On Sun, 15 May 2005, Mrs Redboots wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote to uk.transport.london on Sun, 15 May 2005:

On Sat, 14 May 2005, David Fairthorne wrote:

I agree. DLR extension(s) south of Lewisham would relieve overcrowding
at Lewisham, which is a rail bottleneck.

You say 'bottleneck', i say 'hub' . Surely the solution is to
increase capacity at Lewisham, rather than making it harder for people
to get there?

How would extending the DLR south of Lewisham prevent people from
getting off/interchanging there in the first place?

It wouldn't. Altering NR service patterns so more trains skip Lewisham
would.

There must be a big potential demand from wharf workers living in the
southeast.

It would have to be a very big demand to make cutting out Lewisham
worthwhile.

Do feel free to point out how the original poster suggested cutting out
Lewisham?

In the message i replied to ), he
said:

"A Catford Bridge extension would allow all Hayes trains to bypass
Lewisham. A Bromley North extension would allow all Dartford loop line
trains (via Sidcup) to bypass Lewisham"

I was a bit overzealous with my trimming , so i cut that bit off, i'm
afraid.

It occurs to me that i didn't make myself clear on what i was worried
about being cut out - i was talking about cutting Lewisham out of some NR
services, not the DLR. Was that what you thought i meant?

tom

--
People don't want nice. People want London. -- Al

Tom Anderson wrote to uk.transport.london on Mon, 16 May 2005:

It occurs to me that i didn't make myself clear on what i was worried
about being cut out - i was talking about cutting Lewisham out of some
NR services, not the DLR. Was that what you thought i meant?

Ah, no - I did misunderstand you. Yes, Lewisham certainly needs to be
an "all trains stop here" station, I think, as it is a major transport
hub. And relatively major shopping centre, too!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 3 April 2005

David Fairthorne wrote:
I agree. DLR extension(s) south of Lewisham would relieve
overcrowding at
Lewisham, which is a rail bottleneck. There must be a big potential
demand
from wharf workers living in the southeast. A Catford Bridge
extension would
allow all Hayes trains to bypass Lewisham. A Bromley North extension
would
allow all Dartford loop line trains (via Sidcup) to bypass Lewisham,
and
also provide a way to reach the wharf from the main Orpington and
Sevenoaks
line.

Surely the problem with this is that if the DLR wants to take over
suburban
services it'll need suburban type trains , not the uncomfortable
modified
trams it uses at the moment. Riding a few miles it one of those things
with
its hard seats and swinging from side to side is one thing, riding all
the
way in from bromley would be entirely another.

B2003

Boltar wrote:
David Fairthorne wrote:

I agree. DLR extension(s) south of Lewisham would relieve overcrowding at
Lewisham, which is a rail bottleneck. There must be a big potential demand
from wharf workers living in the southeast. A Catford Bridge extension would
allow all Hayes trains to bypass Lewisham. A Bromley North extension would
allow all Dartford loop line trains (via Sidcup) to bypass Lewisham, and
also provide a way to reach the wharf from the main Orpington and Sevenoaks
line.

Surely the problem with this is that if the DLR wants to take over
suburban
services it'll need suburban type trains , not the uncomfortable
modified
trams it uses at the moment. Riding a few miles it one of those things
with
its hard seats and swinging from side to side is one thing, riding all
the
way in from bromley would be entirely another.

I think the idea is to bring them in to Docklands, rather than all the
way from Bromley to Bank. It's a similar plan for the Dagenham Dock
extension - you're not meant to catch the DLR from Dagenham to Tower
Gateway, you're meant to catch it to Crossrail at Custom House or to
Canary Wharf. It's not taking over suburban services to central London,
it's supplementing them with local services to Docklands.

Personally I'm don't the DLR *that* uncomfortable.


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

I think the idea is to bring them in to Docklands, rather than all the

way from Bromley to Bank. It's a similar plan for the Dagenham Dock

Possibly , but the temptation will probably be there for commuters to
use
a tube type service with a 3 or 4 minute wait for a train over a
suburban service
with 10-15 mins. Besides , the distance from docklands to bank is a
much
smaller distance compared with that from bromley to docklands so I'm
not
sure that extra 3 miles will make much difference.

Personally I'm don't the DLR *that* uncomfortable.

I'm not saying its 3rd world like, but the trains do have a nasty habit
of swaying
side to side a lot especially at the front when going at a reasonable
speed. I
can't believe its beyond the wit of man to solve this problem since
I've never
come across it on any other train system. Croydon tramlink goes just as
fast in places and its a very smooth ride plus it has just as tight
corners if
not more so , so the excuse about tram wheel profiles causing it sounds
like
just that, an excuse.

B2003

"Boltar" wrote in message
ups.com...
I think the idea is to bring them in to Docklands, rather than all the

way from Bromley to Bank. It's a similar plan for the Dagenham Dock

Possibly , but the temptation will probably be there for commuters to
use
a tube type service with a 3 or 4 minute wait for a train over a
suburban service
with 10-15 mins. Besides , the distance from docklands to bank is a
much
smaller distance compared with that from bromley to docklands so I'm
not
sure that extra 3 miles will make much difference.


Personally, I live right next to Lewisham station - and I actually rather
get the DLR into Bank for work rather than get the train from Lewisham to
Cannon St. That's partially because generally during rush hour the DLR is
3-4 minutes compared to 15 mins on the train but, more importantly, because
you can, unless they're having a very bad day, pretty much be certain that
the DLR will arrive at Bank 25 mins later but on the train you've got pot
luck of any time between 8 mins to 45 mins.