Hs2’Rebellion’, the latest farce…

16 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, Protest

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There’s an old philosophical question that’s really rather apt when it comes to the farcical ‘campaign’ against HS2. It’s “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” One could update it to the present day to ask “If an Hs2rebellion protest camp’s evicted and no-one was around to Livestream/video it, did it really happen”?

This question could have been posed today when an eviction took place today of the sole anti HS2 camp north of Warwickshire. Named ‘Camp Isla’ after someone’s canine friend, it really did seem to be a one man and his dog operation! Although it appears on Hs2Rebellion’s dwindling list of ‘protection’ camps, it hasn’t been any trouble for HS2 as nothing much has been happening – until today, when this appeared on the camp’s Facebook page.

This eviction must hold a special place in the annals as since this appeared, not a single video, livestream, photograph or any verifiable record of the event has appeared – despite the appeals for people to turn up to ‘protect’ the camp. This is all the more mysterious when one looks at some more claims made when the camp went from one man and his dog to group of people down a tunnel and folk festooning the trees! .

Needless to say, not of this has been supported by the slightest bit of evidence from anyone. I’ve little doubt an eviction has happened – but the rest strikes me as pure fantasy. Not one of them has a camera-phone? Well, that’s a first. Normally the internet is awash with long and boring livestreams recording every eviction.

Of course, the daft thing about all these Walter Mitty fantasies about tunnels etc, is they soon fall apart in the cold light of day. I suspect (and not for the first time) the ‘camp’ Facebook account will be kept alive to churn out messages of support, fictitious updates and claims of winning – but the reality will be very different. Mind you, the HS2Rebellion website is rather good at that too. Here’s the list of ‘protection’ camps they claim exist, with the reality added…

So, 8 camps. 3 of which no longer exist, 2 more which have been partly evicted and 2 more (Crackley and Denham) which are almost certainly redundant as there’s nothing left to ‘protect’ anymore! Some ‘winning’! Two other camps have never made the list as one (Leather Lane near Jones’ Hill woods) didn’t last a fortnight whilst the other on Wormwood Scrubs has no permanent site and has less than 5 regular occupants! In fact, if you added up the regular occupants of all these camps together I doubt you’d find more than a couple of dozen people.

Pitch this against the largest construction site in Europe with 10s of 1000s of workers over 300 worksites on a 140 mile long route and you can start to see the futility of all this. Mind you, so can many of the protesters, which is why so many of them have wandered off back to other causes to fight yet more lost battles for Extinction Rebellion and other groups – hence some of the Euston tunnel refugees appearing in Lichfield to spray paint on a factory supposedly supplying military equipment to Israel. Obviously, political activism (just like being a SPAD to the PM) makes you immune to Covid or the need to follow lockdown rules! Whilst XR and it’s friends might not think those rules apply they might find the new police, crime, sentencing and courts bill which passed second reading by 359 to 263 votes rather harder to ignore as provisions in it will criminalise some of their activities. Despite my own personal reservations about the bill I will be interested to see how quickly it becomes law and how it’s used in practice against groups like Extinction Rebellion and HS2Rebellion.

Of course, today happened on the same day that HS2 Ltd announced the start of work on what will be one of the most visible civil engineering projects on phase 1 – the 3.5km long Colne viaduct on the edge of London. Unlike ‘Camp Isla’, this won’t be a one man and his dog operation! The world’s moved on even if the remaining protesters haven’t. Poor ‘Isla’ is left barking up the wrong tree – in more ways than one…

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13th March picture of the day…

13 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by in India, Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

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I’m back! My Covid vaccination didn’t cause me too much of a problem, but it certainly made its presence known. I had a crap nights sleep on Thursday due to the flu-like aches and pains it generated. I still felt low on Friday morning so stayed in bed but by lunchtime the effects had worn off and I felt right as rain. So much so that I was well enough to get out for a long walk and hit my daily exercise targets without any trouble – which was a bonus.

