Victoria Station « The Anonymous Widower

Clapham High Street Could Gain Direct Overground Routes To Victoria Station

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Clapham Nub News.

These two paragraphs introduce the article.

Local councillors and the Clapham Transport Users Group have been in discussions with Network Rail about the direct route once the current ‘Networker’ trains are replaced.

Clapham High Street lost its direct services to Victoria in December 2012 when the South London Line was withdrawn in favour of the London Overground to Clapham Junction.

This forces passengers onto the Northern Line, which through Clapham has two dangerous-looking stations; Clapham Common and Clapham North.

I have a few thoughts and observations.

Clapham High Street Station

These pictures show Clapham High Street station.

Note.

The station is Grade II Listed.
There are four tracks through Clapham High Street station.
Only the lines used by the London Underground have platforms.
I don’t think it will be difficult to add platforms to the other two tracks.
The platforms will probably take five-car trains.
Access to the platforms is by a subway, which could probably be extended to the other side of the tracks.
A second entrance would be closer to Clapham North station.
I suspect step-free access would not be too difficult to install.
The tracks are over railway arches, which could be developed to add to the quality businesses in the area.

This Google Map shows the station.

Note.

Clapham High Street station is in the North-West corner of the map.
Clapham North station is at the Eastern edge of the map in the middle.
There seems plenty of space for two more platforms.

I think there is a lot of scope to improve this station.

Tracks Through Clapham High Street Station

This map from cartometro.com shows the tracks through Clapham High Street station.

Note.

The Overground tracks are shown in orange and black.
The fast lines, which are to the North of the Overground lines are shown in black.
Shepherds Lane and Voltaire Road junctions allow trains on the fast lines to call in Clapham High Street station.

I suspect full digital signalling will be employed for efficiency of handling the junctions.

Services Through Clapham High Street Station

These services run through Clapham High Street station.

London Overground – Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction – four tph – Goes via Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye
Southeastern – London Victoria and Ashford International – one tph – Goes via Brixton, Herne Hill and West Dulwich
Southeastern – London Victoria and Dartford – two tph – Goes via Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye, Nunhead and Lewisham
Southeastern – London Victoria and Dover Priory – one tph – Goes via Brixton, Herne Hill and West Dulwich
Southeastern – London Victoria and Gillingham – one tph – Goes via Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye, Nunhead and Bromley South
Southeastern – London Victoria and Orpington – two tph – Goes via Brixton, Herne Hill and West Dulwich
Southeastern – London Victoria and Ramsgate – one tph – Goes via Brixton, Herne Hill and West Dulwich

Note.

tph means trains per hour.
The London Overground services could be increased to 6 tph.
Only the London Overground services stop in Clapham High Street station.
The Dartford, Gillingham and Orpington trains are pathed for 90 mph trains.
The Ashford International, Dover Priory and Ramsgate trains are pathed for 100 mph trains.

It is a comprehensive timetable.

Southeastern’s New Trains

In Battery EMUs Envisaged In Southeastern Fleet Procurement, I wrote about Southeastern’s proposed new trains.

Full details haven’t been announced yet, but I think we can be sure of the following.

The first trains to be replaced will be the Networker trains, because they are the oldest and slowest.
The new trains will have selected door opening (SDO), as this a feature of nearly all modern trains.
I also suspect the trains will be capable of running at 100 mph and will be five cars long, with the ability to run in pairs.

This will enable the new trains to cross over from the fast lines to the Overground lines to stop in Clapham High Street station.

How Many Trains Would Stop At Clapham High Street Station?

Currently trains passing through the station are as follows.

London Overground – 4 tph – Stopping
Southeastern – 3 tph – 100 mph services to Ashford International, Dover Priory and Ramsgate – Non-stop
Southeastern – 5 tph – 90 mph services to Dartford, Gillingham and Orpington – Non-stop

Note.

It is likely that the London Overground service will go to 6 tph.
Would 100 mph services always go through without stopping?
In an ideal world would it be best if services alternated?

I suspect that a better service could be provided between Clapham High Street and Victoria with very little expenditure on infrastructure.

High Speed One Issues

An article in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways is entitled Kent On The Cusp Of Change.

The article suggests that Fawkham junction, could be used to allow Southeastern Highspeed services to access Victoria as a second London terminal, to increase capacity on High Speed One.

The route could be via Clapham High Street, Denmark Hill, Bromley South, St. Mary Cray, Swanley and Farningham Road.

The Arches Underneath

There are several railway arches underneath the tracks at Clapham High Street station.

Some of the businesses look good and there are several other arches that are boarded up.

Railway arches are now generally owned by The Arch Co.

In Findlater’s Corner At London Bridge – 11th February 2023, I wrote about the company’s restoration of some arches at London Bridge station, which included these pictures.

I suspect that a similar restoration in up-market Clapham could be a good investment for The Arch Co.

A Four-Platform Clapham High Street Station

Consider.

There is space for two new platforms alongside the fast lines.
The station entrance is in an arch, that goes right under the tracks.
Putting lifts in an arch would not be the most challenging of tasks.
A second entrance in Gauden Road would be nearer Clapham North Underground station.
It should also be remembered that the Government is giving out levelling up funding.
Hackney is to receive this type of funding and I wrote about it in Hackney Central Before Levelling Up.

I can see a fully-accessible four-platform station being built at Clapham High Street station.

Denmark Hill Station

Denmark Hill station is the next station to the East of Clapham High Street station and after a rebuild is now a high quality station, with these features.

Four tracks and platforms.
Frequent trains to Ashford International, Clapham Junction, St. Pancras, Victoria and Whitechapel.
Full step-free access with lifts.
A solar roof.
A Grade II listing.
King’s College and Maudsley Hospitals are next door.
A pub.

I wrote about the station in Denmark Hill Station – 4th September 2021.

These are a few pictures.

Note the solar roof. There’s more about the roof on this page of the BiPVco web site.

On the About page, there is a section called Our Story, where this is said.

BIPVco was established in April 2015 following five years of collaborative research between Tata Steel LCRI (Low Carbon Research Institute) and Swansea University with support from the Welsh government.

The research program developed ways of integrating thin-film CIGS PV cells directly onto the same substrates that make roofs and walls so that true BIPV functionality would become integral to the building envelope and could be achieved without having to resort to heavy on site mounting systems.

Our manufacturing processes were further enhanced to suit commercial production, and the products and procedures were tested and accredited before commercial launch.

Working with select partners, we designed and built many pilot PV integrated roofs between 2015 and 2017 in varying climates, including Nigeria, Canada, UAE and the UK, to demonstrate product suitability in all environments. The full commercial launch was effected in June of 2017.

They certainly seem to have taken solar panels to a new level.

I would also rate Denmark Hill station one of the finest suburban railway stations in the world!

Peckham Rye Station

The next station to the East of Denmark Hill station is Peckham Rye station.

Like many other stations and buildings in London, including the original Denmark Hill station, Peckham Rye station was designed by Charles Henry Driver.

These are some pictures, I’ve taken over the years at Peckham Rye station.

Note.

It is a very busy station.
I’ve read somewhere, that it is the busiest station in the UK, without any step-free access.
It could be a magnificent station.
One of the people driving this project is the architect; Benedict O’Looney.

This page on the Network Rail web site is entitled Peckham Rye Station Upgrade and it starts with this statement.

On 7th March 2022, we submitted Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent applications to upgrade Peckham Rye station to make it fully accessible with more capacity and better facilities for passengers.

It’s all a bit out of date, but these pictures, that I took this morning, indicate that something is progressing.

This article on IanVisits gives a few more details.

South London Crosslink

The South London Crosslink, doesn’t seem to have a website or a Wikipedia entry.

But it is mentioned in a question and answer to the London Mayor.

In response to this question.

Will you consider bringing the Victoria rail service back to Clapham High Street station and providing direct trains to Brixton, Herne Hill, and Bromley South?

The Mayor gave this answer.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is responsible for these services, as they run Southeastern railway as operator of last resort. Transport for London (TfL) is not opposed to the existing Southeastern services to and from Victoria making additional calls at Clapham High Street should the DfT, wish to take the idea forward.

There are however several practical issues that would need to be taken into consideration, and any changes to the service would be subject to cost-effective solutions being found to these.

The Clapham High Street platforms are too short for the eight-car trains used on the Victoria to Dartford and Orpington metro routes, and the existing rolling stock lacks a safety intervention called “Selective Door Opening” that enables trains to call at a station where the platform is shorter than the train. There are also technical restrictions, such as the frequent routing of these services along an adjacent pair of tracks which do not have any platforms, which would make implementation difficult using the existing railway infrastructure. Finally, there would need to be clear consideration on the wider capacity of the rail network and the robustness of the timetable. All of these concerns could affect the value for money of any proposal for these services to call at Clapham High Street station.

