When Is A Train Not A Train?
Take a modern train, say something like a Class 172 DMU or a two-car version of say a Class 710 EMU.
The size and weight of these are very similar to that of one of Sheffield’s trams.
Many, if not all, trams in the UK run to a set of rules, which allow the following.
- Running at up to 50 mph on a dedicated track, which can be either single or double track.
- Running at slower speeds through City Centres and amongst pedestrians, as they do through Birmingham, Blackpool, Croydon, Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield
- Trams are driven, by a trained driver, who takes notice of everything and everybody around the tram.
- Passengers can cross the track in designated places provided they keep a good look-out.
- Passengers can only board a tram at a designated stop.
- All rail vehicles run to the same rules.
The rules must work, as you don’t often hear of trams having accidents with pedestrians. In fact fourteen people have died in accidents with modern trams in the UK since 2000. The rate seems to have dropped in recent years, so are drivers getting better and pedestrians learning how to live with the trams?
I believe that in Zwickau in Germany, local trains, run on the tram tracks in the City Centre. There’s more on it under Vogtlandbahn in Wikipedia.
So could some branch lines be run according to tram rules, but using standard modern trains, like Class 172 or Class 710 trains?
In A First Visit To Clacton, I said this about the Walton-on-the-Naze branch of the Sunshine Coast Line.
I do wonder whether some branches like the short one to Walton-on-the Naze could be run to tram rules using on-board energy storage. It might enable stations to be built step-free without electrification, lifts and bridges, provided trains kept to a safe slow speed.
In an ideal system, the rules could be.
- No electrification. Zwickau uses diesel vehicles, but ones using on-board energy storage would be ideal.
- Trains do not exceed an appropriate slow speed. Zwickau uses 80 kph.
- Step free access from platform to train.
- All trains on the line run to the same rules.
- No freight trains.
The advantages would be.
- There is no electrification.
- Signalling is standard railway signals and rules. Often routes would run under One Train Working, which is very safe and well proven.
- Many routes could be built as single-track without points and like the Sudbury branch trains would go out and back.
- DMUs would be exactly, the same as others of their type.
- EMUs would be too, but would have on-board energy storage.
- Extra stations could be added to the line, by just building platforms.
- The line could perhaps be extended past its current terminus.
I must get to Zwickau and see how the Germans do it.
A few examples of lines that could run to these rules include.
- Sudbury Branch
- St. Ives Branch
- Walton-on-the-Naze Branch of the Sunshine Coast Line
- Windermere Branch
Whether some of these would need it, is doubtful. Some though, like Sudbury and St.Ives, terminate as a single platform in a car park.
The Felixstowe Branch certainly couldn’t as it has lots of freight trains, although the final section, from where it branches off the line to Felixstowe Port could.
I said that no freight trains could run on the routes, but those devilish Germans have designed a freight tram that runs in Dresden to supply the Volswagen factory in the city. It’s called a Cargo Tram.
Could this be a way of bringing freight into a City Centre? as I said in The LaMiLo Project, this type of thinking is in the minds of planners.
A First Visit To Clacton
Despite living quite close to Clacton for perhaps about thirty years of my life, I’d never been to the town before today.
I needed some sun and felt that a visit and a walk along the front was in order.
Since the Shenfield Metro train service through East London to henfield has been run by TfL Rail, getting to places like Clacton and Sudbury, as I did, a couple of weeks ago, has become a lot cheaper.
Sudbury cost me £11.70 return, and Clacton today was £14.25! As Clacton is seventy miles from London, surely that is good value!
These are of some pictures I took of the trip from the time I joined the Sunshine Coast Line at Colchester.
Note.
- The stations on the branch look reasonable, although Thorpe-le-Soken station could do with improvements.
- According to a local, the front at Clacton has had a recent makeover.
- There is a maintenance depot for the trains at Clacton.
- The line is an electrified double-track, although the branch to Walton-on-the-Naze and Frinton-on-Sea is only a single-track.
- I must admit to being surprised at the size of Clacton station with four platforms capable of taking twelve-car trains.
