Tuesday, 24 January 2012
New Train Testing Time
In an article I'm writing for Underground News, I note some facts on train testing times. In 1938, it took six weeks from delivery of the first unit of new stock to entry into passenger service. For the Victoria Line's 1967 Tube Stock, the same process took 5 months and, for its new 2009 Tube Stock, it has taken 20 months. At the same rates, for the next tube stock for the Victoria Line, due in the year 2050, it will take 6½ years to get the testing done. This is longer than it took to build and deliver into service the whole fleet of 1967 Tube Stock. Are we so unsure of our engineering that we have to waste so much time checking it?
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Weekend Closures not Unique to UK
They have weekend Subway closures in New York City too. This from Railway Track & Structures:
A continuation of upgrade and modernization work to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Flushing Line and its stations will necessitate suspension of 7 train service between Queensboro Plaza (in Queens, N.Y.) and Times Square in Manhattan for 11 weekends beginning Jan. 21, as well as the full closure of the Court Square Station on the 7 line until April 2.
I used to live in Sunnyside near the 46th St-Bliss station. I wonder how I'd get into the city. I expect there's a bus. No? Oh well, I'll take a cab.
Monday, 16 January 2012
What Shall We Do With HS2?
I've always been firmly on the fence about this HS2 business. I see the need for additional capacity in Britain's rail network but it's how we should provide it that perplexes me. Should we build new lines like HS2, or add tracks to existing routes?
There are two problems to consider - cost and results. If you take HS1 as a guide, HS2 will cost around £50million a kilometre. If you look at the Trent Valley route widening, extra tracks there cost around £18million per kilometre. A no-brainer in favour of extra tracks surely? Well, not necessarily.
Extra tracks along an existing route will be difficult to install without long shutdowns and some areas, like Birmingham New Street, would involve a disproportionate level of expenditure and disruption to expand to cope with 60 years of increasing traffic.
Then there is maintenance. What the railways in Britain desperately need is alternative routes to allow diversions during maintenance works. The lack of these, in today's excessively risk averse, "elf & safety" culture, leads to long shutdowns for relatively simple works. The commercial nature of such works adds to the disruption and to the costs. Extra tracks will not give us the diversions we need. Any maintenance work will cause even more disruption.
On the other hand, the Nimbys in the Chilterns have a point in their battle against HS2. The area is well known as the suburbia of the rich and powerful - people who never, or rarely, use trains. How do they know what it's like to travel in a crowded train full of students, football fans and families with small, screaming children? How do they know what it's like to stand for 40 minutes every day to and from work? Why would they want to see their property values reduced without compensation? Of course they wouldn't. Would you? Be aware that their obstinance and power will push up the costs and extend the time taken to build HS2 - if it ever gets built.
Then there's the economic assessment. If the whole HS2 business case is based on more than about 12 trains per hour, it must be questionable. No other HS route in the world does better than that at 300+ km/h. If it is based on reduced journey time, the usual argument for new rail projects, it must be ranged against the resulting increase in energy consumption and the closeness of station stops planned for the HS2 route. The minimum distance between HS stops should be at least 200km to make it truly cost effective.
But, what about HS1 as a comparison? Despite 10 years of shilly-shallying and protests by locals, the line was built, on time and within budget and the countryside of Kent hardly noticed. Indeed now, it has blended into its surroundings and nature has healed the small wounds and cuts it suffered during construction. It works and it's helping to restore East Kent economically.
All in all, I'm still on the fence. I'd like to see a much more rigorous assessment of the HS2 vs existing expansion case. None of the stuff I've read, especially from HS2, seems to be clear or realistic. Memo to Government and HS2: Do again, otherwise you'll look silly at the public enquiries that are bound to follow.
There are two problems to consider - cost and results. If you take HS1 as a guide, HS2 will cost around £50million a kilometre. If you look at the Trent Valley route widening, extra tracks there cost around £18million per kilometre. A no-brainer in favour of extra tracks surely? Well, not necessarily.
Extra tracks along an existing route will be difficult to install without long shutdowns and some areas, like Birmingham New Street, would involve a disproportionate level of expenditure and disruption to expand to cope with 60 years of increasing traffic.
