Goblin Electrification info

Shall I drop Network Rail a line and ask them to take all the information down then?

PR video music is nauseating, isn't it?

Answering a couple of points made earlier, any change of rolling stock is dependant on what is available from the easing companies and the requirements of the TOCs. Also, staff traction knowledge, so any stock change will involve training a large number of drivers for stock that may only be on a line for a few months. By the time everyone is gained, it's gone somewhere else! There's a similar debate going on in other fora about future use of the 442 Bournemouth units.

All I know about the upgrade is that I earn a bit out of it by driving buses for Dean Sullivan at weekends replacing the trains on this line, and that the traffic in the whole area is horrendous. One day last November 1 hr 5 minutes to get from the bus stand in Barking, to Barking station, to the roundabout by the North Circular, less than 2 miles. 1 round trip and ran out of drive time!

Engineers are good at Engineering which is exactly what you want to happen and it is not unnatural for them to be not so good at other things.

bankers (should in theory) be good at finances and ensuring the engineers don't get carried away. However they make lousy engineers so should curb any tendency to get involved in any engineering themselves.

Politicans are usually rubbish at absolutely everything except politics - mainly because they have relatively little experience in the areas they are expected to oversee. This is particularly evident with those aiming for high office, who spend a long time studying politics and social sciences at University, followed by a brief period working in a media organisation before ingratiating themselves into the party machine.

Germanys top politician had a long career as chemical research scientist before turning to Politics - we haven't got anyone in the UK that comes close to it. Instead our political scene is dominated by Lawers, accountants and career Politicans - none of whom seem to have any genuine understanding of good solid practical stuff - be it science, engineering, healthcare, social care, etc.

Although fascinating, we are heading off topic. Can we get back to GOBLIN electrification. We can discuss the off topic in another thread, provided the politics doesn't become opinionated, which would result in a thread lock!

I personally am looking forward to the electrifying of this line as its been a long time coming! Of course the extra capacity will be eaten up pretty quickly!

St Pancras would need more platforms! In theory Thameslink would be a good idea,  but the risk of importing delays from the Thameslink route could lead to tears.

Simon

<<Hard to believe, I know, but when they arrived in 2000, the 150s were a step-change improvement over the clapped-out first generation units. And, further back in time, the diversion to Gospel Oak in 1981 coincided with a doubling of frequency to a heady 2tph! >>

It used to be quite fun heading out east on a WR "heritage" unit belching out black smoke as it passed the MR box at Leytonstone. Westward Ho!!
The 150s were an improvement, but the 172s were a revolution!

I'm taking a particular interest in this thread as for a while in 1959/1960 I lived in Forest Gate - in a house a mere hundred yards or so from this line between Leytonstone High Road and Wanstead Park stations and from where I could see and identify most trains passing over the arches. Imagine my surprise when reading the quoted post and noting the use of 'Westward Ho!' - the village which I visited this morning, a mere mile or so from where I now sit at home typing. Wonderful coincidence!

Will c2c services still have access for at least some parts of the 8 month closure to run to/from Liverpool Street, or will everything run to/from Fenchurch Street?

I see the TfL track closures page now recognises the GOBLIN blockade from June onwards. However it says the entire line is closed rather than Barking to South Tottenham which is what I thought the plan was!

An interesting take, but from somebody who doesn't really know the full picture. In no particular order:


Because an overnight possession is about 5 hours long. Looking at Upper Holloway, the last passenger train is at ~0030, the first train at ~0530. 5 Hours is not long at all, when you take into account that you will need to have about an hour either side for gaining access, moving to the worksites, and doing small menial things like waiting for machinery to warm up and come into action. That gives you 3 hours of work, which isn't all that much when you are having to pile and install masts to a relatively high level of accuracy. Not only that, but the NLL isn't exactly deserted at night, there are still quite a few trains running, almost certainly too many to also fit more trains in.



They do have many innovative solutions, like overhead conductor bars, but I don't see how they would be of any benefit to GOBLIN. GOBLIN is a relatively simple electrification job, easily doable with the series 2 equipment, as fitted to the Chat Moss line.



IPEMUs are still very much a young technology at this point, they are nowhere near to being used in place of electrification. They certainly couldn't be used over the entirety of the GOBLIN

Sawb, why do freight trains ex LT&S have to run at night anyway? There are surely not that many of them per day. And if the GEML crossovers are still there, as I think they are, why can they not be kept until 2018?

Snoggle, it all depends whether you're an engineering apparatchick or someone who uses the line. The Walthamstow blockade at 3 weeks was one thing, months on end is quite different

I'm afraid I don't have the answer to either of those questions, other than to say we're talking about Network Fail here, who at times couldn't organise a brewery!