"Alex Terrell" a écrit dans le message de
om...
"Jonn Elledge" wrote in message
...
More useful, is it possible to send CrossRail through the CTRL link
from Stratford to Ebbsfleet?


Why? The point of the Ebbsfleet branch is surely not to link Ebbsfleet
to
Crossrail, but to connect the Isle of Dogs, Royal Docks and other more
populated parts of North Kent.

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.

CTRL capacity is 16 tph. CTRL say there'll be capacity for 8 Eurostar
tph, but at present they can't fill three, so I reckon there could be
8 to 12 domestic trains per hour running each way from St Pancras to
Ebbsfleet. These could in theory be 16 cars long. Where should they
go?

Here's my thoughts. Assuming dual voltage trains that can run off
overhead or third rail:

SNIP

Any thoughts?

Your assumptions about the operation of Eurostars might not be valid,
because as others have already pointed out, the present constraints, which
are not very sensible, are liable to change. In particular, the reduction in
journey times and improved timekeeping resulting from the completion of
CTRL2 should boost demand substantially.

But other potential changes could have a far greater impact, eg the
introduction of measures to reduce congestion at London's airports by
reducing the number of slots allocated for flights on routes where the
overall journey time is typically longer than that by rail.

The basic problem is that there is no obvious way to recover the enormous
investment required to build the CRTL or Crossrail directly from fees paid
its users (especially commuters); as in similar cases (eg the Jubilee Line
and ELL extensions), the lion's share of the economic benefit goes to local
landowners, who enjoy signficant consequential increases in property values.
Only when you have solved it can we start meaningful discussions of train
services.

Regards,

- Alan (in Brussels - mind the spamtrap)