Then there is maintenance. What the railways in Britain desperately need is alternative routes to allow diversions during maintenance works. The lack of these, in today's excessively risk averse, "elf & safety" culture, leads to long shutdowns for relatively simple works. The commercial nature of such works adds to the disruption and to the costs. Extra tracks will not give us the diversions we need. Any maintenance work will cause even more disruption.
On the other hand, the Nimbys in the Chilterns have a point in their battle against HS2. The area is well known as the suburbia of the rich and powerful - people who never, or rarely, use trains. How do they know what it's like to travel in a crowded train full of students, football fans and families with small, screaming children? How do they know what it's like to stand for 40 minutes every day to and from work? Why would they want to see their property values reduced without compensation? Of course they wouldn't. Would you? Be aware that their obstinance and power will push up the costs and extend the time taken to build HS2 - if it ever gets built.
Then there's the economic assessment. If the whole HS2 business case is based on more than about 12 trains per hour, it must be questionable. No other HS route in the world does better than that at 300+ km/h. If it is based on reduced journey time, the usual argument for new rail projects, it must be ranged against the resulting increase in energy consumption and the closeness of station stops planned for the HS2 route. The minimum distance between HS stops should be at least 200km to make it truly cost effective.
But, what about HS1 as a comparison? Despite 10 years of shilly-shallying and protests by locals, the line was built, on time and within budget and the countryside of Kent hardly noticed. Indeed now, it has blended into its surroundings and nature has healed the small wounds and cuts it suffered during construction. It works and it's helping to restore East Kent economically.
All in all, I'm still on the fence. I'd like to see a much more rigorous assessment of the HS2 vs existing expansion case. None of the stuff I've read, especially from HS2, seems to be clear or realistic. Memo to Government and HS2: Do again, otherwise you'll look silly at the public enquiries that are bound to follow.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Chiswick Clothing Store
Railways are military style organisations. They quickly had to adopt a military approach to their operations because of their reliance on strict discipline for their staff. They had a fixed schedule, they used expensive and unique equipment, they had staff spread along long lines of communication and they relied on rigid adherence to rules in order to maintain safety. The military model was ideal for railway operations. By the early 1960s, when I started work, the model had been firmly entrenched for over 100 years. For me, like thousands of railwaymen before me, it started when I arrived at London Transport's Chiswick Clothing Store.
The LT Clothing Store was located in Chiswick Works, the huge bus overhaul facility first opened in 1921 by the then London General Omnibus Company. It was later expanded and new ranges of buses for London were designed there. It was to remain as an overhaul works until it was finally closed in 1989.
New recruits arriving for uniform (there were about 30 of us) were ushered into a large hall, where there was a long counter. On the other side of the counter were several severe-looking attendants backed by long deep lines of shelving containing all sorts of clothing. We lined up to be issued with our uniforms.
There was a ritual. I watched several recruits being dealt with until it was my turn. The attendant called, "Next" and I moved up to the counter. He asked me what hat size I was. I didn't know. He thrust a hat at me and said, "Try this", and I did and it fitted, sort of. He said, "That's OK". He turned to the shelving and handed me a couple of parcels containing jacket, waistcoat, trousers, a black tie and a rubberised raincoat. I was also given a hat badge with a number. In those days we didn't get shoes or shirts. These we had to supply ourselves.
We were given string and paper. We then had to change into our uniforms and tie our own clothing up into bundles to take home at the end of the day. My uniform issue fitted me fairly well. I was lucky, being a sort of standard size. Some of my new found colleagues were not so lucky and had to go back to the Obergruppenführer to change things, usually trousers.
We were then told to go into the canteen and get a "cup of tea". Few people drank coffee in those days and other choices were very limited. After a half hour, we were led to a bus parked close to the store. It was the then standard RT type bus with L Plates, obviously used for the instruction of bus drivers. We were then driven to the Railway Training Centre at White City. We were met there by our "New Entrants" instructor.
The LT Clothing Store was located in Chiswick Works, the huge bus overhaul facility first opened in 1921 by the then London General Omnibus Company. It was later expanded and new ranges of buses for London were designed there. It was to remain as an overhaul works until it was finally closed in 1989.
