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#1 ·
Noticing that a bit has been said in often passionate debates about how much London subsidies the rest of the UK. This type of discussion has usually come about via talk of how the North would cope if it was given more power/funding/etc.

Seems only fair to ask what would London do over the course of time if it could keep all of it's money (transport wise of course).

As a Northerner looking in I could think of these as a decent shopping list:

1) re-building Euston back onto Euston Square with grandesque roof
2) new line from Euston to Birmingham
3) connecting up the ELL, SLL, WLL & NLL to form an inner circular service
4) Crossrail 1/Superlink
5) Crossrail 2
6) Crossrail 3
7) Thameslink 3000 (sorry - couldn't resist)
8) Outer London Ring Rail
9) South Heathrow link
10) Thames Estuary Airport
11) upgrading of the Gospel Oak-Barking line
12) new line from Paddington to Reading
13) six tracking the Kings Cross-Finsbury Park line
14) rebuilding Kings Cross
15) four tracking the Liverpool Street-Stansted line
16) a tram network
 
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#4,023 ·
Seems to me that the level crossings in Acton are the main sticking point. They gloss over it a bit with "consultation with local stakeholders" etc. and allocate £30m to deal with it (without building any new bridges or tunnels), but I don't see the consultation going anywhere useful. Bollo Lane in particular is the only local road over the railway for ~600m in either direction. Opposition to closing these crossings would be *fierce*
Ah yes, Bollo Lane. I had a good look at this a few years back to see whether an interchange station between the NLL and the Piccadilly/District could be achieved where the NLL goes under the LUL tracks. Worth doing I thought once Crossrail provided some real relief to the Piccadilly. The answer was yes it is possible, but Bollo Lane level crossing was clearly a big issue.

My solution? From South Acton junction to reaching Bollo Lane (NLL) is a distance of about 160m. Just enough distance for the railway line to drop down about 4m. That isn't quite enough height to carry the existing road clean over the NLL tracks, but if the level of Bollo Lane was raised by just one metre it would (just) be possible. Not cheap or easy for sure, but it would free up the strip of land south of Bollo Lane for development. And Bollo Lane would lose the busier of the two level crossings at that location.

Advantages are that a large section of North London can reach Heathrow with one easy interchange well away from central London - and similarly HS2 at Old Oak can be reached easily via the NLL from many places in West London (although I recognise Gunnersbury can also do this for certain points on the District Line).
 
#4,024 ·
Ah yes, Bollo Lane. I had a good look at this a few years back to see whether an interchange station between the NLL and the Piccadilly/District could be achieved where the NLL goes under the LUL tracks. Worth doing I thought once Crossrail provided some real relief to the Piccadilly. The answer was yes it is possible, but Bollo Lane level crossing was clearly a big issue.

My solution? From South Acton junction to reaching Bollo Lane (NLL) is a distance of about 160m. Just enough distance for the railway line to drop down about 4m. That isn't quite enough height to carry the existing road clean over the NLL tracks, but if the level of Bollo Lane was raised by just one metre it would (just) be possible. Not cheap or easy for sure, but it would free up the strip of land south of Bollo Lane for development. And Bollo Lane would lose the busier of the two level crossings at that location.

Advantages are that a large section of North London can reach Heathrow with one easy interchange well away from central London - and similarly HS2 at Old Oak can be reached easily via the NLL from many places in West London (although I recognise Gunnersbury can also do this for certain points on the District Line).
It’s fine getting the height for the road, but I bet there is a very big sewer under that road about 6 feet down. You could install a pump or syphon but it’s just a matter of time until they fail. Gravity on the other hand......
 
#4,026 ·
Should the West London Orbital go South or North at the Midland Main Line? I say straight on! Specifically, North a bit, then straight on to Brent Cross on the Northern Line. Connecting the new Overground section to the Northern Line would do wonders for connectivity.

So would joining up the two branches of the Northern Line.

Trams between them seems feasible, maybe further north to include the Mill Hill East stub. Although whether you would use the road there or the high viaduct is debatable.





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#4,027 ·
...back once upon a time when I first started thinking about transport matters (2006!), my first bit of crayoning was linking the Northern Line's northern branches to create a second loop. This was to be achieved by firstly reinstating MHE to Edgware, then by adding in a pair of chords enabling trains to reach West Finchley from Burnt Oak via Mill Hill Broadway. Naturally, projection beyond Edgware towards Bushey was also intended. :)
 
#4,028 ·
A growing problem with our intensively used tube lines is the heat generated by the piston effect, traction motors, passenger body heat etc. Not only does it create an uncomfortable environment for passengers to be in, it is heating up the subsoil around the tunnels and causing subsidence issues.

This I think is a first - using waste heat pumped out of the tube system to warm water used in local residential properties. Hopefully this will be the first of many such ideas.

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2017/09/21/plans-to-use-heat-from-tube-tunnels-to-warm-homes/
 
#4,029 ·
A growing problem with our intensively used tube lines is the heat generated by the piston effect, traction motors, passenger body heat etc. Not only does it create an uncomfortable environment for passengers to be in, it is heating up the subsoil around the tunnels and causing subsidence issues.

This I think is a first - using waste heat pumped out of the tube system to warm water used in local residential properties. Hopefully this will be the first of many such ideas.

