a new 5km tunnel into Heathrow Terminal 5. Tunnelling could begin in 2018 with an opening planned for 2021. It should also be noted that a potential HS2 spur line would also call below/above such a station creating another major aviation & rail interchange.


Image sourced from Thames Valley Berkshire: http://thamesvalleyberkshire.co.uk/N...announced-4026


Thameslink – Rolling Stock
Siemens have unveiled a full-scale mock-up of the future class 700 series of trains which will run on the Thameslink route from Bedford to Brighton. In total, 1,140 carriages are to be delivered from 2016 onwards enabling a 24tph service in each direction through the Thameslink core. In total 60 trains of 8 carriages (162m) and 55 trains of 12 carriages (242m) will be constructed, with new depots at Hornsey (north London) and Three Bridges (on the Brighton Main Line).

Due to the frequency and distance of some journeys involved for Thameslink, the trains will be hybrid in design; incorporating aspects from metro trains (for shorter-distance trips) such as quick acceleration/deceleration, standing-only areas, fold-up seats, lots of handrails and walk-through gangways between carriages. From a commuter perspective (and from a line that also serves London Gatwick & Luton Airports), the trains will have a maximum speed of 160km/h, 1st class, full-back support seating, an on-board toilet and luggage racks.


Image sourced from Siemens: http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/news_pre...n-unveiled.htm


Image sourced from Siemens: http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/news_pre...n-unveiled.htm


Image sourced from Siemens: http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/news_pre...n-unveiled.htm


Image sourced from Siemens: http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/news_pre...n-unveiled.htm


Image sourced from Siemens: http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/news_pre...n-unveiled.htm


Image sourced from Siemens: http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/news_pre...n-unveiled.htm


London Fenchurch Street
Construction work has commenced on a new (third) entrance to Fenchurch Street Station in the Square Mile. Despite being one of the smaller terminals in London with only four platforms, the platforms at Fenchurch Street are amongst the busiest in the UK due to the very high volumes of commuters on the c2c line. There are currently two entrances to the station: the main ‘London’ facing entrance just off Fenchurch Street and another out to Tower Hill. The £3.4mn project will create an entrance to the station on Coopers Row (towards the Tower of London). Source: http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/0...treet-entrance


Image sourced from Global Rail News: http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/0...treet-entrance


Cambridge Underground and Other Transport Developments
Cambridge is a major international city in its own right (despite having a population of only 123,000) due to its association with the University and science parks that emanate from the city. It is also a major commuter settlement into London (it has one of the most over-crowded services in the UK); however the following paragraphs will detail more about developments in this academic focused city.

Before opening in 2011, the Cambridge Guided Busway (at 25km, the longest in the world) was over-budget and late; yet once operational it proved to be far more successful than originally envisioned which has led to overcrowding and an appetite for expansion. Recently it was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that £1bn is being made available to the city for additional transport improvements, projects mentioned have included:
- Tunnels under the city (light rail or bus).
- New ring road tunnel and a north-south cycle ‘motorway’.
- New train stations at Addenbrooke’s (on the West Anglia Main Line), and Cherry Hinton and Fulbourn (both on the Ipswich-Ely Line). These stations are in addition to Cambridge Science Park station (refer below).
- Reopening of the Stour Valley Line to Haverhill as a guided busway, which would link up various science parks to the city and Haverhill which has lacked a train station since the post-war era.
- Busway to Waterbeach (where a large new development is planned), presumably adjacent to the railway line up to Waterbeach station.


Image taken by diamond geezer : http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer...7ZVgNU-7ZS5ze/


Cambridge Science Park Station
On another note, plans for Cambridge Science Park Station (to the north of Cambridge at Chesterton) have been approved; construction is expected to commence this year with an opening next year. The station which has a very high benefit cost ratio of 9.6:1 has a proposed off-peak service is 5tph to Cambridge, of which two carry onto London King’s Cross, one on to London Liverpool Street and another services to Stansted Airport.