My spirits were further lifted by a phone call. Sometimes, as a Journalist, you wonder if the stuff you write ever has an impact or if it’s worthwhile. The current copy of RAIL magazine contains a piece I’ve written on ‘Platform 1’, the mental health charity based at Huddersfield station. On Friday I had a phone call from Bob Morse, the charities Project Manager. Not only did he love the article (which he thought told was pitched just right), he also told me that’s it’s already saved one life. He explained that a young man who was about to commit suicide had picked up his Dad’s copy of RAIL and read the article. Doing so spurred him on to change his mind. Instead, he’s contacted Platform 1 and they’ve taken him under their wing. As Bob said to me – ‘we won’t let him go now’. Those of you whom know me well will know mental health and suicide is an issue that’s touched my life. This news makes me feel that the job I do can sometimes make a difference. It would be unfair not to mention that the idea for the article came from RAIL’s Paul Stephen, who commissioned me to write it, so Paul also deserves credit for this. To get positive feedback on the stuff you write is always good. One of the reasons I enjoy blogging is that readers can (and do feedback directly). But to be told that something you’ve done has had such a positive outcome is very special.

Charities like Platform 1 are very much in the front-line right now as Covid has clipped the wings of many agencies who would normally offer help to people. The problem’s exacerbated by the fact lockdown has massively increased the need for these services, so anything I’ve been able to do to help has been worthwhile. If you think you can (practically, or financially), here’s a link to Platform 1’s website which contains all their contact details as well as far more about their services.

OK, it’s Saturday night and I’m not going to blog forever – it’s time for a night off. Dawn and I have picked up a fabulous food package from the Moorcock Inn which we’re going to start preparing shortly, so right now I’m going to leave you with the picture of the day. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve begun the task of scanning old slides from a solo trip through SE-Asia that I undertook in 1991-92. Right now I’m on the first tranche of pictures taken in the few days after I landed in Delhi, India. I’d pitched up in the Paharganj, an area next to Delhi railway station (not to be confused with old Delhi) which was a fantastic if anarchic area. I still stay there when I go back and it’s not changed much in character in the intervening years. One evening I came across a wedding procession in the street outside. The Groom was riding a white horse and he was accompanied by friends, family – and a band with their own light-show. This being India – the light-show was both labour intensive and a hazard to anyone else! Imagine 7-8 people carrying these fluorescent tube ensembles on their heads – all linked together by flex like mountaineers roped together – only at the far end of the flex there was a pedal rickshaw with a big old generator on the back of it! All, this, in a narrow, busy street in the middle of the Paharganj!

I followed the wedding for a while and took a host of pictures whilst chatting to the family of the groom. We got on so well that they invited me along to the wedding! Me – absurdly under-dressed in a singlet, but that didn’t matter! It’s what I love about India – the friendliness of people. I’ve ended up going along to several weddings like this – although not in a singlet – honest (I learned my lesson and keep a shirt with me now). You’ll be able to find all the pictures of this and the rest of my adventures in a special gallery I’ve started here.

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Hooray! – it’s jab day…

11 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

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Well, the first one anyway. I was invited to apply via NHS letter so immediately followed the website link to book my appointments. Oddly, I wasn’t offered anywhere in the Halifax area – only Huddersfield or Bradford. Plumping for Huddersfield I had the choice between the John Smith stadium or Boots the chemist in the centre of town. Choosing Boots as I could walk there seemed like a sensible choice to that’s where I booked.

So, this morning Dawn and I drove in as Dee had arranged to do some work at the Community Rail Network office at the station, which left me with a short walk into town. I decided to make the most of it by combining my visit with a wander around the centre to get some exercise before the jab just in case I was laid low afterwards. To be honest, my perambulations were rather depressing. I’d not been into central Huddersfield for several months so I’d forgotten just how many vacant shops there are. Whilst the Council have clearly got plans for the place they’re facing an uphill struggle to attract businesses. The world’s changed with the triumvirate of online-shopping, Brexit and Covid coming together to create a perfect storm for the traditional high-street. I’ve no idea what sort of businesses will want to take on many of these premises with their expensive overheads, but I wish the Council well in trying. I could see another problem on my travels, I don’t know what Huddersfield’s demographic is nowadays, but I lot of the people I saw out and about were what could best be described as ‘economically inactive’ – a trend I’d noticed before Covid reduced numbers on the ground to a shadow of their former selves…

