please empty your brain below
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I was a bit surprised at the lack of progress at my local station by the start of February, given that it's on the half of the line that's been closed since June - then they admitted a few days later that it was all running a bit late. I thought the new head of Network Rail had been brought in to prevent this kind of cock-up?
martin | 01.03.17 - 7:10 a.m. | #
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The 'design flaws' thing is all a bit vague, the only two things that are in theory 'certain' are that there isn't sufficient clearance under the new bridge at Upper Holloway, and the sewer was accidentally breached at Walthamstow.
Any idea what the rest of the issues were, were the overhead masts erected on the Goblin really so different that they had 'design flaws' - or did they erect all the right posts in all the wrong places or some such issue.
Is that mast at Blackhorse Road really the same height as the lamp post - how low are the wires going to be?
Still anon | 01.03.17 - 8:02 a.m. | #
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There IS ample room for electrification wires - under the old rules which have worked perfectly well for over 50 years. But a few months ago the rules were changed (seemingly just to align UK electrification with the rest of the EU, I'm pro EU but this is mad) and suddenly the planned design is no longer compliant.
IslandDweller | 01.03.17 - 8:18 a.m. | #
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IslandDweller
That's the first shaft of sunlight, I'd have though certain politicians would have been over the moon that they could have another opportunity blame Europe.
Still anon | 01.03.17 - 8:33 a.m. | #
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Also known as the Will Hay line.
Running_Correspondent | 01.03.17 - 9:46 a.m. | #
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Where is Barking-Gospel?
And do they really use Oak rails?
Joho
John Maltby | 01.03.17 - 9:56 a.m. | #
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Nice to see Graham Larkbey and Jerry Gold still so active and involved in what used to be BGOLPA!
David | 01.03.17 - 11:41 a.m. | #
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Surprised no one has yet pointed out that South Tottenham has cables too, not just Woodgrange Park (and Barking).
Si | 01.03.17 - 12:21 p.m. | #
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There's a long and involved article in Rail Engineer that discusses the standards issue referred to by IslandDweller above. As far as I can see, the European standards were only part of the problem: worse was a change to a British Standard that effectively forbade use of reduced clearances at platforms.
Ben Harris | Homepage | 01.03.17 - 1:51 p.m. | #
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The Rail Engineer article is well worth the read, as it gives a idea of what happened, as I understand it the revised rules aren't just about clearances under bridges, but also at stations, demonstrating that you have 'a suitable and sufficient assessment of risk' of any passenger making contact with the pantograph of a train which is stationary in the platform (a tall person holding an umbrella on a wet and windy day, for example).
Still anon | 01.03.17 - 2:36 p.m. | #
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Out of date info is not limited to Gospel Oak line. Stratford DLR today is warning about slippery conditions due to ice, and Upton Park platform walls state along the full length
"Alight here for West Ham United"
scrumpy | 01.03.17 - 4:07 p.m. | #
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Not sure if these are meaningful and worthwhile, but maybe.
Harringay Green Lanes is an Out-of-Station Interchange with Harringay.
Railway Fields Nature Reserve is between them, on the site of some former sidings. A few sleepers can still be seen.
The W5 bus connects the two stations mentioned above and Upper Holloway (short walk from Archway), but on a much longer route.
There is a 3-level crossing where the Parkland Walk crosses the Goblin, with a road sandwiched between the former and the existing railways.
Greg S | 01.03.17 - 4:38 p.m. | #
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Many of the problems with the Great Western Eletrification were due to design issues and these first started coming out a few years ago. How is it that Network Rail can screw up another electrification project in the same way. Surely someone would have gone "hang on, after the GWML issues, lets just check this again" ??
Using EU regulations as an excuse also seems a bit counter-productive as there is far more electrification on the continent than in the UK. Perhaps if they followed the same practises as other EU states, we wouldn't be in this state.
Jimbo | 01.03.17 - 4:48 p.m. | #
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But it is also worth remembering that the loading gauge is different in the EU to the UK - the rules are presumably written to one of the UIC standards, not the British one, which is smaller (except for few certain places in the UK which use UIC).
