Heathrow Southern Railway’s Proposed Service Between Weybridge And Heathrow 5
In an article in the December 2016 Edition of Modern Railways about the Heathrow Southern Railway, Chris Stokes proposes a service between Weybridge and Heathrow Terminal 5 stations.
With the addition of a chord at Staines, it would also be potentially possible to operate a half-hourly Weybridge – Virginia Water – Egham – Terminal 5 service, providing a further attractive local link to Heathrow.
In this post, I will look at the various issues associated with this proposal.
Weybridge Station
Currently, Weybridge station is serviced by the following trains on the South Western Main Line.
- Four trains per hour (tph) to London Waterloo.
- Two tph to Woking.
- Two tph to Basingstoke via Woking.
In addition two tph use the Chertsey Branch Line to go to London Waterloo via Virginia Water, Staines and Hounslow.
This Google Map shows the staion on the South Western Main Line.
Note the train that will use the Chertsey Branch Line in Platform 1, which shares an island with the London-bound Platform 2.
This would have been convenient for me, as I arrived from Woking, with the intention of taking the branch line to Staines and Feltham.
But as there are only two tph on the Chertsey Branch, I had to wait twenty-five minutes. Luckily, the train has a long turnround at Weybridge, so I was able to sit in a comfortable seat for much of the wait.
These are a few pictures of the station.
The bridge is an interesting structure, which has a set of new lifts.
Wikipedia says this about the use of the station.
Up and Down platforms serve the slow lines; there is a bay platform on the up side, from which trains operate on the Chertsey or Weybridge Branch of the Waterloo to Reading Line. Stops on this line include the main towns and villages of Runnymede and it gives Weybridge’s longer route to Waterloo via Staines. This service can also be used to provide a cheaper and quicker route to the Great Western Main Line, by changing at Virginia Water for the service to Reading, Berkshire from Waterloo, for passengers on or by the South West Main Line but not near the North Downs Line.
In the middle of a wet Thursday, there weren’t many people waiting for a train for the Chertsey Branch.
Trains On The Chertsey Branch Line
This Google Map shows the station and the triangular junction between the South Western Main Line and the Chertsey Branch.
Note, the historic motor-racing circuit of Brooklands to the South of the South Western Main Line and the triangular junction.
The connection between the Chertsey Vranch Line and the South Western Main Line is a flying junction, so I don’t think there’ll be any issues with Heathrow Express trains using Heathrow Southern Railway’s new railway to Woking.
Going towards Weybridge and London, there appears to be a single track connecting the Chertsey Branch to Platform 1 in Weybridge station.
There may be need for small changes to the track, but this simple layout should be able to easily handle four tph.
Looking at Real Time Trains, shows that in the hour I travelled, only four passenger services passed, through Addlestone station on the branch, with three other freight and stock movements.
So it is not a busy line.
If Heathrow Southern Railway is built and Heathrow Express runs to Working, passenger trains in each direction will become.
- 2 tph – London Waterloo to Weybridge – Calling at Addlestone, Chertsey, Virginia Water, Egham and Staines.
- 4 tph – Heathrow Express – Non-stop between Terminal 5 and Woking, joining the Chertsey Branch Line, just to the North of Chertsey station.
- 2-4 tph – Freight trains and stock movements.
There would appear to be enough paths to squeeze in two extra trains between Terminal 5 and Weybridge, which call at Addlestone, Chertsey, Virginia Water and Egham, and use the new chord at Staines, that I talked about in Heathrow Southern Railway’s Proposed Chord At Staines.
Should Services Between Weybridge and Terminal 5 Stop At Staines?
This would need a platform or platforms on the chord.
This Google Map shows the area of the chord.
Note.
- There is a vehicle ramp to gain access to a multi-story car park.
- Much of the space to the East of the ramp is surface car parking and in my view, wasted space.
- There appears to be a bus station.
I think there is sufficient space to create an innovative transport interchange.
It could even be very simple.
- Single platform long enough for one of South Western Railway’s five car Class 701 trains, which are possibly around 120 metres.
- Bi-directional working.
- Walking routes to the bus station and the main station.
The most complicated piece could be a step-free bridge to the rest of the station.
Terminal 5 Station
Heathrow Terminal 5 station was built with two Westward-facing terminal platforms.
As each has a capacity of probably four to six tph, there shouldn’t be any problems of capacity.
Conclusion
A Weybridge to Terminal 5 service seems a serious possibility.
But I can’t help wondering, if it should be four tph and the direct service to Waterloo via Chertsey should be discontinued.
But a platform at Staines to interchange should be provided.
I’ll be interested to see the final proposals.
Heathrow Southern Railway’s Proposed Chord At Staines
In an article in the December 2016 Edition of Modern Railways about the Heathrow Southern Railway, Chris Stokes proposes a new chord at Staines to connect the lines to Reading and Windsor.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the chord.
Note.
- London trains take the lines to the East.
- Windsor and Heathrow trains take or will take the lines to the North-West.
- Reading trains take the lines to the South-West.
The chord is shown as a pair of dotted lines between the Windsor and Reading Lines.
These pictures taken from a train from Egham to London, show how the chord has been developed.
In the article this is said about how the chord could be used.
