Categories
Travels

More on trains, the SWT Class 455 train

Since I posted the article on the South West Train’s train pulling into Norbiton Station (click to view) in South West London, there has been over 3,000 views, so for those who want to see the normal class of train which SWT‘s use on Kingston route, here is another video.

This I believe is the Class 455, which are quite old, but have been refurbished and brought into the 21st century.

Oh whilst filming, there was a visitor on the platform, wait till the end.


Categories
Thoughts

Cycling Improvements in London Road, Kingston upon Thames

Residents and business’s in and around Norbiton Hall, London Road and surrounding roads were sent a letter (May 2009) from the Directorate of Environmental Services of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, titled:-

PROPOSED NEW TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND CYCLING IMPROVEMENTS IN LONDON ROAD BETWEEN QUEEN ELIZABETH ROAD AND STATION ROAD
Ref KT/YH/LSS/LR

In this proposal, the council wish to introduce shared use surface cycling facilities, on the footpath. In other words, the existing pedestrian footpath will be reduced in width so that a cycle way can be introduced.

The introduction of cycle ways within London is part of the Mayor of London’s scheme to get people on bikes. I believe there are incentives for the local authorities who create cycle ways, even if they are only 10 yards in length.

On many occasions I as others, have been confronted by cyclists who insist in using a FOOTpath to get from A to B, so bike riders already use the FOOTpath involved.

So is this proposal a waste of money?

In the space of one hour I took a few photographs that Mr Roy Thompson (Service Director, Royal Kingston) and Younes Hamade (Traffic Engineer, Kingston Town Traffic Engineering Team) may consider. Email :- younes.hamade@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

Firstly, closer into Kingston town center along London Road, there has already been installed a cycle only facility, that is a green sectioned portion of the road.

In ten minutes I observed two people on bicycles using the green cycle way, but others not, they are still using the FOOTpath.

Bike riders using the footpaths in London Road, even though a cycle way has been provided        Bike riders using the footpaths in London Road, even though a cycle way has been provided

Bike riders using the footpaths in London Road, even though a cycle way has been provided        Bike riders using the footpaths in London Road, even though a cycle way has been provided

Bike riders using the footpaths in London Road, even though a cycle way has been provided
Bike riders using the footpaths in London Road, even though a cycle way has been provided


What about other obstructions?

Street furniture, that means lamp posts, traffic lights and their control boxes, telephone and communication boxes, vehicle entrances to buildings and the Norbiton Hall Estate, will have to be moved at great expense.

How about the normal day to day traffic and parking?

The local offices have many deliveries during the day, with vans and lorries parking on the FOOTpath, deliveries to the apartments facing onto London Road of Norbiton Hall also have deliveries, again meaning lorries and vans often park on the FOOTpath restricting usage.

Deliveries to Clarendon House London Road        Restaurant collect outside Italian Reataurant Londond Road, restricting cylceway

Lorries parked on the footpath outside Norbiton Hall and Clarendon House, London Road, Kingston upon Thames        
Lorries and vans parked on the footpath outside Norbiton Hall and Clarendon House, London Road, Kingston upon Thames


How about parents with pushchairs, they take-up most of the FOOTpath now, so what will happen with even a narrower FOOTpath.

Then there are the many mobility cart users. They often use the FOOTpath as a raceway.

Two mobility vehicle users and street furniture including traffic lights control box outside Norbiton Hall
Two mobility vehicle users and street furniture including traffic lights control box

There is only one cycle way leading out of Kingston towards London, and none entering or on the opposite side of the road. Should cyclists use the only cycle way, as there would be not enough space for two bikes to pass each other?

I consider that the proposal is flawed and needs more consideration, and a strict enforcement of what is in place already, as a FOOTpath should be what it says for feet and pedestrians.

FOOTpath =’s Footpath (right of way), in the UK, a path on which the public have a legally protected right to travel on foot.

Categories
Travels

Trams in Milan

I have a fascination for things, items, places, anything I do not understand, anything I have not seen before, or why something has changed.

For many years I have been visiting Italy for over ten years on a regular basis with PNL Italy and Gianni Golfera, providing training services in NLP, PhotoReading, Mind Maps, memory skills and more, and I am noticing changes taking place, buildings, shops, fashion, the population make-up, it is becoming but not as much more multicultural as the UK.

I think I am using Phillip’s Sausage more than I realise, it has become an Unconscious Competence.

The latest colour fashion seems to be what I would call violet, with many shops in Milan displaying clothes, especially female, in that colour.



Violet colours, the new colour for 2009? I think Milan says so.

It was whilst walking to the last course I co-presented at the Hilton Hotel, the PNL Master Practitioner, and as I sat for lunch at the New York Bar and Restaurant, that I noticed there was something missing, and nearly everybody I asked had not noticed the change, and were not interested. It was only the owner of the New York Bar that could offer and answer to the missing items.

It was the green trams, rattling along the rails placed in the cobbled streets.

My friend and translator Elena, I think was getting rather fed-up of my curiosity as to the disappearance of these trams, only the old aging trams were to be seen.

The waitress in the New York Bar, just laughed at me, because I think, only an Englishman would be interested in such information. Participants laugh at me when I explain some of the hobbies of British people, train spotting or collect train identifications, aircraft watching again collecting details of aircraft.

It appears that the Lady Mayor of Milan, Her Excellency Mrs Letizia Moratti, removed the new green trams from running in central Milan because of braking issues, there could have been some fatalities in an accident, so they would return to the reliable older trams.

Then I remember what a success my little video, – over 3,000 views – of a Desiros 450 type train of South West Trains entering Norbiton Station (click to see SouthWest train arriving at Norbiton Station), and decided to capture some of the trams I see in Milan, as I am sure there are hobbyists out there who would love to see and hear them.



A collection of video shots of trams in Central Milan, near Stazione Centrale (the Central Railway Station)

See also photographs of the Taxim Tram in Istanbul, Turkey, a wonderful service taking a passenger from Tunel to Taxim Square. Click Here.