Nitro -

The version of Crossrail I favour is as follows:

Line 1:
Tunnels from GlobeTown to Royal Oak and Old Oak Common to Willesden
Junction. At the eastern end, Crossrail would then take over most of the
services to Essex. At the western end it would run an all stations to
Heathrow service, and take over the slow lines on the WCML to
Milton Keynes (and possibly Northampton, but as Northampton's so much
further away it might be better to terminate Crossrail services at
Wolverton and give Northampton to Virgin).

Canary Wharf would not be part of the scheme. It would get its own line
eventually, but meanwhile it would be served by boats.

A Richmond and Kingston branch could be added later. Alternatively that
could also become part of Line 3.

London Underground would take over the Euston to Watford Junction
service using Tube stock (so the platform height could be optimized).
Initially this would run into the main Euston station, but eventually it
could form the basis of a new Tube line to South London, taking over the
Aldwych branch.


Line 2:

Tunnel from Clapham Junction (somewhere between Latchmere Road and
Cranleigh Avenue) to Dalston Junction (via Battersea West, Chelsea,
Victoria, Piccadilly Circus, TCR, Kings Cross St.Pancras, Angel, and
Essex Rd. It would then take over the NLL and run to Woolwich Arsenal
via a new tunnel from Silvertown (N Woolwich would close). The NLL
stations would require rebuilding to take the longer trains, so the
opportunity could be used to improve the interchange at Hackney (so that
passengers could walk between Hackney Central and Hackney Downs without
leaving the station). The opportunity should also be taken to upgrade
that section of line to 3 tracks, creating a dedicated freight route
from Stratford to Willesden.

A Northern Heights branch via Finsbury Park is also a possibility.

As with your proposal, the trains don't have to terminate at
Clapham*Junction. They could take over some of the services that
currently run to Waterloo.


(The numbering of the following lines may not indicate the best order to
build them in)
Line 3:
Tunnel mostly below the Circle Line from Paddington to Liverpool St then
via Whitechapel to Poplar. Surface and run to Custom House. Take over
the Woolwich branch from Crossrail 2. Also build another branch
alongside the DLR to Cyprus and on to Dagenham, from where it would take
over the Tilbury line. The Cyprus to Dagenham section could be part of
the DLR until the rest of Line 3 is built.

Line 4:
Tunnel from Waterloo (or more likely, somewhere beyond Vauxhall) to
Bethnal Green via Blackfriars, St.Pauls and Liverpool Street. This would
almost certainly require the demolishion of a few buildings, including
the new one at 1 London Wall.

Line 5: Tunnel from Moorgate (or Old Street) to South London via
London*Bridge.

Yet more lines may eventually be needed, depending on future
development.



As for the rest of the points you mentioned:

As an alternative to the Chelsea-Hackney Line, Mayor Ken Livingstone
talked about a Crossrail 3 between Euston and Waterloo and said this
may go ahead if it has a stronger case than Crossrail 2.

When did he say that?

March 2002.

He seems to have gone cold on the idea since.

The Central tunnel would run from Waterloo, stopping at Temple (at the
western end of the station) and Tottenham Court Road (with an additional
exit near Covent Garden / Leicester Square)

That's rather zigzaggy! Why not go via Holborn?

1) To serve the West End,

But in doing so, you'd be effectively duplicating an existing link (the
Northern Line). 'Tis better to provide new opportunities, especially
when a TCR detour would probably require a few buildings to be
demolished.

2) to interchange with Crossrail line one.

I think a line 1 station at Holborn would be a better way of doing that.
Unfortunately nobody else seems to agree with me.

From King's Cross the line would continue to Dalston Junction station
and Hackney Central station.

Do you mean Hackney Downs?

No an underground stop at / near the two, as in Crossrail 2 proposals

So the forced change of trains would be even more inconvenient!