With the addition of a chord at Staines, it would also be potentially possible to operate a half-hourly Weybridge – Virginia Water – Egham – Terminal 5 service, providing a further attractive local link to Heathrow.
If this service were to be added, that raised the problem of putting the chord through the development.
GWR Announces Plans To Replace Class 332s As It Takes Over Heathrow Express Service
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Global Rail News.
In some ways, I was surprised that Heathrow Airport are handing over the running of Heathrow Express to Great Western Railway (GWR).
But.
- It seems, that the main problem, in that HS2 want their depot for construction of their new line.
- GWR will use twelve Class 387 trains to run the service as opposed to the the current fourteen Class 332 trains.
- The new trains will be updated with First Class, high speed wi-fi and more luggage space.
- The deal seems to run to 2028.
I do think, that the main reason could be, that this gives FirstGroup or MTR Corporation a say in all the railways, serving or going near Heathrow Airport.
- GWR is owned by FirstGroup.
- Crossrail is operated by MTR on begalf of Transport for London.
- South Western Railway is a joint venture between FirstGroup and MTR.
The operation of Heathrow Express by GWR completes the set.
My post; MTR Vying To Join Heathrow Southern Rail Bid, could link MTR to the proposed Heathrow Southern Railway, who are hoping to create a link into Heathrow Airport from the South.
One of the plans of Heathrow Southern Railway is to create a new Basingstoke/Guildford – Woking – Heathrow – Paddington service.
- This would have a frequency of two trains per hour (tph) between Paddington and both Basingstoke and Guildford.
- This would mean there would be a four tph Frequency between Paddington and Woking via Heathrow Terminal 5, Heathrow Terminal 2/3 and Old Oak Common.
- Creating the new service by extending Heathrow Express, means that the new service can take-over the paths used by Heathrow Express, to and from Paddington.
- It is also worth noting that the Class 387 trains, that GWR are proposing to use on Heathrow Express are dual-voltage and can run on tracks with third-rail electrification.
Heathrow Express will become a double-ended service, in much the same way that Gatwick Express takes passengers from both London and Brighton to the airport.
GWR taking over Heathrow Express must make the operation of trains to and from Heathrow Airport easier.
Why Change The Trains?
I think there are various reasons.
Operation And Maintenance
Obviously, if GWR uses only Class 387 trains on their shorter electrified routes from Paddington, this gives advantages in terms of operation, maintenance and staff utilisation and training.
I suspect too, that GWR have the depot space and sidings, to accommodate all the Class 387 trains they need.
Increasing Fleet Size
There are two published plans y to increase rail services to Heathrow.
- Heathrow Southern Railway would like to extend Heathrow Express to Woking and ultimately to Basingstoke and Guildford.
- Western access to Heathrow could also be a route for Heathrow Express to perhaps Reading and Oxford.
In the future there could be other services.
- Developments could mean that a Heathrow-Gatwick service could be possible and worthwhile.
- There is speculation in the media, about a direct service between Heathrow and Southampton.
Any expansion of services would probably need more trains.
If they need more Class 387 trains in the future, there are two operators, who have small fleets of Class 387 trains.
- Great Northern have twenty-nine trains.
- c2c have six trains.
Some of these might become available, as the operators consolidate and update their fleets.
Acquiring more Class 332 trains could be problematical.
The Class 387 trains route, means that Heathrow Express will remain a fleet of identical trains.
Operation On Routes With Third Rail Electrification
Any expansion of Heathrow Express to the Western side of Terminal 5 could connect to the extensive network of third-rail electrification.
For this reason, a Heathrow Express fleet without the capability to use third-rail electrification, would be limited in its market.
The Class 387 trains have been designed as dual voltage units and could work on third-rail networks by adding third-rail shoes.
Can Class 332 trains work on third-rail routes?
Operating Speed
The Class 387 trains are also 110 mph trains, whereas the operating speed of the Class 332 trains is 100 mph.
The faster operating speed must help operation on the busy fast lines to and from Paddington, where the Class 800 trains are 125 mph capable.
Train Length Issues
Consider.
- The current Class 332 trains, run as nine-car trains, consisting of one four-car and one five-car trainset.
- Class 387 trains are basically a four-car trainset, which can run as four, eight or twelve-car trains.
- To complicate matters, Crossrail, which will use the same platforms at Heathrow are planning to nine-car Class 345 trains, but these could be lengthened to ten or even eleven cars.
These probably cause no problems with the current service, as running eight-car Class 387 trains would probably provide enough capacity.
Would a twelve-car Class 387 train need some platforms to be lengthened?
A four-car Class 387 unit is 80.77 metres long, so a twelve-car train would be 243 metres long.
This compares with the following.
- Heathrow Express Class 332 – Nine cars – 206 metres.
- Crossrail Class 345 – Nine cars – 205 metres
- High Speed Train running with eight carriages – 220 metres
- Inter-City 225 running with nine carriages – 246 metres
- Two five-car Class 444 trains running togeyther – 230 metres
- Two five-car Class 800 trains running together – 260 metres
A twelve-car Class 387 train is long, but not wildly out of line.
As the pairs of Class 800 trains work into Paddington,, I suspect twelve-car Class 387 trains can do the same.
