Category Archives: Siemens

Rolling blog. Germany, the main event…

05 Tuesday Jul 2022

Posted by in Air Travel, Germany, Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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07:00.

In starting what’s going to be a busy day here in Germany. Right now I’m preparing to head down for breakfast and a caffeine booste before we all meet up for a trip to the Siemens signalling factory here in Braunschweig. The company have got a full programme planned for our visit, but I should still have time to blog about what we’ll be seeing and learning. The world of railway signalling is constantly developing in the digital world. As one colleague described it – signals were all about keeping trains apart. Now they’re about getting them to run as close to each other as is possible. Here’s today’s agenda.

Then later this afternoon we head back to Hannover for our return flight to the UK. I won’t be back in England until late so I won’t be home until tomorrow, but hey ho…

Keep popping back to see what we get up to. But right now – it’s coffee time…

08:41.

The day begins…

10:30.

We’re just about to come back after having a coffee break. It’s been a really interesting morning so far which kicked off with a wide-ranging presentation on the company’s plans and aspirations from Siemens Mobility CEO, Michael Peter.

There’s far too much to describe here but some of the points touched on included how intelligent software and monitoring systems can lead to 100% fleet reliability and save time and money on traditional cyclic maintenance – both on trains and assets themselves. Cloud based interlocking was also discussed with some fascinating examples given about Norway, where the entire rail system is controlled from Oslo – including diagnostics.

Next up was a presentation on Digital solutions from Johannes Emmelheinz, CEO of Customer Services. One point raised was how trains and infrastructure need to work hand in hand and how digitalisation can enable this.

The third presentation was from Bart van Munster, CEO of Squills, a company that’s become part of Siemens. Squills provide ticketing services across the UK and Europe.

13:20.

After another really interesting series of presentations (I’ll tell you the story about passenger journey tracking and the Berlin Depech Mode concert later) we broke for lunch with some fabulous food prepared by the staff of the Siemens canteen.

18:00.

The afternoon was a very enjoyable as we enjoyed a rare tour of thee world’s biggest signalling factory. The site is involved in some cutting edge projects which I’ll be talking about in another blog. Here’s one, the complete resignalling of the Norwegian rail network which will be controlled from Oslo.

Our day came to an end after the tour and a final presentation on cloud based interlocking. Then it was back to the real world. Our small UK contingent (all three of us) decided to catch the 16:54 back to Hannover, only it was cancelled due to an incident on the line. The station was packed and we were looking at all sorts of possible plan B’s when the stock for the 17:20 rolled in, so we jumped on that. It was soon packed as other trains had been cancelled or were running late.

It got us as far as a place called Peine, where we’ve been sitting for the past 15 mins with no information on what’s happening. Ho hum…

18:15.

We’ve now sat at Peine for 30 mins – with absolutely zero information about what’s going on. Not a single announcement has been made.

19:00.

We were on the move shortly after after my last update – some 40 plus mins late. The service to the airport is hardly clockface and it’s only hourly so we abandoned plans to eat at Hannover Hbf and caught the next service to the airport – the 18:57, where we’re enjoying a mostly empty train with good a/c. Upstairs on a packed double- deck coach (our last train) is not the place to be on a sunny day like this.

21:40.

My final German update. A few of us are now relaxing at Hannover airport before our flight arrives. I can’t say it’s my favourite airport. Much of it is closed or deserted and what isn’t closes early! There’s one food outlet in our terminal and the sole duty free shut at 21:30. Still, the glider’s a nice touch…

23:17. (UK time).

I’m back in the Sceptic Isle having bid goodbye to my colleagues on the plane. The flight was quick and passing through Heathrow terminal 5 was quite painless. Everything worked perfectly.

