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Paul Bigland

Category Archives: Trams

12th August picture of the day…

12 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Lancashire, Musings, Photography, Trams, Travel

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Lancashire, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Trams, Travel

After yesterday’s Blackpool jaunt today’s been one where the focus has been very much about home. The day’s been another hot one with the mercury hitting the 30 degree mark so ideal for spending lots of time in the cool of my office. Plus, I’ve had a couple of days worth of pictures to edit. The galleries they’ve been added to you can find by following this link.

I did eventually venture out for my daily constitutional but boy, was I hot and sweaty by the time I got back. Apart from the absence of humidity these temperatures remind me of being back in Asia – only without the colour and the chaos – well, if you discount what’s happening in politics anyway.

One unexpected event was playing host to a racing pigeon. I’d been out watering the back terrace garden when I spotted a clearly exhausted pigeon drinking from an old plant pot base. The fact it showed absolutely no fear or inclination to move when I approached convinced me it wasn’t one of our skittish locals. When I got close the rings on both its legs confirmed my suspicions. Myself and a couple of neighbors fed and watered it, but then the damned thing wanted to go to sleep on the back steps, which would have been suicide as next door has a couple of cats. Instead, it now has a perch in our shed where it has food, water and sanctuary until tomorrow when we can see if its fit enough to fly off or we have to try and contact its owners.

Talking of flying away, our evening’s been spent in our local pub (The Big 6) to celebrate Holly’s last shift after seven years behind the bar. Nowadays the ‘ginmeister’ works as a teacher and doesn’t have the time. Her send-off brought a lot of old regulars together and included the former Landlord and Landlady – John and Leslie. We had a lovely night catching up with everyone and reminiscing about old times.

Right now the pair of us are back at home and ready to call it a day. It may be Saturday tomorrow but we’ve both got lots of things to do involving work rather than play. Before I switch off for the evening I’ll leave you with the picture of the day which is one from my visit to Blackpool. Odd to think, but until the early 1990s when the Metrolink system in Manchester opened Blackpool was the last refuge of trams in the UK, now look at it. It’s gone from a run-down old system running vintage vehicles to an growing business that uses new Bombardier Flexity 2 trams and is extending its routes to include a new interchange by Blackpool North station.

Trams are in the pink in Blackpool…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

7th August picture of the day…

07 Saturday Aug 2021

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Picture of the day, The USA, Trams, Travel

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Musings, Picture of the day, The USA, Trams, Travel

Saturday’s been another quiet day here in the Calder Valley, mainly because the weather’s not been up to much and Dawn’s been out with a friend, so I’ve been left to my own (electronic) devices for the day. I’d toyed with the idea of going for a long walk but the fact I’d have been soaked in the process put a damper on that idea. Instead I found myself passing time scanning yet more old slides, editing pictures and carrying out household chores, which kept me occupied until the rain decided to give us all a break, allowing me to venture out to enjoy a walk down into Sowerby Bridge, potter along the Rochdale canal, then climb the hill to home. Normally Sowerby Bridge would be busy with day-trippers and other tourists this time of year but the town was surprisingly quiet. Covid’s still having an impact as sensible people are being cautious at the moment. That said, I walked past our local narrowboat hire company (Shire Cruisers) only to find their basin completely empty as all their boats are out on hire. After the awful time they must have had in 2020 this was a sight for sore eyes. I must admit to a flash of jealousy. A group of friends and I hired one of their boats back in 2006 and had a fabulous time cruising from Sowerby Bridge up to the Leeds and Liverpool canal and across the Pennines towards Blackburn. I’ve always harbored an ambition to own a narrowboat and seriously considered buying one a few years ago, but plans got put on hold because of ‘events’ on the UK political scene. Maybe one day…

Having avoided the temptation to stop for a pint in Sowerby I dodged the rain on the way home and called in at a local hostelry just down the road called the Wainhouse Tavern. It was never my local pub, that was a place called The Big 6, but the 6 has been sold and legal bureaucracy over the transfer of ownership has meant it’s remained closed despite the lifting of lockdown, so the Wainhouse has become a sort of surrogate where I know I may be able to see a few familiar faces and have a chat and a joke. After months and months of lockdowns and as a freelance who can lead a fairly solitary and nomadic existence that’s lovely to be able to do now and again.