If there is a problem, it will be in the Hathrow stations.
Alternatively, could some extra cars be built by Bombardier to create five-car trains, that would work as ten-car units, which would be around two hundred metres long?
Joining And Splitting Of Trains
Could Heathrow Express benefit from trains with the ability to split and join?
When there are more than one route to the West from Terminal 5, there may be advantages for trains to split and join in Terminal 5 station, to serve more than one destination to the West of the airport.
This picture was taken, as I watched two Class 387 trains joining together.
Note the driver in the cab on the right, controlling the process.
There is also a gangway between the two Class 387 trains, which the Class 332 trains don’t have.
Updating The Trains
The production of Class 387 trains has only just finished at Derby, but the Class 332 trains were built twenty years ago.
So could it be, that creating a modern fleet with all the features needed is easier with the later trains?
Suitability For Use With Heathrow Southern Railway Proposal
There are various issues here.
These concern fleet size and capacity
- Any extensions to the South and West will need more trains.
- If express services between Basingstoke, Guildford and Woking, and Paddington via Heathrow are successful, this could lead to calls for more services and other destinations, which could need more trains.
- If five-car units were needed, then Bombardier could probably oblige.
- There may be a need to lengthen platforms at the Heathrow stations.
Expanding a Class 387 train fleet would be easier.
There are also line speed issues.
- What would be the design operating speed of Heathrow Southern Railway’s tracks alongside the M25? – 90, 100 or even 125 mph!
- Could the operating speed of the Chertsey Branch Line be increased to the same speed, as there are only two stations; Chertsey and Addlestone?
The 110 mph maximum speed of a Class 387 could be a serious advantage, as speed sells!
How Many Trains Would Need To Be Converted?
Currently, there are fourteen Class 332 trains working Heathrow Express services.
They usually work in pairs, so there are seven trains.
If these are replaced by twelve-car Class 387 formations, that means up to twenty-one trains will be needed for the airport services from their current fleet of forty-five trains.
Eight-car formations would need fourteen trains.
Conclusion
It appears to me, that it is good decision to change the fleet for Class 387 trains.
Overall Conclusion
It’s all coming together for Heathrow Southern Railway.
Will Heathrow Southern Railway Make Heathrow’s Cargo More Efficient?
This page on the Heathrow web site talks about the future for cargo at the Airport.
It starts with this paragraph.
Heathrow is the largest UK port by value and our ambition is to become one of Europe’s best airports for cargo. We have listened to our customers and developed a cargo strategy that will take us there.
The airport sums up its plan for cargo with these bullet points.
- Halve current throughput times to be more efficient
- Make cargo throughput times predictable to reduce costs
- Grow cargo capacity at the airport to generate additional cargo volumes for our airline partners
- Work with the cargo community, including through engagement and discussion
- Be 100% e-freight compliant to reduce waste, costs and delays
- Be a great airport of choice for cargo
- Provide a safe working environment.
Nothing is said about being more energy efficient and emitting less carbon dioxide.
This document on Heathrow’s web site is entitled Heathrow’s Blueprint For Reducing Emissions.
They list ten things they are doing.
- Bring in the newest and cleanest aircraft.
- Continue to drive down emissions from aircraft at the gate.
- Improve taxying efficiency.
- Charge forward with electric cars and buses.
- Heathrow cycles.
- Drive sustainable freight operations.
- Plug in more electric airside vehicles.
- Provide a pool of low emission vehicles.
- Efficient driver training and education.
- Host an air quality conference.
This list was from a couple of years ago and there is a certain amount of PR, but there is some thinking in the right way.
To return to cargo, which is on Heathrow’s list of ten things they are improving, the following can be said.
- Heathrow handles a lot of cargo by value.
- Most air cargo from Heathrow goes in the holds of passenger aircraft.
- Very little if any comes into the airport by rail.
This Google Map shows the central part of Heathrow Airport.
Note Heathrow Cargo Handling towards the South West corner of the Airport.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the rail lines under Heathrow.
Consider.
- I actually think, that some lines go under the cargo area.
- There must be scope for consolidating cargo outside the airport and bringing in the containers in special trains.
- There would be plenty of capacity on the link into Terminal 5 station.
- Replacing trucks with electric trains would reduce the airport’s carbon footprint.
I am led to the conclusion, that there may be possibilities to bring cargo into and out of Heathrow Airport by train, using the link created by the Heathrow Southern Railway.
MTR Vying To Join Heathrow Southern Rail Bid
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in New Civil Engineer.
The title gives you all you need, but consider these facts about MTR.
- MTR is a Hong Kong company with a revene of about £4 billion per year, which is about the same size as the Stagecoach Group.
- MTR will be running Crossrail for Transport for London.
- MTR in partnership with First Group, are running South Western Railway.
In addition, FirstGroup are running Great Western Railway.
So it could seem logical for MTR to be included in the consortium behind Heathrow Southern Railway, as they could have a lot of influence on the consortium’s policies.
In an argument about train paths or stations, MTR or their partner; First Group, will be involved on both sides.
The problem is Heathrow Airport and their ownership of Heathrow Express, especially if it is extended deep into South Western Railway territory at Basingstoke, Guildford or Working.
This is said on the Heathrow Southern Railway web site.
