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Robin9 · 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by

On Thu, 19 Jul 2018 10:18:54 +0100
Robin9 wrote:
;166533 Wrote:
10 years ago yes, but I was referring to decades ago when the NLL was
first
electrified. I have no idea why the goblin didn't have a 3rd rail put
down
at the same time but if it had this problem wouldn't exist.

The North London Line was indeed electrified decades ago, and electric
trains ran from Richmond to Broad Street. When Broad Street was closed,
the 3rd rail electrification was extended to North Woolwich and the
trains from Richmond were diverted to there.

I've sometimes wondered why the NLL went as far as north woolwich. There's
nothing there (though that seems to be changing). Was the ferry trip over from
woolwich proper + NLL preferable to the direct train services from woolwich?

When I moved to Leyton, I used it one day to visit a friend in Kentish
Town. The man in the ticket office - yes, we have them in those days -
asked me "why does nobody use this line?" I replied that it was because
no-one knew about the service.

Some things don't change. If you look at a current tube map you'll notice
the finsbury park to moorgate line has now been removed which seems a petty
thing to do given how useful it is. Just because its not run by TfL doesn't
to me seem like a good enough excuse not to have it.

The extension of 3rd rail to North Woolwich was to kill two birds with one stone. At one time there was a regular service from North Woolwich to Palace Gates via Stratford, South Tottenham and Seven Sisters. When the Palace Gates branch was closed, the service was cut back to Stratford. With the planned closure of Broad Street, it was obvious to combine the two services and so trains ran from Richmond to North Woolwich.

Now, of course, the Stratford/North Woolwich section is a tram service with additional stops and 3rd rail has been replaced by overhead cables until South Acton Station.

As for the Woolwich Ferry, I don't recall many pedestrians ever using it. It was always busy with vehicles.