Since TfL want to take over all of the stopping services in South
London, I was wondering what is stopping them from extending the
Overground from Crystal Palace to Beckenham Junction on Sundays only. It
is a bit of a tight squeeze to run a quarter hourly service on the last
mile and a half which is singled, but I think it should be doable. I
don;t see how Southern could object when they run no service on this
branch on Sundays at all. Once the branch had 2tph Southern in the week
and 4tph LO on Sundays, Southern would be under a lot of pressure to
surrender the branch completely, and I don't think they'd resist.

Basil Jet wrote on 12 Oct 2016 at 20:53 ...

Since TfL want to take over all of the stopping services in South
London, I was wondering what is stopping them from extending the
Overground from Crystal Palace to Beckenham Junction on Sundays only.

Well, for a start there's no direct route from the LO platforms at
Crystal Palace to Birkbeck. Birkbeck is only accessible by trains
entering Palace from the north-west via Gipsy Hill.

It is a bit of a tight squeeze to run a quarter hourly service on the
last mile and a half which is singled, but I think it should be doable.

I doubt it's practicable. With a 5-minute layover at Beckenham Jn,
you'd have trains trying to leave/enter the single track section one
minute apart (taking current Southern Saturday timings and assuming just
1 minute to get between Birkbeck and the single/double junction).

I don;t see how Southern could object when they run no service on this
branch on Sundays at all. Once the branch had 2tph Southern in the week
and 4tph LO on Sundays, Southern would be under a lot of pressure to
surrender the branch completely, and I don't think they'd resist.

What makes you think there's a real demand for a Sunday service through
Birkbeck in addition to the tram?

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

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On 2016\10\12 22:52, Richard J. wrote:
Basil Jet wrote on 12 Oct 2016 at 20:53 ...

Since TfL want to take over all of the stopping services in South
London, I was wondering what is stopping them from extending the
Overground from Crystal Palace to Beckenham Junction on Sundays only.

Well, for a start there's no direct route from the LO platforms at
Crystal Palace to Birkbeck. Birkbeck is only accessible by trains
entering Palace from the north-west via Gipsy Hill.

There's always something!

It is a bit of a tight squeeze to run a quarter hourly service on the
last mile and a half which is singled, but I think it should be doable.

I doubt it's practicable. With a 5-minute layover at Beckenham Jn,
you'd have trains trying to leave/enter the single track section one
minute apart (taking current Southern Saturday timings and assuming just
1 minute to get between Birkbeck and the single/double junction).

I don;t see how Southern could object when they run no service on this
branch on Sundays at all. Once the branch had 2tph Southern in the week
and 4tph LO on Sundays, Southern would be under a lot of pressure to
surrender the branch completely, and I don't think they'd resist.

What makes you think there's a real demand for a Sunday service through
Birkbeck in addition to the tram?

I don't, but TfL say they want to take over the Southern stoppers: if
they do take them over, Birkbeck will almost certainly end up getting a
Sunday service, so it was a thought experiment to see if they really
wanted all of these lines. But I should have checked Quail before posting.

Basil Jet wrote on 12 Oct 2016 at 23:03 ...

What makes you think there's a real demand for a Sunday service through
Birkbeck in addition to the tram?

I don't, but TfL say they want to take over the Southern stoppers: if
they do take them over, Birkbeck will almost certainly end up getting a
Sunday service, so it was a thought experiment to see if they really
wanted all of these lines. But I should have checked Quail before posting.

No problem. My dad was born in Mackenzie Road and Birkbeck was his
nearest station, so it has a slight personal interest for me.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)