As I showed earlier, it looks like new trains will solve most of these problems. If they don’t, then the wrong trains have been ordered.

But there’s still not much about where the route will go after Peckham Rye, except for vague mentions of Dartford and Orpington.

I asked a friend and they said the South London Crosslink could possibly go to Bellingham.

This map from cartometro, shows the route between Denmark Hill and Crofton Park stations.

Note.

Denmark Hill station is in the North-West corner of the map.
Crofton Park station is in the South-East corner of the map.
The route would be via Peckham Rye and Nunhead stations.
It is not a very fast route with an operating speed of 50-60 mph.
In Nunhead Junction Improvement, I wrote about improvements needed at Nunhead junction to the East of Nunhead station to improve capacity for freight trains.

This second map from cartometro, shows the route between Crofton Park and Bellingham stations.

Note.

Crofton Park station is in the North-West corner of the map.
Bellingham station is in the South-East corner of the map.
The line going diagonally across the map from North-East to South-West is the Hayes Line to Hayes.
There are plans to create an interchange station at Catford.

This Google Map shows Bellingham station.

Note.

Bellingham station is at the top of the map.
Bellingham station is on the Catford Loop Line.
South of Bellingham station are a series of sidings.

Is the reason, that Bellingham station was proposed as a terminus, that with a proper interchange at Catford, it creates a very efficient operational railway with some convenient sidings thrown in?

This map from cartometro, show the track layout at Bellingham station.

I believe that the sidings could be used as a turnback siding for trains from both directions.

These pictures show trains in the sidings.

And these are of the station.

Note.

April 23, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Architecture, Bellingham Station, Catford Bridge Station, Catford Station, Clapham Common Station, Clapham High Street Station, Clapham North Station, Denmark Hill Station, Fawkham Junction Link, Hayes Line, High Speed One, Levelling Up Fund Round 2, London Overground, Peckham Rye Station, Railway Arches, Southeastern, Step-Free, The Arch Co, Victoria Station | 4 Comments

Thoughts On Extending The Northern Line To Clapham Junction

As I wrote in Northern Line Could Be Extended To Clapham Junction In Regeneration Plans, the extension of the newly-built extension to Battersea Power Station station could be further extended to Clapham Junction station.

Railways Between Battersea And Clapham

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks that run between the two stations.

Note.

Battersea Power Station station is in the North-East corner of the map.
The orange and yellow lines going North from that corner go to Victoria station.
The orange and yellow lines going North-East from that corner go to Waterloo station.
The yellow line going West is the West London Line to Shepherds Bush and Willesden Junction stations.
Clapham Junction station is in the South-West corner of the map.

I estimate that the distance between Battersea Power Station and Clapham Junction stations is about three kilometres.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows an enlargement of the tracks around Battersea.

Note.

The tracks going North over the River to Victoria station.
The tracks going East to Waterloo station.
The tracks going South West to Clapham Junction station.
The tracks from Victoria pass over and then join the tracks from Waterloo to continue to Clapham Junction station.

Battersea Power Station station can be seen to the North-East of the junction.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows an enlargement of the tracks around Battersea Power Station station.

Note how the tracks go through Battersea Power Station station and terminate just before the lines into Victoria station.

It should also be noted that the platforms at Battersea Power Station station are reached using two sets of escalators, so they could be over forty metres below the surface. This would surely make the construction of tower blocks with deep foundations easier over the Northern Line.

But the depth would also enable an extended Northern Line to be below any existing or future construction.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the approaches to Clapham Junction station.

There are certainly a lot of tracks through Clapham Junction station.

Reasons For The Extension Of The Northern Line To Clapham Junction

These reasons come to mind.

To Enable Development In The Area

This is always a good reason.

In Network Rail To Outline Business Case For Clapham Junction Redevelopment, I said this.

The Rail Technology Magazine article talks of decking over the whole station and putting two million square feet of development on top. But it also cautions, it would be very expensive.

With that amount of development, there would be a need for as many transport links as possible.

To Improve Access To The Elizabeth Line For Passengers On Trains To And From Victoria

Victoria station does not have an Underground Line, that connects to easily the Elizabeth Line.

The best route to use is described in The Lizzie Line And Circle/District Line Interchange At Paddington – 1st July 2022, where you use the Circle to Paddington.

To go to the West on the Elizabeth Line, take the Circle/District Line to Paddington.
To go to the East on the Elizabeth Line, take the District Line to Whitechapel.
To go to Liverpool Street take the Circle Line all the way.

Getting to the stations between Paddington and Liverpool Street means a change at either of those stations.

At Waterloo, you can use the Northern Line, which has a direct connection to Tottenham Court Road on the Elizabeth Line.

Connecting to the Northern Line at Clapham Junction will give Victoria-bound passengers, the advantages of those going to Waterloo.

An Alternative Way Of Connecting Victoria To The Elizabeth Line

The lack of an easy connection between the Victoria and the Elizabeth Line is a pain and I believe that it was a major omission in the design of the Elizabeth Line.

Dear Old Vicky has a frequency of upwards of thirty trains per hour (tph)
With some improvements at stations like Oxford Circus, Highbury & Islington and Walthamstow Central, the line could handle some more passengers.
More step-free access would also help increase capacity.
Engineers are a competitive bunch and I could see the day, when Vicky is running at 40 tph.

If Vicky was running at forty full tph, it would be moving 45120 passengers per hour.

This would mean that to match the passenger capacity of the older line, the Elizabeth Line would have to be running at a frequency of thirty tph.

As passengers at the ends of the line have difficulty getting to places like Paddington and Heathrow, a connection between the two Queens would really help.

Vicky was universe-class in the 1960s and now she needs updating to the 21st Century.

This map from cartometro shows the Lines through Bond Street and Oxford Circus stations.

Note.

The Bakerloo Line is shown in brown.
The Central Line is shown in red.
The Elizabeth Line is shown in purple.
The Victoria Line is shown in light blue.
The Elizabeth Line is the deepest line.

In addition, consider.

The Eastern exit of the Elizabeth Line at Bond Street station has three escalators and lifts. It also opens onto Hanover Square, so it won’t suffer from overcrowding problems outside.

Hanover Square is just a garden, with no car park underneath, so pedestrian tunnels could pass under it
I also suspect there are no existing or planned buildings between the two stations with deep foundations that would block a pedestrian tunnel.
With the capability and ingenuity of three-D design software, I can see wide tunnels being created that would link Oxford Circus and the two Bond Street stations.
The new wide tunnels at Bank station have opened up the station’s capacity and all the tunnels were dug traditionally.
If it was felt to be needed, moving walkways could be added, just as they have been at Bank station.

I am absolutely sure, that by using the ideas and methods, that have worked so well in the upgrade of Bank station, that Oxford Circus and Bond Street stations could be turned into a London Superhub Station, that connects all the Underground lines together and has entrances all over the area.

The benefits of such a station would be.

It would provide a high-capacity link between London’s two highest-capacity Underground Lines; Elizabeth and Victoria.
It would provide a high-capacity link between the Elizabeth Line and Euston, St. Pancras and King’s Cross.
It would provide a high-capacity link between the Elizabeth Line and Victoria.
It would provide a high-capacity link between the Elizabeth Line and High Speed Two.
Areas like Brixton, Haringey and Walthamstow would gain a much needed link to the Elizabeth Line for Heathrow and Paddington.

Wikipedia says this about the building of the Bank Station Upgrade.

As part of the development of the scheme, TfL worked with potential bidders to improve the design of the station from TfL’s original design. The design proposed in the winning bid by Dragados was 9.7% cheaper than the original design (saving TfL £60m), took 10 months less time to construct than the original design (the proposed closure of the Northern line was also 5 weeks shorter), and the layout of the station was more efficient. This substantially improved the benefit–cost ratio by 45% to 3.5:1.

The Mayor should be knocking on the door of Dragados and asking them for a price for a design and build for a West End Superhub station.

A Possible Route For The Extension Of The Northern Line To Clapham Junction

I suspect that the simplest route for the extension of the Northern Line would be to bore or dig a twin-track railway underneath the numerous other railways in the area.

It could terminate in two underground platforms at Clapham Junction station.

This is the first map of this post and it shows the tracks that run between the two stations.

Note.

Battersea Power Station station is in the North-East corner of the map.
Clapham Junction station is in the South-West corner of the map.

The Western of the pair of orange Lines going off the map in the North-East corner of the map is the Brighton Main Line.