Shame I can’t say the same for the rest of the UK as it seems I’ve returned to a political shit-show. The Chancellor and Health Minister have both resigned, along with a bunch of lesser political functionaries. It wouldn’t surprise me if more go as despite this, Johnson will do everything he can to cling to power. New lackeys will be appointed in their place and the whole rotten edifice will continue in the same lying, delusional vein whilst the country’s economy continues to fall apart. I see the FTSE 100 lost 2.86% today, continuing its awful spiral, having lost 6.74% in the past month, leaving a lot of people poorer and pension funds looking rocky. If only I could have stayed in Germany…

Is this country ever going to wake up and shake off the delusion that the Tories can be trusted with the economy? They’ve done little but wreck it ever since the Brexit referendum.

After such a positive couple of days It’s deeply frustrating (and embarasding) to return to the kakistocracy that the UK has become under Johnson and his Cabinet of the incompetents. It’s painfully obvious that the only reason Sunak and Javid have resigned is political survival and a crack at Johnson’s job as PM. They’ve no more commitment to the country or public service than the man they hope to replace. But how many Tory voters will fall for it I wonder?

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If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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Rolling blog. And so it begins – 3 Peaks by Rail…

09 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by in 3 peaks by rail, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, The Railway Children, Travel

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09:30.

After a stressful morning I’m now sat on the train from Leeds to London for the first event of the day – the annual Siemens press lunch. I’m looking forward to meeting friends and colleagues plus the new personnel who’ve taken over roles at Siemens since the start of the pandemic. It’s a lovely day for travelling as the sun’s shining, the trains are running well and I can start to unwind. The day’s not going to be completely relaxed of course. After the lunch I’ve got to hot-foot it up to Crewe to join the other volunteers and staff of the Railway Children charity who’ll be preparing the train that we’ll be living on for the next few days – plus all the fundraising teams who’ll be arriving to take part and climb all 3 Peaks. I’ve also a rather large bag full of kit to tow around as you never know what weather you’ll encounter on this adventure so if you’re sensible you come prepared.

I’ll blog throughout the day as I can, so feel free to keep popping back to see what I get up to…

09:55.

The destressing continues. The mobile office is up and running, there’s HS2 pictures to edit, I’ve a fresh coffee from the buffet and I’m listening to The Waterboys through my earphones…

16:30.

Apologies for the interlude but it’s been a busy few hours. The Siemens press lunch was an enjoyable and informative event. We had chance to chat over drinks at the start, then sat down for lunch. Members of the media were allocated specific seats but Siemens staff rotated after each course which meant we had the opportunity to talk to a wide range of people, including CEO William Wilson and Sambit Banerjee, Director of Rolling stock.

Siemens CEO Will Wilson briefs the media on what the company’s been doing over the last year and plans for the future.
It beats sandwiches!

Sadly,I had to leave early to ensure I was on time for my next event. I’m now speeding North on an Avanti Voyager in order to meet up with the Railway Children staff at Crewe ready for the big adventure – 3 Peaks by rail 2022.

23:35.

Well, that’s been a change of scenery! I arrived at Crewe in plenty of time to slip into my role as official photographer for the Railway Children’s 3 Peaks by Rail. This is my 5th year in a row and to be honest It’s just like meeting up with family. It’s not just the staff and volunteers either, there’s always familiar railway faces amongst the teams too. Here’s everyone all together just before we set off from Crewe. We were joined by the Railway Children’s founder, David Maidment who can be seem bottom left.

First things first. As soon as the teams are settled in on the train they’re fed. The food is all donated by various suppliers who help support the charity and prepared on board.
On arrival at Bangor teams are provided with snacks by the on-board team to ensure their energy levels are maintained. It’s a slick operation. We only have 6 minutes to unload everyone and get the train dispatched.
After dropping the teams off at Bangor the train heads for Holyhead where the locomotives can run-round, the train can be cleaned and the on-board staff have the chance to eat and get some rest before we head back to Bangor to pick up the teams at 04:00. Here’s 47501 and 47593 being passed by the Welsh Assembly train (aka ‘Gerald’) which is made up of ex-LNER Mk4 coaches and a Class 67 loocomotive. It’ll set back into the stabling point behind the signalbox to be serviced overnight.