Image sourced from Atkins Global: http://www.atkinsglobal.com/en-GB/me...jan/2014-01-14


Brighton Main Line Improvements
Network Rail undertook three major improvement projects over the festive period break, including:
- A new platform (number 7), and 975m loop at Gatwick Airport station to eliminate current conflicts between fast & slow services.
- Stoats Nest junction between Redhill & Purley has been replaced allowing for speed restrictions to be removed.
- New signalling between London Victoria and Battersea to boost operational resilience in the approach to the terminal.


Image sourced from Railway Gazette: http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/i...t-station.html


Gravesend Station Upgrade
Over the festive period, Gravesend in Kent saw the completion of a £19mn project to construct a new platform and extend existing platforms to cater to 12-car trains.


Image source from The Rail Engineer: http://www.therailengineer.com/2014/...end-remodelled


Felixstowe-Nuneaton Freight Upgrade
Another minor engineering project which has major ramifications was completed over the festive break; the 1.2km Ipswich Freight Chord allows for the diversion of Felixstowe port traffic away from the roads and on to the railway, by around 750,000 vehicle movements a year. The chord also improves reliability in this area of the east of England and should take rail traffic off the Gospel Oak to Barking and North London Lines freeing up capacity for new passenger rail services in and around London.


Image sourced from Network Rail: http://networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/...wich-1f7d.aspx


Waterloo Station Redevelopment
London’s busiest train station with 94mn passengers per annum (up 2.3mn in the last year alone), Waterloo is the terminus for South West Trains passengers on the South West Main Line. Current ridership of the South West Trains network stands at 210mn; however this is expected to increase to 380mn by 2030. As such Waterloo is under pressure to expand to cope with the expected demands.

When Eurostar relocated to the renovated St Pancras, the platforms were mothballed. Over the Christmas break, the approaches to the station were rebuilt to allow permanent use of platform 20 (commencing April) and the remaining platforms by the end of the year, thereby rapidly increasing capacity at the station.


Image taken by Tristan Appleby: http://www.flickr.com/photos/1488076...in/photostream


Midland Main Line Upgrade
The first phase of line upgrades (operating speed increased from 110mph to 125mph) on the Midland Main Line is nearing completion which will reduce journey times to London from Sheffield, Nottingham and Derby by 7, 5 and 4 minutes respectively. In addition, whilst the MML is a major trunk route it is only electrified up to Bedford (the northern terminus of Thameslink); it is intended that the line will be electrified to Corby by 2017, Leicester, Derby & Nottingham by 2019 and Sheffield by 2020. Source: http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/1...dland-mainline


Image taken by MrDeltic15 on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrenw...134874/sizes/l


Battery Powered Trains
Network Rail and Bombardier are currently looking (http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/1...ynamic-testing) into trialling battery powered trains which could be used as cheaper alternative to electrifying lightly used branch or rural lines.


Future Tube Train
Siemens have unveiled plans for what a future driverless tube train design could look like that can provide 40tph and increased energy efficiency. It should be noted that the mock-up (available to view at Siemens’ Crystal exhibition centre in east London) is not a selected design, but with the Piccadilly & Bakerloo lines requiring new rolling stock in the coming years, it showcases what could materialise.

A big difference from present deep level tube carriages is the presence of walkthrough carriages (presently only found on the sub-surface Underground and Overground lines), double doors (doing away with the present end-carriage single doors), and most interesting of all: air-conditioning (possible due to lower energy use and smaller AC units).


Image sourced from The Inquirer: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...-like-commutes


Image sourced from The Inquirer: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...-like-commutes


Reading Green Park Station
Reading Green Park is a proposed £8mn station that would be constructed on the Reading-to-Basingstoke Line, to the south of Reading that would serve Readings’ Madjeski Stadium and the surrounding business parks. The original plans were postponed two years ago, however the BBC have reported (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-25198432) that the proposal will be resubmitted in the coming months.


