The Anonymous Widower

Could There Be An Elizabeth Line Extension To Grays?

This article on My London is entitled London Underground Tube Map: The Towns That Could Be Added To The Elizabeth Line As New Giant Loop Through London, Essex And Kent Is Proposed.

This paragraph described the proposal.

The proposal, which is part of its Vision 2050 local transport plan, would see the current Elizabeth line service from Romford take over the Overground branch to Emerson Park and Upminster, then join c2c services continuing via Chafford Hundred Lakeside to Tilbury. It would then head under a new tunnel beneath the Thames to Gravesend, connecting with the reintroduced Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International/Northfleet.

It’s certainly a bold idea and you can view the report to Thurrock Council here.

These are my thoughts.

The Frequency Of Trains

Currently, these services have a frequency of two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.

  • Romford and Upminster.
  • Upminster and Tilbury Town.

It would seem sensible that this frequency is preserved, thus giving every station on the loop four tph to and from the Eastern End of the Central Tunnel at Whitechapel station. Two tph would go via Romford and Stratford and two tph would go via Ebbsfleet and Abbey Wood.

What Would Be The Western Terminal?

It would probably be the two busiest terminals in the West.

I suspect that these will be Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5

  • Two tph would go between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5 via the loop.
  • Two tph would go between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Heathrow Terminal4 via the loop.
  • Two tph would go clockwise.
  • Two tph would go anticlockwise.

I suspect the digital signalling can sort it out, just as it does the loop in Thameslink.

The Connection At Romford To The Romford and Upminster Line

Consider.

  • The Romford and Upminster Line is single-track.
  • A well-signalled single-track railway can handle two tph in both directions in an hour.
  • Trains take five minutes to go between Romford and Emerson Park stations.
  • Trains between Romford and Upminster will use Platform 5 at Romford station.
  • Trains between Upminster and Romford will use Platform 4 at Romford station.

This map from cartometro shows the track layout at Romford station.

Note.

  1. The orange lines are the Overground tracks of the Romford and Upminster Line, which connects to Platform 1 in Romford station.
  2. The black and purple lines are the Elizabeth Line, which go through Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford station.
  3. The black lines are the fast lines of the Great Eastern Main Line, which go through Platforms 2 and 3 at Romford station.
  4. There is no connection between the Elizabeth Line and the Romford and Upminster Line.

I believe it is possible to build a single-track flyover or dive-under that connects both Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford station to the Romford and Upminster Line.

A similar double track flyover was built to connect the Barking Riverside branch to the main lines through Barking.

  • But this track layout would only need to be single-track.
  • I also suspect that there may not be enough space to put in a full double-track flyover.
  • It would avoid the inconvenience and danger of using flat junctions to cross the fast lines of the Great Eastern Main Line.

As it only takes five minutes to go between Romford and Emerson Park stations, there is plenty of time to fit two tph in both directions in an hour.

Platform Extension In Platform 1 At Romford Station

Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford regularly take nine-car Class 345 trains, but I think that Platform 1 should be lengthened, to provide a bay platform on the route to help out when the service needs to recover.

Platform Extension At Emerson Park Station

The platform at Emerson Park station will need to be lengthened to take nine-car Class 345 trains.

Some commentators claim, that the passing loop at the station needs to be rebuilt. But I suspect, this isn’t needed as the expanded layout at Romford station effectively creates a passing loop.

The Connection At Upminster Between The Romford and Upminster Line And The Upminster And Tilbury Town Line

Consider.

  • Both lines are single-track.
  • But there is a passing loop at Ockenden station.
  • There are three tracks between West Thurrock junction and Grays.
  • Trains take five minutes to go between Emerson Park and Upminster stations.
  • Trains take ten minutes to go between Upminster and Chafford Hundred stations.
  • Trains take four minutes to go between Chafford Hundred and Grays stations.
  • Trains take thirteen minutes to go between Upminster station and West Thurrock junction.

This map from cartometro shows the track layout at Upminster station.

Note.

  1. The orange lines are the Overground tracks of the Romford and Upminster Line, which connects to Platform 6 in Upminster station.
  2. The green lines are the District Line tracks that handle the services that terminate at Upminster station.
  3. The black lines are the c2c tracks between Fenchurch Street and Southend Central stations go through Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station.
  4. The Upminster and Tilbury Town Line leaves Upminster station in a South-Easterly direction.
  5. The Upminster and Tilbury Town Line connects to Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station.

I believe it is possible to build a single-track flyover or dive-under that connects both Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station to the Romford and Upminster Line.

This would connect the following.

  • The Romford and Upminster Line to the the Upminster and Tilbury Town Line.
  • The Romford and Upminster Line to the the Fenchurch Street and Southend Central Line.

Upminster station would be a much improved interchange.

Two tph Between Tilbury Town and Romford Stations

Consider.

  • The route is fully electrified.
  • The route is a mixture of single and double-track.
  • There is a passing loop at Ockendon station.
  • The platform at Emerson Park and possibly others may need to be extended to take nine-car Class 345 trains.