New recruits arriving for uniform (there were about 30 of us) were ushered into a large hall, where there was a long counter. On the other side of the counter were several severe-looking attendants backed by long deep lines of shelving containing all sorts of clothing. We lined up to be issued with our uniforms.
There was a ritual. I watched several recruits being dealt with until it was my turn. The attendant called, "Next" and I moved up to the counter. He asked me what hat size I was. I didn't know. He thrust a hat at me and said, "Try this", and I did and it fitted, sort of. He said, "That's OK". He turned to the shelving and handed me a couple of parcels containing jacket, waistcoat, trousers, a black tie and a rubberised raincoat. I was also given a hat badge with a number. In those days we didn't get shoes or shirts. These we had to supply ourselves.
We were given string and paper. We then had to change into our uniforms and tie our own clothing up into bundles to take home at the end of the day. My uniform issue fitted me fairly well. I was lucky, being a sort of standard size. Some of my new found colleagues were not so lucky and had to go back to the Obergruppenführer to change things, usually trousers.
We were then told to go into the canteen and get a "cup of tea". Few people drank coffee in those days and other choices were very limited. After a half hour, we were led to a bus parked close to the store. It was the then standard RT type bus with L Plates, obviously used for the instruction of bus drivers. We were then driven to the Railway Training Centre at White City. We were met there by our "New Entrants" instructor.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Embracing the Griffin
In the early 1960s, London was suffering from an acute staff shortage for many service industries. Hospitals, refuse collection, buses and railways were amongst those worst hit. People didn't want to do shift work, nor anything that seemed less socially appealing than office work, like labouring in public service and, worse, in uniform. To try to overcome the resulting shortages, London Transport, the operating organisation for the unified bus and underground transport system that we had in the capital then, was recruiting staff from overseas, mostly from Commonwealth countries, whose residents had British passports and therefore right of entry to the UK.
Fortunately for me, being rather desperate for work, they were taking local people too. They advertised on buses and trains for bus conductors and drivers, Underground station staff, guards and cleaners. I thought I would go for the guard's job, on the basis that it seemed to be a least worst option and there would be some variety. I never considered working on the buses. It just didn't appeal to me.
In those days, you could go to the recruiting office at Edgware Road (Griffith House) unannounced and fill in a form. There was also a test sheet with a few simple questions to answer. You then had a medical (cough) and, provided you had a pulse and your chest didn't rattle, they would take you on. There was an interview but I was only asked one question - did I know it was a responsible job. I answered yes and was told, subject to satisfactory references, I would get an acceptance letter.
The letter duly arrived a couple of weeks later and I was told to turn up at Chiswick Works in a week's time to collect my uniform. And the Griffin? It was used as a logo on London Transport uniforms and for certain products produced in-house, like "Griffin tea", specially packaged for staff use. The emblem is said to have been used by the City of London and was adopted by LT to show its affinity with the city. I was about begin showing a similar affinity.
Fortunately for me, being rather desperate for work, they were taking local people too. They advertised on buses and trains for bus conductors and drivers, Underground station staff, guards and cleaners. I thought I would go for the guard's job, on the basis that it seemed to be a least worst option and there would be some variety. I never considered working on the buses. It just didn't appeal to me.
In those days, you could go to the recruiting office at Edgware Road (Griffith House) unannounced and fill in a form. There was also a test sheet with a few simple questions to answer. You then had a medical (cough) and, provided you had a pulse and your chest didn't rattle, they would take you on. There was an interview but I was only asked one question - did I know it was a responsible job. I answered yes and was told, subject to satisfactory references, I would get an acceptance letter.
The letter duly arrived a couple of weeks later and I was told to turn up at Chiswick Works in a week's time to collect my uniform. And the Griffin? It was used as a logo on London Transport uniforms and for certain products produced in-house, like "Griffin tea", specially packaged for staff use. The emblem is said to have been used by the City of London and was adopted by LT to show its affinity with the city. I was about begin showing a similar affinity.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
50 Years
It occurred to me today that January 1st was the 50th anniversary of my joining the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and that I have been employed by the railway industry almost continuously ever since.
