Edwin_m

At least they're not distracted by trying to use the indicators.

The business case for HS2 makes the assumption that fare levels will generally be in line with current (in real terms). There's nothing to stop someone in the government deciding to do something different when the time comes, but if the objective was to get the best financial case you'd most likely avoid the spend of multiple tens of billions by not building HS2 at all. Benefit to the economy as a whole, and thus to the tax base, is probably achieved by setting fares at a reasonable level that comfortably fills the trains.

I think lying on the laptop is something to do with the heat that comes off it. Rather like lying on top of a lap.

I think I twigged when I realised one of the photos was the 1980s equivalent of a Photoshop showing a real Underground train.

If the journey time is no quicker, there's no real reason for people to use it, so it won't relieve capacity. HS2 doesn't serve Leicester, journey times to central Derby and Nottingham will be little faster than today due to the change at Toton, Sheffield requires a lengthy detour off the high speed route, so these major centres don't benefit as much as otherwise similar places further west.

This week there was a "market engagement" event for MML electrification, which isn't a go-ahead by any means, but does mean that someone is seriously looking at extending it northwards. The northern end of this scheme would be needed in any case for the HS2 trains looping off via Sheffield. London-Manchester-Leeds would probably be slower than London-Leeds via HS2 eastern leg, but not by much. However London-Manchester and London-Leeds trains are both planned to be the maximum length HS2 can operate, and there's no capacity to run any more trains via Manchester, so it probably isn't capacity to run it. The other problem with the esatern leg is that London-York is less than 30min quicker via HS2 than via ECML, and the latter will probably improve a bit with new timetables. So the journey time case for the HS2 eastern leg is worse than for the west, because ECML is quite fast anyway and more direct. The eastern leg is however very beneficial for Birmingham-Leeds journey times - but perhaps those could run via Manchester if NPR is built instead of the eastern leg.

Yes I agree more could have been made of that - constraints of fitting it into an hour I guess. I've also read somewhere that the loop was breached by a bomb, and the tight curve that is the reason for "Mind the Gap" here is because the platform in question was formerly part of the loop, so bringing this in would have tied into both the floodgates and the "Mind the Gap" themes.

I think if I saw that I'd wonder if he'd lost the leg due to an escalator accident.

Pretty sure I saw this on "Tomorrow's World" or some similar programme. I thought the treads were rectangular and the corners disappeared under the side wall, which would have narrowed it even further.

I've watched most of the "Hidden London Hangouts" videos presented by a team including Siddy Holloway and Chris Nix (who appeared on last night's programme showing the posters). They mention how the Underground has had a policy since about 1994 of preserving historic signage as long as it doesn't confuse present-day passengers. Some historic tiling has even been re-created where it wasn't practicable to keep it, so they're actually adding to the cost of station refurbishments, though probably not by very much. The Underground probably counts as one of London's major tourist attractions, judging by the range of souvenirs available ranging from general interest to more specialist. Apologies if this repeats something said on the programme - I'm currently away from home and only caught the last part, the rest is on the recorder for when I return.

Unless the crash beam is very substantial indeed, there is a risk that an impact by a very solid vehicle such as a refuse collector would bring the beam down. This might be much more lethal to nearby pedestrians or even those in other vehicles than hitting the bridge itself which is unlikely to shed large parts of its structure.

My favourite (former) box name was Vitriol Works.

That's about the only route it might be useful for.

There is unlikely to be a rail connection with the ECML, just a two-level station like Tamworth. Felixstowe is the obvious freight destination to the east, but any freight going via Cambridge would have to negotiate the single line between there and beyond Newmarket, including a tunnel that's never been double. Also the destination for Felixstowe rail freight is in the Midlands and North, with the South East being too close to be served by rail and even if it was there would be much shorter routes available, but the relevant junctions at Bedford and Bletchley face towards London. The same would apply to Harwich if that became a rail freight destination. So the potential for freight east of Bedford is actually very limited, despite what various protest groups are claiming.

They can test with a train once they have a piece of track that's complete enough and long enough to get it up to whatever speed they need. I imagine that will happen when other parts of the route are far from complete, possibly basing the train at one of the construction depots if Washwood Heath is incomplete or inaccessible. These tests can be quite detailed and over a longer period to prove all the systems, after which other sections will just need a shorter programme of tests to confirm that the results from the previous ones also apply there.

Preserved railways are normally 25mph maximum. The GCR can run non-passenger trains at higher speeds, subject to various conditions including closing any foot crossings on the lines in question. The TPO runs on the Down line at Quorn, which only has a foot crossing on the Up.

Seems to be saying Crewe to Manchester is paused as well as the eastern leg, although the former is incorrectly quoted as part of Phase 2a (which only goes as far north as Crewe) so the accuracy of the rest may be questionable.

The Cross Country trains will have to remain as diesel or bi-mode unless a lot more route is electrified, and the Sheffield to St Pancras disappears in the EMR timetable recast (may have gone already) and in any case will become a bi-mode. So electrifying Erewash on its own won't allow any diesel workings to be converted to electric and at best will allow a bi-mode to use its diesels a little less. The best case is probably the Nottingham to Leeds service, for which most of the non-electrified section north of Sheffield will be done if HS2 eastern leg goes ahead as planned.

Quite a lot of freight uses it, but even if it comes from the MML rather than via Burton, it will be using other non-electrified lines on its journey. So it would remain diesel unless there was some major initiative on freight decarbonisation.

I generally reckon for these channels if you start watching the recording 15min after the programme start time and are reasonably dextrous with the fast forward button, you'll finish watching pretty much as the programme finishes.

I think Gizmo has now worked out that when a ball drops into a pocket in the snooker, it isn't going to fall out of the bottom of the TV to be played with.

Never used it, but they keep plugging this: https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/

On the major assumption that space could have been found for a transformer and rectifier, a dual-voltage or even an AC-only locomotive could have been produced by feeding the rectified DC into the existing DC control equipment. BR did this with the GE units that were built for DC but continued in service after the lines were converted to 25kV, and I believe SNCF's dual voltage locomotives before the advent of traction electronics were done in the same way. They'd have had to disable the regenerative braking though. I agree it would have been pointless assessing the haulage ability of the EM1 on AC lines. I suggest if a conversion was being contemplated it was more likely it was taken to Soho, as a place reasonably convenient to Witton, for GEC to crawl all over it and see if there was any possibility of adding said transformer and rectifier... ... or indeed of doing something more radical along these lines. I suspect it would have taken them about five minutes to come to the conclusion that was somebody's crackpot idea and totally impractical.

However that damage could be fairly terminal for 1500V traction running into 25kV.

There's been one of these on the up line at Grantham in recent years and it may still be there (last visit a couple of years ago due to Covid). It seemed to be switched on a lot of the time when I've changed trains, though that could be because there were staff on the line further round the bend which was probably the reason it was provided. It would emit a "safe tone" of a short warble every few seconds to prove it was still working, and a continuous warble if a train approached.