Right, I’m going to call it a day as we’re now sat in the carriage sidings for the night. I’ll resume blogging in a few hours time – but that’ll be another day. Day 2 in fact…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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Thank you!

Siemens show off their new Piccadilly line trains for the London underground.

04 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by in Rail Investment, Railways, Siemens, Transport

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Today, in an on-line press conference Siemens showed off the final design of the new trains they’ll be building for the Piccadilly line of London’s deep level tube network. Back in November 2018, Transport for London (TfL) commissioned Siemens Mobility to supply 94 nine-car, articulated Inspiro type trains.

In what is billed as a world first for any deep-level ‘tube’ system the trains will be fully air-conditioned, which will come as a great relief to anyone who’s ever had to use the Piccadilly line in the summer! The technical specification of the trains is impressive.

These new trains coupled with an increase in frequency of trains in peak hours from 24 to 27 trains per hour from mid-2027 (a train every 135 seconds) will provide a 23 per cent leap in peak service capacity.

The new trains feature regenerative braking capability and cutting-edge traction systems using low-loss permanent magnet motors and auxiliary electric systems that feature silicon carbide technology, as well as Lithium Ion batteries. These system will help to reduce the heat in the tunnels generated by the existing trains braking systems, despite the addition of air-conditioning. Passengers will also benefit from the wider doors and abolition of the single doors at the car ends, plus the ability to walk right through the train in the same fashion as the S-stock used on the Sub-surface lines like the Metropolitan. Siemens have released these impressions of the train interiors.

Construction of the vehicles will be split between the existing Siemens factory in Vienna, Austria and the company’s new UK factory which is under construction at Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Initial testing of the fleet will be done at the Wildenrath test track in Germany.

Rolling blog: the Viennese whirl, part 2.

29 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by in Germany, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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05:05.Oh, the joys of early starts. Here’s Heathrow terminal 2 as I wait for Austrian airlines 06:00 flight to Vienna.As airport terminals go T2 is one of the better ones, even if it can be a long walk to your gate. I’m flying from B47, which is a long way from the main terminal. To get there you disappear deep underground and cross a large chunk of the airport via travelators.05:48.Having bumped into another colleague at the gate we’re now on board and waiting for take-off. The musak on the plane is the Viennese waltz used in “2001, a space odyssey” when the Pan-Am space shuttle is docking with the space station. Hopefully, my flight will be less problematic. Next stop, Vienna!09:32We had a pretty good flight, although much of mainland Europe was covered in cloud. Ironically, this made the numerous power stations we passed even more obvious.Now we’re stuck in our chauffeured limo which has taken 25 mins to move 200 metres! The queues to get out of the airport car parks are horrendous!10:03.We’re still in the limo. Having finally escaped the airport we’re now enjoying a tour of industrial Vienna (docks, chemical plants etc) en-route to the hotel.10:33.Finally, we’ve arrived at the hotel. Nice!11:27Journalists from various EU countries have all gathered at the hotel, now we’re being bussed to Siemens HQ for lunch.12:33Chance to eat before the hard work starts. The foods very good and beats the sandwiches that are a staple of so many UK events.13:00.The presentations are underway. The first one I’m attending is on autonomous trams. Siemens have one test system running in Potsdam, but (like the concept of driverless cars) it would be many years before a successful system could be developed and rolled out – if at all. The concept is far more suitable for closed systems rather than unpredictable streets. Think of Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester!The second presentation is an interesting one on ‘digital solutions for seamless transportation’. How technology is allowing people to access the information they need to choose integrated transport options.The mining and analysis of data from peoples travel plans is fascinating! I’ve now learned that the band Depeche Mode has a strong following in the former East Berlin because the band gave a concert there before the wall came down and this fan base can still be seen in data today!15:11.The third and final session of the day is “Seamless digital chain in material supply – the easy spares app”. How a mobile phone app can identify parts of a vehicle, find the spare part number and order it for you – amongst other things!