My first job was as a clerk in the CPR's London (England) office. We did international travel ticketing for the railway and managed the accounts of the large number of British shareholders of the company. I joined CPR because of a boyhood interest in railways and in travel. I thought I would get the best of both worlds with CPR and that, eventually, I would get to Canada and maybe be involved with train operations there.
At that time, CPR had a railway across Canada, an airline and a shipping line. You could go from England by sea to Montreal and then by train across the Rockies to Vancouver. You could also fly, but I seem to remember that there were two stops; at Shannon in Eire and Halifax Nova Scotia for refuelling.
I spent about 18 months with CPR but I began to realise that I wasn't going to get to Canada any time soon. I found out that the office manager, whose name was Chapman, had worked there for almost 20 years and had never been to Canada. He'd never been further than the Isle of Wight. I also gradually became aware of the interest in me of a male member of staff. I was not yet 18 at the time and it panicked me. Apart from being illegal at that time (1964), I wasn't of that persuasion anyway. Indeed, I was dating one of the CPR office girls for a while.
The result was that I left, without another job to go to but, within days and without money, I decided that I had to take myself off to the London Transport recruiting office at Edgware Road to get work.
My first job was as a clerk in the CPR's London (England) office. We did international travel ticketing for the railway and managed the accounts of the large number of British shareholders of the company. I joined CPR because of a boyhood interest in railways and in travel. I thought I would get the best of both worlds with CPR and that, eventually, I would get to Canada and maybe be involved with train operations there.
At that time, CPR had a railway across Canada, an airline and a shipping line. You could go from England by sea to Montreal and then by train across the Rockies to Vancouver. You could also fly, but I seem to remember that there were two stops; at Shannon in Eire and Halifax Nova Scotia for refuelling.
I spent about 18 months with CPR but I began to realise that I wasn't going to get to Canada any time soon. I found out that the office manager, whose name was Chapman, had worked there for almost 20 years and had never been to Canada. He'd never been further than the Isle of Wight. I also gradually became aware of the interest in me of a male member of staff. I was not yet 18 at the time and it panicked me. Apart from being illegal at that time (1964), I wasn't of that persuasion anyway. Indeed, I was dating one of the CPR office girls for a while.
The result was that I left, without another job to go to but, within days and without money, I decided that I had to take myself off to the London Transport recruiting office at Edgware Road to get work.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Close Work
Here is an example of overhead line replacement work being undertaken on the Metro-North system in Connecticut, USA. The photo is from the MTA website, so it's official.
The machine on the right is drilling a new post hole for an overhead line gantry while a train passes on the left. Are they doing something wrong or are we, in Britain, doing something wrong by shutting down the railway during this sort of work?
What do you think?
What do you think?
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Some Fares Facts
The British Association of Train Operators (ATOC) has issued a short guide to rail fares. I think it is worth restating here.
In response to the question, "Why do many fares rise every year?" they say,
"The overall level of fare rises is determined largely by Government policy. Since 2004, the Government has sought to sustain investment in the railways by reducing the amount that taxpayers contribute and requiring passengers to pay a greater share."
They go on to say that successive governments have done this in two ways:
"1. Around half of all fares are linked by a Government formula to July's inflation rate as measured by the retail price index (RPI). These are known as regulated tickets and comprise Season tickets for most commuter journeys and Off-Peak fares on most intercity journeys.
"2. Train companies set the remaining fares, known as unregulated tickets, (such as intercity journeys at busier times of the day). These generally cover journeys where passengers have choice about whether or not they travel by train and so prices reflect market conditions.
In response to the question, "Why do many fares rise every year?" they say,
"The overall level of fare rises is determined largely by Government policy. Since 2004, the Government has sought to sustain investment in the railways by reducing the amount that taxpayers contribute and requiring passengers to pay a greater share."
They go on to say that successive governments have done this in two ways:
"1. Around half of all fares are linked by a Government formula to July's inflation rate as measured by the retail price index (RPI). These are known as regulated tickets and comprise Season tickets for most commuter journeys and Off-Peak fares on most intercity journeys.
"2. Train companies set the remaining fares, known as unregulated tickets, (such as intercity journeys at busier times of the day). These generally cover journeys where passengers have choice about whether or not they travel by train and so prices reflect market conditions.
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