Whether or not a third runway is built, many more passengers and airport workers need to be accessing Heathrow by train. The Government’s recent M25 South West Quadrant Study ruled out widening the motorway. HSR provides the alternative, switching traffic from the roads and contributing to improving local air quality. We estimate that HSR will reduce use of this section of the M25 by over three million car trips a year.
Heathrow might be a greedy bully, but they probably need a superb rail service more, than they need to own Heathrow Express.
MTR and AECOM, who is a large partner in Heathrow Southern Railway partner, are big enough to stand up to anybody.
Traffic Between Windsor And Staines After The Building Of Heathrow Southern Railway
Currently, Windsor and Eton Riverside station has a two train per hour (tph) service to Waterloo, which calls at Staines.
These are also the only trains on the Staines-Windsor Line.
So if, there are four tph on a Crossrail service from Heathrow to Staines, as I talked about in Heathrow Southern Railway’s Plans For Staines, then that only raises the frequency of the trains on the Southern part of the Staines-Windsor Line to six tph.
In his article about the Heathrow Southern Railway in the December 2016 Edition of Modern Railways, Chris Stokes says this.
With the addition of a chord at Staines, it would also be potentially possible to operate a half-hourly Weybridge – Virginia Water – Egham – Terminal 5 service, providing a further attractive local link to Heathrow.
If this service were to be added, that only raises the frequency to eight tph.
I suspect that if modern signalling techniques were applied, that the capacity of this route would be above this frequency.
Heathrow Terminal 5 Station
I doubt there will be any problems of capacity at Heathrow Terminal 5 station.
The station has been built with two Piccadilly Line and four heavy rail platforms.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr, shows the platform layout.
Note.
- It would appear there are only two heavy rail platforms in use.
- Through trains would use these currently in use platforms.
- The two spare platforms could be arranged, so that they could handle a terminating train from either direction.
- The terminating platforms can probably handle four tph or even six tph.
- The through platforms can handle well over ten tph, with the right signalling.
Someone seems to have got the design right.
The Future Of Heathrow Express
In his Modern Railways article, Chris Stokes says this about services from Woking to Heathrow.
We have assumed half-hourly services from Basingstoke and Guildford to Heathrow and Paddington, providing a 15-minute frequency from Woking, with stops at Farnborough Main (Basingstoke services), Working, Terminal 5, Terminal 2 and 3 and Old Oak Common.
He also says that this service could take over the Heathrow Express paths and it would use the through platforms at Heathrow Terminal 5 station.
This arrangement has several advantages.
- Heathrow Express doesn’t terminate in the tunnels under Terminal 5.
- No new train paths between Heathrow and Paddington are required
- Heathrow Express gets new destinations without any expensive new infrastructure.
But it would appear that Heathrow Express may have a future.
Heathrow Southern Railway’s Plans For Staines
In an article in the December 2016 Edition of Modern Railways about the Heathrow Southern Railway, Chris Stokes outlines how railway will serve Staines.
The addition of a bay platform at Staines, deliverable within the existing railway boundary, would assist service resilience and potentially allow extension of Crossrail services from T5 to Staines, providing a highly attractive alternative route from Staines to central London, together with enhanced interchange with South Western services. Journey times from Staines to Paddington would be as fast as to Waterloo, with excellent central London distribution provided by Crossrail. We would expect the majority of Staines to central London passengers to transfer to Crossrail, with significant interchange to Crossrail from intermediate stations between Staines and Reading, relieving overcrowding between Staines and Waterloo.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the rail lines at Staines station.
Note.
- London trains take the lines to the East.
- Windsor and Heathrow trains take or will take the lines to the North-West.
- Reading trains take the lines to the South-West.
Heathrow Southern Railway plan to add a bay platform in the North West corner of the station.
- It will be built on current railway land. (Chris Stokes)
- It will help with the resilience of the train service. (Chris Stokes)
- It could possibly be the terminus of an extended Crossrail service from Heathrow Terminal 5. (Chris Stokes)
I shall now look at various features, benefits and possible problems in detail.
Could A 205 Metre Long Platform Be Built?
The Google Map shows Staines station.
Note.
- The five-car blue train in the station.
- The train is probably a Class 458 train, which is just over a hundred metres long.
- Crossrail’s Class 345 trains are up to 205 metres long.
- The two footbridges over the tracks.
- The junction, where the tracks split to the West of the station.
These pictures show the area, where the new bay platform would go.
The Station Path and the green space are clearly shown on the Google Map.
Using the train in the station as a hundred metre ruler, I feel that with good design a platform, that was long enough for a Class 345 train could be built.
- The path would be landscaped.
- The platform would connect to the London-bound Platform 1.
- There is probably space for some shelters and other facilities.
- There might be a new entrance to the station at the West end.
Platforms have been built in much more difficult locations than this.
What Frequency Of Trains Could The Platform Handle?
Many terminal platforms in the UK handle four trains per hour (tph).
Crossrail will actually handle 12 tph using three terminal platforms at Shenfield station, when the station gets the full service in May 2019.
I don’t think it would be outrageous to say, that the single bay platform at Staines station would be able to handle four tph.
Would Crossrail Want To Serve Staines?