I didn’t linger longer than a couple of pints and now I’m back home at Bigland Towers sorting out a few more bits whilst Dawn (who’s returned from Holmfirth) cooks her amazing Spanish Prawns dish, so there’s just enough time left for me to post the picture of the day, which ia another old slide from my latest batch of pictures from the USA.

I took this picture in San Francisco, California on the 26th October 1990 as one of the iconic cable cars was being rotated on a turntable at the end of the line. I must admit to loving the old San Fran cable cars, they’re such a great way to travel and the folks who staffed them were brilliant as they were such wise-crackers and naturals with people, locals and tourists alike.

I rather fell in love with the city when I was there, although, bizarrely I’ve never been back since – despite having visited the USA many times afterwards. I’ve always promised myself – ‘one day’. Mind you, with the way Covid’s clipped my wings I’d settle for travelling anywhere outside this Sceptic Isle right now! I can’t wait for the world to start opening up again…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Yorkshire (and Manchester) interlude…

21 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by Paul Bigland in Manchester, Photography, Rolling blogs, Trams, Travel

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Manchester, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Trams, Travel

09:00.

Having spent most of yesterday in the office on what was one of the sunniest (and certainly hottest) days of the year, i’m venturing out today. Sod’s Law being what it is, the weather’s nowhere near as good as we have low cloud instead of wall-to-wall sunshine. Hopefully, if the Met Office have got it right the cloud will disappear later.

That suits me as right now I’m on the 08:50 train from Halifax to Huddersfield. Why? I’m off to Specsavers! Having had my usual eye test deferred by Covid it’s time to get my ‘mince pies’ checked out and choose a new pair of glasses. My preaent ones are four years old now. Photographer’s glasses take a beating due to costantly coming into contact with cameras. The lens coatings get worn away and the glass scratched and scored, so it’s time these ones were retired. Besides, it’ll be a week or so before the new ones are ready…

After the Opticians (and if the weather’s right) I plan to spend a few hours at the lineside getting some pictures. I’m not sure where yet, that depends on the sun – so let’s see what happens.

My service to Huddersfield’s being worked by 150274, a unit that’s worked in Yorkshire all its life. It’s been refurbished and had USB sockets and PIS screens fitted, so it’s in good nick. It’s also empty. The handful of people who got on with me at Halifax detrained at Brighouse, leaving me on my lonesome!

09:30.

As train times and available appointment times were out of sync I’ve time to hang around at the station getting a few shots. Until recently the stabling sidings were always full of surplus Nothern units that weren’t needed due to the Covid downturn. Today the yard’s empty, which augurs well. All there is to admire is the massive, multi-storey bulk of the old goods warehouse in the background.

Watching the procession of Trans-Pennine Express services as they arrive and depart it’s plain passenger numbers are picking up. Some of them are busy and it’s noticable that 1st Class (which suffered the biggest collapse in numbers) is seeing people return as business travel returns.

11:45.

My eye-test revealed that my eyes are perfectly healthy, which is always good news. They didn’t pick up any other underlying health problems either. As an extra precaution I paid to have my Retinas scanned and mapped which provides a health template for the future. As usual, the Specsavers staff were both professional and friendly with no pressure put on me to buy expensive frames or extras. I chose an new lightweight frame to house the thin lenses I’d ordered. They don’t look very different to my old ones really, they’re simply a slightly different shape.

Back at the station I spotted that the famous station cafe on the East end of the island platform had reopened, so I couldn’t resist popping in for one of their delicious, freshly cooked bacon rolls. The lovely couple who run it were both there so we swapped stories as we’ve not seen each other since the start of the pandemic. It’s great to see them back. The cafe was always one of the station’s hubs with a regular throughput of passengers and railstaff passing through. They reopened just 9 weeks ago and are finding it hard to build back the business. Passengers are returning but many have changed their routines, bypassing businesses that relied on them. Getting them back is a challenge. So, if you do pass through Huddersfield remember they’re there and pop in for a drink and a snack and enjoy one of the few remaining traditional family run station cafe’s left on the network.

17:15.