Rolling blog: back in the groove…

12 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by in I love my job, New trains, Photography, RAIL magazine, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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06:32

Another day, another early start. Right now I’m sat on a train to Leeds on a frosty but sunny morning that promises to be a glorious day weather-wise. Sadly I’m sans coffee as I left the house slightly later than planned. I had to power walk to Halifax station, arriving with a minute to spare. That defect will be remedied when I reach Leeds!

I’m on my way to Peterborough to meet up with an old friend and colleague from RAIL magazine to do a job for said mag. Years ago Pip and I used to do regular features for RAIL which involved travelling on new trains and seeing what they were like from a passengers perspective. The series carried on for many years and now we’re bringing it back. This time we’re going to be checking out the new (ish) Siemens built Class 700s built for Thameslink/Great Northern services. You’ll be able to read about it in RAIL soon so I won’t be blogging in detail about the trip, but you might get a few teasers!

07:52.

My connection at Leeds worked without problem and I’m now happily ensconced on LNER’s 07:15 from Leeds to Kings Cross as far as Grantham. I now have coffee and a sandwich, so all’s well with the world…

08:35.

After a rapid change of trains at Grantham I’m now on an East Midlands Trains Class 158 heading for Peterborough. According to the screens, this service is from Mansfield Woodhouse to Norwich, which is a service I never even knew existed! I’d have thought it would have originated from Sheffield. Still, you learn something new every day!

I rather like the refurbed EMT 158s. They’re a comfortable train, although I know some folk don’t like the high-back seats.v

14:13

We’re hard at work, honest! We’ve tried out 4 class 700s, two 12-car and two 8-car. Here’s Pip Dunn checking the technical details on our way to London.

14:55.

Job done, it’s time to begin the trek North from Peterborough, this time it’s on a rammed LNER service heading for Leeds. I was going to hang around and get some pictures but the weather’s changed completely from this morning full sun to being cloudy and cold, so hardly an incentive to hang around…

16:29

I decided to take a short break in Doncaster to get a couple of pictures and (as it’s Friday) visit this little gem on the station for a ‘swifty’ before heading home.

17:10.

Last train of the day now. I missed an earlier one by seconds as our platforms were too far apart. Now I’m on the 17:97 to Brighouse which is a rammed 2-car ex-Scotrail Class 158. There’s 10 of us stood in the vestibule by the toilets and aisle in the passenger saloon resembles a sardine can.

Siemens unveil the new Mireo…

06 Thursday Dec 2018

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On December 6th Siemens unveiled their first of their new regional train platform – the Mireo – at their Wildenrath test centre.

The first order is for 24 3-car Mireo’s. This has been placed by Baden-Württemberg, who have bought the trains which will be operated by DB Regio from June 2020 when the fleet is due to be used on the Rhine Valley network, operating regional services on the Offenburg – Freiburg – Basel/Nuennburg (Switzerland) route during the week and on the Kaiserstuhl region from Freiburg to Endingen/Breisach on Sundays. Here’s a selection of pictures from the event.

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463 502-5 on the test track at Wildenrath. This is the unit we went for a spin on. Well, several spins really!

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The stylish front end of a Mireo

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The standard saloon of one of the 26m long driving cars.

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In the cab of a Mireo. Their top speed in 160kph.

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The open gangway between cars.

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These 3 car Mireo’s for DB Regio have a small 1st Class saloon at one end, right behind the cab. 

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The 18 metre long centre car, showing the articulated bogies and door arrangements. 

Each 3-car Mireo has space for 27 bicycles in a multi-purpose area. All doors are equipped with a sliding platform that automatically bridges the gap between train and platform to allow easier access.

