Entry 42 : Ashford Metro
Welcome to Ashford! And today, we're talking a tour on two of the major links that connect Ashford : the Blue and Orange rapid transit lines.
Ashford is a big city, which requires some form of heavy rail to avoid traffic problems. Let's take a tour of the Blue Line first.
The Blue Line is a 15 km long line that links the northernmost parts of the town, the CBD, and the nearer east side. 30% of all journeys made on the entire transit network are made on the Blue Line. Trains run on a 10 minute headway at peak times, though half the trains northbound stop at Empire Park while only the other half terminates further at Coleridge Heights. Most of the Blue Line used to be part of a mainline which served several towns, now suburbs, in the Coleridge valley. We started at Coleridge Heights, so let's follow the rails!
The line is still operated by old, twice-refurbished MP54 units, usually coupled in 4-car consists. Their replacement has been long overdue, but a referendum on a transit tax sales increase that would have gone to fund replacement of Blue and Orange rolling stock has been defeated twice in the past twenty years. Oh, and here's the entry to the Coleridge Railyard.
For at least half a mile from Coleridge Heights station, the mainline from New Wellingborough parallels the metro line. Here's where they split, though they will merge again shortly before Central Station. You'll soon notice the lack of signals on the metro - that's because the two lines use moving block technology and run on automatic train operation, with a single train operator responsible for the safety of the carriage for the length of its journey. The most obvious advantage is optimized headways and wiggle room for expansion or heavier usage - but on several occasions the system has failed, forcing all trains to stop with no signals to run on and stranding passengers across the city. The system is also criticized for being expensive to maintain and unneeded since the shortest headway on the network are about 4-5 minutes on shared Blue/Orange Line tracks.
Another view of the line split, as the mainline goes through a windfarm, because...why not? The city's power grid isn't gonna run itself and nobody cares what the reckless, billionaire President of Cathnoquey thinks of wind farms next to his golf courses.
The mainline then crosses a bridge over the Coleridge Valley, which is easily one of the highest rail bridges in Cathnoquey.
But before that, we arrive at King's Hill station, formerly King's Hill Road. Note how the road itself is sandwiched between the subway and mainline tracks. King's Hill does not see many customers, though there are only one train every 20 minutes calling here.
The Blue Line then traces its way across hilly terrain to reach Empire Park.
Empire Park station used to be small, too. However, it was greatly expanded on in 5E118, as the transit authority sought to adopt a hub-and-spoke model with the Blue Line as its cornerstone. Several bus lines terminate at Empire Park Bus Terminal (in the background), and half of all Blue Line trains terminate here, too. In 5E128, a new rail link, the underground, elevated Airport Shuttle now calls here too. The underground concourse linking all platforms now serves as a platform itself for the small automated shuttle. Empire Park is the largest used station outside of the CBD.
The tracks then weave across Concord, one of the old late 4th Era plantations now merged into the city's spawling fabric.
North Concord Station and its Park and Ride parking lot.
Two minutes later, and we roll into Concord Institute Station. Those trains sure are rusty.
A #10 red bus typical of Ashford rolls by Concord Institute station. The Institute itself is just a block away, and is a highly-ranked engineering university campus.
Trains then go down the hill in a series of sharp curves across Sheldonville...
...then under the freeway bridge, where they rejoin with the mainline, at the entrance of the main industrial park.
Central Station railyard. The metro tracks are on the left of the picture, you can see the Orange Line tracks merging into the Blue Line ones. Middle tracks are for mainline traffic.
Here's a Blue Line train bound for Central Station.
Finally, we arrive at Central Station, an important interchange point for most city buses as well as between the Blue and Orange lines.
After a two-minute layover, we start again, and this time go underground. In the late 4th Era, not long after the end of the Civil War, Central Station did not exist, and there were three tunnel portals to what was then the main central station, State Street.
And here it is! State Street station, nested in its trench. There were more tracks back then, now buried below where the tram tracks run. A brick building used to connect this sunken station, perpendicular to all six platforms, but it has since then been demolished and changed into that road you can see above the remainder of the station. The empty space that used to be the closed four platforms has been covered up below the plaza and converted into a parking lot.
The Green Line tram still calls here, though, and State Street is still an important transport hub today.
However, from street level, nobody would suspect one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture used to stand above the steam trains in the trenches below.
We continue to University station, once known as University / State Capitol. This is the final station where Orange and Blue Lines share the same tracks, as the Orange splits northwards and the Blue continues eastwards.
Here's where both lines split, as the tracks now run along the waterfront.
At Morningside Station, a housing promoter got the idea of building his Railside Pyramid housing development on either side of the rail tracks. Skybridges were originally planned, but the city council deemed them overkill. This piece of track is new, and was built across the district as gentrification took hold and condos replaced run-down projects; there used to be an avenue instead of the trackage, which for years was known for the Morningside Market. There isn't much of a community to bring together here these days, but at the same time, someone had to do something about all the rat-infested buildings...