Apologies for the gap in blogging but I’ve been on the move non-stop since leaving Huddersfield. Looking at the weather I decided tp bolt across the border into Lancashire for a few hours and recce the forthcoming Trans-Pennine route upgrade engineering work that will be taking place on the route to Stalybridge, so I caught a train to Manchester Victoria then retraced my steps towards Ashton-Under-Lyne by tram just for the sheer variety! I’ve not spent much time on Metrolink for some time, so it was a good opportunity to update the library with images of street-running trams and their place in the pecking order. Frankly, I could have done with some air-conditioning on the vehicles, most of which were very busy. Unlike the national rail network the number of people who’re still wearing masks is much lower. Despite the weather, I maintained mine. One thing that struck me as we pootled along the streets of Droylesden was how many shops remained closed. There were all sorts, fast-food joints, nail bars, restaurants – small businesses of all kinds. I’m assuming more than a few have been put out of business by the pandemic and will never reopen. It was a very sad sight.

Once out at Ashton I walked over to the nearby Ashton Moss North Junction where a road overbridge offers decent views and a new housing estate right next to the line adds perspective. Sadly, by this time the clouds were rolling in and I lucked out on a few shots. The weather felt like it could thunder any time, so I kept an eye out on the skies to make sure I didn’t get caught out. There’s no signs of electrification mast bases on this section yet, but there’s a large compound next to the railway on Richmond St which contractors have established and stocked with equipment – including mast piles. I expect progress will be made during the blockade when the line will be under a possession with trains diverted. Here’s a Northern Class 150 working from Southport – Stalybridge past Ashton Moss North Junction with the compound seen to the right, next to the trackside access.

Here’s a view looking the other way from the bridge. TPE’s 802206 is passing the new housing estate (barely 4 years old) with a service from Liverpool Lime St to Newcastle. This was the site of Old Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction, where the line to Guide Bridge trailed off to the right towards the camera. The Junction was closed in 1991. The site beyond the Junction (also on the right) was the site of the LNWR Oldham Rd goods depot which closed much earlier in 1966. It’s now the site of a Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets. The new housing makes me crack a wry smile when I think of those opposed to HS2 saying ‘no-one wants to hear the noise of a railway’! No doubt I’ll be popping back here on a regular basis now to document the march of the electrification masts.

Moving on to Ashton itself I caught a train through to Stalybridge where I resisted the temptation to visit the station buffet (believe me – that was a struggle on a hot day like today!). Staying just long enough to get a few pictures I made my way back into Manchester before heading back home. I’m currently on the 16:58 Victoria to Leeds which is very busy indeed.

22:30.

Time to bring the day to a close. I’ve spent part of the evening editing today’s pictures, so here’s a sample. A Manchester Metrolink tram approaches Ashton West with IKEA dominating the skyline beyond. I’ll add a few more pictures and some text to this blog tomorrow. Right now I’m going to try and get some sleep on what’s another hot and humid night…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

26th March picture of the day…

26 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by Paul Bigland in India, Musings, Picture of the day, Trams, Travel

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India, Musings, Picture, Trams, Travel

After the past couple of days being out and about normal service was resumed today as I’ve spent most of it chained to a desk at home. Mind you, the weather made a volte face too as we had heavy rain this morning and intermittent hailstorms this afternoon so I’m not really complaining. Plus, I was able to edit all the new pictures I’ve taken, plus a few more old slides – and pin down details of the next couple of commissions – so not a bad day at all really.

For those with an interest in railways you can find most of yesterdays pictures here – or here.

Tomorrow I’m back on the road as I have a rather unusual job to do. The old British Rail built ‘Pacer’ trains may have been retired, but some of the vehicles are finding new uses. Tomorrow, one of these Porterbrook owned vehicles is being donated to a school in Bradford where it will become a science lab and I’ll be there to cover the event. It means being there at 08:00 so I’m not going to be writing much tonight! However, I will be blogging about the delivery and installation (which has the potential to be rather challenging) so watch this space.

Instead, here’s the picture of the day which is also transport related. It’s from my latest batch of slide scans. I took this picture in Calcutta (now renamed Kolkata), West Bengal, India on the 28th February 1992. This is one of the venerable, but battered Calcutta trams which still ply their trade today, although the routes have diminished hugely in the past 3 years. Only 5 routes survive. This shot was taken at Esplanade terminus in the heart of Calcutta during a layover – hence the Conductor’s foot hanging out of the rear window!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

Tourist blues…

19 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Trams, Travel

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Musings, Trams, Travel

You know when you have one of those days when nothing quite goes to plan? Ours was today.

