According to the TfL lines there will be other movements than those already mentioned in the previous article. There we concentrated on putting in some sort of order Overground, with prospective extensions, and DLT trains. Now we concentrate more on Underground and National Rail lines.
Almost all the commuter services are run with electric traction. All London Underground and almost all London Overground services are run on the three rail system - drawing electric current for traction from a third rail. The old Southern Region of British Rail -
basically all the services south of the Thames - also uses the third
rail for electric traction. These services these days are offered by,
mostly, South West Trains, Southern and Southeastern.
North
of the Thames most services are electric but using overhead wires for
collection of the current. This is true for commuter services out of Paddington, Euston, St.Pancras, Kings Cross, Moorgate, Liverpool St. and Fenchurch St. The exception here are the Chiltern Trains services out of Marylebone.
At the moment they are run with diesels so it is not a question of if,
but when these lines are electrified as they will be to overhead electric
transmission.
From that if we wish to link commuter services to commuter services, as will be done with Crossrail, then we have to think of compatibility and cost. This brings us to the conclusion of "like with like", as much as possible. Thameslink is the exception since it operates both north and south of the Thames. This is not an ideal solution because the trains which travel to both sides of the river have to be compatible with both systems,third rail and overhead, resulting in more complex and more expensive vehicles.However, a lot can be done with thought.
Crossrail 1 (the Elizabeth Line): This is the first Crossrail set up and working already. It has taken longer than expected to finish and resulted in costing way over the budgeted cost. Not everybody agrees with the London mayor at the time, Boris Johnson, to name the line after the monarch. The reasons are not relevant to this blog why this blogger differs from Boris.
What is relevant is the definition of Crossrail and its services. It was decided that since TfL wanted to control the transport infrastructure within the Greater London conurbation then Crossrail would become a new service of TfL, where ever it went. I want to focus on the services it provides. Nobody would argue that running passenger services from Reading in the west to Shenfield in the East means that it is a line for outer surburban services.
My initial question is if the line will admit on its tracks non-Crossrail services. GWR (Great Western) runs the rail services into Paddington. At the other end Greater Anglia runs the rail services into Liverpool Street. Will these companies be allowed to run their services from Paddington to Shenfield (in the case of GWR) or from Liverpool Street to Reading (in the case of Greater Anglia)? If not, why not? Is competition to be permitted and promoted, or not?
a)Even before the line was finished there was speculation as to when the extension to Abbey Wood would be extended more to Ebbsfleet. Here it could connect to Eurostar services, when they are reinstated at this station, together with the Southeastern Javelin services between St. Pancras and the Kent coastal towns.
b)The eastern section stops at Shenfield but there is no reason for Crossrail not to continue on the Greater Anglia lines to Southend Victoria and Southminster. Was it not the case that the original line was to go west as far as Slough which was later extended to Reading? A similar extension is justifiable eastwards, is it not?
c)From Paddington the line goes westwards towards Ealing Broadway before continuing on its journey. From this station there is a spur to Greenford operated by GWR.Here this spur could be incorporated into Crossrail 1 and then from Greenford extended to West Ruislip. This extension would substitute that section of the Underground Central Line which runs from Greenford to West Ruislip.
Crossrail 2: If we take it as a logical progression from policies applied north of the Thames regarding electrification of rail services, then it is safe to say that when electrification comes to the Chiltern Lines from Marylebone station then they will be converted to overhead operation.
Are
the services compatible? If we look at the periods of 06.30 to 10.00hrs
for those services into the London termini, and from the termini
between 16.30 and 20.00hrs. we can see that C2C runs 48/49 trains into and out of Fenchurch St. while London Northwestern (into / out of Euston) plus Chiltern Trains (into / out of Marylebone)
run in total the same number of services - 48/49. That makes for a rate
of 14 tph at each end. However, if we understand that joining the lines
would mean there were no platform dwelling time at the termini we can
see that a capacity increase is built into the system ready to be
exploited.
As a result a valuable piece of real estate at Fenchurch St. would be freed up for development to help pay for the scheme.
Crossrail 3: This is the "often talked about","absolutely necessary", "impossible", "never advanced beyond speculation","game changing", Since everthing is organised on a "hub and spoke" way then anything which breaks molds is interesting.
Here we have a Cross London line through the Northern suburbs starting in Uxbridge in the West to go East for 50 kms.. It connects many of the Underground and National Rail Lines in their outer reaches.......
