Subway today

[Mori]

BBC

Driverless trains in Subway plan



A £400m revamp plan of Glasgow's Subway system could see staff numbers cut and the introduction of driverless trains and upgraded stations, it has emerged.

The proposals are contained in a report which is due to be considered by Subway operator, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), on Friday.

[yoker brian]

I read this in the evening times - this seems to be a regurgitation of an old story - it raises it's head every 6 months or so, but nothing seems to progress.

I think that without serious investment and expansion (which all costs major money) it's unlikely every to happen, one of the reasons being that our Victorian forefathers opted to use a non standard track & loading gauge (to save construction costs) and therefore SPT cannot just go and buy new rolling stock off the shelf so to speak.

The system has seen a lack of investment over the years. it took them almost 40 years to electrify the system from when it opened, then it took them another 30 years to completely modernise the system in 1977 - even then it was over budget by almost £60 million and opened 5 months late.

Since then the only investment to take place was the purchase of some additional cars to make 3 car sets and an upgrade to the signalling system - and an overhaul of CCTV/Fire Safety equipment to comply with the Kings Cross recommendations.

I cannot see where the money will come from - we've already seen GARL scrapped, the Forth Bridge needs replacing, and although work seems to be progressing what's to say the M74 extension will be delivered on time and on budget. - This country cannot do big infrastructure projects - our planning system and financial situations plus all the other red tape are not conducive to projects such as this.

[sds]

£300 -- £400 million spread over 30 years to ultimately reduce or stabilise running costs and potentially increase passenger count? Seems like a no-brainer to me. Let's hope something actually moves on this proposal.

Driverless trains are no bad thing, even though I guess there'd likely still have to be somebody on board the train to monitor doors, trained to handle first aid and emergencies. Automation of the easy part (the driving) should lead to a smoother-running system, and even a little extra space on the trains.

Business case is outlined here: http://www.spt.co.uk/documents/latest/rtp160410_agenda5.pdf

[Mori]

Flythrough of the Refurb @ partick > SPT

SPT has bold plans to carry out a full scale modernisation of the world's third oldest Subway system.
Built in 1896, the system has not received any substantial investment since its last modernisation in the late 1970s.
Research has found that £150 million could be saved over a 30-year period through a reduction in operation and maintenance costs.
Maintaining the current system over that period would result in costs of £220 million in capital investment and £320 million in increasing maintenance and operating costs (£540 million).
Modernisation would see larger capital investment of £290 million, but reduced operation/maintenance costs of £100 million (£390 million).
SPT's outline business case details the 'root and branch' review that was carried out into the system recently.
The case for modernisation focuses on four strategic areas. These are:

•Modernisation of working practices and terms and conditions;
•'Smartcard' ticketing system that could be linked to future, wider integrated ticketing;
•New trains and signalling with wider automation; and
•Refurbished stations and improved accessibility, including escalator replacement.

[yoker brian]

Mori is that Ronnie Corbett buying a ticket in the second picture ?

[Mori]

Nah corbetts a bit wee'er than him.

[Mori]

STV

£290m Glasgow Subway revamp gets green light
VIDEO: Improvements to include driverless trains, station facelifts and increased frequency of services.

.16 April 2010 17:00 GMT

Plans to revamp Glasgow’s Subway were given the green light today. Stations are to be given a facelift in time for the Commonwealth Games and new driverless trains will be introduced. However, staffing levels will have to be cut by 25%.

The plan is seen by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport as the future of the Glasgow Subway. New signalling will allow for driverless trains, similar to those used on the Docklands Light Railway in London, and increased frequency of services.

[Doorstop]

Who's running the sweep on when the first strike kicks in?

25% staffing downsize with all of them being drivers .. pretty unpalatable I would have thought, even for the usually 'militancy disinterested' subway workers.

[MotoMad]

The place will end up getting a lick of white paint and some new ceiling tiles.

SPT couldn't run a bath nevermind a massive overhaul like this.

[tobester]

Who's running the sweep on when the first strike kicks in?

