Council Launches Campaign To Extend Crossrail To Southend-on-Sea
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
I wrote about this extensively in Crossrail Tests Its Trains In Southend and feel it is a good plan.
Extra Capacity Between London And Southend
If some of the currently planned twelve trains per hour (tph) to Shenfield, ran to Southend Victoria station and terminated there, this might generate a lot of traffic between Southend and the West End, Paddington and Heathrow.
A More Intensive Service To Southend Airport
Southend Airport is growing fast and I suspect that with both Easyjet and Ryanair using the Airport, that Essex boys and girls will start using their local airport in droves.
With a more frequent rail service I suspect many more will use the trains.
If Crossrail served the Airport much of East London would probably use the service, to avoid the hassle of changing trains or parking the car.
A Twenty-Four Hour Service to Southend Airport
Consider.
- I’ve flown into Southend Airport at a late hour and just about caught the last train.
- I also had to get there at an early hour for a flight to Amsterdam.
There has been talk of Crossrail running through the night and I suspect, Southend Airport would welcome this development in the future.
Enabling Housing
London needs more housing and Southend is probably one of those places, where more houses can be built.
But a better train service is needed and Crossrail could be one easy way to provide it.
Taking Pressure From Liverpool Street
Liverpool Street station is full and lacks capacity.
Moving some Southend services to Crossrail will free up more capacity for other services.
Conclusion
Extending Crossrail to Southend has a lot going for it.
No comments yet.
Leave a Reply