It passes through Battersea Park station.

It passes over the South Western Main Line out of Waterloo.

It then loops to the West and joins the lines to Clapham Junction on the Southern side.

It serves four platforms at Clapham Junction; 12 and 14 are up platforms and 13 and 15 are down platforms.

This Google Map shows an overview of Clapham Junction station.

Note.

Platforms 1 and 2 at the top of the map, handle London Overground services.
Platforms 3 to 11 handle South Western Train services.
Platforms 12 to 17 handle Southern services.
Platforms 9 and 10 have a Delice de France cafe.
Platforms 11 and 12 have a Cuppacino cafe.
Platforms 13 and 14 have the logos.
All platforms have full step-free access with lifts to the wide footbridge that connects all platforms.

The platforms don’t seem to be very wide and putting stairs and escalators down to underground platforms could be a difficult proposition.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows shows the platforms at Clapham Junction station and the track layout to the West of the footbridge.

Note.

The tracks through the platforms are shown in orange.
The blue dots are platform numbers.
The bridge connecting all the platforms is shown shaded in the middle of the map.
To the West of the bridge are Clapham Junction Sidings and Clapham Traincare Depot.

These pictures were taken from the bridge.

Note.

The top row of pictures were taken looking West.
The bottom row of pictures were taken looking East.
Many of the tracks are electrified.
There is a lot of space to park trains.

Will all the space be needed now, that a new depot has been built at Feltham.

Could Two New Surface Platforms Be Built For The Extension Of The Northern Line To Clapham Junction?

Consider.

The step-free bridge across all the platforms at Clapham Junction station works well.
It is connected to the streets around the station at both ends.
Clapham Junction station will be redeveloped and surplus depot land could be used for housing.
As the maps show, there is a large gap in the platforms between the South Western Railway and the Southern sides of the station.
As Battersea Power Station station can turn services on the Northern Line with only two platforms, there would only need to be the same number of Northern Line platforms at Clapham Junction.

So could an extra pair of platforms be built under the bridge, with stairs and a lift similar to the existing platforms?

The platform would have full step-free access.
The platforms could be long enough for any future trains.
There could be sidings for a few trains.
The tunnels from Battersea Power Station would surface just outside the station.
There would need to be a crossover or a turnback siding for operational reasons.

I also think, that once the depot and sidings at Clapham Junction have released the space, the new platforms and tracks could be installed without interrupting main line services through the station.

Would The Extension Of The Northern Line Be Electrified?

Consider.

Merseyrail were not allowed to use third-rail electrification to Headbolt Lane station and had to use batteries.
The Northern Line was extended to Battersea Power Station station using London’s four-rail electrified system.
Clapham Junction station has third-rail electrification everywhere.

I think that the authorities would be very churlish not to allow electrification to Clapham Junction.

Conclusion

I believe it is possible to extend the Northern Line to two new surface platforms at Clapham Junction station.

But I also believe that using similar methods to those used in the Bank Station Upgrade, that a full interchange between the Elizabeth and Victoria Lines can be built at Oxford Circus and Bond Street.

February 4, 2023 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Battersea Power Station Station, Brighton Main Line, Clapham Junction Station, Development, Dragados, Elizabeth Line, Euston Station, Feltham Depot, Kings Cross Station, London Overground, London Superhub Station, Moving Walkway, Northern Line, Sadiq Khan, South Western Main Line, South Western Railway, Southern, St. Pancras Station, Tottenham Court Road, Transport for London, Victoria Line, Victoria Station, Waterloo Station, West London Line | 1 Comment

The 38 Bus And The Lizzie Line

London’s 38 bus is very convenient for me.

It is a frequent route, running most times every few minutes.
The stops are about a hundred metres from my house just round the corner.
To the East it goes through Hackney to the romantic Clapton Pond.
To the West it goes to Angel and across Central London to Victoria station.
The route connects to the new entrance at Hackney Central station, which makes it easy coming home from the East with heavy shopping.

Yesterday, I used the 38 bus to go to and from the Lizzie Line for a trip to Paddington station.

The Outrun

These pictures show the change to the Lizzie Line at Tottenham Court Road station.

Note.

It was a walk of about a hundred metres.
I took pictures of the entrance to the new @sohoplace theatre, which is still behind barriers.
The walk could improve, once the works around Centre Point are finished.

It’s certainly a viable route from where I live and the Angel to the Lizzie Line, if you’re going West.

The Return

I took these pictures on my return.

Note.

It was a walk of about a hundred metres.
The two stops for the 38 bus are opposite each other.
The walk could improve, once the works around Centre Point are finished.

It would certainly be a viable route to get from the Lizzie Line to the Angel, if you’re coming from the West.

It would also be a viable route for me to get to my house.

Although taking a 21 or 141 bus from Moorgate is a better route, as I suspect it is quicker.

Unfortunately, that route won’t be viable if Transport for London have their way and execute The Great Bus Robbery.

Which Route Does Transport for London’s Journey Planner Recommend?

Whoever wrote the current version of this is not a Londoner, as it recommends a route with three changes and doesn’t use the Lizzie Line.

If I type in my home address, it does recommend going via Dalston Junction and Whitechapel, which is better, but the walk is too much for me on some days.

I Wouldn’t Be Surprised To See Improvements To The Positions Of Bus Stops

They are not best placed at the moment, but the construction in the area is still going on.

So after construction finishes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some stops moved to better places.

August 2, 2022 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | @sohoplace Theatre, Bus Routes And Crossrail, Buses, Elizabeth Line, Hackney Central Station - Graham Road Entrance, London Bus 38, Paddington Station, The Angel, Victoria Station | Leave a comment

An Analysis Of The Train Service On The East Kent Line With Respect To The Three Options For Crossrail To Ebbsfleet (C2E)

Much of the analysis is an update of a post called Up To £3 Billion For Crossrail To Ebbsfleet, that I wrote in June 2019.

Current Services Along The North Kent Line

I shall start by looking at current services on the North Kent Line.

Thameslink – Luton And Rainham (Kent)

A Thameslink service

Two trains per hour (tph)
South of the Thames, the service calls at London Bridge, Deptford, Greenwich, Maze Hill, Whatcombe Park, Charlton, Woolwich Arsenal, Plumstead, Abbey Wood, Slade Green, Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Swanscombe, Northfleet, Gravesend, Higham, Strood, Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham.
Eight-car Class 700 trains work the route, which have a 100 mph operating speed.
The service calls at Northfleet for a possible interchange with services running from Ebbsfleet International station
The service calls at Abbey Wood for interchange with Crossrail.

If there needed to be more capacity on this service, I suspect Thameslink could run twelve-car trains.

Southeastern – London Charing Cross And Gravesend

A Southeastern Metro service.

Two tph
Calls at Waterloo East, London Bridge, Hither Green, Lee, Mottingham, New Eltham, Sidcup, Albany Park, Bexley, Crayford, Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Swanscombe and Northfleet
The service calls at Northfleet for a possible interchange with services running from Ebbsfleet International station.
The service calls at Gravesend for interchange with Southeastern HighSpeed services between St. Pancras International station and North-East Kent, East Kent and soon-to-be East Sussex.
Class 465 trains work the route, which have a 75 mph operating speed.

This picture shows a train for Gravesend in London Bridge station.

My feeling, is that the service would be improved by modern 100 mph trains, as these antique slow-coaches must restrict the speed of faster trains.

Southeastern – London Cannon Street And Dartford Loop Line

A Southeastern Metro service.

Four tph in both directions.
Calls at London Bridge, Deptford, Greenwich, Maze Hill, Westcombe Park, Charlton, Woolwich Dockyard, Woolwich Arsenal, Plumstead, Abbey Wood, Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green.
Two tph return to Cannon Street via Crayford and Sidcup and two tph return to Cannon Street via Barnehurst and Bexleyheath.
The service calls at Abbey Wood for a planned interchange with Crossrail.
Class 465 trains work the route.

As I said with the previous service, these 75 mph trains need replacing with 100 mph trains.

Southeastern – London Charing Cross And Dartford

A Southeastern Metro service.

Two tph
Calls at Waterloo East, London Bridge, Lewisham, Blackheath, Charlton, Woolwich Dockyard, Woolwich Arsenal, Plumstead, Abbey Wood, Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green.
The service calls at Abbey Wood for a planned interchange with Crossrail.
Class 465 trains work the route.

As I said with the two previous services, these 75 mph trains need replacing with 100 mph trains.

Southeastern – London Victoria And Dover

A Southeastern Mainline service.

Two tph
Calls on the North Kent Line at Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham.
Class 465 trains work the route.

