Paul wrote:
Paul Weaver wrote:
On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 10:27:32 +0100, Colin McKenzie wrote:
I'm with K on this one. I think interchanges are needed at almost
all the places in London where lines cross each other. The sort of
journeys

Indeed. H&C/Central/the line from Kensington

Presumably you mean the West London Line (WLL) from Kensington Olympia

should all have an interchange just north of shepherds bush H&C


Meaning White City? There is a plan for a new White City H&C station to
serve the new retail centre, but that's a long way from the WLL, which will
have a station near to Shepherd's Bush Central Line.

Taking that particular point of view one stage further, most of the
infrastructure is already in place for the District Line to start at
the already segregated platforms at Clapham Junction and go over the
river, past Olympia and through a somehow resurrected link back to
the old Outer Circle line

That would require reinstating the link from the WLL to Latimer Road on the
H&C, which was abandoned after being bombed in WW2. The West Cross Route
(ex-M41) and its junction to serve the White City retail centre is now in
the way.

and direct quite a lot of passenger traffic
on towards Paddington, as I would imagine that quite a lot of
passengers go into the centre only to go back out on a different
route. There must also be a fairly high number of travellers who have
to change anyway at Clapham Junction, so interchanging onto LU there
would probably reduce the volume heading for Victoria or Waterloo.
(Basic theory is to disperse as many as possible away fom the centre
rather than bringing them in only for them to go out again.)
Still requires a bit of fine-tuning but it could be made to work.

The other problem is that the WLL is an important freight route across
London, and cannot sustain a very frequent passenger service without loss of
freight paths. Also, where do your trains terminate? Paddington would be
possible eventually (post-HEx), I suppose. I doubt that there is the
terminal or line capacity further east.

I'm afraid this is an attractive and apparently simple scheme ("most of the
infrastructure is already in place") which is actually fraught with
difficulties.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)