On 9 Jun 2005 02:45:35 -0700, "Boltar" wrote:

The queue in such a situation would be jam all the way back to White
City as that is the next nearest turning point. Reversing trains

I don't know if this is an issue on the central line but it does seem
on
some lines that some connects between the running lines have been
removed for no obvious reason , leading to less flexibility in the
service
if theres a screw up. Convent garden on the piccadilly line spings to
mind , not to mention the connection at finsbury park being lost due to
the victoria line using an ex-picc tunnel. So if theres a problem on
the line you get huge sections closed. Doesn't seem like a good
situation.

The real solution, of course, is to get the reliability and resilience
of the railway up so that failures don't happen or if they do they have
a much smaller impact because there are back up systems in place. This
is the Japanese philosophy but it is expensive.

In terms of turnbacks and crossovers - yes they can be a help but you do
need to consider what happens to the passengers at the end of a closed
part of line. I would not want to see trains terminating at Covent
Garden - the place can hardly cope with normal passenger flows. If you
look at the Jubilee Line - which has a lot of turnbacks and sidings on
old and new sections - you will see that that added flexibility does not
always provide a guarantee of quick service recovery. It does help but
it would be better not to fail in the first place. I understand that a
range of options per line are being assessed at present to boost
operational flexibility and service recovery - this includes
reinstatement of crossovers etc.

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!