On 31 Dec 2012, 16:54, Robin9
wrote:
Last Saturday Peter Hendy was one of the guests on Ken Livingstone's LBC
programme.
HS2 was discussed and Hendy said he believed it would go ahead but that

Crossrail 2 would be essential to cope with the number of passengers at
Euston.

Now, first I'm not sure that HS2 will massively increase the number of
passengers alighting at Euston. How many trains an hour are going to
arrive at
Euston? Does anyone have any ideas about this?

Second, this was the first I had heard about Crossrail 2. It seems this
is the old
Hackney/Chelsea line idea but changed from being a tube line to a full
size
railway. Will that not greatly increase the costs? How far advanced is
this idea
and are there any plans to extend the line beyond either Hackney or
Chelsea?

Basically: Yes. July Modern Railways ran an article on Crossrail. It
covered Crossrail 2. There are numerous options extending Crossrail 2
from the central, Chelsea to Hackney Core.

IMHO, there are so many options that Crossrail 2 could usefully be
constructed as two lines. One would be a main line gauge classic
Chelsea to Hackney route taking over one branch of the Central Line to
Essex and linking it to the infrastructure of the District Line to
Wimbledon. IMHO it should take over the Wimbledon Branch from West
Brompton. This would maintain the interchange with the Overground.
Although this option is not in any of the formal plans. They show the
“join” at Parsons Green.

The "other" Crossrail 2 should be a Network Rail operation taking
trains from Hertford East, thru Angel, Kings Cross, and Euston. It
would then follow the WWII express Northern Line route thru Waterloo
Underground to South Wimbledon, and then cut across to Raynes Park.
From there it would take over the lines passing thru Motspur Park.

How much of this a bankrupt country can actually afford is a different
question, especially in time of war. Then again London and the UK's
future depend on a radical London mobility upgrade.

Selah.