London Banter - View Single Post

Recliner[_2_] · March 20th 14, 08:34 AM posted to uk.transport.london

Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 03:24:17 -0500,
wrote:

In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

On Wed, 19 Mar 2014 19:17:45 -0500, wrote:

Won't GOBLIN be using 5-car class 378 sets like the rest of the
Overground?

Very unlikely. I have never seen TfL suggest that 5 car trains would
be ordered. I have heard Sir Peter Hendy say 3 car or 4 car but, of
late, the message has been 4 cars. As Recliner says this would be a
joint order for Greater Anglia devolved routes.

AFAIK there are two problem locations in terms of long platforms - the
bay at Gospel Oak and South Tottenham because of the point layout and
proximity of a road bridge. Altering Gospel Oak could be very
expensive indeed and South Tottenham is unlikely to be cheap
(depending on the solution). Clearly the rest of the line has had
much longer platforms in the past and many could be brought back in to
use with relative ease. Haringay Green Lanes and Blackhorse Road would
need extensions. Not sure about the Barking bay platform.

Whether the "announcement" re Barking Riverside shifts TfL's thinking
I couldn't say. Clearly 4 car trains are not really the answer for
serving a huge housing development but TfL can build in expansion
capability on day one provided the Treasury agree. Better to have two
long terminating platforms at Barking Riverside rather than one short
one for example! Oh and a dual track formation rather than a single
track! You can imagine the debate that could go on.

I didn't think Gospel Oak was so short but in any case the 378s would be a
doddle with SDO because of the wide gangways making access along the train
so easy. I assume the class 315 replacement trains would be similar to the
378s, whatever their length.

Gospel Oak can take 4 cars [1] but not longer because trains would
foul the points for the through tracks used by freight. To extend the
bay would require a new bridge capable of tacking 3 tracks. That
assumes you can build it and / or obtain permission to do so.

I do not know the rules that apply to SDO but I doubt they'd allow 4
car trains to serve platforms just about long enough for 2 cars. I'd
expect TfL to want to have compliant platforms where this can be
achieved at reasonable cost. It's worth bearing in mind that the
Treasury have set aside £115m for electrification works but on one
expects it to cost that much. In theory, there is some flex to cope
with works to platforms for the longer trains.

[1] I've seen two class 150s stabled there before. That practice was
abandoned with the 172s for some reason.

Could it be because a two car 172 is about 7m longer than a two car 150, so
a brace of them would be about 14m longer?