Stephen Richards wrote:


but surely the ELLX does the following?

a) extend Tube services to South London

It won't be tube, it'll be National Rail with National Rail frequencies

Correct on the first point - but 4tph on the other branches is a similar
frequency to some outer London LUL services. And there will be 16tph
through the core section.

b) provides a new cross London service

Yes... bu more of a round London service

....but it does get you across London.

(snip)
d) provides a new access point to part of the City via the Shoreditch
High St station

Not many people working in the city woudl call Shoreditch the city.
Anyway, I think Shoreditch Station will be closed.

Shoreditch High St, where the new station will be located, is certainly
quite close to the City (about 10 minutes' walk from Livepool St?) and I
believe some new developments are spreading out of the City in this
direction.

The existing Shoreditch station will close, to be replaced by the new
Shoreditch High St station further west.

e) provides a Tube service into the London Borough of Hackney

See point a. Anyway, what is the use of a tube service if 90% of the
people want to use it to go to the city or West end, and the tube goes
somewhere else?

Hackney has a rail link directly into the City. OK, it doesn't have a
direct service to the West End - but such a route will be extremely
expensive and is already being planned (Crossrail 2).

This will certainly be a good link to *Docklands*.

h) provides a second Tube link into the Tramlink network

not a tube

Again true - many people don't seem to realise this!

i) potentially reduces the loading / congestion via key Central London
termini and their adjacent tube stations.

Yes

Recent modelling predicted that 5,000 passengers will be removed from
each of Waterloo and London Bridge stations - presumably passengers
travelling to Docklands, who will use the less-used Canada Water station
or Shadwell instead.

I agree with the originator of this thread - I don't see what all the
fuss is about. Yes, it would be nice to have, and it's a disgrace that
it is being stopped (if it is) after starting work because we "can't
afford" cost of 3.5 miiles of new track, but it's not a great addition
to the London network, and hardly a major infrastructure build that is
worth trumpeting from the rooftops..

There are two major points which haven't been mentioned.

Price - the ELL avoids Zone 1. At current season ticket prices, someone
travelling between two Zone 2 stations - for example Clapham Junction
and Canary Wharf - could save themselves *£416* per year by taking the
ELL. Passengers from West Croydon to Canary Wharf would save £548.
If that's not a major point, I don't know what is. Part of the ELL's
economic regeneration aspect is that it makes travelling cheaper for
passengers from some depressed inner-city areas like Hackney.

Orbirail - Construction of these links is the most important step to
Orbirail, orbital services via Willesden Junction, Clapham Junction,
Highbury, the NLL and ELLX. Journeys between opposite sides of London
might still be faster via the centre (although some people will
appreciate the not having to change) - but this orbital route connects
some major centres, and once again, the price factor comes into play.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London