As I said with previous services, these 75 mph trains need replacing with 100 mph trains.

Southeastern – London Victoria And Ramsgate

A Southeastern Mainline service.

One tph
Calls on the North Kent Line at Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham.
Class 465 trains work the route.

As I said with previous services, these 75 mph trains need replacing with 100 mph trains.

Southeastern – London St. Pancras And Faversham

A Southeastern HighSpeed service.

One tph
Calls at Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham and Sittingbourne.
The service calls at Ebbsfleet International for an interchange with Continental services.
Class 395 trains work the route, which have a 100 mph operating speed on lines electrified using a third-rail.

This picture shows a Class 395 train at Gravesend station.

East of Ebbsfleet International, this service can be considered a 100 mph local train, that gets slowed by the 75 mph services.

Southeastern – London St Pancras International Loop Service

A Southeastern HighSpeed service.

One tph
Calls at Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Whitstable, Herne Bay, Birchington-on-Sea, Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Sandwich, Deal, Walmer, Martin Mill, Dover Priory, Folkestone Central, Folkestone West, Ashford International, Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International.
The service calls at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International for an interchange with Continental services.
Class 395 trains work the route.

East of Ebbsfleet International, this service can be considered a 100 mph local train, that gets slowed by the 75 mph services.

Southeastern – London St Pancras International And Ramsgate

A Southeastern HighSpeed service.

One tph
Calls at Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International, Ashford International, Canterbury West, Ramsgate and Broadstairs
The service calls at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International for an interchange with Continental services.
Class 395 trains work the route.

East of Ashford International, this service can be considered a 100 mph local train, that gets slowed by the 75 mph services.

A Summary Of Services By Station

I will look at the current number of trains at stations between London Bridge and Faversham.

Deptford – 6 tph
Greenwich – 6 tph
Maze Hill – 6 tph
Westcombe Park – 6 tph
Charlton – 8 tph
Woolwich Dockyard – 6 tph
Woolwich Arsenal – 8 tph
Plumstead – 8 tph
Abbey Wood – 8 tph
Belvedere – 6 tph
Erith – 6 tph
Slade Green – 6 tph
Dartford – 12 tph to London and 6 tph to the East
Stone Crossing – 4 tph
Greenhithe for Bluewater – 6 tph
Swanscombe – 4 tph
Northfleet – 4 tph
Gravesend – 6 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Higham – 2 tph
Strood – 4 tph
Rochester – 7 tph
Chatham – 7 tph
Gillingham – 7 tph
Rainham – 7 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Sittingbourne – 5 tph
Faversham – 5 tph

Note.

This is almost a train every ten minutes all the way from London to Faversham.
Between Gravesend and Faversham one tph is a Southeastern HighSpeed service.
In addition Ebbsfleet International has four tph to and from London St. Pancras International.

This can be considered the base service to which Crossrail services can be added.

Service Frequency Of Option 1

The first option provides for an extension of Crossrail from Abbey Wood to Northfleet/Ebbsfleet and Gravesend, sharing the existing tracks with National Rail services.

Of the 12 trains per hour (tph) that are planned to run to Abbey Wood. four tph will terminate at each of Abbey Wood, Northfleet/Ebbsfleet and Gravesend.
Crossrail trains would call at all stations on the North Kent Line between Abbey Wood and Gravesend stations.

This gives a summary as follows.

Deptford – 6 tph
Greenwich – 6 tph
Maze Hill – 6 tph
Westcombe Park – 6 tph
Charlton – 8 tph
Woolwich Dockyard – 6 tph
Woolwich Arsenal – 8 tph
Plumstead – 8 tph
Abbey Wood – 20 tph
Belvedere – 14 tph
Erith – 14 tph
Slade Green – 14 tph
Dartford – 20 tph to London and 14 tph to the East
Stone Crossing – 12 tph
Greenhithe for Bluewater – 14 tph
Swanscombe – 12 tph
Northfleet – 12 tph
Gravesend – 10 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Higham – 2 tph
Strood – 4 tph
Rochester – 7 tph
Chatham – 7 tph
Gillingham – 7 tph
Rainham – 7 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Sittingbourne – 5 tph
Faversham – 5 tph

Note.

Train frequencies between Abbey Wood and Northfleet have increased by 8 tph
Train frequencies at Gravesend have increased by 4 tph.
Train frequencies to the East of Gravesend are unchanged.
Between Gravesend and Faversham one tph is a Southeastern HighSpeed service.
Crossrail has a direct interchange at Gravesend with the Southeastern HighSpeed services.

I am fairly certain that signalling must be improved and train speeds must be increased for Option 1.

Service Frequency Of Option 2

The second option is to draw out Crossrail from south east London to Dartford using new dedicated tracks built next to the existing North Kent line, with increased rail service frequency between Dartford and Northfleet.

All the 12 tph, that currently are planned to run ro Abbey Wood, all will terminate at Dartford station.
Crossrail trains would call at all stations on the North Kent Line between Abbey Wood and Dartford stations.
I will assume that Southeastern run an extra 4 tph between Dartford and Northfleet.

This gives a summary as follows.

Deptford – 6 tph
Greenwich – 6 tph
Maze Hill – 6 tph
Westcombe Park – 6 tph
Charlton – 8 tph
Woolwich Dockyard – 6 tph
Woolwich Arsenal – 8 tph
Plumstead – 8 tph
Abbey Wood – 20 tph
Belvedere – 18 tph
Erith – 18 tph
Slade Green – 18 tph
Dartford – 24 tph to London and 10 tph to the East
Stone Crossing – 8 tph
Greenhithe for Bluewater – 10 tph
Swanscombe – 8 tph
Northfleet – 8 tph
Gravesend – 6 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Higham – 2 tph
Strood – 4 tph
Rochester – 7 tph
Chatham – 7 tph
Gillingham – 7 tph
Rainham – 7 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Sittingbourne – 5 tph
Faversham – 5 tph

Note.

There is a big increase in services to between Abbey Wood and Dartford.
There is an increase of 4 tph in services between Dartford and Northfleet.
There is no increase in services at Gravesend.
Between Gravesend and Faversham one tph is a Southeastern HighSpeed service.
Crossrail has no direct interchange with the Southeastern HighSpeed services.

I am fairly certain that signalling must be improved and train speeds must be increased for Option 2.

Service Frequency Of Option 3

A third option consists of improving the National Rail service between Abbey Wood and Northfleet, combined with a new Bus Rapid Transit service.

It appears Crossrail services would stay the same at Abbey Wood, with all twelve tph terminating at the station, as are currently planned.
Southeastern services to Dartford via Abbey Wood would be extended to Northfleet. This would increase the number of Southeastern trains to/from London serving stations between Northfleet and Dartford for connection to Crossrail at Abbey Wood from four to eight tph.

This gives a summary as follows.

Deptford – 6 tph
Greenwich – 6 tph
Maze Hill – 6 tph
Westcombe Park – 6 tph
Charlton – 8 tph
Woolwich Dockyard – 6 tph
Woolwich Arsenal – 8 tph
Plumstead – 8 tph
Abbey Wood – 20 tph
Belvedere – 6 tph
Erith – 6 tph
Slade Green – 6 tph
Dartford – 8 tph to London and 10 tph to the East
Stone Crossing – 8 tph
Greenhithe for Bluewater – 10 tph
Swanscombe – 8 tph
Northfleet – 8 tph
Gravesend – 6 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Higham – 2 tph
Strood – 4 tph
Rochester – 7 tph
Chatham – 7 tph
Gillingham – 7 tph
Rainham – 7 tph to London and 5 tph to the East
Sittingbourne – 5 tph
Faversham – 5 tph

Note.

1. There is a 4 tph increase in services between Abbey Wood and Northfleet.
2. There is no increase in services at Gravesend.
3. Between Gravesend and Faversham one tph is a Southeastern HighSpeed service.
4. Crossrail has no direct interchange with the Southeastern HighSpeed services.

I am fairly certain that signalling must be improved and train speeds must be increased for Option 3.

Conclusion

I have come to several small conclusions about future services on the North Kent Line.

Improved Signalling

To handle the number of trains required, I am fairly certain that modern digital signalling as used on the central sections of Crossrail and Thameslink, should be installed on the route.

Faster Trains

The operating speed of the North Kent Line is 90 mph, which is not a good fit to the operating speed of the trains.

Class 375 train – 100 mph
Class 376 train – 75 mph
Class 395 train – 100 mph
Class 465 train – 75 mph
Class 466 train – 75 mph
Class 700 train – 100 mph
Class 707 train – 100 mph

I’m sure that train capacity would be increased if trains could operate at 90 mph or even 100 mph on the route.

