In message , Christopher A.
Lee writes

On the other route from Penn to Boston or Washington we have fast
regular electrics including the Acela.

Done that one to Boston a few years ago.

I was quite underwhelmed as we trundled along at little more than 70mph
for miles when suddenly there was a spurt of acceleration and off we
went with a proud announcement that we were now travelling at 150mph,
the maximum speed for Acela!

After about 10-15 mins the brakes went on and we carried on trundling at
70mph to Boston.

I think the Mercans need to realise that 15 miles does not a high speed
railway make.

Fascinating journey nevertheless.
--
Steve Fitzgerald has now left the building.
You will find him in London's Docklands, E16, UK
(please use the reply to address for email)

In article ,
Graeme Wall wrote:

And, of course, there's the District/Piccadilly line between Ealing and
Hammersmith

Jubilee and Metropolitan between West Hampstead and Kilburn, although
it's not a very long stretch.

Similarly, London Bridge to Canon Street & Blackfriars - ish.

On Dec 3, 1:36*pm, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 3 Dec, 20:22, MIG wrote:

Shenfield is a junction* and also a place where people from Harold
Wood etc can change to longer-distance services. *

Reading will have four local trains an hour arriving from the east
(two semi-fast ex-Paddington, two starting at Slough), so from a
passenger's point of view, those kinds of journeys are well covered.
The only thing missing is being able to change at Reading onto a
direct train to east of Paddington. Given the time differential and
the fact most services at Reading are going to Paddington anyway, I
don't think *that's a huge loss.

Maybe that's what will happen. *Or maybe the stations between
Maidenhead and Reading will lose their service.

Station, singular. There's no population to speak of in between.

U

You probably need to count the three stations on the Henley branch
too, although you are still substantially right.

In message , at 21:13:13 on Wed, 3
Dec 2008, Peter Smyth remarked:
And where is the obvious place "past Shenfield"? Colchester is the
nearest that makes sense.

Southend Victoria? It is as close to Central London as Reading is.

Why would a commuter from Southend want to take a Crossrail train rather
than the much more direct line to Fenchurch St?
--
Roland Perry

On Dec 4, 4:39*am, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 21:13:13 on Wed, 3
Dec 2008, Peter Smyth remarked:

And where is the obvious place "past Shenfield"? Colchester is the
nearest that makes sense.

Southend Victoria? It is as close to Central London as Reading is.

Why would a commuter from Southend want to take a Crossrail train rather
than the much more direct line to Fenchurch St?

I am not all that convinced that many people want to travel through
London at all, although east - west might be more significant than
north - south.

The operational benefit of Thameslink is not having to turn trains
round, and the benefit to passengers has been increased frequency from
London Bridge to Brighton and St Pancras to Bedford, not the cross-
London link*.

But it wasn't at the expense of existing services, because it improved
them. If it had been restricted to Radlett to Horley to save costs,
it might have had a detrimental effect on Bedford and Brighton.

Crossrail ought to improve services on the corridors it uses, which is
why ending at Maidenhead seems so wrong.


*Mind you, that's because it's quicker to walk than get Thameslink.
East - west will probably be much faster and it's much further.

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 09:40:48 on Wed, 3
Dec 2008, Andrew Heenan remarked:
Crossrail WILL reach Reading, offering myriad onward opportunities
(look at
a rail map - where else should it go?); Crossrail WILL reach Ebbsfleet
(it
would be crazy not to, until HS1 is extended to Heathrow!); Crossrail
will
not stop at Shenfield, looking slightly confused, perhaps a little
embarassed.

But don't expect such obvious common sense until just after it opens -
the
'current package' is all about getting the bloody thing built without too
many people whining "We Can't Afford it - Cancel It".

Once it's built, people with brains will start to say Shenfield? Abbey
Wood?
Other Stations Halfway To A Logical Junction? Get Real!

And where is the obvious place "past Shenfield"? Colchester is the
nearest that makes sense.

Wha? Chelmsford?

--
Corporate society looks after everything. All it asks of anyone, all it
has ever asked of anyone, is that they do not interfere with management
decisions. -From “Rollerball”

Steve Fitzgerald wrote:
In message , Paul Corfield
writes
Curse you Mr Anderson - that Google Street View is just too good.
That looks the most amazing structure and I'm sure there are other
amazing subway junctions to sit and peruse. I fear I may go square
eyed while undertaking more research. Now if only the Americans would
stop treating visitors like potential terrorists I'd be persuaded to
go back NYC to take a closer look.

New York generally is a fascinating place transport wise and I would
highly recommend it; despite having to get through immigration (which,
last time I entered the US, in SFO wasn't too onerous at all).

I didn't find it too bad in Atlanta, but you do need a prebooked
address. In my case I wasn't visiting anyone but had booked the motel
(in Lafayette) on the Web.

--
Corporate society looks after everything. All it asks of anyone, all it
has ever asked of anyone, is that they do not interfere with management
decisions. -From “Rollerball”

Christopher A. Lee wrote:
On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 20:33:58 +0000, Steve Fitzgerald ]
wrote:

In message , Paul Corfield
writes
Curse you Mr Anderson - that Google Street View is just too good. That
looks the most amazing structure and I'm sure there are other amazing
subway junctions to sit and peruse. I fear I may go square eyed while
undertaking more research. Now if only the Americans would stop
treating visitors like potential terrorists I'd be persuaded to go back
NYC to take a closer look.
New York generally is a fascinating place transport wise and I would
highly recommend it; despite having to get through immigration (which,
last time I entered the US, in SFO wasn't too onerous at all).

Not just New York City. I live near Poughkeepsie, half way to the
state capital Albany on the old New York Central main line. It's one
of the world's scenic railway routes at water level along the Hudson
Valley.

Why do NY cop shows always joke about Poughkeepsie?

--
Corporate society looks after everything. All it asks of anyone, all it
has ever asked of anyone, is that they do not interfere with management
decisions. -From “Rollerball”

Peter Masson wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote
And, of course, there's the District/Piccadilly line between Ealing and
Hammersmith

One that hasn't been mentioned is the DLR between Tower Gateway and
Crossharbour - partly on the 1840 brick viaduct of the Blackwall Railway and
partly on concrete viaducts 150 years newer. In its time it has seen rope,
steam, and electric traction, and part of it is, at least more or less, on
the alignment of a section of the Millwall Railway which was once
horse-worked.

Peter


The last section of the Met to Watford is on a bridge over Croxley Moor.

--
Corporate society looks after everything. All it asks of anyone, all it
has ever asked of anyone, is that they do not interfere with management
decisions. -From “Rollerball”

In message
, at
00:05:17 on Thu, 4 Dec 2008, MIG remarked:
And where is the obvious place "past Shenfield"? Colchester is the
nearest that makes sense.

Southend Victoria? It is as close to Central London as Reading is.

Why would a commuter from Southend want to take a Crossrail train rather
than the much more direct line to Fenchurch St?

I am not all that convinced that many people want to travel through
London at all, although east - west might be more significant than
north - south.

I agree (although that's somewhat orthogonal to finding the quickest way
from Southend to the City).

Having spent a couple of years with an office at London Bridge, a
through train from Cambridge would have saved messing around at Kings
Cross, and partly because of the availability of the through train I've
hopped between Luton and Gatwick a few times recently. If I was still
living in Mid-Essex a through train would help me quite often, as my
destination is more likely to be somewhere between Bank and Paddington
than near Liverpool St.
--
Roland Perry