Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation and
question/answer session about their plans for a new interchange station at
West Hampstead, which I went along to.

Main points:
* Platforms for Chiltern, Met and Jubilee lines, Silverlink and Thameslink
(and possibly Midland Mainline). This would give direct access to hundreds
of stations -- including non-stop to Marylebone in 3 minutes.
* Linked by a walkway. This would pass over Chiltern, Met, Jubilee, then
duck down in an escalator to carry on at a lower level under West End Lane
and the Silverlink and Thameslink lines.
* Main ticket hall and street access more or less where Silverlink station
is now, but access to/from street at both ends of the walkway.
* New, constant, vertical alignment of West End Lane between Travis Perkins
and Broadhurst Gardens (i.e. all the railway bridges would have to be
reconstructed). West End Lane would also be wider at this point, allowing
room for buses to stop without impeding traffic.
* New development on land on either side of WEL at this point, though
probably limited to 4-5 storeys.
* Bus/taxi/bike only access between the new West Hampstead station and the
O2 centre (via a road more or less where Blackburn Road is now, and
presumably joining up with the access road to the north of the O2 centre)
* No public funding required. This is a point in this proposal's favour,
as previous ones have been either reliant on public money, or have had to
include massive development to recoup the cost.

They said that if all goes well on the planning side, the interchange could
be in and working by the end of 2009 (which sounds a tad optimistic to me).
All the TOCs involved seem enthusiastic, as does TfL, and the SRA (which
is important because Silverlink/Thameslink/MML's franchises come up for
renewal before 2009).

Chiltern said they would put some plans up on their website over the next
few days/weeks.

Hope this is of interest.
--
Tom Sutch

In reply to news post, which Tom Sutch wrote on
Thu, 17 Jul 2003 -
Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation and
question/answer session about their plans for a new interchange station
at West Hampstead, which I went along to.

The sooner this happens the better - it is such an obvious place for an
interchange, or better interchange. Currently trying to cross the road
between the Jubilee station and North London Line station is a nightmare
- a friend of mine was almost knocked down yesterday, admittedly the
road works are not helping.

If each line serving the enlarged station offered frequent trains it
would save having to going into central London for many

--
Matthew P Jones - www.amersham.org.uk
My view of the Metropolitan Line www.metroland.org.uk - actually I like it
Don't reply to it will not be read
You can reply to knap AT Nildram dot co dot uk

"Tom Sutch" wrote in message
news

Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation
and question/answer session about their plans for a new
interchange station at West Hampstead, which I went along to.

sigh Please, people, let the group know about meetings before they happen!

Main points:
* New development on land on either side of WEL at this point, though
probably limited to 4-5 storeys.
* No public funding required. This is a point in this proposal's favour,
as previous ones have been either reliant on public money, or have had to
include massive development to recoup the cost.

Why would massive development be a bad thing? I can think of few better
places to put massive development. Why are TPTB building more and more at
Canary Wharf and then planning new railways to serve it, and then refusing
to put major development at the places which already have more railways than
they need? They seem to be saying "We'll increase the number of trains
stopping here, but we don't want to increase the number of people accessing
the station from the street. And we'll build a busway to let extra bus
routes come here, but we don't want extra people working or living here,
even though the more traffic generators there are in West Hampstead, the
more sustainable the bus routes are." They should build a "Hoge Catherijne"
stretching at least from the southernmost station to the northernmost
(apologies for the Utrecht reference).

Chiltern said they would put some plans up on their website over the next
few days/weeks.

Did they say the extent of the bus services planned? Are the majority of the
Finchley Road bus services going to be diverted to serve it? Are any of the
Edgware Road services going to be diverted to serve it?

Hope this is of interest.

Very much, thanks.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"John Rowland" wrote in message ...
"Tom Sutch" wrote in message
news

Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation
and question/answer session about their plans for a new
interchange station at West Hampstead, which I went along to.

sigh Please, people, let the group know about meetings before they happen!

Main points:
* New development on land on either side of WEL at this point, though
probably limited to 4-5 storeys.
* No public funding required. This is a point in this proposal's favour,
as previous ones have been either reliant on public money, or have had to
include massive development to recoup the cost.

Why would massive development be a bad thing? I can think of few better
places to put massive development. Why are TPTB building more and more at
Canary Wharf and then planning new railways to serve it, and then refusing
to put major development at the places which already have more railways than
they need? They seem to be saying "We'll increase the number of trains
stopping here, but we don't want to increase the number of people accessing
the station from the street. And we'll build a busway to let extra bus
routes come here, but we don't want extra people working or living here,
even though the more traffic generators there are in West Hampstead, the
more sustainable the bus routes are." They should build a "Hoge Catherijne"
stretching at least from the southernmost station to the northernmost
(apologies for the Utrecht reference).

Chiltern said they would put some plans up on their website over the next
few days/weeks.

Did they say the extent of the bus services planned? Are the majority of the
Finchley Road bus services going to be diverted to serve it? Are any of the
Edgware Road services going to be diverted to serve it?

Hope this is of interest.

Very much, thanks.


This seems like a good Idea, however I would like to know how much
this would slow down the timings for services from Aylesbury, or will
they omit some other stops between Amersham & Rickmansworth? Could be
handy as an Interchange with the Jubilee line when I go to east ham

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:08:16 +0100, "John Rowland"
wrote:

"Tom Sutch" wrote in message
news

Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation
and question/answer session about their plans for a new
interchange station at West Hampstead, which I went along to.

About time too. Still a huge construction challenge but of enormous
potential benefit.

* No public funding required. This is a point in this proposal's favour,
as previous ones have been either reliant on public money, or have had to
include massive development to recoup the cost.

Why would massive development be a bad thing? I can think of few better
places to put massive development. Why are TPTB building more and more at
Canary Wharf and then planning new railways to serve it, and then refusing
to put major development at the places which already have more railways than
they need? They seem to be saying "We'll increase the number of trains
stopping here, but we don't want to increase the number of people accessing
the station from the street. And we'll build a busway to let extra bus
routes come here, but we don't want extra people working or living here,
even though the more traffic generators there are in West Hampstead, the
more sustainable the bus routes are." They should build a "Hoge Catherijne"
stretching at least from the southernmost station to the northernmost
(apologies for the Utrecht reference).

A very good point - this would be appropriate planned and sustainable
development if done properly. The catchment area accessible by public
transport would be enormous.

Chiltern said they would put some plans up on their website over the next
few days/weeks.

I must remember to keep an eye out for that.

Did they say the extent of the bus services planned? Are the majority of the
Finchley Road bus services going to be diverted to serve it? Are any of the
Edgware Road services going to be diverted to serve it?

I'd be astonished if the thinking had progressed that far to be honest.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

"Matthew P Jones" wrote in message
...
In reply to news post, which Tom Sutch wrote on
Thu, 17 Jul 2003 -
Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation and
question/answer session about their plans for a new interchange station
at West Hampstead, which I went along to.

The sooner this happens the better - it is such an obvious place for an
interchange, or better interchange. Currently trying to cross the road
between the Jubilee station and North London Line station is a nightmare
- a friend of mine was almost knocked down yesterday, admittedly the
road works are not helping.

If each line serving the enlarged station offered frequent trains it
would save having to going into central London for many



I agree entirely. I always thought what a waste it is that out of 2 LU and
4 main lines in the area, only three of them actually stop there. Loads of
interchange possibilities would be created, meaning less journeys
necessitating travelling into and out of central London.


Andrew

In reply to news post, which Tom Sutch wrote on
Thu, 17 Jul 2003 -
Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation and
question/answer session about their plans for a new interchange station
at West Hampstead, which I went along to.

Main points:
* Platforms for Chiltern, Met and Jubilee lines, Silverlink and
Thameslink (and possibly Midland Mainline). This would give direct
access to hundreds of stations -- including non-stop to Marylebone in 3
minutes.
*
I believe when the original Great Central arranged for its line to get
to Marylebone via the Metropolitan route, the agreement stated that the
Great Central must not serve any stations between Harrow on the Hill and
Marylebone, leaving these to the Met. I hope this agreement is not
still in force to prevent Chiltern stopping at West Hampstead!

Also, because of the above, is the route from Marylebone to Harrow on
the Hill one of the longest stretches of line from a London terminal
where a train can't stop? (I know there are much longer non stopping
services, but they all go through or by stations originally built for
their original railway company)

--
Matthew P Jones - www.amersham.org.uk
My view of the Metropolitan Line www.metroland.org.uk - actually I like it
Don't reply to it will not be read
You can reply to knap AT Nildram dot co dot uk

Clive Page writes
I have just read the SRA's current consultation paper on services along
the Midland main line - in an appendix it briefly mentions this idea
and immediately dismisses it as unworthy of further attention. There
is no explanation for ruling it out, and with King's Cross/St.Pancras
being developed as _the_ north London rail hub, it seems such an
obvious thing to do. I intend to write in complaining about this (but
it won't do much good unless another few million people do the same
thing, of course).

Might be worthwhile getting TfL interested in the scheme. The SRA has a
legal duty to consult with TfL on such matters. Obviously TfL can't
force them, but they (in collaboration with Chiltern and perhaps even
LTUC) have more suasive power than us mere mortals.

--
Dave

Clive Page wrote:
In article , Jeremy Parker
There have long been (vague) plans for a Heathrow Express II, which
would branch off from the present route along the Wormwood
Scrubs-Cricklewood line, stopping at W. Hampstead on the way to St.
Pancras, or somewhere. Was that possibility mentioned?

For several years it was on the 'real soon now' list.

I have just read the SRA's current consultation paper on services along
the Midland main line - in an appendix it briefly mentions this idea and
immediately dismisses it as unworthy of further attention. There is no
explanation for ruling it out, and with King's Cross/St.Pancras being
developed as _the_ north London rail hub, it seems such an obvious thing
to do. I intend to write in complaining about this (but it won't do
much good unless another few million people do the same thing, of
course).

The line in question, the 'Dudden Hill line', is unelectrified and I
suspect semaphore signalled. Given that the SRA seems to have ruled out
ALL new electrification on the grounds of cost, it's not surprising
they've canned this sensible idea.

Maybe if the line found its way onto Crossrail plans and got electrified
for that, something might happen.

The line goes through Park Royal, and a station on it could be useful if
Park Royal continues to regenerate.

Question for the historians: has there ever been a station on the Dudden
Hill line?


Colin McKenzie

In article ,
Jeremy Parker wrote:

Last night (16 July) Chiltern Railways gave a presentation and
question/answer session about their plans for a new interchange
station at West Hampstead, which I went along to.

There have long been (vague) plans for a Heathrow Express II, which
would branch off from the present route along the Wormwood
Scrubs-Cricklewood line, stopping at W. Hampstead on the way to St.
Pancras, or somewhere. Was that possibility mentioned?


A Heathrow-St Pancras stopping service was considered in some time ago
(1996) but was later discarded (2001 ?). There is no provision for it in
the St Pancras rebuilding. It is to be replaced by the proposed
Paddington-Heathrow stopping service starting Dec 2004 for which new
trains have recently been ordered. Presumably this will eventually be
replaced by the Heathrow Crossrail service.

For a good summary of the situation up to the end of 2001 see John
Rowland's site:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro.../tpftla_h.html

David