Only Option 1 Allows Interchange Between Crossrail And Southeastern HighSpeed Services

Option 1 allows this interchange at Gravesend and it could prove useful, when travelling between North-East Kent and Crossrail stations, including Paddington and Heathrow.

More Services East Of Gravesend

I suspect that there could be extra paths to the East of Gravesend.

These could be either classic or HighSpeed services.

In Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Highspeed Routes, I said this.

The Kent On The Cusp Of Change article in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways talks about the Southeastern Highspeed routes through Kent.

Some principles are laid down.

All six-car services would be extended to twelve-car services.
Trains could be divided at Ashford International station to serve multiple destinations.
Maidstone West station would get an hourly Off Peak service.

The article gives an estimate that at least another twenty Class 395 trains are needed of which perhaps three would have batteries for operation along the Marshlink Line between Ashford International and Ore stations.

The new timetable proposed in the article is similar to that now, with the following changes in each hour.

All Day – A St. Pancras – Ashford – Dover Priory service runs once per hour and splits at Ashford with one six-car train going to and from Hastings and the other six-car train going to and from Dover Priory.
Off Peak – A new St. Pancras – Ashford – Canterbury West service runs once per hour.
All Day – A new St. Pancras – Ebbsfleet service runs twice per hour.
Off Peak – A new St. Pancras – Gravesend – Strood – Maidstone West service runs once per hour.

In addition all trains passing Thanet Parkway station will stop after it opens.

Note.

Southeastern HighSpeed services will serve Hastings.
Gravesend gets a second Southeastern HighSpeed service to St. Pancras.

I also wrote Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Fawkham Junction Link, which is about a Network Rail proposal to use Victoria as a second terminal for Southeastern HighSpeed services.

Little has been said about using Victoria as a second terminal, but if it was, it could free up space on the North Kent Lines, which would allow more paths for Crossrail.

August 1, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Crossrail, Crossrail To Ebbsfleet (C2E), Ebbsfleet International Station, Fawkham Junction Link, Hastings, North Kent Line, Southeastern HighSpeed, Thameslink, Victoria Station | 2 Comments

From Paddington To Victoria The Hard Way

On Friday, I tried to use the Bakerloo Line at Paddington station and it was in chaos because of related engineering work.

So today, instead of going between Paddington and Victoria by using the Bakerloo and Victoria Lines, I thought I’d use the Circle Line and go direct.

But it turned into a struggle.

A train arrived within a minute but didn’t say where it was going.
It turned out to be Olympia, so I changed at Earl’s Court for Victoria.
Close to my exit from the train at Victoria was a lift saying it was going to the Way Out.
But it didn’t and I had to climb back up to the platform where I started.
Another set of stairs took me to the sueface.

When I got to the surface, I saw an information office and asked if they could point me to a bus spider map, so I could find out if a bus would have been easier. They hadn’t a clue and probably only wanted to see me a tour.

But I found one in an obvious place.

And ascertained that a 36 bus would have been just the job.

The picture shows one going the other way, just outside the station.

It is a bit slower, but not if you have a heavy case or a child in a buggy.

April 21, 2019 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Buses, London Underground, Paddington Station, Victoria Station | Leave a comment

Amusing Seats At Victoria

The seats at London Bridge station, that I wrote about in Matched Seats And Roof At London Bridge Station, have now been installed at Victoria station.

Would they have amused Queen Victoria?

This press release from Network Rail is entitled Network Rail Puts Passengers First With Installation Of New Modern Seating At London Stations, gives more details on the new seating.

Seating capacity at each station will be increased from 150 to 400.
The seats were made by Green Furniture Concepts from Malmo in Sweden.

Generally, passengers I’ve asked, seem pleased with the new seats.

April 21, 2019 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Design, London Bridge Station, Network Rail, Seats, Victoria Station | Leave a comment

The East London Line In 2030

The East London Line was opened in May 2010 using pieces of redundant infrastructure in the East of London.

The East London Branch of the Metropolitan Line.
The Thames Tunnel, built by the Brunels.
The viaduct of the North London Line to its historic terminal at Broad Street station.

Modern additions were added.

A massive bow-spring bridge over Shoreditch High Street.
A tunnel under Dalston High Street.
A flyover North of New Cross Gate station.
New stations at Dalston Junction, Haggerston, Hoxton and Shoreditch High Street.
New signalling.

A new fleet of Class 378 trains were purchased and services began between two Northern and four Southern destinations, at a frequency of four trains per hour (tph).

Looking back just over eight years later, the line has been an overwhelming success.

East London Line Capacity

The proof of this success surely is shown in the increasing capacity of the line since 2010.

The Class 378 trains have got longer.

In 2010, they started at just three cars.
They were soon extended to four cars.
In 2016, all trains became five cars.

The trains could go to six cars, but there are platform length issues, that make five cars the current limit.

On the other hand, selective door opening could be used, which works so well with walk-through trains.

Now, Transport for London are going to increase frequencies on the line.

In 2018, an additional two tph will run between Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace stations.
In 2019, an additional two tph will run between Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction stations.

This would give twenty tph between Dalston Junction and Surrey Quays stations.

Given that Crossrail and Thameslink will handle twenty-four tph in their central tunnels, I suspect that to have the same frequency on the East London Line would not be impossible.

Developments That Will Happen

These developments will happen, that will affect the East London Line.

Crossrail

The Whitechapel station interchange with Crossrail will become the Jewel in the East, as it will give access to Canary Wharf, the West End, Stratford, Liverpool Street, Paddington and Heathrow to all those (like me!), who live along the East London Line.

As both lines will have train frequencies of at least twenty tph, you should never wait more than a few minutes for your train.

I can see, the number of passengers changing between Crossrail and the East London Line being very high.

For many travellers it will be their quickest way to Crossrail.
The Class 378 trains are more passenger-friendly than Thameslink’s Class 700 trains, which are best avoided, by those with sensitive posteriors.
Whitechapel station gives access to both the Eastern branches of Crossrail.
All East London Line services call at Whitechapel.

My scheduling experience says that the frequency of trains on Crossrail and the East London Line should be the same, to smooth travellers passage through the station.

So expect Crossrail to eventually push the East London Line to twenty-four tph.

Increased Frequencies On The Underground

The Sub-Surface Lines of the London Underground are being re-signalled, which will mean more capacity, where the District and Metropolitan Lines interchange with the East London Line at Whitechapel station.

There could also be improvements on the Jubilee Line, where it meets the East London Line at Canada Water station.

I doubt we’ll see more improvement to the Victoria Line, as you can only extract blood from a stone for a limited period.

It is also probably true, that Dear Old Vicky needs some relief.

New South Eastern Franchise

The new South Eastern Franchise will be awarded in August 2018, with the new incumbent taking over in December 2018.

The current Southeastern services have little interaction with East London Line services, except at New Cross station, where the following services call.

Southeastern – Northbound – Eight tph to Cannon Street via London Bridge.
Southeastern – Southbound – Eight tph to Lewisham via St. John’s.
Overground – Four tph to and from Dalston Junction.

New Cross is a good interchange for travelling to and from South East London and I suspect the new franchise will only make it more useful.

New Trains On The Northern City Line

The Northern City Line has been ignored for decades and in my view it is a disgrace with elderly Class 313 trains, dirty, dark and dingy stations and unmotivated staff, who seem abandoned by their employers.

If ever there is a line that should join the Overground, it is this one!

At least, the line is getting new Class 717 trains, which will bring the following.

Modern trains with wi-fi and hopefully comfortable seats.
Increased capacity.
Up to twelve tph between Moorgate and Alexandra Palace stations via Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park stations.
More passengers to the East London Line at Highbury & Islington station.
A direct cross-platform and step-free link for the Victoria Line to Crossrail.

Planners do not seem to have realised the effects these new trains will cause in North London and at Highbury & Islington station in particular.

North London Line Improvements

In the next few years, there will be improvements on the North London Line.

Increased frequencies to Clapham Junction station have already happened.
West Hampstead station is being rebuilt.
New Class 710 trains will reinforce the current Class 378 trains.
Two new stations will be added in the Old Oak Common area; Old Oak Common Lane and Hythe Road
Old Oak Common Lane station will connect to Crossrail and High Speed 2, when that line opens in 2026.

All these improvements will bring more passengers to the East London Line and put more pressure on Highbury & Islington station.

Property Development Along The East London Line

Only two stations on the East London Line; Dalston Junction and Shoreditch High Street, were designed to have development on top.

Dalston Junction station has now been virtually fully developed and only now are tower blocks starting to grow around and on top of Shoreditch High Street station.