After so long being ‘confined to barracks’ we decided to stretch our wings (in a socially responsible way of course) by packing a picnic and driving out to somewhere different. If it was too busy we’d move on to find somewhere else. Our aim was to find somewhere near water where we could fit in a decent walk then enjoy our repast. We’d prepared home made quiche, potato salad and various other goodies so we were well-supplied. Our cunning plan was to stay away from the coast and well-known beauty spots and head to some of the reservoirs in the Nidderdale AONB north of Wharfedale near the wonderfully named Blubberhouses, which has the Fewston and Swinsty reservoirs on its doorstep, both of which have wooded walking trails around them.

They’re less than an hour from where we live but we ‘ve never explored either of them. En-route we took a wrong turning near Bolton Abbey, which was a mistake that paid off as we discovered another area neither of us had explored – the Upper Wharfe Valley. It’s gorgeous but the narrow road North past Bolton Abbey was absolutely rammed with cars, motorcycles, bicycles and walkers. We were constantly playing ‘stop – go’ as drivers gave way to each other in the narrowest sections. At pretty little Burnsall there’s what pass for beaches on the river. Each one was swarming with people, which didn’t bode well. Bolton Abbey was bad enough but we’d figured it would be quieter around this neck of the woods. We passed through the edge of Grassington (which was equally busy) before enjoying driving on open roads as far as Pateley Bridge before approaching Blubberhouses from the North to reach our first planned stop.

That’s when it all went Pete Tong. The place was packed. The car parks were overflowing, many people had parked up on verges, making narrow roads even more sclerotic. Most people were doing their best to social-distance but with the weight of numbers it felt too uncomfortable so we flagged it and headed back towards Otley, thinking we might find a nice spot somewhere on the River Wharfe. Despite trying several locations we were disappointed. Much of the river’s inaccessible so the spots that are were busy. Giving up on that idea we drove over to Ilkley and headed up to the moor – with exactly the same problem. The roads were chocked with cars, meaning there was nowhere scenic to stop. Abandoning that idea we checked out a couple more places on the edge of the moor on the road towards Bingley. None were worth stopping at, so we gave up and headed back towards home via our last hope – the moors above Oxenhope. Wherever we went we encountered car after car. I’ve never seen the place so busy, but I think Dawn nailed it when she observed that with most people having had foreign and UK holidays further afield cancelled folks are doing exactly the same as us and day-tripping just as soon as the weather picks up.

We did try one last location, Ogden Water, a scant few miles from home. Just like everywhere else, it was an unpleasant traffic jam as drivers who’re clearly not used to such narrow roads try and get their lardbutt SUVs down roads designed for horse and carts. We didn’t even bother stopping. The result? After five hours travelling we ate our picnic in the front garden at home. It was the most relaxing spot we found all day!

That said, the day wasn’t a total loss. I got to see places I’d never visited before and we both got ideas for locations to go to in the future. Plus, Dawn got to drive on some open roads rather than just pootle to and from Huddersfield. The one downside was the roads were so busy it was hard to stop so I didn’t take a single picture!

Which rather neatly brings me on to the picture of the day. Let’s face it – it’s the only way that I can include one! Today’s was taken in Lisbon, Portugal on the 2nd June 2010 when Dawn and I were spending some time in the city with friends from the UK whom we’d met up with. I love the city’s old tram network and our little band took trams out into the town to explore, find a local bar and people watch. One thing I noticed was the way younger people ‘tram-surfed’. I caught this shot of three young girls in the act as their tram crawled past the little bar we were sat outside of.

DG53199. Tram surfing. Lisbon 2.6.10.crop

 

New Zealand day 18. Christchurch.

16 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in New Zealand, Trams, Travel, Uncategorized

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New Zealand, Trams, Travel

(This blog is under construction. More later)…

We’ve spent the day exploring Christchurch, which is quite a surreal experience in many ways.  I’ve never been to a city that’s been so dramatically changed by a natural disaster before.