It gave me something to think about as I headed to the large Boots the Chemist in King St which used to be a busy pedestrian street – only now the pedestrians are mostly missing. The vaccination centre had been set up on Boots’ first floor, where one side had been partitioned off. They were very efficient. You queued to give your details to a chap who had the air of Captain Peacock from the 70s sitcom ‘Are you being served’? He had the same ex-military manner, clipped tones plus a lack of a local twang that made him easy to understand. Once you’d answered all the questions correctly and you go the green light he ushered you behind the screens to a socially-distanced waiting area where single seats had been laid out with precision. I was waiting a matter of minutes before I was escorted to one of the two groups of staff who were administering the injections. I had a young Asian couple. Whilst she double-checked I had no medical conditions he prepared he AstraZeneca vaccine and within minutes it was all over. I was given a vaccine leaflet to read and told to sit in the exit area for five minutes (to double check I wasn’t going to keel over) – and that was that. Done.

Wandering back to the CRN office I picked up my back and left Dawn busy working as I’d decided to get the train back to Halifax. I mean, having your Covid jab must count as an essential journey, surely? Plus, it was my chance to take my first train trip of the year! The station was pretty deserted. It’s hard to believe that (pre Covid) 4.7 million people passed through its doors every year. A Manchester-bound Trans-Pennine service arrived just as I did and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people detrained, but even so, this was nothing like the numbers we used to see. But then – what’s there to travel for? Everything’s closed!

I grabbed a few record shots for the library whilst I was there before joining the 11.35 Huddersfield – Bradford Interchange shuttle service which was worked by what’s now one of the oldest diesel trains in the fleet – the BR built Class 150s.

These old girls have always been my least favourite of the old BR diesel fleets, but right now I was happy to see one! 150222 waits to work the 11.35 Huddersfield to Bradford Interchange hourly shuttle service.

In a sign of the times only two of us occupied the front car of the two-car train when departed, weaving its way across the viaducts above the town to head to Halifax. By this time my left arm was starting to throb but as I’d been told that having a reaction to the vaccine is a positive sign your immune system’s working I wasn’t worried. Instead I relaxed and enjoyed the sights and sounds of something that used to be so commonplace, but that now had become special – a trip on a train.

All too soon we arrived in Halifax – at a time that coincided with a hailstorm, but I was fully kitted out in waterproofs as I’d taken no chances before leaving home. Knowing that there was a real possibility I’d feel like death warmed-up later I elected to walk home and get my daily step quota in before I did. I really enjoyed it because after being stuck at home for so long there was a new-found novelty to treading old boards as it were…

I may have pushed myself just a little bit too far, because when I did get home I soon felt like death – only sans warmed-up! I’ve not sallied forth since. Instead I’ve spent the day shivering and aching in front of a computer, but I really don’t mind! These side-effects are positive and short-lived, unlike the severest side-effect of catching Covid!

Tomorrow the sun could shine or the wind may blow – it matters not to me – I’ve lots to do at home, so expect my ‘picture of the day’ feature to return then as I’ve a lot of new scans to choose from. Right now, I’m off to bed….

10th March picture of the day…

10 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Scotland, Transport, Travel

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Despite the fact I’d had high hopes, today was another one that wasn’t exactly vintage as so many events conspired to make it otherwise – most of which were completely out of my control – such as the weather! Much as I’d love to have the power to decide whether the sun shines or not, that ain’t going to happen, so I just had to watch the rain sweep in for much of the day – but there was a surprise feeling later.

