Quote:
Originally Posted by
On Thursday, 21 April 2016 21:37:00 UTC+1, Robin9 wrote:
Tim B;155069 Wrote:
Lea Bridge apparently opening on Sunday 15th May 2016. When's the first
train?
I live in Leyton and by an amazing coincidence, I'm taking
that week off work. I'll give my Freedom Pass a few runs on
the service. (I still think the station is going to be a white
elephant)
--
Robin9
Why?
It's hardly surprising that it was little used when last open, but that wasn't because the Station was in a useless location, but because it had lost most of the route which it served. Seven Sisters to Palace Gates closed in 1963, and Stratford to North Woolwich diverted to join the North London Line when Broad Street closed. The handful of peak hour shuttles from Stratford to Tottenham Hale weren't terribly useful, and the Cravens 105 units were pretty horrible.
Stratford has been totally transformed in the last 30 odd years since Lea Bridge closed, the service will run North of Tottenham Hale, though I'm not sure exactly where to. The station is on a major road, served by several bus routes, and is in an area served by major sports and leisure facilities.
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The station is in "a useless location" and does not provide
a service into central London.
Except at stations where one can change trains, very
few passengers use stations which do not provide a service
into central London. Compare the vast numbers of people
using Leyton Underground with those using Leyton Midland.
Compare the number using Walthamstow Queens Road with
those using the three Walthamstow stations on the Liverpool
Street Line. Compare Woodgrange Road with Forest Gate.
What is the catchment area for Lea Bridge Station? Walthamstow
Marshes, where no-one lives; Leyton Marshes, where no-one lives;
the Argall Avenue, Staffa Road industrial estates where no-one
lives.
I'm sure a few people will use the station, but not nearly enough
to justify the expense of re-building it. I'm also sure that those
railway enthusiasts who are determined to forget the lessons
learned in the 1950s and 1960s will insist that the station is a
great success no matter how few people use it.
The central truth is that railways are a bulk transport carrier
with very high operating costs which need to be kept as low as
possible. Reducing a rail service to no more than a bus service
on rails does not help keep costs under control.