We started our day by walking into town and trying to piece together a picture of the city. It’s difficult. Not just because so many building have been demolished’ leaving entire blocks bare, but also because some condemned building are still waiting to be torn down and replaced, like this one on the Corner of Worcester Boulevard and Cambridge Terrace. In the corner window you can see a picture of the new building that will replace it.

dg316314crop

Not far from here was a statue of Scott of the Antarctic. Christchurch is a nexus for many of the countries that have bases there, with ships sailing from the city to the Antarctic on a regular basis. In the UK’s current political climate I could see Scott as a metaphor for Brexit…

dg316310crop

After wandering the city we visited Quake City, the museum dedicated to the 2011 earthquake and its aftermath. It’s a sobering experience as it brings home the power of earthquakes and also their aftermath. As well as physical remains and pictures of the earthquake there’s a series of very moving interviews with survivors of the day. These bring it home to you just what people went through. Afterwards we headed back into town to catch one of the vintage trams that operate a circular, hop-on, hop-off service around the centre of town. En-route we passed the remains of what had been the tallest building in Christchurch before the earthquake. This is what it looks like today. The whole city block has been demolished and awaits redevelopment. The rest of it is car-parks.

dg316334crop

Before catching the tram we stopped for lunch in the beautifully restored New Regent St, a pedestrianised zone (OK, trams don’t count) that has a great selection of bars, restaurants and cafes. We were craving spicy food so chose a Thai café called The Nook. They had tables out in the street so we could enjoy the food whilst soaking up the sun and watching the world go by – not to mention the cheeky sparrows, who ate almost as much of our rice as we did! dg316341crop

The food was good, the prices reasonable and the wine wasn’t bad either. Suitably stuffed, we caught a tram to see more of the city. Christchurch’s trams are a mix of vintage vehicles from New Zealand and Australia. We were lucky to get 152, one of the original city trams. It has a royal pedigree as both the Queen and Prince Harry have toured the city on it. There’s even little brass plaques to tell you that you’re parked your bum on the same seat as royalty!

dg316356crop

dg316435crop

To be continued…

 

Innotrans and Berlin

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Germany, Innotrans, Railways, Trams, Travel, Uncategorized

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Germany, Innotrans, Railways, Trams, Travel

It’s my fourth day here in Berlin and apart from the fact i’ve been having a hectic time I’m also having a fabulous one.

Sunday left me shattered after my negative experiences of Stansted airport. Whilst I’ve been here I chatted to other UK colleagues, who share the same view of the place and now refuse to use it. What was once one of the UK’s best airports is viewed as having been ruined by concentrating on wringing every last penny of of passengers. After spending a few hours exploring and getting pictures I headed out to my hotel and ended up falling asleep by 21:30!

In contrast, my experiences here in Germany have been extremely positive. After all the madness that’s going on back home because of Brexit and our mad politicians, it’s lovely to be in a confident and outward looking, stable country. Berlin’s also one of my favourite capital cities. It has a bohemian heart and it’s all the better for it. There’s also massive investment in Berlin’s railway infrastructure, like this view East from the rebuilt Ostkreuz station which shows the new flyover and dive under built for the S-Bahn.

DG308451crop

On Monday I took time off to explore a couple of the delightful old rural tramways that link country towns with the S-Bahn. They’re rather timeless. Here’s the route out from Rahnsdorf to Waltersdorf.

DG308516crop

This one is the route nearby, from Friedrichshagen to Rüdersdorf.

DG308627cfrop

Right now I’m commuting in from Ludwigsfelde, a town just to the South, which is where I’m staying. It takes 30 mins to get to the amazing Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Hotel prices go crazy when Innotrans is on, so unless you book months (or years) in advance you can pay silly prices.

DG308679crop

Commuting, Berlin style. This is my ODEG service out to Ludwigsfelde from the magnificent Birlin Hauptbahnhof.

I’m heading to day two of Innotrans, the world’s biggest rail trade fair. Around 160,000 people will visit over the four days, after which it’s opened to the public for another two days after that. I’m expecting another hectic day as one of the magazines I’m working for has a shortlist of stuff for me to get and today the British Transport Minister, Chris Grayling is touring the show. He’s tipped to be signing some contracts…

Oh, did I mention the weather? Innotrans is renowned for always getting the sun. Yesterday we baked in the heat, today’s expected to hit 26 degrees! I’m just glad us photojournalists are allowed to dress down!

Right now I’m in the Press centre, where I can grab a coffee, use the wifi and all the other facilities provided for Journalists before hitting the stands. It’s quiet at the moment, but here’s what the place looks like.

If you want to see pictures from the show, take a look at this gallery on my Zenfolio website as that’s where I’m putting them. I’ll flesh this blog out more when I have time.

18:51.

