Mayor's Question Time: July 2008
A few interesting items from the most recent Mayor's Question Time:
- Trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be lengthened to three cars by 2010. Electrification of the line is too expensive.
- Bus roofs are being painted white to help keep them cool.
- Boris likes Greenwich Waterfront Transit.
- This list of South London transport improvements includes things like Greenwich Waterfront Transport but conspicuously not Cross River Tram. Nail, coffin, etc.
- Croydon's tram system will be getting deep cleaned and refurbished, as well as a new livery and new seat moquettes.
- The first three bus routes to be unbendied will be the 38, 507 and 521, with "appropriate" capacity to be provided by the double deckers (note not "the same" capacity).
- The DLR is set to go back to normal on August 25 (at least on the Lewisham route) , rather than there being a different set of closures.
- The redeveloped King's Cross may include a new footbridge to allow continued access from York Way.
- The Mayor has met with Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to ask for money for the East London Line phase 2 extension.
10 comments:
I guess the Mayor and TfL are waiting for other funders to show willingness to at least part-fund electrification of the Gospel Oak-Barking line. I expect it will eventually come from some freight-related funding.
As for painting the roofs white, what double-deck buses really need are upstairs front windows (as well as side windows) that can be opened to allow air to circulate properly. It's simple and relatively cheap to do and I'm amazed it hasn't been done to date.
THC
I'd read previously that a design company providing seat moquettes for the new Overground trains were also designing them for Tramlink. I wonder what the new livery will be? The red and white works well, but I wonder if we'll be seeing all over red with a splash of colour - similar to DLR. Alternatively, now that Tramlink is run by TFL London Rail, I wonder if we might be seeing an Overground style livery? Hope not, red is far more in keeping with other surface transport.
Er, white bus roofs have been specified on ALL contracts since at least 2005 - that was the previous mayor then, wasn't it?
And front upper deck windows were always provided with opening quarter-lights until the mid-1990s, when the vogue for 'designer' bus fronts overtook the manufacturers. Since then, new buses look lovely and no doubt win awards, but are better suited to raising tomatoes than carrying passengers in summer.
As for seat moquette, there will be plenty left over from the new Overground trains for Tramlink as there will only be about a dozen seats per car to trim in the first place...
Looking forward to double decker buses running down the Strand Underpass on the 521 then.
"The Mayor of London is delighted to welcome you to this non-bendy bus, now would passengers on the top deck please duck to avoid the flying glass and metal"
Do you want to tell them or shall I?
They had to put locks on the opening front upstairs windows of buses because youngsters were continually opening them in cold and wet weather, and leaving them open!
GOBLIN electrification would seem to be essential for freight operations. Without it, the alternatives for West Coast Main Line to Tilbury area freight trains area
- change of loco from diesel to electric somewhere near Wembley (which the freight operators don't like)
- through diesel haulage from Manchester or Glasgow (very wasteful)
- over-use of the route via Stratford, adding to congestion in the Stratford area
I hope that Assembly members keep asking questions about this so that we can see what the figures are (and what assumptions are made about oil prices!)
JJ Bone
Perhaps we should all write to Boris and tell him that he left Cross-River tram off the list of South London transport projects. That way he will have to announce that it is cancelled or say what the status is.
JJ Bone
In fairness, the answer to the bendy bus question makes no mention of double deckers - I would expect something like the old GLS vehicles on the 507 and 521.
Although double deckers seemed to work OK on the 507 while the bendies were off the road....
"new buses look lovely and no doubt win awards, but are better suited to raising tomatoes than carrying passengers in summer."
Seeing as we haven't had a summer since '06, I don't think this is really a problem!
Post a Comment