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2017/09/21/plans-to-use-heat-from-tube-tunnels-to-warm-homes/
I am fairly sure this is not a recent problem, I think I read somewhere that the tube has dried and solidified vast tracts of clay under London and in so doing further insulated the tube.

Air conditioned trains obviously create even more heat so its probably going to get worse.
 
#4,030 ·
Hey guys, just a question, is it feasible for the Lea Valley Line to become part of the Overground?
With all the development going on up and down the Lea Valley it could do with a better service and connect all the venues from Stratford to Broxbourne.



Secondly, there is a rail link from Stratford to Fenchurch Street that is not used. Could it be used as an extension of the Lea Valley line, is there capacity at Fenchurch Street, is it feasible to to cross all those busy lines at Pudding Mill?

Just wondering, I'm sure some of you on here can enlighten me.
 
#4,031 ·
The Lea Valley Line is too busy with med-distance commuter and airport trains. It can't really do intensive metro as well. However, if they re-opened the Hall Farm curve, then the Cheshunt line could be routed via Stratford and all Cambridge trains run straight to Liverpool Street via Hackney. Once Crossrail takes lots of trains off the GEML, there might even be scope for reopening Globe Road and Coburn Road stations.



This topic has been covered before on here, but I can't remember where.

Fenchurch Street runs 20tph in 4 platforms in the peaks. No more room for extra services.
 
#4,032 ·
Hey guys, just a question, is it feasible for the Lea Valley Line to become part of the Overground?
Yes and no.

It could, but
1) it hasn't despite the neighbouring lines being 'turned orange'.
2) part of the problem is that the standard service is Stratford - Bishops Stortford and Hertford East - Liverpool Street: going well outside London with low frequency and skip-stop service due to the two track railway. There's no scope for improvement of service without improvement of infrastructure
3) there are no plans to give it orange roundels, because it's waiting for purple roundels.
With all the development going on up and down the Lea Valley it could do with a better service and connect all the venues from Stratford to Broxbourne.
Sure, but the solution proposed is not Overground (which is merely different branding and different franchise structure, rather than some magic bullet) but Crossrail 2 - the £45bn gigaproject. OK, there's STAR (Stratford To Angel Road) which will add tracks from Coppermill Junction to Meridian Water and increase the Stratford - Tottenham frequency about ten years before optimist timescales see CR2 along the Lea Valley to Broxbourne. That could be Overground, and might be, but TfL seem to treat it as a Crossrail 2 branch in diagrams.
Secondly, there is a rail link from Stratford to Fenchurch Street that is not used. Could it be used as an extension of the Lea Valley line, is there capacity at Fenchurch Street, is it feasible to to cross all those busy lines at Pudding Mill?
No, no and no.

No to the first as no to the second and the third.
 
#4,036 ·
Currently the lea valley route is massively under-optimised compared to massive overcrowding of the line from Clapton. As such, at Clapton one has to stand there at rush hour and watch near-empty Stanstead Express and other services barrel past, holding up the 4TPH Chingford line trains which at best you have to squeeze yourself into or at worst (when there is any issue at all with the Victoria line at Walthamstow) you simply cant get on. There needs to be greater routing of the Stanstead Express and other services via Stratford to allow the Chingford line to go to at least 6TPH to cope with demand. Once Crossrail comes online that should hopefully free up capacity at Liverpool Street for services via Stratford.
 
#4,037 ·
Currently the lea valley route is massively under-optimised compared to massive overcrowding of the line from Clapton. As such, at Clapton one has to stand there at rush hour and watch near-empty Stanstead Express and other services barrel past, holding up the 4TPH Chingford line trains which at best you have to squeeze yourself into or at worst (when there is any issue at all with the Victoria line at Walthamstow) you simply cant get on. There needs to be greater routing of the Stanstead Express and other services via Stratford to allow the Chingford line to go to at least 6TPH to cope with demand. Once Crossrail comes online that should hopefully free up capacity at Liverpool Street for services via Stratford.
Crossrail will free up quite a few paths between Stratford and Liverpool Street, as well as emptying the suburban platforms nos 13 to 18 on the east side of the terminus, especially outside of the peak. However the problem at Stratford is that the Lea Valley line comes in on the 'wrong' side - to get over to the suburban lines requires a complete crossing of the express (fast) and down suburban (slow) Great Eastern lines. And grade separation in that area seems pretty much impossible.
 
#4,038 ·
I always feel so under-educated when I have to google the meaning of a word. So then I have to go and use it on a friend and explain its meaning when they look confused to feel better about myself.

I imagine you must have felt rather discombobulated upon reading the unfamiliar word in that anomalous context! Perhaps you experienced discomfiture, even a degree of vexation or outright peevishness? :lol:
 
#4,039 ·
Crossrail will free up quite a few paths between Stratford and Liverpool Street, as well as emptying the suburban platforms nos 13 to 18 on the east side of the terminus, especially outside of the peak. However the problem at Stratford is that the Lea Valley line comes in on the 'wrong' side - to get over to the suburban lines requires a complete crossing of the express (fast) and down suburban (slow) Great Eastern lines. And grade separation in that area seems pretty much impossible.
Well something has to be done - either terminate the Stanstead Express & other medium distance services at Stratford OR reinstate the Hall Farm Curve so that the Chingford line terminates at Stratford thus freeing up space on the Clapton line OR extend the Jubilee line up to Chingford via the Lea Valley line and Hall Farm Curve to relieve traffic on the current Chingford line route.
 
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