I believe single-track flyovers or dive-unders at Romford and Upminster stations would enable two tph on the route.

The only downside I can see, is that passengers going between Fenchurch Street and Chafford Hundred or Ockendon stations would need to change at Grays or Upminster stations.

Alternatively, they could take the Elizabeth Line, which would have a 4 tph direct service between the Central Tunnel of the line and Chafford Hundred and Ockendon stations.

Under The Thames

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the lines on the North bank of the Thames.

Note.

  1. The orange line is the double-track Tilbury Loop Line between Fenchurch Street and Southend Central stations.
  2. Tilbury Town station is in the North-West corner of the map.
  3. There is a proposal for a Tilbury Fort station in the North-East corner of the map.
  4. The blue arrow at the bottom of the map indicates the former Tilbury Riverside station, which is next to the London International Cruise Terminal.

I believe the North portal of the tunnel under the river could be at the site of the former Tilbury Riverside station.

Would it be an idea to rebuild the station and connect it to the cruise terminal, so that passengers on the cruise ships would have excellent access to Central London, Ebbsfleet International station for High Speed One and Heathrow Airport?

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the lines on the South bank of the Thames.

Note.

  1. Tilbury Town station, the former Tilbury Riverside Riverside station and the Tilbury Loop Line are in the North-East corner of the map.
  2. Gravesend station is in the South-East corner of the map.
  3. The wide orange line going vaguely North-South at the Western side of the map is High Speed One going through Ebbsfleet International station.
  4. Connecting Gravesend and Ebbsfleet International stations is the North Kent Line.

I suspect it would be possible to bore a tunnel from Tilbury Riverside, that passed under Gravesend station and joined the North Kent Line to the West of the station.

How Would The River Crossing Connect To Gravesend Station?

The platform or platforms on the Elizabeth Line Loop would have to be underground, as there is not much space at Gravesend station as these pictures show.

 

Note.

  1. Gravesend has SouthEastern HighSpeed services to St. Pancras International station and North-East Kent.
  2. The route to Gravesend has been safeguarded for the Elizabeth Line.
  3. The railway under the Thames could replace the Tilbury and Gravesend Ferry.

There also could be operational advantages in not terminating Elizabeth Line services at Gravesend.

Abbey Wood And Gravesend

In Elizabeth Line To Ebbsfleet Extension Could Cost £3.2 Billion, I looked at the Transport for the South East proposal for extending the Elizabeth Line to Kent.

This image from the Abbeywood2Ebbsfleet consultation, shows the proposal.

Note, that there doesn’t appear to be too much new infrastructure, except for a proper connection between Northfleet and Ebbsfleet stations. References on the Internet, say that the similar-sized Luton DART connection at Luton Airport, cost around £225 million, but we now know it was well upwards of that.

The TfSE proposal says that trains would terminate as follows.

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

As space is limited at Gravesend and there is money for extending a railway service to a new Hoo station, I feel that proposing a two tph service to Hoo station would be a prudent action to take.

This would leave a handy two tph to take the loop back to Central London.

Could A Large Parkway Station Be Built Between Romford and Tilbury Riverside Stations?

Ebbsfleet International station, which is to the South-East of London, has 5,000 parking spaces and is the only large Park-and-Ride site around the capital.

Could another large Park-and-Ride site be opened on the Elizabeth Line North of the Thames?

One place could be at Chafford Hundred station and the nearby Lakeside Shopping Centre.

This Google Map shows the area.

Note.

  1. The M25 runs North-South up the Western side of the map.
  2. Chafford Hundred station is in the South-East corner of the map.
  3. The shopping centre is next to the station.

Last time I went, Lakeside was looking tired.

Timings To And From Whitechapel

These are estimated timings to and from Whitechapel.

  • Romford – 26 mins – 81 mins
  • Emerson Park – 31 mins – 76 mins
  • Upminster – 35 mins – 72 mins
  • Ockendon – 41 mins – 66 mins
  • Chafford Hundred – 45 mins – 62 mins
  • Grays – 49 mins – 58 mins
  • Tilbury Town – 52 mins – 55 mins
  • Tilbury Riverside – 58 mins – 49 mins
  • Gravesend – 62 mins – 45 mins
  • Northfleet – 65 mins – 42 mins
  • Swanscombe – 68 mins – 39 mins
  • Greenhithe for Bluewater – 71 mins – 36 mins
  • Stone Crossing – 73 mins – 34 mins
  • Dartford – 81 mins – 26 mins
  • Slade Green – 86 mins – 21 mins
  • Erith – 88 mins – 19 mins
  • Belvedere – 89 mins – 18 mins
  • Abbey Wood – 92 mins – 15 mins

Note.

  1. The times between Tilbury Town and Gravesend are my best estimates.
  2. All other times are taken from current services.
  3. The first time is the time to Whitechapel via Romford.
  4. The second time is the time to Whitechapel via Abbey Wood.

It does appear that the best times from all stations are under an hour.

 

 

 

February 26, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments