London Banter - View Single Post

Dave Arquati

wrote:
Dave Arquati wrote:
Don't forget that an interchange (well, an H&C station on Wood Lane) is
already being built at White City, and will have been in operation for a
number of years before Crossrail ever appears in the area.

The other issues would be what to do with Hammersmith Depot and where
Circle Line trains should be stabled.
The stock requirement of the Circle (or whatever succeeded it)
operations would go down somewhat. The remaining stabling arrangements
could be to retain a stub towards Royal Oak along which trains could be
stabled; similarly, perhaps use could be made of the defunct Moorgate
Thameslink branch for expansion of the Farringdon sidings.

The new common S-stock should allow greater flexibility in where to
stable trains, so any more sidings needed could be distributed around
some other depots wherever a small expansion could occur.

--
The S-stock is something, the merrits of which, I have yet to be
convinced. Time will tell if the concept is acceptable.

I'm not yet convinced by the internal layouts, but the idea of a stock
that can go "anywhere" seems sensible when the future of the SSL network
is hazy.

If one dreams a little further with regard to CrossRail and the
Hammersmith branch: Imagine, if you, will a rebuilt connecting viaduct
at Hammersmith allowing CrossRail to reach Ealing Broadway and
Richmond.

I don't think I'd bother going that far. Taking over as far as
Hammersmith is probably OK because Crossrail serves several of the H&C's
most important destinations. However, it goes nowhere near Victoria and
is a bit of a walk from places like Monument in the City. We know that
Richmonders don't want Crossrail to replace their District service, and
Ealing Broadway will already have Crossrail.

Shared running would also be a very poor idea as the trains would be so
different and there would be the inevitable performance pollution.

The problem here is the purchase and demolition of all that has been
built in the intervening years. There is also the issue of the many
differing platform lengths en route to the two termini.

However, if there District Line was reduced to an Upminster to
Wimbledon service plus an Edgware Road to Kensington Olympia shuttle,
Circle Line operation would become simplicity itself!

Crossrail operation would be a lot more complicated, though!

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London