Crossrail’s current service plans are lop-sided, with more trains going to the East than to the West. This means that 12 tph turnback at Paddington station.
I’m sure they would welcome extra termini in the West!
Heathrow Southern Railway’s plan is that trains will pass through Heathrow Terminal 5 station and then take the new rail link to Staines.
Crossrail’s current plan envisages two tph terminating in Heathrow Terminal 5 station, but I don’t think with the right signalling and timetable, that running four tph through the airport to the bay platform at Staines, would be impossible.
But this will only happen if there are the passengers to use the service.
Who Might Use Crossrail To And From Staines?
Chris Stokes said this.
We would expect the majority of Staines to central London passengers to transfer to Crossrail
As there is research behind the proposal, this will be right.
But there is one group of passengers, who will welcome Crossrail with open arms.
That is those people, who live in Staines or the surrounding area and work or want to work at Heathrow.
As Chris Grayling announced that Southern access to Heathrow was a priority, I discussed it with one of South Western’s station staff.
They put me right about getting from Staines to Heathrow for an early shift.
Crossrail’s Plans for Heathrow at 6th January 2019
Om the 9th January 2019, Wikipdia said that following Crossrail trains will run to Heathrow.
- Terminal 4 – Four trains per hour (tph)
- Terminal 5 – two tph
In addition it looks like Heathrow Express will run four tph to Terminal 5.
Heathrow Southern Railway plan to run the Heathrow Express services through to Basingstoke, Guildford and Woking.
If Crossrail were to run four tph to Staines in addition the extended Heathrow Express at four tph, that would only be one train every seven and a half minutes. Compare this with the time it takes of ten minutes to turn trains in the platform at Heathrow Terminal 5 station.
I would suspect it could be possible to run four tph through Terminal 5 to a bay platform at Staines.
Conclusion
It’s amazing what can happen, when you add a simple bay platform!
New Heathrow Rail Link To Lead The Way For Future Transport Funding Schemes
The title of this post, is the same as that of this Press Release on the Department of Transport web site.
This is the opening two paragraphs.
Private companies have been asked to come forward with ideas to deliver a new southern rail link to Heathrow Airport.
The link will be one of the first projects under government plans to invite third parties – such as local authorities and private sector companies – to invest in the rail network, over and above the £47 billion the government is already planning for the next 5 years.
In the past, I have talked about two privately-funded schemes for access from the South to Heathrow.
The Times is saying today, that it could be the second scheme.
But Heathrow can be such a money-earner, you do wonder if other schemes to serve the airport will be put forward.
How Would A Scheme Work In Practice?
A consortium consisting of engineering, financial and railway interests would put forward a scheme.
They would do the following.
- Design the scheme and ensure it was acceptable to all stakeholders, including Network Rail, the Office of Rail and Road, local authorities, train operating companies, passengers, residents and in the case of Heathrow, the airport itself.
- Raise the finance to build the scheme from appropriate institutions like insurance companies, banks and pension funds.
- Build the scheme and get it approved by the appropriate companies, authorities and regulators.
- Once the scheme is commissioned, trains using the scheme would pay appropriate track access charges, in the same way, that they do now, when they use Network Rail’s tracks.
- Maintenance would be the responsibility of the consortium, that built the scheme.
In some ways the consortium functions like a mini-Network Rail, as it obeys all the same standards with regards to engineering and safety.
But.
- The finance is not provided by taxpayers.
- Any profits go to those, who conceived, built or financed the project.
- Risks associated with the project are not borne by the Government or taxpayers.
If say in ten years time, the consortium goes bust, then I suspect that the assets would be bought on the cheap, by either Network Rail or another investor, who would learn from the original consortium’s mistakes.
Not that I think that will happen!
Has Anything Similar Been Done Before In The UK?
I think it is true to say, that various innovative ways have been found to fund railways in the UK.
The article from the Independent, which was written in 1992 is entitled Canary Wharf Banks Agree Funding For Jubilee Line.
This is a paragraph from the article.
The Government has always insisted that the scheme will not go ahead without private funding. In return for the financing, the banks are believed to be insisting that the Government chooses Canary Wharf as the site for the relocation of about 3,000 civil servants from the Department of Environment and the Department of Transport. It is also considering three other sites in the area.
So it looks like relocating three thousand civil servants got the Jubilee Line built!
Chiltern Railways have expanded by leaps and bounds over the years and some of their methods have been professional and innovative.
Project Evergreen with three phases has expanded and improved their passenger services.
This is an extract from the section of Wikipedia, that talks about the project.
Chiltern Railways former chairman Adrian Shooter said, “This is the biggest passenger rail project for several generations not to call on the taxpayer for support. Working closely with Network Rail, we are going to create a new main-line railway for the people of Oxfordshire and the Midlands. This deal demonstrates that real improvements to rail services can be paid for without public subsidy by attracting people out of their cars and on to trains.”
I don’t know whether this relates to all of Project Evergreen or just one part.
This is also said.
Network Rail provided the capital for the upgrade and will recover this through a facility charge over the subsequent 30 years, initially payable by Chiltern until its franchise expires, and then by the next franchisee. The infrastructure upgrade was carried out by main contractor BAM Nuttall, in partnership with Jarvis and WS Atkins.
