Alex Terrell wrote:
(Aidan Stanger) wrote...
Alex Terrell wrote:
Thinking about this, I now agree - forget running CrossRail trains
through the CTRL. But what domestic services should be run through the
CTRL from 2007? After all, operators should start to order rolling
stock about now.
There was a consultation about this last year. The SRA had identified
the core service destinations as Gravesend, Canterbury West and
Folkestone Central, and were seeking views on extending it to Rainham,
Faversham, Ramsgate (either way) or Maidstone West. Service frequency
was to be 8tph peak, 4tph offpeak.
Does that mean 8 tph to Gravesend, then 4 tph to Canterbury West and 4
to Folkstone Central? That would mean a lot of people travelling to
these stations to get to London.
No, it means 8tph London to Ebbsfleet, then 4tph to Gravesend and 4tph
to Ashford, 2 of which would then continue to Folkestone Central and 2
would continue to Canterbury West. There are various options for running
the trains further than that, though none involve Hastings via Rye (the
population is too low to justify electrification, let alone high speed
trains).
There aren't expected to be as many paths available as you think.
I suppose they didn't look at splitting trains? They can even do that
with TGVs.
They did look at splitting trains at Ashford in the offpeak times.
I suggested:
Peak:
4tph Rochester via Gravesend
2tph Dover via Folkestone
2tph Ramsgate via Canterbury
Offpeak:
2tph Ramsgate via Gravesend
2tph Dover and Ramsgate (splitting at Ashford)
I pointed out that the Amtrak Metroliners had proved decades ago that
front doors weren't incompatible with high speeds, and they passed that
info on to the train manufacturers.
I also put a case for converting the Maidstone West line to light rail,
and (after A2 capacity is freed up by the opening of the Lower Thames
Crossing) taking over 2 lanes of the A2 to extend it to Ebbsfleet.
Not sure I follow. The Lower Thames Crossing was only proposed, not
planned. (It might be needed as more people try and drive to
Ebbsfleet.)
'Tis generally accepted that it will be needed eventually, and ITYF it
is planned, though not in great detail. How long it will be before it
gets built depends on several other factors, including whether the
Thames Gateway Bridge gets built as planned, as both it and the Lower
Thames Crossing would be partly paid for with the revenue from Dartford
tolls.
Why can't the existing line go from Ebbsfleet to
Gravesend, through the Strood tunnel, and on to Maidstone West,
Paddock Wood, and Tonbridge.
It can, though it wouldn't be much faster than the existing services to
Maidstone. By the time it reached Tonbridge, it would be substantially
slower than the existing route to London. That's quite an inefficient
use of these trains, which are more expensive than normal trains.
The other problem is that quite a lot of people commute between
Maidstone and the Chatham area, and rail has a very low market share
because it finishes up on the wrong side of the Medway. A light rail
proposal was developed to solve this problem, but stalled due to lack of
funding. If a lot of money's going to be spent on that line, serving
Chatham's a better objective than high speed services.
Do you know whether any action is being taken? On the CTRL website I
see no mention of a connection with the North Kent line.
There will be one. The core service is as certain as UK rail plans can
be, although how far the trains will be extended remains to be seen.