The Anonymous Widower

Is The East London Line Big Enough For Crossrail?

Over the last couple of years, whilst the Metropolitan, Circle and District lines have been getting new larger S Stock trains, the overcrowding has been reducing and the comfort has been increasing.

Whereas two years ago, I would have never done it, nowadays, if I’m coming from say Paddington or as yesterday from Embankment in the rush hour, I’ll take a train to Whitechapel and then a  short dive into the Overground for a train to Dalston Junction. Incidentally, do Transport for London have naming problem here, with the Overground passing under the Underground.

From Dalston Junction, it’s then just two stops on any of one of four bus routes, one of which is the New Bus for London equipped 38. I usually wait no longer than two minutes.

It’s not the quickest route, but it’s certainly the most comfortable way to come home and if you have a case or heavy parcel, it’s one of the easiest.

In a few years time, Crossrail will join the knitting at Whitechapel, and the interchange there between the various lines will become totally step-free or at a worst case escalators. So my trip home from Oxford Street will be Crossrail to Whitechapel and then the Overground.

But as the East London line of the Overground goes from Highbury & Islington station in the north to a large number of stations deep in the south, will the line be able to cope? I suspect, I won’t be the only person to use Crossrail as an extra Underground line.

From the end of this year the trains on the East London line are going to five cars, but will we be needing an increase in frequency from the current sixteen trains per hour through the core section through Whitechapel? Longer trains are probably ruled out by the difficulty of lengthening the platforms at some stations on the line.

May 17, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Crossrail, East London Line, London Overground, Trains