The Blue Line tracks then continues into high-density development, all built on the site of Morningside Market Avenue...
And finally the Blue Line turns northwards to serve some of the East Side.
Loxborough / Grove Park, end of the line! There is an expansion project to the town of Balmung which would involve the Blue Line digging into these hills northbound, but once again, lack of funding has forced the Authority to shelf the whole project.
We've seen the Blue Line; let's now take a gander at the Orange Line.
The Orange Line is the city's main link linking the southern suburbs, but it actually starts north of the CBD. About 20% of all journeys made on the network are made using the Orange Line, which is a 10 km long line which runs mostly elevated. This is because unlike the older Blue Line, the Orange Line was built as a metro from the onset. Likewise, the Orange Line runs on a 10 minute headway though all services start and terminate at the termini (except for a few late-night and early-morning trains, which begin at Empire Park after coming out or heading into Coleridge Railyard). Let's start at Lafayette Boulevard station, on the newer Uptown Expansion line.
Lafayette Boulevard, at the heart of Uptown (even though Downtown separates Midtown from Uptown, a quirk of the city's growth and the names not quite following through). Uptown is nested in the Ashford hillsides, and is easily one of the most diverse communities in the city : the original Dunmer settlers still live here, along with several other Elvish races that, back in old Tamriel, would be at each others' throats. The result is Hamilton "International" Avenue, seen here at the corner of Lafayette. This expansion relieved the CBD as several bus lines could be pushed back to end at Lafayette instead.
Waiting for the train at Lafayette Boulevard. The station is two-tracked, but in normal service only Platform 1 (signed with an orange "Downtown & Newbury") is in service. Platform 2 (signed with a blue "Downtown & Empire Park") is used either for storage, in case of a breakdown on the other platform, or as a Blue Line platform for those trains heading back to the depot using the Blue Line tracks (or in case of shutdown on the Blue Line's eastern half). It is more economical to have them be in revenue service as much as possible, after all, and so they continue as Blue Line trains from University to Empire Park.
Using elevated tracks the line then continues to North CBD / Silverwind Casino station, sponsored by said casino. The station is moderately used, but when the Silverwind hosts galas journeys to and from this station are free of charge.
The line then comes to street level, and then digs down underground under the CBD. There should have been an underground station somewhere inside the CBD, but it was never built because - you guessed it - lack of funds. Sadly, most people consider urban rail to be for-profit, whereas it should not be, as it is a piece of infrastructure necessary to the nation's economy much like airports or roads, but oh well.
The line emerges above ground and quickly merges with the Blue Line for that University - State Street - Central Station stretch. Before this Expansion opened, Orange Line trains terminated in a dedicated terminal at Feltonville on the Blue Line, which is now closed.
The Orange Line parts from the Blue Line here. Trains run on these rickety bridges over the industrial canal..
..Then merge back together. Note how these trains are electrified using conventional overhead lines, by the way - that's a remnant of the Blue Line's past as an electrified mainline railway, which carried over when it was time to connect the Orange Line to it.
The Orange Line then curves over Moore Avenue, which it will now follow, with Bybury / Stadium station a staggering 5 blocks away from the stadium itself.
View from the curve looking southwards.
Wynesfield station with Raynoldstown station in the background, once the hill is cleared.
As Moore Avenue swerves further and further way from the CBD, the Orange Line becomes at-grade and curves alongside the roadway.
Orange Lines track split to accomodate a roadway pillar at the end of Moore Avenue.
Brownsville Avenue station, serving the Wood Height Projects. Yes, that's a fairly inefficient roadway, but it looks unique and there are many roadways like that across the world. It separates the flow of traffic, it does its job, much as people might complain about the area's lack of walkability. Not everything needs to be game-mechanic-optimal.
An Orange Line train about to enter Brownsville Ave station, bound for Newbury Quay. Talking of which :
Finally, we arrive at the terminal station : Newbury Quay, along with a small railyard.
The station is located just a block away from the bay itself. Handy for an afternoon out by the waterside.
Newbury used to be a quaint resort town, but partly thanks to the subway, it has now developed into an entire residential suburb of Ashford, more than 7 km away.
And what would this entry be without its own subway map? The Blue and Orange lines are the backbone of Ashford, along with the Green Line, which we haven't quite visited - but worry not, a new tram line is on its way, so we'll have plenty of time exploring it soon!
Anyway, that's it for me, I hope you enjoy this very long entry but then again I love trains a lot - also I wanted to show that it is possible to make a compelling, yet functional metro link using conventional rail (which does make you think a lot more about spamming those subway trains, honestly). It's an extra challenge I recommend to anyone interested in some eye candy and also in a less easy alternative to subways.
Sooo see you around 
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