This Google Map shows the route where I walked.
Clacton
I walked down from the station to the sea front, along the promenade to the Pier and then back up to the station. It was virtually flat all the way.
One of the reasons, I went to Clacton was to look at the train service and see if it is likely, than the new franchise will improve it.
- As I said earlier, most of the stations I saw are in reasonable condition, although some may need step-free access.
- Thorpe-le-Soken station would appear to need improvement.
- According to Wikipedia Abellio has plans to improve stations at at Alresford, Kirby Cross and Weeley
- It is still possible to see the remains of the second track to Walton at Thorpe-le-Soken station.
- Generally, the Off Peak service to Clacton and Walton is one train per hour.
- Going to Clacton, I rode in an acceptable Class 360 train, but going back I was in a Class 321 train.
- Signalling on the Sunshine Coast Line was modernised a few years ago, but what is the state of the electrification?
- Colchester Town station is served by a spur from the Sunshine Coast Line, which has a low speed limit because of sharp curves.
There is certainly scope for improvement.
These are a few notes on what can be done.
Colchester Town Station
Wikipedia says this about the station.
As of 2013 there is only one platform, but there is space for a second which would make possible a more intensive service on the Sunshine Coast Line. To the east of the station, Colne Junction is the western extremity of a triangle which gives access towards Colchester station to the west and Hythe station to the east. The curve to the north from Colne Junction to East Gates Junction is sharp, with a continuous check rail which necessitates slow passage.
This Google Map shows Colchester Town station and Colne Junction.
Colchester Town Station And Colne Junction
Colchester Town station is at the Western side of the map and the lines lead out of the station to the triangular Colne Junction.
As the map shows, it is a much sharper curve to turn North than go to the Sunshine Coast.
The other station shown at the |Eastern side of the map is Hythe station, which is on the route to Clacton and Walton.
I suspect that there have been many sensible ideas to improve services through Colchester Town station, but that as train services in East Anglia have always had a low priority, nothing has been done.
These pictures show Colne Junction from a train between Clacton-on-Sea and Colchester.
I was surprised to see that all sides of the junction are double-track.But not surprised to see a collection of second-rate industrial and Royal Mail development in the middle of the junction.
An absolute minimum of improvements would be.
- Improving the curve to the North at Colne Junction, so that there is a speed increase for trains going to and from Colchester and towards London, that serve Colchester Town and the Sunshine Coast Line.
- A second platform at Colchester Town station.
- Opening Colchester Town station on Sundays.
I will be interested to see if improvements are proposed in the new East Anglia Franchise.
New Trains
In Could Class 387 Trains Do Norwich In Ninety And Ipswich In Sixty?, I wrote that to obtain these timings, North of Chelmsford, all trains must be capable of holding a 100 mph line speed or perhaps even 110 mph.
The Class 360 trains might be fast enough, but there are rumours in the Derby Telegraph, that a new fleet of Bombardier trains will be ordered, to fulfil a requirement in the new franchise agreement.
If a version of something like a Class 710 train is ordered, it could have the following characteristics.
- Four-car trains, able to run in four, eight and twelve car formations.
- 100 mph or 110 mph line speed.
- Regenerative braking.
- Provision for on-board energy storage.
On the Sunshine Coast Line, the trains would not use the onboard energy storage for primary traction, but to save energy, as I don’t suspect the line has been updated for regenerative braking.
These trains will certainly provide a better passenger experience. They could also be faster between Liverpool Street and Colchester.
Electrification
The electrification looked to be in good condition, but judging by the design, some of it, is fairly elderly.
I also have my doubts as to whether the overhead wires can handle regenerative braking. Use of regenerative braking in the UK have shown energy saving around 15%, but it does need a more expensive infrastructure.
So will we see, a project to renew the wires, transformers and other electrical equipment, as has been seen on parts of the Great Eastern Main Line?
I think we will, but the operator could use on-board electrical storage in new trains to simplify the electrification.Instead of returning braking energy through the overhead wires, it would be stored on the train for using the train to get started again.