It may all sound complicated, but Chiltern Railways is a train operating company that commuters don’t seem to complain about.
Could Any Other Schemes Be Funded Using The Department for Transport’s New Model?
Building the southern access into Heathrow Airport will be a large project costing more than a billion pounds.
But that doesn’t that all projects need to be that size!
I suspect, that the DfT’s model will be applied to some projects, as small as a hundred million pounds.
These are my thoughts on future projects, which I have split into various sections.
Airports
If a scheme like the Heathrow scheme gets the go-ahead, then I think this could lead to other airport links being designed, funded and built using a similar model.
At present, Aberdeen, Bristol, Doncaster-Sheffield, East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool airports are looking to improve rail access and the DfT’s model may be a way to build some, if the demand is there.
Network Extensions
The proposed Heathrow Southern Railway is effectively a well-thought out extension to three networks; Crossrail, Heathrow Express and South Western Railway to all of their mutual benefit.
I doubt there’ll be such big extensions, but there are some useful ones being planned.
- Bramley Line -The track-bed of this route is still there and connecting March to Wisbech could create a new commuter route for Cambridge.
- Fawley Branch Line – This would provide a passenger service and serve new housing developmemts in Hythe and Fawley.
- Ivanhoe Line – Proposals to improve this service in Leicestershire with new stations.
- Merseyrail Northern Line Extensions – The £300 million extension to Skelmersdale is being planned and another from Ormskirk to Preston is proposed using battery trains.
- North Downs Line – This line could be updated to provide an improbred Reading- Gatwick. Would it make a freight route for Minis from Oxford to the Channel Tunnel?
- Skipton To Colne Reinstatement – This project of just a dozen miles is high profile amongst Conservative politicians and would provide another route across the Pennines.
- West London Orbital – This £264 million extension to the London Overground would create two new lines in North West London.
This is by no means a complete list, but it shows how many routes could benefit with reinstatement or improvement.
Electrification
Why shouldn’t electrification be privately funded, with the builders and investors getting their returns, through an electrification access charge, which would be similar to a track access charge.
I discuss possible electrification schemes in Charting An Electric Freight Future.
The linked article is mainly about freight, but I suspect there are examples, where some shortish stretches of electrification could be privately-funded.
If electrification experts identified the problems of the past few years and how to solve them, there must be a case to formulate a business that merged engineering, finance and construction, that was able to install electrification on time and on budget.
Depots
Greater Anglia has commissioned a new depot at Brampton on a design, finance and build basis and it’s not the only depot built this way.
But that is more traditional financing.
Stations
The financing of some stations has been extraordinarily innovative.
I suspect that that some deals will get even more so.
Some will even charge for passengers per day.
Conclusion
One of the reasons, I like the DfT’s proposal of mixing design, finance and build with a good helping of innovation, is that this closely follows the model that we used with Metier Management Systems, when we started the company in the 1970s, to develop our Project Management system called Artemis.
- We designed the systems.
- We financed the systems.
- We installed the systems
- We maintained the systems.
- The customers wanted the systems.
- Customers paid so much a month.
The cream on top was the lashings of innovation.
There might be a lot of extra finance flowing into UK railways!
,
Could Crossrail And Thameslink Serve Clapham Junction Station?
This may seem a silly question, but I believe it is a valid one for the following reasons.
Clapham Junction Is A Major Interchange
Wikipedia says this about Clapham Junction station.
Routes from London’s south and south-west termini, Victoria and Waterloo funnel through the station, making it the busiest in Europe by number of trains using it: between 100 and 180 per hour except for the five hours after midnight. The station is also the busiest UK station for interchanges between services.
It is also the tenth busiest station measured by passenger numbers in Great Britain.
Clapham Junction Is Step-Free
Clapham Junction station has both a bridge and a subway between the seventeen platforms.
The bridge is fully step-free with lifts to all platforms.
Clapham Junction Has A Wide Bridge
The bridge between platforms is not only step-free, but very wide.
rchitects have copied this Victorian design at Leeds and Reading stations.
Clapham Junction Is Often A Convenient Place to Change Trains
When I go to Portsmouth or Southampton, I will often avoid Waterloo, by using the Overground between Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction stations.
It may be slower, but it is a very easy interchange, especially if I go step-free on the wide bridge.
Perhaps this explains why interchange passengers at Clapham Junction, are almost as many as those entering or leaving the rail network.
With some journeys like say Southampton to Wembley Stadium, changing at Clapham Junction is probably the most convenient.
Clapham Junction Links To The Overground
This interchange, is something I use a lot, as I have four trains per hour (tph) on the London Overground, from my nearest station at Dalston Junction.
As there are thirty-one stations on London’s circular railway, the interchange probably generates a lot of traffic.
Clapham Junction Seems To Be Well-Organised
If you want to go to say Gatwick, then generally the same platform will be used.
All Trains To Gatwick Go From 13
This can’t be said for many stations.
The station even has lists of stations and the platform to use.
This would be impossible at most large stations!
But this is the busiest station in Europe by the number of trains using it!
The Victorians certainly got the design right!
Does this passenger-friendly design attract passengers?
Crossrail, Thameslink And Clapham Junction Station
Crossrail and Thameslink don’t call at Clapham Junction station.