The City of London will also expand to the East, which will mean more offices and housing clustered around stations like Whitechapel, Shadwell and Canada Water.

Property developent will greatly increase the ridership of the East London Line.

Rebuilding Of Highbury & Islington Station

Many travellers in East London, use the Overground to get to Highbury & Islington station for access to the Underground.

The below ground section of this station needs substantial improvement with a second entrance, more escalators and lifts.

Plans get talked about, but nothing happens.

I believe that the new Class 717 trains on the Northern City Line could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, as they will bring more travellers to the station.

But on the other hand the existing cross-platform interchange with the Victoria Line, might mean that less travellers need to go to and from the surface.

I have this feeling, that a rebuilt Highbury & Islington station will happen before 2030 and would attract more travellers to the East London Line.

Developments That Could Happen

These developments could happen, that will affect the East London Line.

Bakerloo Line Extension To Lewisham

I believe extending the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham station is more likely to happen than Crossrail 2 and if it was built it would connect to the East London Line at New Cross Gate station.

This map shows the extension.

I believe that the East London Line and the extended Bakerloo Line will complement each other.

The Bakerloo Line will probably have at least twenty tph between Queen’s Park and Lewisham stations via Waterloo, Oxford Circus and Baker Street stations.
The East London Line will have at least six tph between Highbury & Islington and Crystal Palace stations and four tph between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon stations.
New Cross Gate is currently a step-free station, so I suspect it will be a very smooth interchange.

Connections between South East and the whole of North London will be substantially improved.

Brockley Interchange

It has been suggested that Brockley station be connected to the line between Nunhead and Lewisham stations, which crosses over the station.

Wikipedia says this about the connection.

At the London end the line is crossed by the Nunhead to Lewisham line. At this location adjacent to Brockley station was sited Brockley Lane station which closed in 1917 with the original London, Chatham and Dover Railway branch to Greenwich Park. The connection of that line to Lewisham is a later development. The possibility of opening platforms on this line with direct access to Victoria Station and the Bexleyheath Line to Dartford has often been suggested but is currently low on TfL’s priorities.

In some ways the Bakerloo Line extension to Lewisham does a similar job in connecting the East London Line to Lewisham, but at a much higher frequency.

Another problem with the Brockley Interchange is that there are only two tph between Victoria and Lewisham, that pass over Brockley station and does the capacity at Lewisham station exist to allow this to be increased to a viable frequency, that would make building Brockley Interchange an interchange worth building?

Crossrail 2

Will Crossrail 2 be built or even started before 2030?

I personally doubt it, unless Brexit is an unqualified success and the project is privately-funded.

There are also other projects that might lower the need for Crossrail 2 and allow it to be delayed to beyond 2030.

Extension Of East London Line Services Along The North London Line

I can remember reports, when the London Overground was created, that suggested that some East London Line services, might be extended to the West, possibly to Willesden Junction station.

I think there are two major problems.

Trains going West from Highbury & Islington station from the East London Line could stop in Platform 1 or 2 and go straight through on their way to Clendonian Road & Barnsbury station. But those going the other way would probably need to cross tracks on flat junctions!
Where is the suitable bay platform to turn the trains?

On the other hand, many passengers would find it useful, as it would avoid a change at Highbury & Islington station.

Penge Interchange

I discuss the possible Penge Interchnge station in Penge Interchange.

Note that the Penge Interchange offers four tph to and from Victoria, whereas the Brockley Interchange only offers a measly two tph.

Shoreditch High Street Connection To The Central Line

The Central Line passes directly underneath Shoreditch High Street station, as this map from carto.metro.free.fr shows.

Note the reversing sidings at Liverpool Street station in the South-West corner of the map.

Wikipedia says this about the possibility of creating an interchange.

There have also been discussions of creating an interchange with the Central line between Liverpool Street and Bethnal Green which runs almost underneath the station. However, this would not be able to happen until after the Crossrail 1 project is complete, due to extreme crowding on the Central line during peak hours.

Consider.

Liverpool Street to Bethnal Green is one of the longest stretches on the Underground without a station.
There is a lot of residential and housing developments, being proposed for around Shoreditch High Street station.
Large numbers of passengers use the East London Line to get to Highbury & Islington station for the Underground. Would a Shoreditch High Street connection take the pressure off?
It could give East London Line travellers, a single-change connection to Liverpool Street, Bank, St. Paul’s, Chancery Lane and Holborn stations.

For construction and operational reasons, the decision to create this connection will not be taken until Crossrail is fully open.

I suspect passenger statistics will play a large part in the decision.

Southeastern Connections

Southeastern has three main terminals in London.

Cannon Street – Jubilee and Northern Lines
Charing Cross – Circle and |District Lines
Victoria – Circle, District and Victoria Lines.

But they also serve other stations in South London with good connections.

Abbey Wood – Crossrail
Greenwich -DLR
Lewisham – DLR and possibly Bakerloo Line
London Bridge – Jubilee and Northern Lines and Thameslink
New Cross – East London Line
Woolwich Arsenal – DLR

The rebuilding of London Bridge station has probably improved connectivity, but are further improvements needed?

Two of the possible improvements to the East London Line; the Brockley and Penge Interchanges will connect current Southeastern services to and from Victoria to the East London Line.

Would the new South Eastern franchise like a connection to the East London Line?

,Passengers to and from East London surely have have an easier route, than going to Victoria and then using the Underground!
Passenger numbers at Victoria might be marginally reduced
Both new interchanges would give a route to Crossrail at Whitechapel, which is not an easy connection to and from Victoria.
I have looked at timings and it appears that the Whitechapel route is perhaps five minutes slower to the West End or Paddington, but perhaps a dozen minutes faster to the Northern part of the City of London.

It is my view, that if Penge Interchange is built, then Brockley Interchange could be forgotten.

Thameslink Improvements

With all the money spent on Thameslink, it is likely that Network will want to maximise their investment by running as many trains as possible on the route.

Currently, the plan is for twenty-four trains an hour through the central tunnel, which then split as follows.

Eight tph via Elephant & Castle
Sixteen tph via London Bridge of which twelve tph continue to East Croydon.

It would also appear that there are another five tph between London Bridge and East Croydon, but only one tph runs on the fast lines.

So there would appear to be plenty of capacity between London Bridge and East Croydon stations, even if the central tunnel frequency on Thameslink were to be upgraded to thirty tph.

I think we might see a bit of sorting out of Thameslink to minimise some of the problems, that became evident after the May 2018 timetable change.

A problem I have, which I share with the millions in East London, is that it is difficult to get to Gatwick Airport, as there is no common station between the East London Line and Thameslink.

If the Penge Interchange is built, should Thameslink trains stop at the station?
When the Bakerloo Line is extended to New Cross Gate station, should Thameslink trains stop at the station?
Should all slow trains on the line be run by the London Overground?
Should all fast trains on the line be run by Thameslink?

Thameslink could be so much more useful.

West Croydon Or East Croydon

From a personal point of view, when I go to Croydon, I want to get to East Croydon station, as I’m usually taking a train to the South Coast or Gatwick Airport.

Inevitably, I end up taking a tram from West Croydon to East Croydon station.
Ging the other way is more difficult, as I inevitably get lost trying to find West Croydon station.
Although, there are now some trams at East Croydon only going to West Croydon.
Trains to the North of Penge West station, never seem to be very full.
East Croydon station is more important than West Croydon station.

So would it be better if the East London Line trains went to East Croydon?

The problem is that there is no space in East Croydon station.

Perhaps two new platforms could handle both East London and West London Line services.

West London Line services should also be run by the London Overground, as was proposed by Chris Gibb, as I wrote about in Gibb Report – East Croydon – Milton Keynes Route Should Be Transferred To London Overground.

I would do the following.

Sort out Victoria and Thameslink services at East Croydon station, so that all Northbound and Southbound services used a separate pair of platforms, with one platform face for Thameslink and the other for Victoria services.
If possible, move services like London Bridge to Uckfield to Thameslink.

Put a pair of terminal platforms under the Thameslink and Victoria services platforms, connected to these platforms by escalators and lifts.
Most of the tunneling would be under railway property North of East Croydon station.
These platforms could probably handle up to six trains per hour (tph) each.
It would be possible to run six tph between Highbury and Islington and East Croydon stations.
The West London Line could have a highly desirable four tph to the mega-station at Old Oak Common.
It might even be possible to use the platforms for service recovery on Thameslink.
It could release the pressure on the difficult Windmill Bridge Junction, which is a bit of a bottleneck.

It would be costly, but planned properly, I believe it could be created without any major disruption to the existing East Croydon station.

