The Anonymous Widower

A Trip To Northfleet

Yesterday, I went to Northfleet station.

Partly, it was to have a drink with my old friend; Ian, but mainly it was to take some pictures to add to Elizabeth Line To Ebbsfleet Extension Could Cost £3.2 Billion.

Normally, when I go to see Ian I take the HighSpeed service out of St. Pancras.

But this service is expensive and as I was leaving from Moorgate, I decided to take the Elizabeth Line to Abbey Wood and get a train to Northfleet station instead.

I have a few thoughts on my journey.

Cost

I used my Freedom Pass to Abbey Wood and then bought an Off Peak Day Return between Abbey Wood and Northfleet for just £4.95 with a Senior Railcard.

Convenience

As you have to use one of the bridges at Abbey Wood to change to and from the Elizabeth Line, I used the one at the station end and popped through the barrier to buy my onward ticket from a machine.

Surely, Freedom Passes should be linked to a bank account, so if you want to stray outside Zone 6, you are automatically charged.

Elizabeth Line Messages On Southeastern

At Swanscombe station today, whilst waiting for my Thameslink train to take me back to Abbey Wood, I noticed that the displays were telling passengers to change at Abbey Wood for the Elizabeth Line.

You certainly wouldn’t use the dreadful Swanscombe station with heavy cases, but stations like Abbey Wood, Dartford, Gravesend and others would enable granny or grandpa to take a sensible-size wheeled case to Heathrow Airport with reasonable ease, once the Elizabeth Line becomes a fully-connected railway between Abbey Wood and Heathrow.

Onward Trains At Abbey Wood

There are two easy onward Thameslink tph at Abbey Wood, that run at sixteen and forty-six minutes past the hour.

You can also take the first Dartford train and then take the first train from there.

If you get the Thameslink train from Abbey Wood timings are as follows.

• Slade Green – 6 minutes
• Dartford – 11 minutes
• Stone Crossing – 16 minutes
• Greenhithe – 18 minutes
• Swanscombe – 21 minutes
• Northfleet – 23 minutes
• Gravesend – 27 minutes
• Higham – 33 minutes
• Strood – 39 minutes
• Rochester – 42 minutes
• Chatham – 45 minutes
• Gillingham – 50 minutes
• Rainham – 55 minutes

Note.

1. There are also two Southeastern tph between Charing Cross and Gravesend, but they don’t serve Abbey Wood.
2. The timings appeared sensible in my two trips; yesterday and today.
3. Travellers also have a choice in that they can use the more expensive HighSpeed services to selected stations.

After just missing a Thameslink train today by a few seconds, and then had to wait thirty minutes for the next train, I am convinced that there needs to be a four tph service between Abbey Wood and Rainham.

Four tph Between Rainham And Abbey Wood

In Crossrail Ltd Outlines Plan To Complete The Elizabeth Line, I said this about Western branch services.

When Crossrail is fully open, the Western Branch frequencies are planned to be as follows.

• Reading and Abbey Wood – 4 tph in the Peak and 2 tph in the Off Peak
• Maidenhead and Abbey Wood – 2 tph all day
• Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood – 4 tph all day.
• Heathrow Terminal 5 and Abbey Wood – 2 tph all day.

This includes 6 tph between Heathrow and Abbey Wood all day.

Crossrail To Ebbsfleet is proposing that the South-Eastern branch will terminate as follows.

• 4 tph – Abbey Wood
• 4 tph – Northfleet
• 4 tph – Gravesend

So will this mean that the six tph to Heathrow will be split equally between Abbey Wood, Northfleet and Gravesend, with two Heathrow tph terminating at each terminal?

The North Kent Metro

My naive mind thinks, why don’t the two Heathrow and Gravesend services terminate at Rainham?

This would give the following.

• The minimum four tph between Abbey Wood and Rainham.
• Rainham should be able to turnback for tph.
• Services would call at Belvedere, Erith, Slade Green, Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe, Swanscombe, Northfleet, Gravesend, Higham, Strood, Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham.

North Kent would have its own metro running under London Overground rules.

It could even start as soon as Class 345 trains are allowed to run to Rainham.

Airport Connect

Consider

• The Elizabeth Line service between Abbey Wood and Rainham could serve Heathrow at its Western end.
• The Thameslink service would serve Luton Airport Parkway.
• Both services would serve Liverpool Street for the Stansted Express and services to and from Southend Airport.
• Both services would serve Farringdon for services to and from Gatwick Airport.
• An extra station at Silvertown could serve London City Airport.
• In future, there could even be a connection to High Speed Two at Old Oak Common.

One service on the Elizabeth Line would connect all these together.

June 28, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Abbey Wood Station, Crossrail To Ebbsfleet (C2E), Dartford Station, Elizabeth Line, Freedom Pass, High Speed Two, Kent, Northfleet Station, Southeastern HighSpeed, Thameslink, Ticketing