But some services do directly link Crossrail and Thameslink to Clapham Junction station.
London Overground From Stratford To Clapham Junction Via Willesden Junction
This West London Line service has a frequency of four tph, which from some time this year will be raised to six tph or one train every ten minutes.
It will have the following interchanges in the future.
- Thameslink at West Hampstead
- Crossrail at Old Oak Common
It will also have interchanges with the Bakerloo, Central, District, Jubilee and Victoria Lines.
London Overground From Stratford To Clapham Junction Via Canada Water
This South London Line service has a frequency of four tph, which from some time this year will be raised to six tph.
It will have the following interchanges in the future.
- Thameslink at Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye
- Crossrail at Whitechapel
It will also have interchanges with the District, Docklands Light Railway, Hammersmith and City,Jubilee and Northern Lines.
Southern From East Croydon To Milton Keynes
This West London Line service has a frequency of one tph.
It will have the following interchanges in the future.
- Thameslink at East Croydon
- Crossrail at Old Oak Common
If Crossrail is extended along the West Coast Main Line, there will be additional interchange stations.
It will also have interchanges with the Bakerloo, Central, District and Northern Lines.
Southern From Clapham Junction To Brighton Main Line
There is a high-frequency service from Clapham Junction along the Brighton Main Line.
- 3 tph – Brighton
- 1 tph – Hastings
- 2 tph – Eastbourne
- 2 tph – Littlehampton
- 4 tph – Horsham
- 4 tph – Haywards Heath
- 4 tph – Three Bridges
- 6 tph – Gatwick Airport
- 12 tph – East Croydon
Most of these services terminate at Victoria.
The named stations, except for Hastings and Eastbourne, will also be served by Thameslink.
From the passenger point of view, those going to and from London from the Brighton Main Line and South Coast stations, have a choice of London terminus.
- Thameslink – London Bridge, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon, St. Pancras and Thameslink’s Northern stations.
- Southern – Clapham Junction and ictoria.
The two separate routes have Central London fully covered.
Deficiencies Of The Current System
Suppose you want to travel from the extremities of Crossrail and Thameslink to say somewhere like Basingstoke, Bournemouth, Exeter, Portsmouth or Southampton, that is served by Waterloo and Clapham Junction in Central London.
- From Brighton and other stations on the South of Thameslink, there is a high-frequency Southern service.
- From Luton and other stations on the North of Thameslink, you will probably use the Jubilee Line between London Bridge and Waterloo.
- From Shenfield and other stations on the East of Crossrail, you will probably use the Jubilee Line between Bond Street and Waterloo.
- From Heathrow, Reading and other stations on the West of Crossrail, you will probably use the Bakerloo Line between Paddington and Waterloo.
All the Underground interchanges will be fully step-free with lifts and lots of escalators, but the connections could be simpler.
The Arrival Of Old Oak Common Station
The building of the new mega-hub station at Old Oak Common will tie together the following lines.
- Crossrail
- HS2
- North London Line
- West Coast Main Line
- West London Line
There is also the possibility of the West London Orbital Railway linking Old Oak Common to Hendon and West Hampstead Thameslink.
Old Oak Common and Clapham Junction stations will be two mega-hub stations, that for obvious reasons will need a high-frequency connection service.
Currently, that is planned to be the following services.
- 6 tph – London Overground from Stratford to Clapham Junction.
- 1 tph – Southern from Milton Keynes to East Croydon.
It is not enough, especially, if either connection at Old Oak Common and Clapham Junction is a long walk.
But there are easy ways to increase the numbers of connections.
Improve The Southern Service
In his report, Chris Gibb recommended that this Milton Keynes to East Croydon route be transferred to the London Overground. I wrote about this in Gibb Report – East Croydon – Milton Keynes Route Should Be Transferred To London Overground.
In my view Chris Gibb is right for the following reasons.
- All passenger services on the West London Line would then be run by London Overground.
- London Overground have a reputation for running a good train service.
- The Milton Keynes to East Croydon service could be integrated with the Watford DC Line, the North London Line and a possible West London Orbital Railway to produce an integrated frequent local service in an area of West London, that needs a greatly improved train service.
- Frequency between Old Oak Common and Clapham Junction could be raised to as high as ten or twelve tph.
- It would improve connections between Watford and the expanding Wembley Stadium complex with South London.
I doubt it would be an expensive and difficult project to move this service between operators.
Build The West London Orbital Railway And Extend It To Clapham Junction
In this article on Ian Visits, this is said about the service on the proposed West London Orbital line.
Phase 1: 4 trains per hour from West Hampstead to Hounslow, calling at West Hampstead, Cricklewood, Neasden, Harlesden, OOC, Acton Central, South Acton, Brentford, Syon Lane, Isleworth, Hounslow.
Phase 2: additional 4 trains per hour from Hendon to Kew Bridge, calling at Hendon, Brent Cross/Staples Corner, Neasden, Harlesden, OOC, Acton Central, South Acton, Kew Bridge.
The track is all in place and with a new bay platform at Hounslow, trains running on batteries could work Phase 1 with ease. The batteries would be charged South of Acton Central station.
