In message 70, Adrian
writes

Look at the popularity of the Oxford Tube coaches - no WAY are they getting
to central london in 50 mins at rush hour...

"Approx travel time 100mins, longer in rush hour". But - they're cheap.
£11/£13 return.

Also, look at the frequency - every 12-15 minutes, and services right
through the night, so there is no worry about the last train home.

Also, the stops by central line stations (e.g. Shepherd's Bush) provide
handy transfer and cut the time a little.

Also, highly competitive, with Oxford Espress chasing a similar route
and effectively increasing the frequency still further.

And even on the timing, a relative working in Oxford tells me that the
Oxford-Heathrow service is quicker than train to Paddington and out
again - and very much cheaper, of course.
--
Paul Terry

Peter Masson wrote:
"TheOneKEA" wrote
True. But Watford Junction is the terminus of the truncated
Rugby-Brighton service - linking to that with a one-change journey from
Aylesbury _might_ be worth investigation, IMO.

For most journeys changing to the Met between Amersham and
Harrow-on-the-Hill, then to Thameslink at Farringdon would be better.
Ideally Chiltern and Met platforms at West Hampstead and an improved walk
route to Thameslink there.

Additionally, the West Hampstead interchange and the revised Silverlink
Metro services running through from NLL to WLL would also mean
greatly-improved access to West London - so I have to agree that West
Hampstead would be a more useful interchange than Watford Junction for
those sorts of journeys. I still think the most important point of the
Aylesbury - Watford idea is for people to reach the town centre via
Watford High Street.


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

On 3 Mar 2006 01:39:11 -0800, "Andy Kirkham"
wrote:

When this topic came up on an earlier thread I suggested that if
Chiltern were to build a North Oxford Parkway station on the Bicester
line, it might prove attractive to residents of Witney, Woodstock,
Kidlington and surrounding areas. They could get a train to London
without having to negotiate Oxford's traffic and the door-to-door
journey time might be competative.

They certainly could. It can take well over half-an-hour to get to
Oxford Station from Kidlington in the rush hour, if you have to park a
car, and there is now no direct bus service to the station.

And wouldn't there be an existing Park and Ride location by the
Bicester railway line?
--
Terry Harper
URL: http://www.btinternet.com/~terry.harper/

On Fri, 3 Mar 2006, Paul Terry wrote:

In message 70, Adrian
writes

Look at the popularity of the Oxford Tube coaches - no WAY are they
getting to central london in 50 mins at rush hour...

"Approx travel time 100mins, longer in rush hour". But - they're cheap.
£11/£13 return.

Also, look at the frequency - every 12-15 minutes, and services right
through the night, so there is no worry about the last train home.

That's the kicker. The last fast train leaves Paddington at something like
2330, i think, and the slows not that much later, so if you actually want
a night out in London, the coach is the only option.

Also, the return tickets on the coach (on the Tube, at least - i think
it's the same on the X90 or whatever it's called now) are valid for 24
hours, which means you can go up, stay over (or out), and come down the
next day, all on a normal return. If you want to do that on a train, you
need an awaybreak or whatever, which costs even more.

Oh, and the stops at the Oxford end are a lot better; the train station is
really out of the way for most students, whereas the coach can be caught
from Gloucester Green, the High Street or St Clements, all of which are
close to large build-ups of students.

Turning back to the choo-choos, where would this hypothetical North Oxford
Parkway, or other Oxford Chiltern stations, be? At the Pear Tree or Water
Eaton park and ride? That's a pain in the arse to get to from inside
Oxford, so there's no chance of it abstracting any student traffic from
the coaches or existing railway. Would you be able to get trains from the
existing station to London on the Chiltern line? If so, that might well be
competition to the GW services, if the price was right - you'd be cheaper
than the GW, if more expensive than the coach, and faster than the coach,
although slower than the GW.

However, a station at a P&R with decent services into town could make the
R part of P&R a far more attractive prospect, and so could boost car to PT
conversion.

tom

--
FREQUENT VIOLENT BLOODY

"John B" wrote in message
ups.com...
Why would it require any at all? Surely it could just bridge it?


That would be the cause of the disruptive alterations. It's generally
frowned upon to build a new bridge over an operating motorway...

--
They did it with CTRL and the QE2 bridge so why not elsewhere ?
Baz

Marratxi wrote:
Why would it require any at all? Surely it could just bridge it?


That would be the cause of the disruptive alterations. It's generally
frowned upon to build a new bridge over an operating motorway...

--
They did it with CTRL and the QE2 bridge so why not elsewhere ?

In case I wasn't clear above, I meant "over a motorway without closing
the motorway for the duration of the bridge-building". Obviously you
can build a bridge over a motorway, but you can't do it without
disrupting traffic, which is what the original "why would it require
any at all" question was about.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

"John B" wrote in message
oups.com...
Marratxi wrote:
Why would it require any at all? Surely it could just bridge
it?


That would be the cause of the disruptive alterations. It's
generally
frowned upon to build a new bridge over an operating motorway...

--
They did it with CTRL and the QE2 bridge so why not elsewhere ?

In case I wasn't clear above, I meant "over a motorway without
closing
the motorway for the duration of the bridge-building".

Except the QE2 bridge doesn't go over a motorway... and the CTRL runs
under the bridge, not over it.
I'm not sure if the CTRL is over the road or before the tunnel mouth
(going north bound on A282.


Obviously you
can build a bridge over a motorway, but you can't do it without
disrupting traffic, which is what the original "why would it require
any at all" question was about.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

John B wrote:

In case I wasn't clear above, I meant "over a motorway without closing
the motorway for the duration of the bridge-building". Obviously you
can build a bridge over a motorway, but you can't do it without
disrupting traffic, which is what the original "why would it require
any at all" question was about.

Although you can minimise disruption by construction off-site (as with the
ECML/CTRL bridge and the new Bishop's Bridge Road bridge at Paddington) and
then rolling the new structure into place using a closure over a matter of
hours, preferably on a Sunday or overnight.

"Matt Wheeler" wrote in message
...

"John B" wrote in message
oups.com...
Marratxi wrote:
Why would it require any at all? Surely it could just bridge
it?
That would be the cause of the disruptive alterations. It's
generally
frowned upon to build a new bridge over an operating motorway...
They did it with CTRL and the QE2 bridge so why not elsewhere ?

In case I wasn't clear above, I meant "over a motorway without
closing
the motorway for the duration of the bridge-building".

Except the QE2 bridge doesn't go over a motorway... and the CTRL runs
under the bridge, not over it.
I'm not sure if the CTRL is over the road or before the tunnel mouth
(going north bound on A282.


Obviously you
can build a bridge over a motorway, but you can't do it without
disrupting traffic, which is what the original "why would it require
any at all" question was about.

--
The new CTRL line goes over what is essentially the northbound M25 as it
emerges from the Dartford tunnel and under the southbound lane, which is on
the QE2 bridge. As the CTRL website puts it "The new railway passes beneath
the QEII Bridge approach spans ('threading the needle') and over the exit
from the Dartford Tunnel, before running alongside the Purfleet By-pass and
the existing railway through Rainham to Dagenham" it also mentions "West of
Ashford the new railway crosses the M20 and follows the motorway corridor to
Detling in the Boxley valley north of Maidstone." I believe these bridges
were constructed to the side of the roads in question and then slid into
position with comparatively little disruption of the motorways.
Cheerz,
Baz