One idea that could happen, is that to appease the sensitive souls in Frinton, that the Walton-on-the-Naze branch could be run using onboard energy storage to eliminate any pantograph noise. After all the branch is only five miles long. But that would be five miles less of overheasd wire to maintain.
I do wonder whether some branch lines like the short one to Walton-on-the Naze could be run to tram rules using on-board energy storage. It might enable stations to be built step-free without electrification, lifts and bridges. I wrote about Thurston station, where they have a walk across with lights in Two Solutions To Make Crossing A Railway Safe.
Track Improvements
As with Colne Junction, I suspect that there are some long-standing ideas to increase the line speed from the current 40-90 mph on the Sunshine Coast Line.
Have Train, Will Travel
This article in the underland Echo is entitled Metro bosses unveil plans to extend network, including direct link between Sunderland and South Tyneside.
This is the opening couple of paragraphs.
Ambitious plans to extend and expand the region’s rail and Metro networks have been drawn up by public transport bosses.
The scheme – to be presented to the North East Combined Authority (NECA) – could see a direct link between Sunderland and South Tyneside and the network extended as far as Washington and Peterlee.
It is a comprehensive plan, that takes note and advantage of the best practice and technology from around the world.
The Proposed New Routes
Plans for the Tyne and Wear Metro include.
- Sunderland City Centre to Doxford Park using the route of the former Hetton Colliery Railway.
- New Routes From South Tyneside by linking the South Shields and Sunderland routes, using an existing single-track railway in the region of Tyne Dock.
- A Wearside Loop can be created to serve Washington using existing rail routes.
- The Leamside Line could be used as a new Metro route.
- Re-electrification of Sunderland to 25 KVAC would give advantages to Network Rail and allow Metro services to go South.
- Dualling of the track through South Tyneside.
Every plan seems to have serious element of using former and existing routes in a creative manner.
This map shows how the network could look in a few years.
The Metro Has A Touch Of The Karlsruhes
What many forget about the Metro, is that it some of its operation on the Sunderland route is based on a modified form of the Karlsruhe model, where heavy rail passenger and freight trains, share tracks with the Metro.
I was surprised once on a station on the Metro to see a Grand Central High Speed Train come through.
The last two improvements listed above; 5 and 6, use this capability.
The Durham Coast Line runs from Newcastle to Middlesborough and the East Coast Main Line, via Sunderland and Hartlepool. The only electrified section of this line is that which is used by Metro trains.
If new Metro trains could run on their current 1500 VDC and 25 KVAC, then if the line was fully electrified, the following benefits, would be realised.
- Metro trains could go as far South as Middlesbrough.
- Grand Central could run electric trains to Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Sunderland.
- There would be a second electrified route South from Newcastle, for use as a diversion.
- Network Rail would get maintenance advantages, as the electrification is network standard.
So we would see Metro trains sharing the route with high speed passenger trains like Class 800s and electrified freight.
The South Tyneside Dualling would incorporate the freight line to the Jarrow Oil Terminal into the Metro. I think that the line would be arranged, so that if freight ever needed to use the line, the Karlsruhe model would apply.
It looks to me that this dualling and the upgraded electrification through Sunderland would be done together.
New Trains
New trains are also mentioned and in this article on Global Rail News. This is said.
Nexus, the Tyne and Wear region’s Passenger Transport Executive (PTE), said it would look to procure a new fleet of multi-system trains capable of operating on the Metro’s 1.5 kV DC electrification system and the 25 kV AC used on the national rail network. Battery technology is also being considered for short sections of non-electrified line.
Looking at the map, there are a couple of short new lines, that might be ideal for IPEMUs.
Conclusion
Taken as a whole, it is good well-thought out plan.
Sadiq Khan Backs Gatwick
This article on the BBC is entitled Sadiq Khan urges swift decision on Gatwick expansion.
Doesn’t most of those living and/or working in london and the South East?
This is said in the article.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has urged Theresa May to make a quick decision on airport expansion in the South East.
