Capturing The Benefits Of HS2 On Existing Lines
This is the title of a report written in 2011 by Greengauge 21.
This is how the report starts.
When High Speed Two (HS2) is complete, the longer distance, non-stopping trains on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) will in the main transfer to the new, quicker, route, freeing up valuable capacity. However, until now plans for services on the WCML once HS2 is open have been broad brush assumptions made for the purposes of completeness in the economic appraisal. This report looks ahead in more detail to consider what services should operate on the existing rail network once HS2 is open. The aim is to help kick start the development of this wider strategy in which the benefits of HS2 are maximised, not just for those using the new line, but for travellers on the existing railway. The effective re-use of the capacity released by HS2 is a key project benefit. It will allow new local and regional passenger and new freight trains to operate: services that are and will continue to be prevented by network capacity constraints.
It is well worth reading the full document, even though it was written in 2011,, as I think it explains how HS2 could benefit those other than those, who want to get quickly between London and Birmingham.
Places With Better Services To And From London
The report singles out three areas, that could benefit from a freed-up West Coast Main Line between London and Birmingham.
It says that the following places.
- Walsall
- Shropshire
- Mid and North East Wales.
Could all gain new direct services to and from London.
Feeders To The West Coast Main Line
The report talks about how three new or improved lines and schemes will act as feeders to the services on a West Coast Main Line, that will have more capacity for semi-fast services, connecting London with Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Scotland.
- The Croxley Rail Link will link Watford to a wide area of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
- The East-West Rail Link intersecting the WCML at Milton Keynes would improve services from a lot of the South Midlands and East Anglia.
- Improvements between Leamington and Nuneaton (Nuckle) would improve connections for Warwickshire.
These three schemes are now progressing and will be fully working by the time HS2 opens in 2026.
Chiltern Electrification
The three feeder schemes mentioned above all contain two ambitious words Chiltern Railways.
Consider the following.
- The Croxley Rail Link could and probably will be extended to Amersham via Rickmansworth.
- TheEast West Rail Link will deliver a Chiltern service from Marylebone to Milton Keynes via Aylesbury.
- The Greengauge 21 report talks of a Marylebone to Coventry service via Leamington and Kenilworth.
- Oxford to Milton Keynes will be electrified.
- Chiltern use some rather elderly but excellent diesel trains.
- Coventry, Milton Keynes and Watford are already electrified.
I can’t believe that there is not more talk about electrifying the Chiltern Railways network.
I don’t think that Chiltern Railways would need full electrification, if they were to use IPEMU technology in conjunction with some limited electrification.
- The Snow Hill Lines in Birmingham, perhaps as far south as Leamington.
- The southern section of the Chiltern Main Line, perhaps between Marylebone and High Wycombe.
Electrification is a future aspiration of Chiltern Railways and it could give a second 125 mph line between London and Birmingham.
This would mean that a much increased number of towns would have a high speed connection to both major cities and many places in between and North of Birmingham.
I think that enabling electric trains to use the Chiltern Main Line and the Snow Hill Lines, should be given a high priority.
Connecting To The Chiltern Main Line
I took these pictures as my train came back from Oxford Parkway station rejoined the Chiltern Main Line using the Bicester Chord.
I think that no-one could complain about the quality of all the work.
The New Service Between Oxford Parkway And Marylebone Starts Today
Chiltern are starting their new service to and from Oxford Parkway station today and this article in the Bucks Free Press entitled Commuters predict overcrowding when ‘major’ changes are made to train services has a distinct feel of gloom.
Here’s a flavour.
Some features of the new timetable include scrapping the 7.40 Gerrards Cross to Marylebone service, leaving passengers to catch the 7.49 to London, which will be formed of seven carriages instead of five.
But I liked this comment added to the article.
Is this the same part of South Bucks that has been campaigning vociferously against building new railways? That’s fine, but you can’t then complain when the existing ones run short of capacity which has to be redistributed occasionally.
My only worry about the service, is whether Marylebone is big enough to cope with all the new traffic.
Although, as someone who’s only ever commuted for perhaps a year in his life, I can’t understand why anybody would want to spend three hours or more of every working day on the train!
I do actually think, that when Crossrail has opened and Great Western Railway starts running electrified services to Paddington and effectively the West End, the City and Canary Wharf, there will be a swing back to the traditional route.