More about the Mireo

The Mireo’s lightweight welded integral aluminum monocoque construction helps weightsaving, as do the articulated bogies. As much as possible, components have been installed underfloor or on the roof, leaving the interior area fully available for passengers with space for bicycles, strollers, and wheelchairs as required. The interior can be converted again and again with minimal effort, whilst the cantilever seating design permits cost-effective cleaning of the passenger area.

Siemens will offer a Hybrid version of the train, as this diagram explains.

mireo

The Mireo will be provided in anything from 2 to 7 car formations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siemens opens a rail bogie service centre in Lincoln

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by in Engineering, Eurostar, Railways, Siemens

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On Friday 23rd I attended the official opening of Siemens new rail bogie service centre which has been built at their existing gas turbine manufacturing facility  in Lincoln. The facility allows Siemens to carry out bogie overhauls ‘in house’.

A disused building dating from 1874 has been converted for the purpose at a cost of £8 million. Work involved relaying and strengthening 5000 square metres of floor space before installing cranes and other equipment needed to overhaul the bogies. 32 people are currently employed at the facility which began production in September, overhauling spare bogies for the Eurostar e320 trains built by the company. Bogies from the Desiro City fleet of Class 700/707/717 trains will also be overhauled on the site, which has room to be expanded if demand requires it.

Here’s a selection of pictures from my visit.

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A bogie off a Eurostar e320 that’s just been unloaded onto the bogie assessment area. Here a condition assessment is undertaken before it’s moved into the cleaning booth behind it. In the booth the bogie is cleaned using a ‘dry ice’ blasting technique using a solid form of carbon dioxide which is accelerated in a pressurised air stream. This allows the bogie to be cleaned without using toxic chemicals or water, thus cutting down on pollution.

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After cleaning, the bogies are placed on these adjustable jacks to be stripped.

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A view of one side of the shed, the bogie stripping area is on the right of the picture. On the left is the UAT station, the axle bearing press station and the wheelset rebuild station.

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The axle blasting area is where the wheelsets are mechanically cleaned to remove any painted areas. The Finnblast machine is a fully automated system that works by blasting an abrasive air mixture through the nozzle in the blasting chamber with the compressed air acting as the driving force. The speed of the abrasive when charging from the nozzle is about 200 metres per second.

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The wheelset disassembly area. Here the axlebox housings and bearings will be removed using the hydraulic bearing puller in the background.

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No caption needed!

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The axle bearing press station, where the bearings are fitted back onto the axle using the hydraulic press that you can see in the background.

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Inside the axlebox housing, showing the sensor that monitors the temperature of the bearing.

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The bogie press. This is where the rebuilt bogie is subjected to pressing. This reflects the weight characteristic of the particular car a pair of bogies will run beneath and it’s a fully automated process. Using measurements taken in specific locations during the bogie overhaul process it will press against the agreed criteria. The results are automatically generated from the machine. These results must fall within the agreed tolerance range for the bogie to pass.

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All set up and ready to go. Overhauled Eurostar e320 bogies await return.

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Rolling blog: Lincolnshire loafings…

23 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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08:31

Morning folks! Welcome to another dull day in Lincolnshire. Well, weather-wise anyway! I’m just about to head into town before the press trip to have a look at Siemens new £8m railway bogie overhaul facility. After which I’ll be wandering around Lincs for a few hours as I gradually make my way home. So, expect a variety of pictures and comments throughout the day…

09:24.

What a grey day.

Thank God I’m working indoors today!

14:27

Well that was an interesting few hours. Siemens showed us around their factory at Lincoln, part of which was vacant space but that had a long history. The company’s converted 5000m2 space in an 1874 building, spending around £8 million to build their new Bogie Service Centre. I’ll blog about the centre separately, so here’s a taster.

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The bogie of a Eurostar Velaro e320 that’s just arrived. After doing 1.5 million km the bogies are sent for overhaul. This one’s about to go through the cleaning process which involves the use of dry ice. This is more environmentally friendly than the traditional method of water jet washing.