Mr Khan said the new Prime Minister should make the final decision on whether a new runway should be built at Gatwick or Heathrow a top priority.
This decision has been kicked further into the long grass for years, ever since Harold Wilson cancelled Maplin Airport in 1971.
With Brexit on the near hotizon, what better way to say the UK and London is open for business, than by deciding on the next runway in the South East.
I don’t believe Heathrow should build another runway for the following reasons.
- Building another runway would cause endless problems as the M25 is diverted., if what happened when it was diverted for Terminal 5 is anything to go by.
- Gatwick will have better rail connections.
- Heathrow has annoyed a lot of influential and powerful people and organisations in West London.
- The site is too small, even after demolishing the odd village.
- I don’t believe they’ll solve the pollution problem.
- I don’t like approaching the airport over Central London.
- It is the more expensive option.
You can probably say similar things for Gatwick.
But at least Gatwick’s owners don’t seem to be as greedy and uncooperative as those at Heathrow.
At least Gatwick’s plans seem well advanced, as this visualisation shows.
Gatwick With Two Runways
This appears to me to be a good efficient design.
- The new runway is on the left.
- It looks like the secondary North runway, used when the current main runway is under msaintenance, is still in place.
- Between the two runways is a massive new terminal.
- Note the station in the bottom right corner, with the Brighton Main Line going across.
- The red line is a shuttle, that takes passengers between the current North and Main terminals, the new terminal and the train station.
- Little demolition seems to have taken place.
But in some ways, where the runway is built is irrelevant, if Crossrail and the improved Thameslink work as they say on their tins.
These two high-capacity railways will give Heathrow and Gatwick a shared terminal called London, that unfortunately for them, they will share with Stansted, Luton, HS2 and Eurostar.
I feel though, that because of Brexit, we’ll see a decision before the end of the year and possibly in the next few weeks.
British governments have fiddled for far too long!
Could More Pedestrianisation And Better Public Transport Be A Weapon Against Terrorism?
Protecting against the sort of attack like the one in Nice last night , must be every policeman’s nightmare.
The City of London put a ring of steel around the Square Mile and there hasn’t been a serious attack since. But it caused lots of other problems.
I actually think, that we now have so many areas where large crowds congregate for work, shopping and sporting events, that we need more and more traffic restrictions like those proposed for Oxford Street.
Intriguingly, the City of London is going the same way and wants to remove a lot of traffic from the area around Bank.
So is this pedestrianisation, perhaps linked with better public transport, one of our best weapons against terrorism?
The Mind Of A Terrorist
I don’t know, as I’m at best, a poor amateur psychologist, but it strikes me there are two types of terrorist wanting to create mayhem and kill lots of people.
The first group, are those who want to leave a bomb or device and get safely away.The Bishopsgate and Baltic Exchange bombings which in today’s money together caused over a billion pounds of damage, are examples of this type, where no-one was ever prosecuted, or even publicly named.
The second group are the much-more suicide bombers, who generally strike without warning
Incidentally, I only think one Irish bomber was killed by his own bomb and we can all be thankful for that, as if suicide tactics had been employed, we would have seen many more deaths.
The City Of London’s Ring Of Steel
The City of London is protected by a so-called Ring of Steel, which is a network of barriers, check-points and 649 CCTV cameras.
It certainly seems to have protected the City from further bombings and made terrorists seek out alternative targets outside the Square Mile.
It has had one very positive effect, although at times that doesn’t seem to be as effective as it was. The City inside the ring, is now a very pleasant place to walk about and explore, as traffic is much-reduced.
Also, at weekends, the City is now a very quiet place for much of the year.
When I was still driving and needed perhaps to park a car for the evening or overnight, I would also park it prominently on a meter or legal parking space inside the ring, as I knew it would still be there in the morning.
The Future Of The City Of London
The City of London is pushing ahead with a policy of pedestrianisation, improved walking routes and better access to the Underground and rail network.
They have one great advantage compared to most other local authorities. Land is so expensive in the City and therefore fortunes are spent to create buildings that will earn billions, that if the City says to a developer, can you put an Underground entrance in your building, the answer is usually yes.
At the present time, Bloomberg are creating a new headquarters building called Walbrook Square, that will incorporate a second entrance to the Waterloo and City Line.
Other cities across the UK and the wider world are not so lucky!
Crossrail and the upgraded Thameslink will have their effects on the City, because of the positions of their stations and other factors.
- , Crossrail will have a massive double-ended station stretching from Liverpool Street in the East to Moorgate in the West.
- Thameslink will have a line of stations; Fasrringdon, City Thameslink and Blackfriars, down the West of the City.
- Crossrail and Thameslink will have their important interchange at Frarringdon.
- Crossrail will have a major interchange at Whitechapel serving the East of the City.
- Thameslink will also have a major interchange at London Bridge, just across the River from the City.
- Crossrail and Thameslink will be running two hundred metre long trains at a frequency of twenty-four trains per hour in both directions.
Add to that the existing services of the Central, Circle, District, Metropolitan and Waterloo and City Lines of the Underground and National Rail services out of Cannon Street, Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street and Moorgate, all of which will be upgraded and I believe that at some point in the future, the City of London, will take the bold and very green step of making the whole area a pedestrian-only one, with the only vehicles allowed in the day, being approved electrical ones.
It would be a bold move, but it have several positive effects.
- Air quality would improve.
- The City would be the place to work!
- The City would become one of London’s major tourist attractions, with visitors able to walk all across from St. Pauls to the Tower and the River.
- Innovation would work to provide the services a city needed despite the restrictions.
Would terrorists realise that the sort of spectaculars they love, would be more difficult and go elsewhere?
We could see a return to suicide bombers on the Underground!
Conclusions
The City of London will reinvent itself, as it does periodically with great success.
Given that Oxford Street has said that it will pedestrianise by 2020, are we seeing a green transport revolution?
I can think of a few other cities and towns, that could follow London’s example.
A Space Too Good To Leave Empty
I took these pictures in the space between the Southbound Thameslink and Westbound Metropolitan platforms at Farringdon station.
It’s just too good to leave empty!
But at least it’s a convenient almost step-free way to interchange between the two lines. Say from.
- Liverpool Street to Gatwick.
- Bedford to Paddington.
It’s just a pity that all the other connections at Farringdon, seem to be lots of steps.
The New Bromsgrove Station
This is the new Bromsgrove station, which opened this week.
It is not what you’d call a spectacular station, but it certainly fulfils the objectives of the design.
- Act as a second Southern terminus for three trains per hour on Birmingham’s Cross-City Line.
- Be able to accept trains up to nine cars on the Cross-Country route from Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford through Birmingham and onto the East Midlands and Yorkshire.
- Provide a step-free interchange, between trains, buses, cars and cycles.
- Provide a Park-and-Ride station for Birmingham.
But as it has four platforms, will soon be electrified and have connections across the City, will it after the timetable has settled, become an important interchange that takes the pressure from Birmingham New Street? I think it will, as Reading does for Paddington, Stratford does for Liverpool Street and Clapham Junction, does for ictoria and Waterloo, in London.
It is also not finished and needs a shop and coffee stalls. In some ways it has a similar aura to the new Lea Bridge station in East London. Both stations shout that they are open for business, so please send us some trains and we’ll make the passengers happy.
It could turn out to be a masterstroke.
The electric trains on the line that will work the electrified service are Class 323 trains. There are forty-three, three-car units of which London Midland have twenty-six units, or just thirteen six-car trains, which is the train-length, the line obviously needs.
Will they get the other seventeen units from Northern, as that company gets new rolling stock, to create a fleet that could serve the line adequately?
They could also be looking at new trains. Something like four-car Class 710 trains, which are being built for similar urban routes on the London Overground, would be ideal. And in these Brexit times, they are built in Derby.
If Class 710 trains were to be used, they open up the intriguing possibility of fitting some or all of them with on-board energy storage.
This would enable the following routes.
