The Anonymous Widower

Before Crossrail 2 – Capacity And Level Crossings From Tottenham Hale To Hertford East

It is being proposed that Crossrail 2 goes up the West Anglia Main Line just after it surfaces from the central tunnel and then it would take the Hertford East Branch to the terminus at Hertford East station.

There are some issues and problems on the West Anglia Main Line that have to be solved before Crossrail 2 can be fully developed.

1. Services At Lea Bridge Station

The service level at the new Lea Bridge Station must be settled before the full plans for Crossrail 2 can be drawn up.

Wikipedia says that it is intended to have three trains per hour stopping at the station in both directions. All Southbound trains would go to Stratford and two Northbound would go to Bishops Stortford and one to Angel Road.

I don’t think that this level of service will be provided, as Transport for London like to set a minimum of four trains per hour, which exists on many places on the Overground. Surely, if the large development at Meridian Water is to realise it’s full potential, Angel Road will need a frequent service to Stratford and Liverpool Street, in addition to the full Crossrail 2 service.

There is also the complication of possible services between the Chingford Branch and Stratford using the Hall Farm Curve.

Between the Hall Farm Curve and Stratford, there is probably enough capacity on the two track line to accommodate the extra services, but what about north of where Crossrail 2 emerges from its central tunnel  probably in the area of Coppermill Junction?

2. The Service Level On Crossrail 2

The service level from Liverpool Street to Hertford East is currently two trains per hour, which would probably be doubled to four trains per hour, as this is Transport for London’s preferred minimum.

The question has to be asked if there will still be a service between Hertford East and Liverpool Street via Hackney Downs?

Train commuters tend to be a conservative bunch and they may not take kindly to being told that instead of going into Liverpool Street they’re going to Angel and Kings Cross.

So I suspect that just as when Thameslink is completed there will still be services on the Sutton Loop Line, I suspect they’ll still be two trains per hour between Hertford East and Liverpool Street.

3. Extra Termini

The South Western end of Crossrail 2 has quite a few branch lines that can be used to extend the system, but in the North East, there aren’t the obvious termini.

With a railway like Crossrail 2, it is important that the line is balanced as this makes it easier to operate. The East London Line has four terminal platforms at both ends and each platform operates a four trains per hour service to its paired platform, thus giving sixteen trains per hour through the core.  I think Thaneslink and Crossrail will both use a similar operating principle.

To accomplish this, Crossrail has the ability to turnback trains short of the terminus of the line at stations like West Drayton and Chadwell Heath,

I suspect that to make it easier to balance the service through the core tunnel, there will be one or more stations on Crossrail 2 that can turn trains back. The three most important stations; Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt and Broxbourne might be provided with such a facility. These stations could also act as interchanges between Cambridge and Stansted services to Crossrail 2.

I do wonder if the planners of Crossrail 2 are looking at putting a facility at Angel Road, which will become an important station because of the Meridian Water development.

There is certainly more opportunities to create extra termini on the line, than would there would appear from a cursory look.

4. Capacity From Tottenham Hale To Broxbourne

There are a lot of possibilities for making more and better use of Crossrail 2 services up the Lea Valley, but all of them will add to the number of trains running between Tottenham Hale and Broxbourne.

In addition if the services through Lea Bridge are increased then we’ll see the following trains running up the line.

• Stansted Expresses – Liverpool Street-Stansted Airport – 4 tph
• Cambridge Expreses – Liverpool Street-Cambridge – 2 tph
• Liverpool Street-Bishops Stortford – 2 tph
• Stratford-Bishops Stortford – 4 tph
• Liverpool Street-Hertford East – 2 tph
• Crossrail 2-Hertford East – 4 tph

The frequencies are speculation, but when you add them up, they do illustrate how more capacity is needed on the line, especially when you take into account the fact that the Cambridge and Stansted services will want to travel much faster than the local stopping services.

The planners for the West Anglia Main Line are already planning an increase in the number of lines from two to four as this Future Developments section in Wikipedia says.

If Stansted Airport’s expansion is authorised it is planned that the line will see many further changes. Long term proposals include four-tracking between Coppermill Junction and Broxbourne junction; an additional tunnel and platform edge on the Stansted Airport branch; one additional train per hour serving Stansted and up to six further trains per hour at peak times, including four into Stratford as a terminus. More stations, such as Broxbourne, will also have platform extensions to accommodate 12-car trains.

It seems likely that two tracks will be built alongside the line to Cheshunt as part of Crossrail 2. Intermediate stations from Tottenham Hale will transfer to Crossrail 2 releasing capacity on the main line for additional trains

I think that the last paragraph could be saying that stations like Northumberland Park, Angel Road, Ponders End, Brimsdown, Enfield Lock and Waltham Cross will have two fast tracks without platforms and two slow Crossrail 2/local tracks with platforms.

Whatever it means, the four-tracking is one of those projects that is needed whether Crossrail 2 is built or not.

I would hope that Network Rail’s surveyors have shown that four-tracking is possible. It will certainly need a design of narrow station.

5. Level Crossings

Levels crossings are numerous on the West Anglia Main Line, with examples at Northumberland Park, Brimsdown and Enfield Lock, south of Waltham Cross. The post on Enfield Lock shows queues at the crossing. This Google Map shows queues at Northumberland Park.

Removing this level crossing would look to be particularly difficult, but surely with the development of Meridian Water just to the North East, the time is now right to sort it once and for all.

Incidentally, when I worked at Enfield Rolling Mills in the 1960s, driving across the railway was a slow and tedious business, because of jams at the Brimsdown and Enfield Lock crossings.

In the 1980s the A1055 Meridian Way was built, which must have taken some pressure from these two level crossings.

I have found this page from Hansard in 1958, which mentions the Brimsdown level crossing and another which must have now been closed at Ponders End.

It’s now nearly sixty years!

I think any plan to four-track the West Anglia Main Line must include removal of these crossings.

6. Conclusion

I think it is essential that the West Anglia Main Line is four-tracked and the level crossings south of Broxbourne are removed before any other work on Crossrail 2 starts. I would also rebuild the Hall Farm Curve at the same time.

 

July 18, 2015 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Before Crossrail 2, Crossrail 2, Lea Valley Lines, Level Crossing, Trains