In article ,
Graeme Wall wrote:
On 28/11/2018 12:33, Mike Bristow wrote:
In article ,
NY wrote:
I'm not sure why a north-to-west facing curve was never built between the
Heathrow spur and the GWML, to allow trains from Reading, Oxford, Bristol
and south Wales to reach Heathrow - even if it involved a change to a
Reading-Heathrow shuttle.

Because the line is at capacity from Newbury to Paddington.

So which services through Reading are you going to divert to
Heathrow? They have to be fast trains, otherwise it'll be quicker
to go to non-stop Paddington and change there.


You missed the bit about a Reading - Heathrow shuttle.

How can a Reading to Heathrow service avoid the line between Newbury
and Paddington (via Reading)? Because that whole section is at
capacity, AIUI, which was the basis for the rest of my comments.

One solution, given a west facing curve would be to run a limited stop
service Paddington - Heathrow - Reading and return on the current HE
frequencies.

You can clear the paths from Paddington - Heathrow by using this
service to replace the HE service; but where do the paths between
Heathrow - Reading come from? That section is at capacity, too.

--
Mike Bristow