It would create a simple one-change link between Gatwick Airport, Brighton and other South Coast destinations to the following.

Through services to London Bridge, St. Pancras and Victoria.
East London Line services to East London and Whitechapel for Crossrail for the City, Central London and Shenfield.
West London Line services to West London and Old Oak Common for High Speed 2, West Coast Main Line and Crossrail for Heathrow and Reading.

Capacity at East Croydon would probably be increased.

Conclusion

The East London Line will get better and better.

June 23, 2018 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Cannon Street Station, Charing Cross Station, East Croydon Station, East London Line, London Bridge Station, New Cross Gate Station, New Cross Station, Penge Stations, Thameslink, Victoria Station, West Croydon Station | Leave a comment

A Connection Between City Thameslink Station And The Docklands Light Railway

In the Wikipedia entry for the Docklands Light Railway, there is a section describing a proposed Euston/St. Pancras Extension.

This is said.

In 2011, strategy documents proposed a DLR extension to Euston and St Pancras. Transport for London have considered driving a line from City Thameslink via Holborn north to the rail termini. The main benefit of such an extension would be to broaden the available direct transport links to the Canary Wharf site. It would create a new artery in central London and help relieve the Northern and Circle lines and provide another metro line to serve the High Speed line into Euston.

This map from Transport for London, shows the possible Western extension of the DLR.

With all the problems of the funding of Crossrail 2, that I wrote about in Crossrail 2 Review Prompts Fresh Delays, could this extension of the DLR, be a good idea?

Consider,

Victoria, Euston and St. Pancras are prosposed Crossrail 2 stations.
It would link Canary Wharf and the City of London to Eurostar, Northern and Scottish services and High Speed 2.
It would give all of the Docklands Light Railway network access to Thameslink.
A pair of well-designed termini at Euston and St. Panras would probably increase frequency and capacity on the Bank branch of the system.
The DLR is getting new higher capacity trains.
Bank station is being upgraded with forty percent more passenger capacity.
Holborn station is being upgraded and hopefully will be future-proofed for this extension.
One big advantage at City Thameslink, is that Thameslink and the proposed DLR extension will cross at right-angles, thus probably making designing a good step-free interchange easier.
The Bank Branch of the DLR currently handles 15 tph, but could probably handle more, if they went on to two terminal stations at St Pancras and Victoria..
Waterloo and City Line can run at twenty-four tph.

Cinderella she may be, but then she always delivers, when there is a desperate need, just as she did magnificently at the 2012 Olympics.

The only problem with this extension of the DLR, is that compared to the rest of the system, the views will be terrible.

For myself and all the others living along the East London Line, with a step-free change at Shadwell, we would get excellent access to Euston, Saint Pancras and Victoria

But could the line still be called the Docklands Light Railway, as it spreads its tentacles further?

March 12, 2018 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | City Thameslink Station, Crossrail 2, DLR Western Extension, Docklands Light Railway, Docklands Light Railway Western Extension, Euston Station, Olympics, St. Pancras Station, Thameslink, Victoria Station | 16 Comments

Conditions And Thoughts On The New Southeastern Franchise

The January 2018 Edition of Modern Railways gives a review of the conditions, that the Department for Transport are imposing on bidders.

The First Sentence

This is the first sentence of the article.

The Department for Transport says bidders for the next Southeastern franchise will be required to provide space for at least 40,000 additional passengers in the morning rush hour with 12-car services on the busiest routes.

This raises an interesting question.

Does the DfT mean actual twelve-car trains or ones as long as current twelve-car trains?

In Big On The Inside And The Same Size On The Outside, I discussed how by using good design, Bombardier were getting more passengers in a train of the same length.

This is an extract from c2c’s Press Release.

The Aventra is one of the fastest-selling trains in the UK rail industry, and these new trains will be manufactured at Bombardier’s factory in Derby. Each new train, which will operate in a fixed set of 10-carriages, will include over 900 seats, plus air-conditioning, wifi, plug sockets and three toilets onboard. Each new carriage is larger and contains more seats than on c2c’s current trains, so each 10-carriage new train provides capacity for 15% more passengers onboard compared to a current 12-carriage c2c train.

So three x four-car trains working as a twelve-car train are replaced by one ten-car train, just as with Greater Anglia. Note the claimed fifteen percent capacity increase!

Metro Services

The article says this about Metro services,

Metro-style trains will be introduced on suburban routes, similar to those on other high-capacity routes into London.

Is the DfT thinking of trains like Crossrail’s Class 345 trains?

Changes Of London Terminals

The DfT was thinking of all inner suburban services going to a single London terminal, but this has been dropped following opposition.

Changes are still proposed, to stop conflicts at Lewisham.

Bexleyheath Line services will switch from Victoria to Cannon Street or Charing Cross.
Hayes Line services will serve Victoria and Charing Cross, but not Cannon Street.
North Kent Line services will run to Cannon Street.
Sidcup Line services will run to Charing Cross and Cannon Street in the Peak.
Extra services will serve Abbey Wood for Crossrail.
More twelve-car trains.

The objective is a turn-up-and-go Metro-style service on suburban routes.

To London Overground, Merseyrail and other commuters around the K, that means four trains per hour.

As there was with the proposal Network Rail made to curtail Sutton Loop Line services at Blackfriars, there will be complaints. Especially, from those who were at Eton with certain MPs!

Hopefully the design of London Bridge station will help smooth things over.

Twelve-Car Trains At Charing Cross And Waterloo East

If most trains are twelve-car trains, then surely all platforms at Cannon Street, Charing Cross, London Bridge, Victoria and Waterloo East stations, must surely be able to handle trains of this length.

As it is specifically mentioned, Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations must be the most problem.

There have been suggestions of rebuilding the two stations, with the platforms at Charing Cross extending over the Thames.

Consider.

Modern signalling could handle twenty-four trains per hour between Charing Cross and London Bridge.
Connections to the Jubilee Line could be better.
The Bakerloo Line is planned to be extended to Lewisham.
Waterloo East station could surely have over-site development.
Techniques borrowed from London Underground could be used to turn trains faster at Charing Cross.

I have a feeling that we will see something fairly radical happen in the next few years to increase capacity across the South Bank.

Faster Services To Hastings

This is said about services to and from Hastings.

DfT has specified a new two trains per hour service between London, Tonbridge and Ashford, allowing services to Hastings to be speeded up by removing calls at Orpington, Sevenoaks and Hildenborough.

Bidders are incentivised to develop further proposals for reducing journey times, including for deliveringn high speed services between London St. Pancras, Hastings and Bexhill via Ashford.

That all sounds good for Hastings.

More Trains Between Strood And Tonbridge

This route along the Medway Valley Line will have two trains per hour all day.

Trains For The Franchise

The DfT has specified the trains in a fairly detailed way.

Cars No Longer Than Twenty Metres

This is probably because of curved platforms and other restrictions on the various routes.

It is also a similar car length to the current Class 465 trains and Class 377 trains.

No Extra Selective Door Opening, Except At Waterloo East

I suspect this could be that selective door opening, confuses passengers and perhaps slow the stops.

First Class To Be Removed By September 2020

Will this be popular with all passengers?

There doesn’t seem to have been too many protests about the future removal of First Class on Greater Anglia’s services in Essex.

But it will allow the capacity of the train to be increased, to provide space for some of those 40,000 additional passengers.

ETCS Will Have To Be Deployed

European Train Control System (ETCS) can enable higher frequencies of trains in a safe manner and mandating that it be deployed is a sensible move.

At Least One Accessible Toilet On Main Line And High Speed Trains

I think most train operating companies would do this!

Adequate Wi-Fi

Not providing wi-fi and in addition 4G signals, is probably an easy way to reduce ridership.

Walk Through Trains

The fleets that have been bought recently, are all of this type, so I think it would be unlikely, that any new trains for the Southeastern franchise would be different.

My Thoughts

Train Length

Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and Virgin Trains East Coast have set a pattern, by ordering trains and half-trains, that can probably be used in a flexible manner.

Half-train/Full-train ratios for the various companies are.

Great Western Railway – 1.6
Greater Anglia – 4.0
South Western Railway 0.5
Virgin Trains East Coast – 0.5

Each company has chosen an appropriate number of trains for their routes, but each can adjust numbers by running two half-trains as a full train.

So will we see the same strategy on a future Southeastern franchise?

Perhaps most trains will be twelve-car trains with a small number of six-car trains, that can work together as required.

Train Speed

In Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Elimination Of Slow Trains, I came to this conclusion.

All trains incapable of running a service at 100 mph should be eliminated, just as the two operators;Greater Anglia and South Western Railway, are planning to do.