- Bromsgrove to Worcester is only a dozen miles, and doesn’t include the notorious Lickey Incline, which will soon be electrified. So it would be possible to run a frequent Birmingham to Worcester service using onboard energy, which would also serve Droitwich Spa and the new Worcestershire Parkway station.
- The Camp Hill Line provides an alternative route across Birmingham City Centre. It is not electrified, but as it is short, it would be well within onboard energy storage range.
- On the other side of Birmingham, it is only about twenty-five miles or so from the electrified Cross-City Line to the electrified West Coast Main Line at Nuneaton.
So could we see a second Cross-City Line in Birmingham from Worcester to Nuneaton via Bromsgrove, Camp Hill, Water Orton and Coleshill Parkway?
It would need no new electrification and just appropriate track and station improvements.
Is This The Most Significant Public Transport Development Of This Century So Far?
This article on Rail News is entitled Contactless export deal will help London fares freeze.
Whether the deal does keep fares down is irrelevant to me in London, as I get London’s extensive transport network for nothing! The only benefit, I’ll see is new services paid for by licencing revenue.
But how long will it be, before, when I go to say Birmingham, Berlin or Bucharest, that the only thing I will need to use public transport will be a contactless bank card?
Everything is now in place for all cities to use a similar system to London!
The only reason, it won’t get used in a city or public transport area, is that mistakenly because of NIH syndrome, politicians have gone their own route, which are incompatible with contactless bank cards and mobile devices impersonating them.
Say for instance Paris, Venice or New York didn’t allow the use of cards and devices, how would their visitor revenue drop?
I trawl the Internet extensively for reports of contactless cards used on public transport in London.
- I have not found one adverse report on the media, although I have found a couple of travel sites recommending using a bank card as a ticket in London.
- Remember that you get the same price as Oyster, which is less than cash, without having to use a special card.
- Oyster use is dropping in London.
- Carrying umpteen cards is so twentieth century.
- How much money do people have lying dead on Oyster cards, they’ve mislasid in old jackets etc.?
- There was a big worry from the left, that cashless and contactless ticketing would hurt the less well off. This Luddite-view has been shown to be totally wrong, with some of the highest non-Oyster use in London’s poorest boroughs.
- There has been a reduction of attacks on staff, as the only money they carry is now their own.
- I have been unable to find a report of someone using a stolen contactless card as a ticket.
The world will embrace London’s model and now, that Cubic has the licence, there is nothing to stop the march of contactless bank card ticketing.
Except of course stupid politicians!
What Will The Elizabeth Line Do For Oxford Street?
I have decided to use Elizabeth Line for Crossrail from now on, as most articles seem to be dropping Crossrail in favour of the operational name.
I had an e-mail from Crossrail today and they’re still using Crossrail.
I have written before about Crossrail being a line for shopping in Is Crossrail Going To Be The Shopping Line?, but today I found this article in Retail Week, which is entitled London’s Oxford Street anticipates £1bn boost from Crossrail. This is said.
The iconic London high street already generates £5 billion per year in sales and New West End Company hopes to hit an annual target of £6 billion by 2020 – two years after Crossrail’s Queen Elizabeth line is expected to completed.
With the Crossrail providing direct commutes for counties such as Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex, New West End Company hopes the three-mile shopping precinct experience a 30 per cent increase in visits.
In addition, 2000 new retail jobs are expected to be created, and the nearby Bird Street will transform into a new shopping precinct thanks to private donations and £200,000 from Transport for London’s Future Street’s Incubator Scheme.
Is Brexit figured in to these calculations?
I think that we may say more changes on Oxford Street, as surely Crossrail will enable other changes.
Oxford Street will have the following stations and entrances as you proceed from East to West.
- Holborn – Central and Piccadilly
- Tottenham Court Road (Current Entrance) – Central, Elizabeth and Northern
- Tottenham Court Road (Dean Street Entrance) – Central and Elizabeth
- Oxford Circus – Bakerloo, Central and Victoria
- Bond Street – Central, Elizabeth and Jubilee
- Marble Arch – Central
So could we see much of Oxford Street being pedestrianised?
