Goodbye Angel Road - London's former least used railway station

Today, Friday 31 May 2019, the 19:52 departure was the last service to serve Angel Road. Located on the Lea Valley line and with just over 32,000 annual passengers, Angel Road was the least used railway station in London. Considering the station has been on my radar to visit for some time now, I had to go today, on AGR's final day.

Angel Road is located in Edmonton, north London, and all services since 2012 have been operated by Greater Anglia. The station opened in September 1840, as 'Edmonton', which at the time was a village, however, the station was three-quarters of a mile away from the village. The station was renamed 'Water Lane' in March 1849 before being renamed 'Angel Road' in January 1864. The area has had an industrial feel since 1847 when the Tottenham and District Gas Company opened, just south of Angel Road station. The gas company closed in the 1950s, but the area retained its industrial feel.

It is clear as to why Angel Road was London's former least used railway station. There are not many facilities, the trainline state there is "small sheltered seating area", and that is about it. The entrance is a long walk, narrow and unpleasant walk to Conduit Lane, which is a busy road. There are Oyster card readers and a broken permit to travel machine, but no ticket machines or facilities to top up an Oyster card, and footbridge links both platforms. There are numerous posters at Angel Road from @PilningStation - "A noisy victim to SWML". 

Angel Road station closed as it is to be replaced by Meridian Water station, just 580 metres south. This new station will serve the Meridian Water development, a £6 billion programme in Upper Edmonton which will see 10,000 homes being built. Meridian Water station will still be situated on the Lea Valley line, with services to Liverpool Street and predominantly Stratford. From September, two trains per hour will start and terminate at Meridian Water, as well as trains from Hertford East and Bishops Stortford calling at the station during the peak hours. This will increase capacity on the line.

Meridian Water is also on the proposed Crossrail 2 route which is expected to open in the 2030s. The station was constructed to allow for future development. For example, platform 1 has been constructed, but there is no laid track. It is expected 4 million people will use the station every year, unlikely to ever be the least used station in London. Meridian Water station is due to open in a few days time on Monday 3 June 2019.

The first passenger train to call into Meridian Water is expected to be the 05:57 service to Liverpool Street. There have, however, been various accounts on Twitter over the last couple of days of services "missing" Angel Road and stopping at Meridian Water.

As we today say goodbye to Angel Road, and welcome Meridian Water on Monday, this weekend the number of railway stations in London will officially be reduced by 1.I look forward to visiting London's latest railway station on Monday.

Class 800 Azuma review

Six months late, the demise of Virgin Trains East Coast and issues with Class 800s after the launch on Great Western Railway in October 2017, the Class 800, or Azuma, finally entered service on London North Eastern Railway (LNER) on 15 May 2019. On Saturday 26 May, I travelled from London King's Cross to Grantham on 800113 and I am extremely impressed with the quality of the train. Well worth the wait. 

Not only are the Azuma's six months late, the Department for Transport invited companies to tender for designing and constructing new trains for Great Western and East Coast main lines. 12 years ago with the ambition of the new trains entering service in 2015, and testing to commence in 2012. The Department for Transport delayed announcing the prefered bidder, a partnership with Agility Trains and Hitachi, until after the 2010 General Election. 

80 Class 800 train sets will have been constructed, 57 for Great Western Railway and 23 for LNER. Back in 2016 when the East Coast main line was operated by the franchise Virgin Trains East Coast, it was announced that the Class 800s would be branded Azuma, the Japanese word for East. Despite the demise of Virgin Trains East Coast in Spring 2018, LNER still retained the Azuma branding. Great Western Railway name their Class 800s Intercity Express Trains. 

I am extremely impressed with the quality and design of Class 800s. On average, the new trains have 100 more seats than the Class 91s and Class 43s they will replace. The seats have been ergonomically designed and have an extra seven cm of legroom, although they are rather hard. The seats are similar to the Class 700s that Thameslink use, and the seats on Class 800s, have been described as "Ironing boards" by rail enthusiasts due to their shape and firmness. 

I have not been fortunate enough to travel in the First Class on a Class 800 Azuma. In a standard nine car formation, three carriages are First Class and the remaining six are Standard Class, with the onboard Cafe in Coach G of Standard Class. Seats in First Class are wider than Standard Class and can recline for additional comfort. LNER have changed their First Class menu for Azuma trains and advertise "complimentary two-course meal for lunch and dinner, and our popular breakfast menu in the morning", however, as far as I can tell from LNER's website, you can only receive these benefits if your journey is longer than 70 minutes. If your journey is less than 70 minutes and you travel in First Class you receive "a complimentary light bite and drink of your choice". 

Throughout both First Class and Standard Class there are at-seat charge points so you can charge your phone or any other device. Standard Class on Class 91s and Class 43s there are only charge points for window seats. Whilst travelling on the new Azuma I wondered to the Cafe. In this carriage, there are two storerooms which look similar to toilets. Numerous passengers tried to open the storerooms but because they were locked, they thought a passenger was using the toilet. To avoid confusion, LNER may want to put signs on these doors? 

I am also impressed with the seat reservation system. It features a 'traffic light' scale (green for free, amber for free now but reserved later in the journey, and red for reserved now) with clear messages of when the seat is reserved, thus making it is easier for passengers to find their seat or available seats. The seat reservation system also reduces waste from the traditional 'ticket' system and is much clearer than LNER's electronic reservation system on Class 91s and Class 43s that do not seem to work or assist passengers.  

There are currently 11 services being used by two Class 800 Azumas. The third Azuma will enter into service on Monday 3 June, and by the end of June, three more Azumas will operate on LNER. If you get an opportunity to travel on a Class 800 Azuma, do it! They are impressive, modern and efficient, everything a passenger expects, wants and needs from an 'Inter-City' train. Well done LNER.