I sampled this new service on Monday and travelled early afternoon
from Stratford to Meridian Water. There were a few people on the
train but most alighted at Tottenham Hale. A few more got off at
Northumberland Park and only two at Meridian Water.

I strolled round the area and arrived back at the station to discover
that the next train to Stratford had been cancelled!

The service and the infrastructure make no sense to me. It's obvious
that economies have been made, e.g. a single track, but why then have
they installed a length of track south of Coppermill Junction towards
Lea Bridge? The crossover should have been immediately after the junction,
as between there and Stratford, the line is lightly used and requires no
additional capacity.

At Tottenham Hale Station, huge, mega-heavy duty OLE masts for the
new single track have been placed where a second new track would
need to run. However, elsewhere much slimmer masts have been
installed far back from the alignment of a second track. The work seems
to have been done with a view to Crossrail 2 converting Tottenham Hale
Station to two island platforms, i.e. with no need for a second new track
on the east side of the station, but Crossrail 2 is now under question.

Meridian Water at present is just a brownfield site. Construction has
not yet started, so it will be at least two years before anyone moves in.
Until then the new station will be pretty useless. The new track
terminates in the station with no provision to enable trains on the main
line to cross over.

The West Anglia Main Line is very busy and towards London would
benefit from additional capacity. (Down trains are flighted from Tottenham Hale
so that each train follows one whose stopping pattern will not impede the
following train. Consequently they run through a series of green lights while
up trains approaching Tottenham Hale meet a series of yellows.)

It would help if some of the up trains, particularly those destined for
Stratford, could cross to the new track, releasing capacity on the main line.
This has not been catered for and those trains from Bishops Stortford to
Stratford have to stop at Meridian Water on the main line!

If the new service is never going to extend beyond Meridian Water and if
Crossrail 2 is delayed or substantially changed, it would make more sense
to incorporate the new service into London Overground and to extend LO
trains currently terminating at Stratford to Meridian Water.