On Thu, 2 Dec 2004, Roland Perry wrote:

As catching an E* is clearly some kind of ceremony (involving officials,
handing over passports and tickets etc), can we draw a veil over the
earlier red herrings and go back to wondering things like "would a
resident of Thurrock really get a local train [1] all the way to
Stratford, rather than hopping across the river to Ebbsfleet"?

No.

The reason we can't is because it's obvious - it would be madness to take
the train if the car is faster.

The argument we were having before all this county business blew up was
really a failure to agree on what 'Essex' means: you think of it as the
bit where you live (i'm guessing), and i think of it as the bit where i
grew up - let's call them Inner and Outer Essex. People in Inner Essex,
like this resident of Thurrock you mention, will probably drive to
Ebbsfleet, or even to Ashford, or, if they need to use public transport,
take some sort of coach there. People in Outer Essex are more likely to
come to London, and either change at Stratford, or, if their train doesn't
stop there, go from Liverpool Street to either King's Cross or Stratford.

I'd be interested to know just how many people are in the catchment areas
the two options. I suppose Inner Essex (defined here as that part of Essex
from which Kent is a better option than London!) is the most densely
populated part of the county, given its proximity to London, but it's
geographically quite small, i think. Also, i don't know exactly where the
boundary of the areas is; you seem to think Kent would be a better option
from Chelmsford, but i think the existence of fast trains means London
would be competitive. I'm also not sure about the Harlow area; presumably,
the good connections to Liverpool Street, and the impending West Anglia
services direct to Stratford, would put it in the London basin. The thing
to do would be to sit down for every town and work out the times by train
and car - doable using the NR journey planner and the AA website, i
suppose. Not entirely sure i can be bothered, though.

tom

--
That's no moon!