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One of the two halls in the 1874 building that’s been brought back into use.

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A newly overhauled Velaro e320 bogie undergoing a final inspection before being sent back to Eurostar

15:57

I’ve left Lincoln and I’m currently on a train towards Sheffield. By co-incidence I caught it with a journalistic colleague from Today’s Railways UK who was heading to Saxilby. He’d also been at the Siemens event. So, happy 39th Birthday Robert Pritchard!

17:27

I’m on the move again after stopping off to do a bit of research for future articles (Honest Guv!) by visiting the Mallard pub on Worksop station. Is this the only station pub that has an annual conned competition? It’s a cosy one room bar that has a wide range of drinks and four hand pumped ales.

I caught another Northern service from Worksop to Sheffield which was pretty busy. A lot of people were heading for the fleshpots of Sheffield (did you really just write that?: Ed) to enjoy the end of the working week. Hence this detritus left behind. Mind you, I’m not sure what the excuse for a similar shot was yesterday. Maybe it’s a Worksop thing?

So, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Besides, it would be rude not to pay homage to one of the best station pubs in the UK: the Sheffield Tap.

18:25.

Waiting for my train which is delayed by a delayed TPE service. The ripples spread…

18:42.

Well, that was a saga! My Cross-country service kept slipping as the old days of four tracks approaching Sheffield are long gone. Now services are squeezed through two, so it was caught in the queue just trying to get into the station. When it arrived it turned out to be 2 x 4 cars, leading to a mad scramble as passengers tried to find out which set they had reservations in (the PIS screens on the platforms don’t tell you the train formation), which added to the stress and delays. Cue some unhappy passengers because of it. Still, there should be some indicator on the outside of the coach to tell you which it is, no? No. It’s blank. So are the PIS screens in the saloon. You have no idea! Cue doubly pissed-off passengers! Meanwhile, in the vestibules, there’s a lot of students sitting around on bags of washing they’re taking home to mum…

19:12

We’ve left Wakefield Kirkgate 20 mins late, so that’s my connection down the drain…

19:43.

My XC service lateness was of little consequence as the train I *should* have connected with was running late – and then cancelled! I’m now on another delayed service, the 19:36 which is running 10 mins late.

20:37.

I’m finally back in Halifax, so I’m going to draw this blog to a close. It’s been a fascinating and frustrating day, now I’ve got a few days to put my thoughts into words, both in a blog and for RAIL magazine. Enjoy your weekend.

Rolling blog: foggy Friday!

09 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by in Germany, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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Yep, the working week’s ended as it began, with murky weather here in the Pennines. Today’s a bit of a mixture. I’ve been working at home editing pictures this morning. I’ve been playing catch-up with archive pictures as I realised that there were dozens of shots from a press trip to Germany in June that I hadn’t uploaded. Back then a group of us went to see Siemens in Germany as they’d arranged a preview of trains they would be displaying at the Innotrans trade fair later in the year. We were treated to a tour of the factory at Krefeld to see the Class 717s being built for the UK, the first Mireo being assembled, the production of Velaro’s for DB and also the Rhine-Ruhr Express units. We were also treated to the chance to travel on one of the RRX units which was at the Wildenrath test track. You can find all the pictures in this gallery on my Zenfolio website. Here’s a shot of the RRX on test.

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This afternoon I’m heading over to Huddersfield to visit ACoRP towers, then this evening Dawn and I are popping up to the fabulous Moorcock Inn for a meal. We’ve been wanting to try the restaurant menu there for ages. We’ve often had the delicious bar snacks but wanted to try the full dining experience as it’s had such rave reviews, like this one from Jay Rayner. As it’s our 1st wedding anniversary on Sunday, we thought this was an ideal time. Expect this blog to be updated throughout the day….