Having been stuck in for most of the day travelling back in time scanning old pictures and dealing with paperwork the pair of us did venture out in the afternoon to drop a present at a friend’s house for his 69th birthday. Dawn has been busy the past couple of days playing around with and perfecting her Vegan chocolate recipes which was what we dropped round at our friends. In the process we found out some awful news about some other people we’ve known for many years. I’m not going to name the couple as it’s not my place to do so, but we discovered that one of them (in their early 60s) has been diagnosed as having Motor Neurone Disease – just as they’ve managed to sell their business ready for retirement. If ever you’ve wanted to curse the Gods…

Earlier on the week a friend contacted me to say that his Father had passed away due to COPD, so you start thinking ‘sheesh’! None of this has anything to do with Covid or the present situation we all find ourselves in but it does start to concentrate the mind. Needless to say, these events gave me food for thought. Despite the weather I went out for a long walk and ended up sat up on what I think of as a retreat – the cliffs on the promenade above the valley looking down on our local woods. It was dark by the time I got there and the wind was literally blowing a gale but to sit there on my own, being battered by the elements made me feel grateful to be alive and also wonder at the simple joys of living which we don’t always appreciate in these complicated times. Us mere mortals will come and go, but the seasons and the elements will always remain…  

These thoughts about change are reflected in the choice of today’s picture which is from the latest batch of slide scans. I took this shot of the ferry to the Isle of Skye on the 24th July 1990.

The ferry ‘Lochalsh’ arrives at the Kyle of Lochalsh with the Isle of Skye in the background. Now the ferry has gone and the town’s declined as a result. The new bridge crosses to the Isle of Skye about a mile away to the right of the picture.

Back then I’d take a yearly break from my London life to travel around Scotland for a week on a rail rover ticket. This particular time I pitched-up at the Kyle of Lochalsh in perfect weather so stayed a night in the hotel overlooking the terminal for the ferry across to Kyleakin on the isle of Skye. This was an idyllic spot. You may have seen from a previous blog that I’ve always had an affinity for ferries like this. Sadly, this one is long-gone. It was replaced by a bridge in 2005 – although that fact that was built as a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project which charged huge tolls was both contentious and unpopular. Sadly, like the ferry villages in my other blog, the Kyle of Lochalsh has gone into an economic decline – even tho’ it’s still the terminus of the railway from Inverness. Still, my pictures remind me of happier times over 30 years ago…

8th March picture of the day…

08 Monday Mar 2021

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

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The week’s got off to a mundane start with no excitements or surprises, but after the ‘fun’ of last week that’s really no bad thing. The weather’s been mixed, with temperatures remaining stick in single figures so spring still seems some way off but the lighter nights are certainly welcomes, as was a few hours of sunshine which really brightened the place up. The forecast for the rest of the week isn’t looking much better so I’m assuming I’ll be spending most of my time office-bound, which is no bad thing. At least I’ve plenty of exotic pictures to look at.

One bright spot in the day was taking our moggie (Jet) for a check-up at the vets and hearing that he’s in no immediate danger. OK, he’s nineteen and a half, and he has long-term kidney problems, but considering we thought we were going to lose the old boy last week this is actually a result! Hopefully he’ll be here to get under our feet (and set traps for me at the top of the stairs) for some time yet…

My latest batch of slide scans has provided me today’s picture of the day, which features what’s probably the planet’s most famous hole in the ground. I took this shot at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA on the 3rd November 1990. Four of us were touring the West Coast together and we stopped on night at the Canyon so that we could see what it looked like at sunrise. We weren’t disappointed.

Once I’ve got all the pictures scanned I’ll set up a USA travel gallery on my Zenfolio website as I realise I only have one for rail pictures – which is an odd omission as I have travel shots from 3 previous visits to the States. Ho hum!

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Thank you!

7th March picture of the day…

07 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Well, that was a week I’m not unhappy to see the back of! Hopefully this next one will be rather calmer and more productive, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to anyway so I’m going to remain positive and optimistic whilst taking one day at a time.

I’m not going to bore you with a blog about the minutiae of life as there would be plenty of minutiae to bore you with! Instead, I’m going to go to the picture of the day, which has been chosen from some of the few slides I had time to scan today. It’s the end of an album, so you won’t be seeing any more like it for a while as its partner and next in the series is further down in the queue.