Because of the importance of Clapham Junction as an interchange,, would it be a sensible idea to extend Phase 2 from Kew Bridge to Clapham Junction, by way of Chiswick, Barnes Bridge, Barnes, Putney and Wandsworth Town stations?
This may not be possible, as the route may not be able to accept four extra trains.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the track layout around the two Overground platforms at Clapham Junction.
I also took these pictures of Platform 2.
I suspect that a bay platform could be added, opposite to Platform 2.
- There would appear to be plenty of space.
- The platform would share the lift, facilities and staff with Platforms 1 and 2.
- It would make a good interchange, with simple connections to Platforms 1 and 2.
There could even be the possibility of making Platform 2 bi-directional so that a loop service from Hendon to Dalston Junction could be created, if that was considered the best solution.
One advantage of extending the Phase 2 Kew Bridge route, would be that it would give more electrified running to charge a battery train.
Luton/Bedford to Clapham Junction
If this route from Hendon to Clapham Junction via Old Oak Common and Kew Bridge can be successfully created, it establishes the important link between the Luton/Bedford branch of Thameslink and Clapham Junction.
Cambridge/Peterborough to Clapham Junction
There is no direct route, but probably the fastest is to dive into the Victoria Line at Finsbury Park and go to Vauxhall, from where it’s a single stop to Clapham Junction.
Just avoid changing to the Victoria Line at St. Pancras, unless you like long walks.
Crossrail to Clapham Junction
Three factors will determine how good using a double change at Old Oak Common and Clapham Junction to get between Crossrail and Clapham Junction will be.
- The frequency of trains between Old Oak Common and Clapham Junction.
- The quality of the interchange at Old Oak Common. As it will also involve HS2, I suspect it should be good.
- The quality of the interchange at Clapham Junction. It probably needs improvement, but it’s not bad for something designed by the Victorians.
It could be a very good link.
Could Thameslink Serve Clapham Junction Directly?
From the Brighton Main Line, there is a frequent service, but going North to Thameslink is not easy.
It could be possible to use the West London Orbital Railway to get to and from Hendon, but whether anything other than a local route is needed is open to doubt.
Could Crossrail Serve Clapham Junction Directly?
This Google Map shows the Old Oak Common area.
The railway running across the map to the North is the West Coast Main Line, whilst the Great Western Main Line goes across the bottom.
Looking at the map in detail, it might be possible to thread flyovers or dive-unders into the area to allow Crossrail trains to take the West London Line to the North or South from the East or West.
Consider
- There are certainly some large industrial sites that could be cleared.
- There are a couple of cemetries too.
- There are Central, Chiltern, Crossrail, Great Western Main Line, HS2, North London Line, West Coast Main Lines to connect together.
- A Heathrow to Gatwick Link could be threaded through.
It all depends on how much can be spent!
And Then There’s The Heathrow Southern Railway!
This is a bit different, as it’s a privately-funded railway that aims to sneak into Heathrow by following and hiding by the M25 and the use of the odd tunnel.
This map is a schematic of the proposed railway, which is caused the Heathrow Southern Railway.
Note.
- The blue line is Crossrail.
- The yellow line is a direct link from Waterloo to Heathrow.
- The station in a six pointed star is Clapham Junction.
On the Heathrow Southern Railway web site there is a section called Service Opportunities.
It details two routes.
Heathrow – Staines – Clapham Junction – Waterloo
- Most track is existing.
- New track will run along the M25.
- Trains will be fully-integrated with South Western Railway.
- Four tph should be possible with planned capacity improvements.
- A bay platform will be added at Staines, within the current railway.
- Xrossrail could be extended from Terminal 5 to Staines.
Heathrow Southern Railway envisage that a lot of passengers from Staines will use Crossrail for London.
Basingstoke/Guildford – Woking – Heathrow – Paddington
The web site says this about the route.
An exciting additional benefit of Heathrow Southern Railway is the scope to introduce half-hourly services from Basingstoke and Guildford to Heathrow and Paddington. These trains would provide a 15-minute frequency from Woking, with stops at Farnborough Main (Basingstoke services), Woking, Terminal 5, Terminal 2 and 3 and Old Oak Common.
I like the ideas and the tone of the project.
Conclusion
With all the ideas in the West of London, I think that some very good things will happen to the railways in the area, whether Heathrow Airport builds another runway or not.
In
AECOM Invests In Heathrow Southern Railway Link
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in Global Rail News.
AECOM is one of the largest engineering consultancy and design companies, who in the UK have been involved in projects like Crossrail, London Gateway, London 2012, Sellafield and Titanic Belfast.
This is the last two paragraphs from the article.
David Barwell, chief executive, AECOM London, said: “We are delighted to announce our investment in Heathrow Southern Rail.
“As a long-term partner to Government AECOM is delighted to bring its development, engineering and delivery capability to resolve current and future infrastructure needs and to bring private sector funding to accelerate the delivery of critical public infrastructure.”
Designing projects like the Heathrow Southern Railway is a complex business and the involvement of AECOM in the project must be beneficial from a design and planning aspect.
When the project was announced in September 2016, I wrote Why I Like The Heathrow Southern Railway Proposal. As things have changed since, I have updated that report and I think I’m getting to like the project even more.
The Anonymous Widower 