13:48

I left home later than expected to to having to sort out flight changes for our New Zealand trip (we now get an extra day!) and a press invite that could see me back in Germany next month. The walk to the station was a bit dreary due to the gloomy weather, as you can see from this shot I took on the way.

I’m now bouncing and screeching my way to Huddersfield. Not actually me you understand, just the Pacer I’m sat on!

16:03

Having caught up with some paperwork and reading at the ACORP office I’ve had a bit of a wander. Oh, by the way, the 2bd part of my round Britain by rail trip for RAIL magazine hit the newsagents shelves on Wednesday.

Whilst I was notching around Huddersfield I couldn’t resist popping into the wonderfully restored ‘Kings Head’ pub on the station.

The work has earned it an award – and deservedly so.

19:17.

Tonight’s menu.

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Rolling blog: Who pinched the sun?

11 Wednesday Jul 2018

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I’m heading back to London under leaden skies which feels really rather strange after such a long run of sunny days. The weather’s still warm but I was rather hoping that there would be some rain to bring relief to the parched fields which haven’t seen any for well over a month. Sadly, there’s no sign of that. Yet…

I was up at the ungodly hour of 04:30 as I’ve an early appointment to judge a London station for the ACoRP awards. I’m in the capital for the annual press lunch held by Siemens, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. The earliness of my appointment meant I couldn’t use Grand Central so I’m on the 07:15 LNER service from Leeds which is worked by one of the company’s (soon to be displaced) HST’s. Here it is before departure.

There was fun and games beforehand as the 06:44 LNER service to London was cancelled so the following 07:00 was rammed. I decided to catch this one instead so that I could get a seat & snooze for a while!

09:46

The weather here in London’s still cloudy but the sun’s making valiant efforts to break through! Meanwhile, I’ve swapped steeds and boarded one of the newest additions to the UK fleet, the Siemens built Class 700s. These things are real people movers! They provide much needed capacity in the peaks when older trains were overwhelmed. This one’s forming the 09:51 to Cambridge North, it’s quiet return working as it’s brought 1000s into work already.

I’m only using at far as an old stomping ground – Finsbury Park, whee I’ll be changing to catch one of the oldest passenger trains on the UK network, the Class 313s. These venerable 3-car units were introduced in 1976 when the suburban lines out of Kings Cross and Moorgate were first electrified. They still operate services to Hertford North and Welwyn Garden City, but not for much longer. Their replacements (a derivative of the Siemens Class 700s known as the Class 717) are on their way from Germany…

The 313s have served the railways well. I used to be a regular traveller on them when I lived in Crouch End, but now they’re tired, run down, dirty and unsuitable for today’s volume of passengers. Here’s the one I’m on now, 313031. They’ve changed little in 40 years other than by having their original low-backed seats replaced by this version.

10:12.

Bugger! We’ve ground to a halt just outside Hornsey station due (according to the driver) a tresspasser on the line ahead of us at Oakleigh Park! I’m really not having much luck this week. An LNER express has drawn up and stopped beside us, having encountered the same problem – although it’s difficult to see through the filthy windows on my train!

10:26

On the move again!

11:36

Visit over, I’m now off to the Dorchester Hotel for the Siemens press lunch.

19:45

Phew – what a busy day! The lunch was excellent. Not just because of the food (which was very good) and the ambience of the restaurant, what was far more important was the discussions that could be had between all those who attended.

I stayed later than intended because of it, then had to hot-foot it to Kings Cross, where I managed to catch LNER’s 17:03 to Leeds, which was rammed as the first stop was Peterborough.

To their credit, Network Rail amended the PIS to reflect what was happening in the World Cup tonight.

Back in the late 1980’s I used to travel to Peterboro regularly to say with a friend. The trains were busy then. Now the service has doubled, the formations strenghtened – and they’re still rammed!

Fortunately for me sufficient folk disembarjed at Peterborough that I managed to find a seat to Leeds