Kirk | 01.03.17 - 4:57 p.m. | #
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A few comments.
New wires have been installed at Gospel Oak and also into platform one at Barking. The project's Twitter a/c tweeted photos of the work.
There are at least two breaches of sewers in the E17 area. One at Queens Road and one at Pretoria Avenue - I've seen the pumping machines at both locations.
The bridge with poor clearance is at Crouch Hill station. NR have a waiver in place to allow wires to be strung if they bridge cannot be raised before electric trains come into operation. The road bridge at Upper Holloway has been raised and replaced by TfL. The old very worn out / out of use footbridge has been torn down.
The first class 710 EMU is due to be in passenger service on 11 Dec 2017 (as per the Overground Concession agreement).
There are no wires at South Tottenham at present. They were removed during the works and it will be for the current electrification programme to install new wires and restore links to the line to Seven Sisters and Lea Bridge.
The shelters at Blackhorse Road have not been touched as part of the project nor has the platform being widened or lengthened.
It is worth saying that there were fabrication issues with the supply of catenary components. That's in addition of the alleged design problems.
PC | 01.03.17 - 6:45 p.m. | #
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Jimbo says "there is far more electrification on the continent than in the UK".
Utterly meaningless. There is also far more rain on the continent than in the UK (clue: it's a bigger landmass), but that has no bearing on British versus continental designs of umbrellas.
Malcolm | 01.03.17 - 9:24 p.m. | #
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I read somewhere that one of the problems has been that some structures such as bridge parapets - not originally designed to serve any purpose other than to stop track workers falling off the bridge - proved not to be sound enough to support the gantries that had been intended to be attached to them.
Sometimes these things don't become apparent until you start to dig into them.
Timbo | 01.03.17 - 9:48 p.m. | #
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And now a little ditty entitled "he was only the Network Rail engineer's son, but his Goblin was electric"
John Styles | 01.03.17 - 10:08 p.m. | #
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On the extent - if any - to which any of this is the result of the application of European law, this blog post - http://barristerblogger.com/2016/10/03/mr-grayling-wrong-brexit-dividend-station-platforms/ - is both entertaining and informative.
Its focus is on platform heights rather than overhead power, but the regulations make similar exemptions for UK standards on clearances which presumably (I make no claim to expertise on any of this) include electrical infrastructure.
So in short, there are European standards. But there are also broad exemptions from those standards where the UK continues to set its own rules.
marek | 02.03.17 - 1:12 a.m. | #
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Hoorah for the Goblin! Here's a sneak peak at the new trains:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/717/32327233635_6462a94aae.jpg
Love the orange front.
Dan | 02.03.17 - 7:11 a.m. | #
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@Malcolm - It does matter if the European umbrella's are work better and are much cheaper.
I don't care if we use European standards or not. What I do care about is when projects like this and the GWML electrifcation are delayed and cost a lot more due to "design" problems. Electrification isn't exactly cutting edge science, so sort yourselves out.Getting it wrong once is bad enough, but continuing to cock it up is just incompetence.
Jimbo | 02.03.17 - 8:56 a.m. | #
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@Jimbo. The real question is why has the standard been changed. I don't advocate taking silly risks with 25Kv wires but we had an existing design standard that worked perfectly well. No passenger has been electrocuted whilst jumping up and down with their golf umbrella on a station platform anywhere in the UK so why has someone somewhere changed the standard? It has caused havoc to the Goblin project - and also to electrification between Edinburgh and Glasgow
IslandDweller | 02.03.17 - 10:58 a.m. | #
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Shame its open. I found the rail replacements for handier than the actual trains itself!
Probably because of the stops at Walthamstow Central, Harrow Green and East Ham.
neyagness | 04.03.17 - 7:49 a.m. | #
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There's still work going on where the line crosses the Lee Navigation. I cycle that way during the week, and they were supposed to be finished there in early Jan, but the towpath is still shut, and is now not re-scheduled to open again until later this month...
Lee Valley | 06.03.17 - 3:01 p.m. | #
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