Uxbridge - Ickenham - Ruislip - Rayners Lane - West Harrow - Harrow & Wealdstone - Canon´s Park - Edgeware - Mill Hill Broadway - Mill Hill East - Finchley Central - Highgate . Harringey Green Lanes - South Tottenham - Walthamstow Queens Road - Leyton Midland Road - Barking - Barking Riverside.
Underground Lines:
-Metropolitan Line:a) This line extends into the north-west suburbs of the conurbation. Agreement was reached, some time ago, between TfL and the local authority,about changing the destination of the Watford branch to Watford Junction. The distance is short, using part of previous infrastructure to provide better connectivity. Everything was agreed upon except for the financing of the project. Thus it has remained in Limbo since then. Perhaps the Government can offer to pay for the work in exchange for concessions elsewhere. All it needs is political will.
b) With the introduction of Crossrail 2 the need to connect these outer London suburbs with the City is reduced when it can fill in gaps elsewhere in the system. A direct connection between Paddington and/or Marylebone and Victoria stations has been mooted in the past. This could continue to south of the Thames to connect to other potential TfL lines.
The simplest connection would continue the Metropolitan lines southwards from Baker Street/Marylebone to...Marble Arch - Hyde Park Corner - Victoria - Pimlico - Kennington - Elephant & Castle - Loughborough Junction -Tulse Hill - Crystal Palace - ................
i) - Crystal Palace - West Croydon - Sutton - Epsom Downs
ii) - Crystal Palace - Norwood Junction - East Croydon - Purley - Tattenham Corner
iii) - Crystal Palace - Norwood Junction - East Croydon - Purley - Caterham.
c) The existing Metropolitan Line services along the Circle Line to Aldgate from Baker Street, would continue to help maintain the frequency of services on that route. However, there would be no services that used Baker Street as a terminus.
-Central Line: a) In the west this line will be curtailed from West Ruislip to Greenford from where it will start. This is to accomodate the Crossrail 1 branch from Ealing Broadway up to Greenford being able to extend to West Ruislip and so connect with Crossrail 2. Commuters over that section do not lose anything but gain better connections and speed. b) Services on the Hinault loop( entering from both northwards through Roding Valley or southwards through Wanstead, see the introduction of Overground services from the southern loop between Sutton and Wimbledon previously operated by Thameslink. Demand would dictate if Central Line services were to continue on this loop even if only during rush-hour periods.
-Hammersmith and City Line:At present this line "dies" at Hammersmith when it could continue on to provide more service to more people. Extending the line from Hammersmith southwards to Barnes would serve more commuters and provide an extremely good link to travellers on the South West Trains network through that station, giving them an alternative connection to lines north of the Thames.
-Northern Line: This line recently opened an extension from Kennington to Battersea Power Station. Since it was completed there has been a lot of speculation on continuing the line to Clapham Junction. Such an extension would provide greater connectivity for passengers travelling through the Junction.
-Waterloo & City Line:This line has served as a non-stop connection between Waterloo and Bank, transporting commuters on South West Trains into the City. Now since a connecting service is needed between the "Sutton Loop" and the "Hinault Loop" from south to north of the Thames then this line serves that purpose. There have always been many criticisms of such an endeavour, mostly to discourage the change. However,all the work on the Rail/Tube/Overground/DLT lines is focused towards improved connectivity and greater capacity. This work on the Waterloo and City line increases both tremendously (longer trains, walk-through carriages, increased frequency of trains).
-Bakerloo Line: This line runs from Harrow and Wealdstone in the north on the WCML, through Baker St. and the West End to Waterloo and on to Elephant & Castle. It has been a candidate for extension south of the Thames for many years and is now being talked about again.
a)The option to run the line northwards will be dictated by demand and train paths.However, the line exists to run services into Watford Junction alongside Overground services if so wished.
b)South of the river options exist to run services either along the Old Kent Road, or down through Camberwell and Peckham Rye, and then on to Lewisham. The line would then run southwards through Lower Sydenham taking over the Hayes branch of National Rail services. Another branch would run south of Lewisham towards Grove park and then take the Bromley North branch.
c) There also exists the possibility of running services south from Lewisham, through Grove Park and on to Orpington, if there were demand for the services. 
National Rail: Some of these modifications of Underground (and Overground) services can be seen quite clearly and need no more explanation. However, there is one more service which means a change of operator. Before, we mentioned that trains should run like with like. For this reason those trains which run both north and south of the Thames on both the overhead pickup system and the third rail electric system should be under the responsibility of one operator which is Thameslink.
For that reason the line which is run by Southern from Hemel Hempstead - Kensington Olympia - Gatwick Airport should be passed over to Thameslink.