The line would then surface near Clapton,
or if this is not possible an underground station at Clapton. Some
trains would then continue to Chingford,

Although you're not the first to suggest a Crossrail line take over the
Chingford branch, it doesn't seem such a good idea to me. The loss of a
direct service to the City would be very unpopular with many people who
moved to the area because of its good links to the City.

Is one change really that bad?

Yes, if it's not cross platform.

others to Stansted Airport.

With what stopping pattern?

Tottenham Hale, Bishops Stortford, Stansted Airport

Duplicating the Stansted Express. Why?

From Waterloo the line would surface between Vauxhall and Waterloo.

Did you have a surfacing location in mind?

No.

There's no obvious location that side of Vauxhall.

Crossrail 3 would then takeover the Wimbledon slow lines and serve
Vauxhall, Battersea (new platforms),

What's wrong with the old ones? Or are you saying that there should be
new platforms on the Victoria to Brixton line?

Are there platforms on the Wimbledon slow lines?

I thought there were, but checking the England Photographic Atlas I find
you're right - there aren't.

The rest of the service would have to terminate in an as
yet undecided location (possibly Clapham Junction - build some
reversing sidings there?).

Why?

So people can get on trains at somewhere like Vauxhall.

Why wouldn't they be able to do that if the trains went further?

In the North, the 4tph to Chessington South would go up to Watford
Junction, as would the unspecified 8tph (that terminates somewhere
along the line - Clapham Junction?). The remaining 12tph goes to
Stansted / Chingford (2tph to Stansted, 10tph to Chingford).

That would leave Chingford with an extremely irregular service! And why
only 2tph to Stansted? At that frequency you'd get all the disbenefits
of slower boardings (due to passengers' luggage) without the ridership
benefits that a frequent service to the airport would bring.

Unless you four track the Lee Valley line, you have to squeeze the
Stratford - Stansted / Hertford East services (to be added soon),
Cambridge / Hertford East- Liverpool Street and Stansted - Liverpool
Street.

The Lea Valley Line is by far the easiest line in London to four track.

Advantages:
· Relief for the Victoria Line,

Some, but not as much as Crossrail 2.

Maybe, but it reduces interchange at the busiest station on the line,
Victoria.

As would Crossrail 2.

(snip)

I read somewhere that when Waterloo international is abandoned they
would extend platforms to take 12 cars and some platforms at Waterloo
would disappear.

I consider a reduction in the total number of platforms very unlikely.

· Regeneration of Battersea, Vauxhall, Hackney, Clapton,
Wembley, Harlesden, Stonebridge Park, Willesden Junction, Chingford,
Walthamstow, Clapham Junction and Carpenders Park.

There might be regeneration in some of those places, but by no means all
of them. Walthamstow in particular would suffer from the loss of its
direct link to the City.

Walthamstow may lose its link to the city, but there are places that
have regenerated that do not have a direct link to the city. What about
Wandsworth?

Yes, there's regeneration in much of Inner London. However, I know of
nowhere where worsening the transport links has resulted in
regeneration.

But going underground at Clapham Junction enables line 2 to bring rail
services to parts of Battersea and Chelsea that have not previously had
them. There is nothing comparable in your proposal.

Battersea or Chelsea. Looking at the London Plan it seems Ken would
rather the line go through Battersea. Even if Crossrail 2 goes ahead,
the part of Battersea it serves will only be a few minutes walk from
Battersea Park station.

If Crossrail goes via Chelsea, it could have a station constructed on
the other (W) side of Battersea Park.

Also, Line 2 could surface at Dalston Junction.

And go where? Do you mean Dalston Kingsland?

No, there's no room to surface at Dalston Kingsland.

· A direct rail link between Waterloo and King's Cross.

There's a much cheaper (light rail) one on the drawing board!

Yes, but this may be cheaper / better than Crossrail 2 and CRT put
together.

'Tis not even as good as Crossrail 2 on its own!

· Avoids the problem of building a mainline station at
Piccadilly Circus

Just what exactly is the problem there?

Not enough space underground for a mainline station

I've heard that claim before, but am not convinced. Where exactly is
there not enough space?