I took this shot in the town of Ubud on the isle of Bali, Indonesia in December 1994.

One of the many cultural delights of the island is going to see some of the variety of Balinese dance performances that you can witness at hotels, temples or theatres. This particular location is the Ubud Palace which provides an excellent backdrop for the dancers. It’s also right in the centre of town, which makes it very easy to get to. The dances vary from solo to mass performances, all of which are accompanied by a live Gamelan orchestra. The movements of the dancers are extremely stylized and choreographed, plus – they take years to learn. Many Western tourists don’t appreciate the art or understand the messages the dances convey and just enjoy the spectacle – which is OK as it helps fund these dance troupes and keep the traditions alive. I’ve always been impressed with the way the Balinese have managed to (mostly) make foreign tourism work for them without it subsuming their unique culture. I’ve many more pictures to add from Indonesia but the next batch will be from a country that’s culturally very different but that has some stunning scenery. Personally (out of the two) I know whose food I’d prefer, but I won’t knock some of the American national parks!

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Thank you!

6th March picture of the day…

06 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by in London, Photography, Photojournalism, Picture of the day

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Life’s slowly returning to normal for now as (despite his age) our cat shows a stubborn resistance to the idea of dying. The old bugger’s scared the life out of us this week but we’re so knackered by it all we’ve decided the only thing we can do is give him all the love and attention we can whilst starting to think this was a clever ploy on his part just to become the centre of attraction even more than usual! Poor Dawn’s been kept busy trying to find different foods just to attract his appetite and get him to eat, which could be part of his plan…

Moggie maintenance has taken up most of our week so I’m looking forward to getting back to a less fractured routine and chance for more exercise and less stress – especially as the weather’s slowly warming up and the days are getting longer. With a bit of luck I might even be able to dust down the camera and document the present besides scanning the past…

Talking of the past, here’s the picture of the day. I’ve not sorted and slides this weekend so this is one from the last batch. I’ve been posting pictures from all sorts of exotic locations but this is one that used to be close to home. I took this shot at Columbia Rd flower market in London’s East End on the 12th March 1994 which was when I still lived in the East End. Lynn and I used to cycle over to the market from my flat in Bromley-by-Bow to pick up plants to decorate the communal balcony outside our homes. Columbia Rd was a brilliant place to while away a few hours of a Sunday morning, buying plants from the street stalls or drinking coffee outside a cafe whilst people watching and grabbing pictures like this.

I do miss it. Going to local garden centres here in West Yorkshire just can’t compete!

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It’s just another ‘Groundhog day’ for Joe Rukin and StopHs2…

06 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, Railways, StopHs2

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Having watched the abortive anti HS2 campaign for nearly 10 years now two words always spring to mind: Déjà vu – or in the expression made famous by the 1990s film – it’s another “Groundhog Day”…

After 11 years of failure those opposed to building our new high-speed railway haven’t learned a thing and keep repeating the same failed, stale tactics in an endless series of re-runs. Observing their campaign is like having a TV stuck on one of those cable channels that spew out endless repeats! I’ve lost count of the number of petitions launched, legal challenges threatened or boycotts demanded.

The latest ‘haven’t we been here before’? moment comes courtesy of Joe Rukin and StopHs2, the one man and his dog operation that’s been irrelevant for some time now. As Joe’s still not found a proper job after years of trying he’s desperate to try and keep the group running as it helps bring some money in.

So, Joe’s recycling the tried, tested (and failed) route of – yet another Judicial Review! You can find the full details in this rather rambling entry on the stophs2 website.

More Comical Ali than legal eagle, Joe Rukin videoed a call for help from the StopHS2 registered office and ‘nerve’ centre (his spare bedroom).

Over the years anti HS2 campaigners have tried dozens of JR’s. The late (unlamented) High Speed 2 Action Alliance launched a plethora of them, all but one failed and the one that didn’t was on a consultation that HS2 swiftly re-ran, so it was all rather pointless. It’s been the same with celebrity environmentalist Chris Packham who also tried and failed, achieving little more than parting a lot of fools from their money via Crowdfunding. Money that was then trousered by his grateful solicitors ‘Pay Day’ (you mean Leigh Day! Ed). As usual, the only people who benefit from any of these doomed legal cases are the Lawyers.