25% staffing downsize with all of them being drivers .. pretty unpalatable I would have thought, even for the usually 'militancy disinterested' subway workers.

Good thing is big bad bob wont get a look in, as i think that theyre union is unison

[dave2]

SPT approving this is like me approving my own request for a £10million investment in my flat and a fancy new car. It won;t happen without someone else funding it.....

Mind last night I had a 15 min wait for a train on inner circle. No idea how much I missed the last one by!

[Salka]

The inner circle was facked today for some reason, think it was engineering works. The board at Hillhead just said it was "outwith our control". They were doing a shuttle from Partick to Ibrox and Buchanan to Hillhead but that was it. Ended up having to get the outer circle from Hillhead to Govan.

[Josef]

In what way can anything outside of a natural disaster be outwith their control, ffs?

[macdonald]

Gawd we'd have threads left, right and centre everytime the subway was shut.




Didn't you know its cos they put the kettle on??

Down here it's toast.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Burnt toast closed King's Cross Tube - twice


Should there be a toast ban for London Underground staff? Jo deBank of passenger group London TravelWatch wonders whether it should be a possibility as King's Cross Tube station was twice evacuated and closed for 20 minutes due to fire alerts caused by burnt toast. "This might sound minor but to shut such a busy station — which disrupts the journeys of thousands of passengers — is serious", she said.



The Underground Toast by Dwro8ea

The Evening Standard report that "firefighters were called to the station after smoke began billowing from singed bread left unattended in a toaster — once at 8am breakfast time and the other at 6pm tea time."

This was confirmed by a TfL spokesperson who said closures on March 13th and April 7th were caused by "smoke from a toaster in the staff area of the station. London Underground has extensive heat and smoke detection systems, fire alarms and sprinkler systems and both alerts were dealt with quickly."

Apparently, burnt food in staff kitchen also led to a closure at Caledonian Road Tube station on the Piccadilly line earlier this year.

The official report concluded: "Upon inspection of room found the cause of smoke, someone had decided it was a good idea to store their box of Rice Krispies and four custard cream biscuits in the oven."

Perhaps there ought to be a new kitchen Inspector just for these incidents, like Inspector Sands who is called for when a fire alarm has been set off. If you hear "Could Inspector Ramsey or Inspector Oliver make his way to the control room", you'll know that settings on the staff toaster need adjusting.

[Salka]

Gawd we'd have threads left, right and centre everytime the subway was shut.




Didn't you know its cos they put the kettle on??

Down here it's toast.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Burnt toast closed King's Cross Tube - twice


Should there be a toast ban for London Underground staff? Jo deBank of passenger group London TravelWatch wonders whether it should be a possibility as King's Cross Tube station was twice evacuated and closed for 20 minutes due to fire alerts caused by burnt toast. "This might sound minor but to shut such a busy station — which disrupts the journeys of thousands of passengers — is serious", she said.



The Underground Toast by Dwro8ea

The Evening Standard report that "firefighters were called to the station after smoke began billowing from singed bread left unattended in a toaster — once at 8am breakfast time and the other at 6pm tea time."

This was confirmed by a TfL spokesperson who said closures on March 13th and April 7th were caused by "smoke from a toaster in the staff area of the station. London Underground has extensive heat and smoke detection systems, fire alarms and sprinkler systems and both alerts were dealt with quickly."

Apparently, burnt food in staff kitchen also led to a closure at Caledonian Road Tube station on the Piccadilly line earlier this year.

The official report concluded: "Upon inspection of room found the cause of smoke, someone had decided it was a good idea to store their box of Rice Krispies and four custard cream biscuits in the oven."

Perhaps there ought to be a new kitchen Inspector just for these incidents, like Inspector Sands who is called for when a fire alarm has been set off. If you hear "Could Inspector Ramsey or Inspector Oliver make his way to the control room", you'll know that settings on the staff toaster need adjusting.

A friend of a friend once set off the fire alarm in her work (it was the Southern General so I dunno if it affected any wards) because she'd burnt some toast...