I’ve finally left the show and begun my journey home, but first there’s time to stop of at the Alkopole Bar at Alex, have a quiet beer and catch my thoughts. The day was busier than I thought for the simple reason that Chris Grayling visited a lot of trade stalls. We may fundamentally disagree over politics but I can’t fault him for keeping such a busy schedule. David Davis he ain’t!

I did manage to take up a certain train builders invitation to visit their version of platform 9 & 3/4, which was an mock English pub hidden on the back of one of their trains, but I’ll say no more.

The rest of my time was spent flitting between trade stands and the press centre with the occaisional foray to have a look at some new train interiors. The problem was that some of the ones I wanted to check out had a shore supply. This meant they were extremely popular as the air-conditioning worked – a real blessing in this heat!

I’m not sure what the temperature is now but it’s a lovely evening for sitting outside with a beer.

The ‘press pack’ has scattered to the four winds this evening due to a multitude of receptions and events to go to, which has spared my liver, so I’m not complaining. Besides, I have another 05:50 start in the morning…

UK light rail conference 2015.

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Hs2, LRT, Nottingham, Trams

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Hs2, LRT, Nottingham, Trams, UKLRT15

It’s lunch break so I’ve a little time to start a blog from the event, which, so far, has proved to be very interesting. My difficulty has been in deciding which of the many different sessions to attend.

The day started with a presentation from Nottingham Cllr Jean Urquhart (who has lead responsibility for NET) who spoke about some of the successes of a system which will carry 20m passengers a year. I’ll talk about these in detail when I’ve time to flesh this out.

After her introduction we headed off to two other lecture rooms where we could choose from a variety of presentations. I plumped for the session on ‘low impact light rail’ which contained briefings from Paul Griffiths of Centro & Ian Jordan of Trelleborg. The brief centered on the opportunity to reduce the costs of building tramways by the use of modular track panels. These reduce the depth of excavations to lay tram tracks & prevent underground services needing to be disturbed or moved. (more later).

The second session was a panel debate on driving down costs, although there were no easy solutions presented & the panel were quite pessimistic about the way decentralisation (& the new LEPs) are adding costs, not removing them.

In between sessions we had chance to browse the dozens of stands & chat to the companies represented. Take a look;

Colas rail are at UKLRT15

Colas rail are at UKLRT15

Just some of the stands at UKLRT15

Just some of the stands at UKLRT15

The event’s certainly well run & there’s a lot to look forward to. I’ll update you all later, now it’s time for the next sessions. I’m looking forward to the off wire operations seminar…

Update. 18:38.

Well, I wasn’t disappointed. There were some excellent afternoon sessions!

Mariana Kajen, MD (Middle East) of North Star gave a fact filled presentation on the rail market in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries & the prospects for UK firms to do business there. One fact that really stuck in my mind was that Saudi Arabia are currently spending a whopping $44.8bn on light & heavy rail systems! I’ll include a couple of shots of her presentation later.

Later, Hervé Mazzoni, SYSTRA’s Director of Systems Integration & RAMS gave a fascinating presentation on off-wire operation & energy recovery systems that manged to be both incredibly informative – and funny. When his presentation cut out he demonstrated that the old engineers trick of giving something a kick still works in the computer age. I had a chat with him afterwards & I was very impressed with his incisive knowledge. Here he is just before kicking off (literally) his presentation!

DG216122. Herve Mazzoni presentation. UKLRC15. Nottingham. 17.6.15

The afternoon ended with NET laying on a special tram to take delegates on a trip along the phase 2 route as far as Beeston, where we had chance for a few photo’s. Again, I’ll write more about this later.

Our special tram sits at the single platform stop at Beeston.

Our special tram sits at the single platform stop at Beeston.

DAY 2 UPDATE.

Phew! I’ve had to leave the conference early as I’m on an assignment in London later today. So, here’s an update on this mornings proceedings sent from the comfort of mt East Midlands Train to London…

The first session I attended was a presentation from David Keay – HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Railways at the ORR. He gave a fascinating talk about the history of the railways inspectorate (which dates back to 1840).  The ORR archives have a wonderful collection of old documents, one of which is a letter written by railway engineer George Stephenson to the Board of Trade, strongly supporting the establishment of a railways inspectorate. David related the fact that whilst Stephenson was a great supporter of the need for an inspectorate, fellow engineer I.K Brunel was vehemently opposed to the idea!

David went on to tell the tale of some of the early Inspectors (all of whom came from the Army) and how the principle that the railway companies are ultimately responsible for safety was first established in 1879 following the terrible Tay bridge disaster.