I’ve little doubt this latest attempt will result in the same outcome. Rukin is applying for permission to launch a Judicial Review, but the fact he’s appealing to others for evidence to back up his claims tell you all you need to know. The fact that he’s giving people so little time to gather this evidence doesn’t bode well either. His closing date is the 9th March (Tuesday).

Of course, what Rukin isn’t telling his supporters is what happened last time he applied for a Judicial Review. This was back in October last year – only then he didn’t bother with such a trivial thing as evidence – which is why his request was summarily thrown out at the first hurdle and he was landed with a legal bill of £4300!

I blogged about the debacle at the time, which you can find here.

For some mysterious reason you won’t find any mention of his October 2020 failure anywhere on the StopHs2 website or Facebook page. It’s been expunged from history, as if it never happened! I wonder why?

Perusing his latest request for help it looks like Rukin is trying to re-run the same failed case again, which suggests he’ll get short-shrift from the Judges who end up having to consider his request. As usual with Rukin, details of these things are scant, so there’s no information on who his legal advisors are (if he even has any) or when the hearing will be, so watch this space as I’ll report on the outcome of the judgement when it’s delivered – as I suspect Rukin will be as reticent as last time to announce another failure! Watch this space…

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Thank you!

5th March picture of the day…

05 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Not exactly a vintage end to a vintage week…

To say this week’s been stressful would be an understatement. We’ve been back and forth to the vets with Jet, our aged moggie. The old boy’s nineteen and a half and his health’s taken a turn for the worse. At one point we had visions of being on a one-way trip to the vets but the old bugger’s bounced back again! We’re fearful we could lose him anytime has he’s indifferent when it comes to eating but he doesn’t seem to be in any pain. The vets can’t find anything wrong with him other than weight loss and the passing of years, so we’ve really no idea how long we have him for. But, he knows he’s loved and the fact we’re both working from home means he’s getting lots of attention so we just have to take life on day at a time.

One bright bit of news was that I’ve now got both my Covid vaccinations booked. I receive the first one next Thursday and the second one on the 27th May. With the relaxation of lockdown looming this makes me feel rather relieved as I may be better placed to take advantage of work opportunities due to that fact. I can’t wait to get out and about again as there’s been huge changes on the railways over the past year with massive changes in train fleets, plus big engineering projects like the rebuilding of Kings Cross station that I’ve simply been unable to cover – and that’s without the biggest engineering project in Europe to document and report on (HS2).

The vagaries of the week have meant my plans (and usual routine) have gone out of the window. My daily exercise has gone to rat-shit but I have managed to scan an awful lot of old slides so the light at the end of the tunnel’s getting closer – although the plethora of pictures is making it much harder to choose the picture of the day! This week I’ve gone from India to Bali via Denmark and various ports of call in the UK, but the picture I’ve plumped for is this as I don’t think I’ve featured anything from Denmark before.

I took this shot of the Radhus clocktower and nearby statue in Copenhagen in August 1994. Lynn and I had friends in the city whom we’d met when travelling in Indonesia and used to visit them on a regular basis. Sadly, now both Lynn and Didi have passed away but it’s a city I have some very find memories of.

You can find many other pictures from Denmark in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.

Scanning of old slides may slow down a bit next week as I’ve many other things to catch-up with, but – the next album in the queue is going back to the very beginning. I started taking pictures on slide film in 1989 and the album I have lined-up to get through starts with shots I took in the USA in 1990 when four of us spent a couple of weeks driving around California, Arizona and Nevada, taking in various national parks like Big Sur, Monument Valley, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon as well as cities like San Francisco. After that the album covers UK destinations before containing the first pictures of my 1991-92 year-long solo trip from India through to Australia – most of which was done the hard way – overland. I’ve wanted to scan these pictures for a long time as they contain some brilliant memories and great stories of how backpacking was 30 years ago. Watch this space…

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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.