Reading Station Viaduct
With the majority of works now complete at Reading Station (with the exception of the upcoming electrification project), construction has commenced on a new 2km viaduct to the immediate west of the station to allow for grade-separation of freight & passenger services. Once complete in 2015, the viaduct will overcome the present issue where freight & passenger trains are held due to train movements across tracks, further information: http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co...tone-1f1c.aspx


Image taken by Dave C1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/5283451...766015/sizes/l


Crossrail 2
Transport for London has unveiled (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/proj...mes/27405.aspx) the results of a consultation on the suggested routes. People may recall that TfL were looking at two potential routes: a metro option providing 40tph and a regional option offering 30tph across a wider network. 95% of respondents (of which I was one) were in support of the proposals for a new Crossrail, with greater support towards the regional option, which whilst more expensive (it would require more tunnelling and larger stations) would deliver more benefits to London and crowded commuter lines into Liverpool Street and Waterloo.

Crossrail 2 is critical for the viability of London when factoring in that London’s population is expanding by in excess of 100,000 every year and massive growth in passenger volumes (both inside London and on the commuter networks). In addition, without Crossrail 2, the massive number of projected arrivals into Euston from HS2 would lead to critical levels of overcrowding on the Underground complex beneath Euston. As such, Crossrail 2 would need to be complete potentially by the time Phase I (2026) of HS2 is complete. The next steps will see a preferred route safeguarded.

The reality is that spades really need to be in the ground for Crossrail 2 prior to the opening of Crossrail in four years time.


Image sourced from Transport for London on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tflpres...071172/sizes/l


Image sourced from Transport for London on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tflpres...071246/sizes/l


Class 317 Refurbishment
The Rail Engineer (http://www.therailengineer.com/2013/...-old-half-new/) has an article detailing the refurbishment of the Class 317 rolling stock. Constructed in the 1980’s, they are found on routes operated by First Capital Connect and Greater Anglia (north & north East London, and the commuter lines beyond). In addition to refreshing the internal appearance of the rolling stock, the traction equipment will be renovated (with tests commencing earlier in November) and the entire fleet overhauled by 2017.


Image sourced from The Rail Engineer: http://www.therailengineer.com/wp-co...595-online.jpg


Contactless (Bank) Cards
It has now been a year since the introduction of contactless debit, credit & charge cards on London’s bus network (not to be confused with the contactless Oyster card), with 6mn journeys registered by late November. 33,000 bus journeys are now made each day using bank cards, with London Bridge, Angel Station, Regent Street, Tottenham Court Road and Shoreditch High Street being the top five most used bus stops. Next year, contactless (bank) cards will be usable on the Tube, Overground, DLR and tram network. It could be feasible that in the long-term the use of bank cards would do away with the contactless Oyster card altogether. Further information: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/29179.aspx


Peterborough Station
Renovation works at Peterborough Station on the Great Eastern Main Line are moving along.


Image taken by Gwydion M. Williams: http://www.flickr.com/photos/4590911...809565/sizes/l


Additional London-Scotland Services
According to Global Rail News (http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/1...rvice-in-2016/), Alliance Rail Holdings has announced that it is looking to launch a new rail services between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh in 2016.

In addition, Virgin (which operates trains out of near-by London Euston) is looking to extend 24 of their 28 daily Scottish services into London Euston; Virgin currently operates 2tph into Euston from Scotland. Competing train operator East Coast (which operates on the East Coast Main Line) provides 42 services each weekday between London and Scotland in each direction. Source: http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/0...-spot-in-2014/


Basingstoke Signalling Centre
Work commenced in late September on a new £30mn signalling and training centre in Basingstoke. It is one of twelve ‘super’-signalling boxes that will replace 800 across the country. The facility will become operational by 2015 covering most of the South West Trains network. Further information: http://networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/...toke-1e9d.aspx


Image sourced from Global Rail News: http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/1...nalling-centre


Eurostar: London-to-Amsterdam
Currently 3mn passengers travel by air between London and Amsterdam; it thus comes as no surprise that with upgrades to the connecting rail infrastructure that Eurostar have announced that from 2016 they will operate train services to Amsterdam from London St Pancras. Journey times will be around 4 hours which should prove competitive against the airlines. Source: http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/0...ices-from-2016

[Swede]

Big thanks to you, nito, for all these updates!