The Station With The Least Passengers In London
After my visit to the truly dreadful Angel Road station, which has the next-to-least number of passengers, I just had to go to the only station, which attracts even less.
I arrived at the station at 10:42 after a really tedious journey on the Victoria and Piccadilly Lines, which were both very crowded. To make matters worse, the train was held for several minutes at Acton Town station.
I think that the problems with Sudbury and Harrow Road station are not the normal ones of filth and squalor. In 2013-14 it had just 18,700 passengers.
Although I just missed the last morning train into London at 10:41, I don’t think you can blame neglect on the part of Chiltern Railways.
The main problem I could see was that there is no pedestrian crossing close to the station, as is normal for stations on a busy road. So those needing to get a bus to and from home might go to a station where the walking route is easier.
All the other problems were minor, like the fact that the station sign is not easily visible and there isn’t really a good drop off point for passengers.
Chiltern seem to have spent money here, but they haven’t drawn in the passengers. But then they haven’t done too well in the next station, Sudbury Hill Harrow.
West Hampstead Station: A Tangle Of Property Development And People To Solve
West Hampstead station is one of those North London Line stations, that has narrow platforms, which need lengthening and a cramped station building with no step-free access. The station also sits in the middle of a large property development. This Google Earth image shows the station.
West Hampstead Station
This was obviously taken before the development started. There were plans for a grand West Hampstead Interchange, drawing the four rail line in the area; Underground, Overground, Thameslink and Chiltern together in modern stations linked by a boulevard.
This page on the London Borough of Camden web site, is a pointer to some documents. This Google Earth image shows the various rail lines.
West Hampstead Lines
There is actually more lines than is obvious here. Starting from the top (north), the lines and stations are.
1. Thameslink passing through West Hampstead Thameslink station – From 2018 this will be a very much increased service.
2. Midland Main Line passing through West Hampstead Thameslink station – The number of services stopping here to places like Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and Corby may well increase as the line to Sheffield is electrified.
3. North London Line passing through West Hampstead station – This is being upgraded to take five-car trains.
4. Jubilee Line passing through West Hampstead Tube station – A station not to the standard of the Jubilee Line Extension.
5. Metropolitan Line passing alongside West Hampstead Tube station, but without platforms.
6.Chiltern Main Line passing alongside West Hampstead Tube station, but without platforms.
This is Wikipedia’s schematic of the lines.
West Hampstead Lines
I would say that the best way to sum up the area is using that old estate agent’s phrase of development potential.
So how is West Hampstead station getting on?
There certainly seems to be lots of flats growing up by the side of the railway and these seemed to have replaced the trees. There was a bit of fuss about the thirty-five trees being removed, which I can sympathise with, but surely a better plan would be to take away as much traffic as possible from West End Lane and make it a proper tree-lined boulevard. But any council that suggested that would be voted out by the 4×4 owners.
There’s a preview of the new West Hampstead station on West Hampstead Life.
I’m not impressed and it is rather a poor design compared to Hackney Wick.
Only time will tell, but rail developments will have a big effect on the number of people using the stations at West Hampstead.
1. The opening of the full Thameslink service in 2018.
2. More trains from West Hampstead Thameslink station to the North on full electrification to Sheffield.
3. The possible opening of Metropolitan and Chiltern Main Line platforms in a rebuilt Underground station.
4. Network Rail and Transport for London have stated that they will increase the capacity on the London Overground, by increasing the number of trains and running six-car trains. Certainly they will do this on the East London Line, which will get twenty-four trains an hour.
It is my view that all of this extra rail traffic, will necessitate the turning of West End Lane into a proper pedestrian boulevard with very much reduced traffic levels. The only alternative would be to create a pedestrian tunnel.
Oxford Station And Chiltern Trains
In a couple of years Chiltern Trains will go between London Marylebone and Oxford stations around the Bicester Chord. Wikipedia says this about how Oxford station will be expanded to accept the extra services.
The scheme also includes two new platforms at Oxford station, to be built on the site of the disused parcels depot. The new platforms would initially be five carriages in length, but provision will be made for them to be extended southwards to eight carriages.
These pictures show the Parcels Office.