History dispensed with, David went on to describe how the current inspectorate operates & the establishment of ROGS, aka, Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 which established Safety Management Systems (SMS).

Next up for me was a panel debate on ‘High speed rail and multi-modal integration’ which primarily focused on how to maximise the benefits from Hs2. Paul Buchanan from Volterra set the financial scene  whilst former Transport Minister Norman Baker dealt with political aspects. David Ralph, Chief Exec of D2N2 talked abot the Midlands perspective & the opportunities of Hs2 at Toton. Martha Grekos, a Partner at Irwin Mitchell left people in no doubt Hs2 was happening. She also talked about the momentum behind the project and the importance of planning ahead.

The final session before we broke for lunch & I had to leave was a plenary debate on tram-train with Colin Walton, Metrolink MD Peter Cushing, Simon Coulthard, Network Rail’s project head, Tim Kendall (formerly of the DfT) and Dave Haskins, project Director from Metro (Yorks).

This was the most frustrating session of the event. Whilst Simon gave us an update on progress (the first Vossloh vehicle will arrive in November) and some of the factors that have dragged to project out, we were left with no clear insight into why this project has been bogged down for so many years. It was clear the operators want to see results & are keen to adapt the technology, but I was left with a feeling what was unsaid was far more important. For example, why is the project costing 4 times more than the Karlsruhe system in Germany & why are we insisting on vehicle standards that aren’t mandatory?

Despite those frustrations the conference has, to my eyes, been an excellent event that’s been well run, informative and entertaining. I hope I’ll be able to attend next year.

 

 

 

 

Time to catch my breath for a moment…

23 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Germany, Siemens, Thameslink, Trams

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Germany, Railways, Siemens, Thameslink, Trams

I’m scribbling this on board a TPE train from Huddersfield to York, where I’m volunteering at tonight’s Railway Benefit Fund spring ball. Here’s the poster;

Bz_NyTuCMAEAixd.jpg small

It’s been a hectic week that’s left me with no time to blog – but plenty to blog about. It began with another press trip to Germany where Siemens were hosting a pre UITP 2015 conference event at their factory at Krefeld & test track at Wildenrath. 50 plus journalists from across Europe attended. To say Siemens had plenty to talk about & show us was an understatement – the press pack weighed a ton! At Krefeld we had a choice of seminars on digitalization, the Thameslink Class 700s and improving rail capacity through the use of electronic signalling. There was even a presentation on eBuses. After the presentations we toured the Thameslink Class 700 production line & were treated to a demonstration of the company’s 3-D design technology. All this has provided a huge amount to write about (I’ll be blogging about the Thameslink 700s in a separate piece when I’ve more time).

After a night in Dusseldorf we moved on to the Siemens test track on the former RAF base at Wildenrath which is a fantastic resource. It has two circular test tracks (the longest is 6km) and numerous testing & commissioning workshops. We’d come to see two different vehicles fleets; first was the new Avenio hybrid tram for Doha in Qatar. I have to say, this concept has the potential to be a real game changer for tramways – you’ll be able to read a full report about it in my next article for RAIL magazine. As well as being shown a static tram we took a ride on another which was under test. For a battery powered vehicle, their performance is impressive. Later we were treated to a ride on one of the 12-car Class 700s which are at Wildenrath for testing before they move to the UK later this year. I’m really looking forward to seeing them arrive as they’ll make a huge difference to capacity on the network. As an aside, Siemens mentioned that the Desiro City operating costs are 47% lower than the Class 450 Desiro. The presentations often contained interesting nuggets of information like this. Another mentioned that 3D printers have solved the problem of obsolescence in spare parts as it’s now possible to recreate them – even in small numbers.

One of the 19 3-car Avenio hybrid trams Siemens are building for Doha in Qatar.

One of the 19 3-car Avenio hybrid trams Siemens are building for Doha in Qatar.

Here's 700101 on the test track at Wildenrath. Earlier in the month I had the opportunity to drive it at 80mph!

Here’s 700101 on the test track at Wildenrath. Earlier in the month I had the opportunity to drive it at 80mph!

Right, we’re almost at York, so it’s time to go. I’ll write more about my experiences with Siemens soon. In the meantime, if you want to have a look at the rest of the pictures from Germany, follow these links;

http://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/p273014381

http://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/p921265531

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