The Mayor has said he would be in favour. According to this article on the BBC, it will happen by 2020.
I think that because of the number of the number of stations just North and South of Oxford Street, I do wonder if the pedestrian area could include Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Soho.
The main pedestrian routes would link up.
- Green Park, Piccadilly and Shaftesbury Avenue in the South.
- The British Museum, Bloomsbury and Holborn in the East.
- Euston Road and Regents Park in the North.
- Hyde Park in the West
Where would all the buses, taxis and cars go?
I think that there will have to be a serious rethink, which could see drastic reductions in numbers of all three!
But there will be other knock-ons as Crossrail will for a few years give spare capacity, that could be used to advantage.
The Central Line Should Be Less Busy
The Central Line will have excellent connections to Crossrail at Stratford, Liverpool Street and Ealing Broadway.
It is expected that as some cross-London passengers, who now use this line, will switch to Crossrail, thus releasing capacity on the Central Line.
It would certainly create a high-speed shuttle between three of London’s main shopping centres; Westfield at Shephered’s Bush, Oxford Street and Eastfield at Stratford.
Updating The Central Stretch Of The Central Line
The central stretch of the Central Line will have two rebuilt stations with full step-free access after Crossrail opens; Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street.
Closure of the Central Line in Central London would be possible if needed fr engineering works, as the line has several turn-backs, so it could be run as an Eastern and Western section, whilst say major works were done in the centre.
This partial closure would enable the following.
- A step-free station to be created on the Central Line at Marble Arch.
- Step-free access to be created to at least the Central Line at Oxford Circus.
- Step-free access to be created to at least the Central Line at Holborn.
It is interesting to note, that during the building of Crossrail, access to the Central and Northern Lines has sometimes been restricted at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road and Londoners didn’t moan too much.
So selective closure to get higher-capacity and step-free stations in the centre will not be the disaster it could have been, especially, if the improvements were done in a phased manner.
But all three are prime sites and there must be significant potential for over-site development.
Additionally, if you look at the railway lines on carto.metro.free.fr, this is a map of the lines between Holborn and Tottenham Court Road stations.
British Museum Station
Note the old British Museum station on the Central Line.
I wouldn’t know whether it is practical to reopen the station, but I suspect Transport for London’s route planners have looked at the possibility to give better access to one of the busiest museums in the world.
As the Central Line through Central London is effectively a loop of Crossrail, it gives the great advantage of creating a double line across Central London, that offers redundancy, if either line needs to be closed for serious engineering work.
The Central Line never had that luxury before, so expect serious improvements on any Central Line station between Stratford and Ealing Broadway.
The Outer Reaches Of The Central Line
I suspect that Crossrail will generate more traffic on the outer reches of the Central Line to Epping, Hainault and West Ruislip.
These sometimes forgotten parts of the line will undoubtedly improve and change.
Wikipedia lists some of the line’s Cancelled and Future Plans.
I think what happens could surprise everybody.
Crossrail 2
Crossrail 2 has just one interchange in the Oxford Street area at Tottenham Court Road station.
I would be very surprised in that in the massive rebuilding of the current station for Crossrail, that provision hasn’t been made to connect to Crossrail 2.
There have been surface issues around the station concerned with Crossrail 2, but given good planning of the project, I feel that the building of Crossrail 2 would only effect the area in a similar way to the replacement of a major block on Oxford Street.
Crossrail 2 will have two major effects.
- It will bring large numbers of visitors to the Oxford Street area.
- Just as Crossrail and the Central Line will work as a high-capacity pair, it will work closely with the Victoria Line to relieve that line.
This leads me to the conclusion, that the wider Oxford Street area needs to be and will be pedestrianised.
Forest Gate Station – 4th July 2016
I took these pictures of the works at Forest Gate station.
Note the little kiosk outside the station.
I think that when this station is finished, it will be one of the best on the Eastern branch of Crossrail.
The Anonymous Widower 