I would suspect that any southward extension would use the car park.The Parcels Office is clearly shown in this Google Earth image of the station.
Oxford Station
Note the two coach train in Platform 3, by the Parcels Office, with the white flat roof on the northern end of the station.
Oxford Station
Oxford station shares a lot of similarities and problems with the station at Cambridge.
Both were badly designed when they were built and although Cambridge now has new platforms and a lot of rebuilding, Oxford is still in need of expansion.
These pictures show the current station at Oxford.
Oxford though has one problem that is nowhere near as bad at Cambridge; freight trains.
All of the issues at Oxford are set out in this document on the City of Oxford web site. It pays particular attention to the following.
1. East West Rail Link
2. Noise and Vibration in the area.
3. Freight Lengthening Project that will allow longer freight trains to go through the station, which has been completed.
4. Electrification
It doesn’t deal with new platforms at Oxford station for both Chiltern Railways and First Great Western.
The work for Chiltern Railways is shown in this post, whereas that for FGW is probabably more extensive and is described in this section in Wikipedia.
Oxford station will be a very different and busier station in the next few years.
3.
From Coventry To Nuneaton
The Coventry To Nuneaton Line is in the process of being upgraded, as this paragraph from Wikipedia details.
The line runs near to the Ricoh Arena football stadium on the northern edge of Coventry. Funding for two new stations, Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park, was approved in December 2011. New plans will also see the number of carriages increased from 1 to 3 and the service upgraded to half hourly, a new platform built at Coventry station and also future extensions of the line to Kenilworth and Leamington Spa.
After coffee with an old friend in Coventry, I decided to hop to Nuneaton using this line , from where I could get a train back to London.
The pictures show the character of the route and some of the building work at the new Coventry Arena station. I caught a glimpse of work at Bermuda Park station, but was unable to get a picture.
There is a third station being built in the area and that is Kenilworth station on the related Coventry to Leamington Line.
I think that the ambitious team that run Chiltern Railways will be looking to at least get a feeder service running from Nuneaton to Leamington, via Coventry and Kenilworth.
If HS2 goes ahead and Euston station is rebuilt, this could be an invaluable route to take pressure off the West Coast Main Line
Good Progress At The Bicester Chord
I went past the Bicester Chord today on my way to Birmingham and Coventry and some progress has seemed to have been made since I last did this in November last year.
The start of services is supposed to be in September 2015, when Chiltern Trains will reach Oxford Parkway station.
For more about this chord and the stations being built in the area; Bicester Town, Islip and Oxford Parkway, there is a lot of information at the Oxford to Bicester Collaboration web site.
Every project and especially major ones, should have a web site as good as this one.
An Impressive Visualisation
The Croxley Rail Link is a major project to improve the links of the Metropolitan line into Watford and connect the line to Watford Junction station.
Out of curiosity I looked at this 3d visualisation of the new link.
I found it very impressive.
Note the following.
1. After Croxley station, the line bends away to the right on a viaduct.
2. At present the line goes straight on at this point to the current Watford station. This line will become a siding, when the Croxley Rail Link is built.
3. As the Grand Union Canal is crossed, this is in the area of this post.
4. Ascot Road station shown in the visualisation is now to be called Cassiobridge station.
5. The next station is Watford Vicarage Road, which serves the football ground and the hospital.
6. The existing Watford DC Line of the London Overground joins before Watford High Street station, from where the two lines share the same track to Watford Junction.
Hopefully, I’ll still be here and can try this route for real to get to the football ground in 2017.
But I don’t think that the project will be implemented as is currently planned. The Watford Observer is reporting that London Underground is taking over the responsibility for the project and I think this will result bin some changes, most likely for the better.
1. Some parties want Watford station to stay open. As it will be possible to run trains from the Croxley Rail Link through Rickmansworth and on to Amersham, could a shuttle be introduced between Amersham and Watford stations? There is a precedent for this type of arrangement in that there is a shuttle between Dalston Junction and New Cross stations on the East London Line. The main purpose is to increase the service frequency on the core of the line through the Thames Tunnel.
2. Both Amersham and Chalfont & Latimer stations are served by Chiltern Railways, who may want to put their view forward.
3. Could the changes mean that costs rise further and a delay is introduced into the project?
The Anonymous Widower 