All of the new Southeastern franchise’s trains should be 100 mph trains.

December 22, 2017 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Charing Cross Station, Hayes Line, Kent, London Bridge Station, Southeastern, Victoria Station | Leave a comment

Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Victoria As A Highspeed Terminal

The Kent On The Cusp Of Change article in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways has made me ask questions about services into St. Pancras International station.

Is There Enough Capacity For Continental Services At St. Pancras International Station?

Platforms 5-10 at the station are allocated to Continental services.

Under Eurostar (High Speed 1) in the Wikipedia entry for the station this is said.

Seventeen pairs of trains to and from Paris Gare du Nord every day, ten pairs of trains to and from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid for Brussels and the European Union de facto capital, and one train to and from Marne-la-Vallée for Disneyland Resort Paris. Extra services run to Paris on Fridays and Sundays, with a reduced service to Brussels at weekends. Additional weekend leisure-oriented trains run to the French Alps during the skiing season, and to Marseille via Lyon and Avignon in the summer.

So it looks like on a typical day, there are just under thirty pairs of trains between St. Pancras International station and the Continent. So on a typical operational day from 0700 to 2200, that means it’s approximately two trains per hour (tph).

I feel that with perhaps some changes to the operation of the passenger and train cleaning and victualling systems, that six platforms could easily handle up to six tph.

So I doubt, that there is too much of a problem increasing the number of Continental services from St. Pancras International station.

Is There Enough Capacity For Highspeed Services At St. Pancras International Station?

Platforms 11-13 at the station are allocated to Southeastern‘s Highspeed services, which are run by Class 395 trains.

Is There Enough Capacity On High Speed 1 Between Ebbsfleet International And St. Pancras International Stations?

Under Services in the Wikipedia entry for High Speed 1, this is said.

High Speed 1 was built to allow eight trains per hour through to the Channel Tunnel. As of May 2014, Eurostar runs two to three trains per hour in each direction between London and the Channel Tunnel. Southeastern runs in the high peak eight trains per hour between London and Ebbsfleet, two of these continuing to Ashford. During the 2012 Olympic Games, Southeastern provided the Olympic Javelin service with up to twelve trains per hour from Stratford into London.

I think the key figures here are the ability to handle eight tph for the Channel Tunnel and the twelve tph that was achieved during the Olympics.

Let’s fast forward to 2024 when Paris could be hosting the Olympic Games.

Given too, that by then, Continental services to Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of France could have expanded and there must be a strong possibility, that the full eight Channel Tunnel paths will be needed.

So that would leave just four train paths for the Highspeed services.

I suspect that whoever is running the Highspeed services will want to develop them with services to other destinations like Hastings and Eastbourne and more frequent services to the existing destinations in Thanet.

This leads me to the conclusion, that more capacity is needed for Highspeed services into London.

Some extra capacity can probably be created by improving the signalling and operational methods, but will that be enough.

The Problems With The Highspeed Services

Every time, I use the Highspeed services, they work well, but they do have problems.

The only London terminal is St. Pancras International station.
The interchanges at Stratford International station to the Underground is a long walk.
The interchange at Stratford International station to Crossrail will be equally poor.
The frequency of services are not what passengers demand these days.
The services need to connect to Hastings and Eastbourne.
Passengers complain about the cost.

Expanding the Highspeed services would solve some of these problems, but if the Continental services of Eurostar and other operators expand, there could be a capacity problem before the mid-2020s.

The Two London Terminal Solution

Network Rail and the train operating companies (TOCs) seem to have come up with a cunning plan.

In the Kent on the Cusp of Change article and in one in the May 2017 Edition, Modern Railways, the magazine reports that consideration is being given to reopening the Fawkham Junction link, that used to be used by Eurostar trains to access Waterloo station from the Channel Tunnel.

Trains would not now go to Waterloo, as there are other plans for the expansion of the station.

But it would be fairly simple for trains to go via Swanley and Bromley South stations into Victoria station.

In the next few sections, I will outline why I think this station could and probably will be used as a second London terminal for Highspeed services.

Extra Highspeed Terminal Capacity In London

As I indicated earlier, I think that within the next few years, there may be a capacity problem between London and Ebbsfleet and opening a second terminal at Victoria would add extra train paths on the surface through South L:ondon.

A Second Highspeed Terminal In London

Services to Victoria with its Underground connections, that are currently being improved dramatically, would be welcomed by many travellers, who want to go to places like Kensington and Westminster or perhaps avoid the long walks at Stratford International station to the Underground or Crossrail.

Crossrail 2 will also call at Victoria, if it’s ever built.

Services Between Victoria And Thanet Could Go Highspeed

All or some of the services between Victoria and the Thanet area would be able to go Highspeed and use the Class 395 trains.

The Highspeed services would use the reinstated Fawkham Junction link and High Speed One between stops at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International stations.

Suppose All Services Between Victoria And Thanet Used Class 395 Trains

Surely, this would have tremendous advantages for Network Rail and the operator in that, all of the stations and tracks, to the East of Ashford International station, could be updated, so that they efficiently handled twelve-car Class 395 trains.

In a Network Rail document about the East Kent lines, Network rail says this.

Increase speed to rolling stock and signalling capability.

As the East Kent Re-Signalling Project seems to be improving the signalling, the faster Class 395 trains would set the desired operating speed.

As I indicated earlier, if the new batch of Class 395 trains could have a faster capability on third-rail routes.

What Times Could Class 395 Trains Achieve On Classic Routes?

As an illustration of the operating speed on the East Kent lines, Ashford International to Ramsgate stations takes thirty-six minutes for a journey of about thirty-five miles with only one stop.

Network Rail probably know how to reduce this important journey by at least ten minutes, which would benefit Highspeed and Classic services.

Currently, London Victoria to Ashford International stations takes just under an hour and a half via Maidstone East and another ten stops.

This document from Network Rail has two projects, that will improve times on the Chislehurt to Ashford section of this route.

Journey Time Improvement – Reduce impact of Permanent Speed Restrictions
Maidstone signalling interlocking renewal – Renewal of interlocking and external equipment

The document indicates they could be completed in 2019.

The Class 395 trains are a modern train with bags of grunt and probably the ability to execute a station stop in double-quick time.

So with the track improvements to allow higher speeds between London Victoria and Ashford International station, I suspect that it might be possible to trim perhaps twenty minutes from the journey time.

Could Network Rail be aiming for an hour between Victoria and Ashford International stations on the Classic route, via Bromley South, Swanley and Maidstone East stations?

If they could manage the magic hour, then Hastings could be within perhaps 95 minutes of Victoria in a Class 395 train with either diesel or battery power.

This would be a few minutes faster than the current faster times to Cannon Street on the Hastings Line.

It would certainly be a good interim alternative, until trains can go between High Speed One and the Marshlink Line.

What Times Could Class 395 Trains Achieve Using High Speed One Between Victoria and Ashford International Stations?

I estimate that Victoria to Ebbsfleet International using the Fawkham Junction link and Class 395 trains could be in the order of thirty minutes.

As Class 395 trains take nineteen minutes between Ebbswfleet International and Ashford International stations, I believe it would be reasonable to assume between Victoria to Ashford International stations will take forty-nine minutes or just twelve minutes longer than the current time between St. Pancras and Ashford International stations.

Victoria To Fawkham Junction

If the Fawkham Junction link were to be reinstated, a number of the trains between Victoria and Thanet would take the Chatham Main Line after passing Swanley station and then take the Fawkham Junction link to Ebbsfleet International station.

Other than the Fawkham Junction link, no substantial new infrastructure would be required, but if line improvements increased the speed between Victoria and Fawkham Junction, the Class 395 trains could certainly take advantage.

I suspect that each Class 395 train, would just take over the path of the Classic service it replaced.

There might even be a bonus, in that all fast trains through Bromley South and Swanley became Class 395 trains, which might aid the timetabling.

Class 395 Trains At Victoria Station

There are various reports on the Internet of Class 395 trains running into Victoria station, sometimes as a twelve-car train.

Class 377 trains also appear to run as twelve-car trains to Ramsgate.

So I think we can assume that Class 395 trains can run into Victoria.

Conclusion

I think that it is possible that Victoria can be used as a second terminal for Highspeed services from Thanet into London.

See Also

These are related posts.

To know more read Kent On The Cusp Of Change in the July 2017 Edition of Modern Railways.

July 1, 2017 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 395 Train, Fawkham Junction Link, Kent, Kent On The Cusp Of Change, Southeastern HighSpeed, St. Pancras Station, Victoria Station | 16 Comments

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Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Victoria As A Highspeed Terminal

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