Railrider

Frequent rail user in London and the south east of England. Supporter of electrification, new or reopened lines, and other rail investment.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@philatrail Not another one! This is awful.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@JoannaBiddolph Not if they are electric cars.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@Kerry3313 @YesterdaysBrit1 It is now the covered car park for the cruise terminal. Years ago you could just walk into it, but not now.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@JonathanNS1685 @ThePaperSolent Yes, there would be a joint St Pancras-Euston station on Crossrail 2. It could hsve a travelator linking the two stations.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@JohnWil45304495 I can believe it!

[Railrider @RailNutter]

Gare du Nord. And you think Euston gets crowded! (Those TGVs sure pack in a lot of people…)

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@lokiavivson If you mean the yellow and blue Eurostar, it might have been an arrival from London. We came in on that platform a week ago. Whether the train then goes off on a “Thalys” route, I do not know.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@HS2ltd It is so beautiful. I have enjoyed watching it being built.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@ObtusiSunt Good. I stayed next to it and I found the layout a complete mess. I don’t think I ever crossed the station the same way twice. Too late I found out the best thing to do is walk through the tram tunnel (which is allowed as a walkway).

[Railrider @RailNutter]

I am incredibly impressed with Lyon Part-Dieu station. The French dealt with constraints at the historic main station, Perrache, by creating a whole new one, with a major new district around it. I wonder if Old Oak Common and Curzon Street will feel like this…

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@sheluabapo Agreed about the toilets, and they seemed to be deliberately hidden away.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@ObtusiSunt My memory is that Perrache used to be the main Lyon station, though. Is that not right? These days it is looking a bit sad, though to be fair I did start my journey to Paris today from there.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

Just the entrance hall to Lyon Part-Dieu feels almost as big as Euston…

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@ThosChamberlain @simongerman600 That’s because you are on the wrong time. I am in France at present and am amazed how late the sun comes up even in mid October.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@philatrail It is an office building. It is all right. It doesn’t have to be next to the railway station. I do think they ought to at least build HS2 East to it though

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@TatsunokoCroi @ShawnRobinHood7 I interviewed a survivor from the North Tower not long after 9/11 and he definitely mentioned body parts on the ground when he came out of the tower onto the plaza. I checked my notes later to make sure he really said that and he absolutely did.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@ChartresT52571 Oh, OK. Thanks.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

Parisian metro signage is impressively clear.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@BillHud53119972 The extra speed made little difference to the route of HS2. The main difference for 225mph running was more noise barriers. My source for this is Professor Andrew McNaughton, first Technical Director of HS2.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

It is really hard to imagine how the French built their high speed lines so cheaply across such challenging terrain… All that ancient woodland, all those old churches, stately homes and pretty villages. All those roads to cross. (Not to mention they were doing it 50 years ago…)

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@PabloMarco79293 Spain is even emptier! But yes, sone formidable mountain ranges.

[Railrider @RailNutter]

@PaulJohnson65 I think it was the opposite. Amiens refused to have it, so they built the line via Lille instead. Lille has thrived and Amiens has not as a result.