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@London Rail – thank you for such a fascinating article. Paddington is a special place for me that I don’t get to visit very often, so it’s nice to learn about what changes are happening there.
I don’t think I’ve read your blog before, but I will be reading it from now on (I’ll be Backe!) and have already started to read some of your previous posts. Thank you!
Does anyone know when the two new escalators form the ticket hall to platform (via a short staircase) were descoped from the Paddington Bakerloo line upgrade? (as show on the planning application here – https://idoxpa.westminster.gov.uk/online-applications/files/AB57EBDC2A784E0F2437E97EBF0FBA5B/pdf/16_09050_FULL-DESIGN_AND_ACCESS_STATEMENT_PART_28-4477093.pdf) An unpleasant surprise.
@David: Thanks so much for the kind words re my blog! Hope even more will consider coming Backe to read it in the future!
@Jamesup: I think Westminster has withdrawn the link it as it was also mentioned on IV – evidently a lot of people looking for the one document as no doubt some (inc me) had thought there was an extra bank of escalators to start with. The document does show those escalators from the ticket hall to the platforms (via a short linking flight of steps) and was also discussed on District Dave’s.
(see https://districtdavesforum.co.uk/thread/31310/paddington-bakerloo-ticket-hall-works)
District Dave’s gives a link to the relevant Westminster page (that’s all 541 documents involved in the new Bakerloo station application).
A search on the Westminster planning portal for 19/08729/ADFULL shows the new arrangement (without escalators).
@Rog:
A request re future similar posts:
Maybe add planning drawings for the old and new situation to the blog post to make it easier to follow for anyone not that familiar with the place in question? Perhaps even add numbered arrows indication where each picture were taken and what direction the camera was pointed at?
I like Gareth Dennis, and totally agree that building HS2 with a reduced structure gauge would be a huge mistake, but whilst he makes good points about reduced maintenance, ballasted track is good enough for most European high speed lines so I’m not convinced that the extra cost of slab track is worth it for HS2 North. I don’t know what the cost differential is but I’m guessing it’s significant and I’d certainly rather the railway was built with ballasted track than not at all.
@Rog Thanks for a good article on the new Paddington entrance.
I’ve also enjoyed your other articles.
Thanks @Rog. Never saw that new plan before. I was really looking forward to not hating trying to go up at Paddington Bakerloo Line when it’s full and only the down escalator is running…
It galls me that they announce with great fan fair these improvements, then quietly cancel them, and get away with it. Once again TfL are letting a private developer get away with a huge development without making an adequate improvement to the station that serves it. See also Westfield and Shephard’s Bush. This time it’s extra annoying as the space the needed for the additional escalators is now gone, so it’ll never happen.
@Paul:
It would be interesting to know what the maintenance cost difference would be.
It’s surprising that he doesn’t mention the obvious thing about speed. Since the trains will anyway need to be able to use the full speed Birmingham-London, there is no extra investment in trains to have full speed north of Birmingham. On the other hand, any reduction in speed requires more train sets and more staff to transport a given number of passengers per time unit, so it might actually be more expensive to build a railway with a lower max/average speed.
A silly side track is that anyone who likely travel by car, and who suggest building railways with slower speeds, should be reminded that driving a car slower than highway speed is more fuel efficient and I think the most efficient speed for maximizing road capacity is also lower than highway speeds. So we should reduce max speed on all highways in rush hours. Would likely not go down well with those who suggest slower railways.
@MiaM, Paul
I listened to the recent Green Signals podcast in which they explained that the slab track would be more expensive to build initially, but had far lower lifetime costs that ballasted track. I don’t recall them giving any figures, but it was clear to them slab track was the better choice. It’s like an old American car repair advert, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later”.
@LBM:
Interesting.
It must be possible to correlate this to a break even at a specific interest rate. If the current interest rate for UK borrowing is lower than that, it would be profitable to increase the national debt.