On Fri, 3 Sep 2004, Dave Arquati wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:

On Thu, 2 Sep 2004, Dave Arquati wrote:

"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...

More pie-in-the-sky, but if such a service were run from Wycombe to
Maidenhead instead of London (relaying the Wycombe - Bourne End line),

The High Wycombe Society has been lobbying for the reinstatement of the
Wycombe to Bourne End rail route using Ultra Light Rail, with through
trams between Wycombe and Maidenhead.

http://www.highwycombesociety.org.uk/hblreport.htm

Interesting scheme. I'd always wondered what that funny little line
through Maidenhead was! Anyway, it seems to me that if it couldn't be
resurrected as heavy rail, then rather than just making High Wycombe -
Bourne End light rail, the whole line down to Maidenhead (and Marlow)
ought to be converted - as it stands, that branch is a joke. The report
doesn't really go into that idea, but i assume that's what they're
thinking - they do say "... the HBL corridor (which could include an
extension to Maidenhead)".

I think the plan is to track-share to Maidenhead. Wycombe to Marlow via
Bourne End would be an unattractive service as it is about double the
length of the direct road route. The service from Marlow to Maidenhead
isn't that much of a joke; with a half-hourly weekday service, it's
well-used in the peaks and there are some direct services from Bourne
End to Paddington, so a full conversion to light rail might provoke
protest from London commuters (as well as those to Slough).

[...]

If it were possible to retain the through services from Bourne End to
Paddington (which connect to a Bourne End - Marlow shuttle) with at
least the existing frequency between Marlow & Maidenhead, and a good
frequency between Wycombe and Maidenhead, then the line would have
excellent traffic prospects.

I didn't realise there were through trains from to Paddington; are those
from Bourne End only, or Marlow too? Or is there just a Marlow - Bourne
End shuttle? If Marlow - Bourne End is only a shuttle at present, then
converting it into light rail is a win - through journeys to Wycombe might
not make much sense, but if all you want to do is get from Marlow to
Bourne End to catch a real train, light rail will be better, as it's more
frequent, and it can't be much slower.

However, achieving all three together seems improbable! It would
certainly require extra infrastructure (passing loops & expensive
signalling for inter-operation); converting the whole lot to light rail
would probably be acceptable if a relatively high frequency were
achieved with good onward connections at Maidenhead.

If the two modes can share the track down to Maidenhead, that's great; if
not, you've either got to leave it as heavy rail (in which case you have a
linear Wycombe - Marlow light rail line) or convert it. It's far from
obvious that the former will provide a better service to people wanting to
get to London: as you say, if there was a high frequency and good onward
connections, it would work. In fact, if the trains can be timetabled
accurately, they don't even need to be frequent - there just needs to be
one train which gets to Maidenhead a few minutes before each London-bound
train departs. Not that i'm suggesting that - it would be missing much of
the point of light rail not to run frequent services.

In fact, even with untimetabled, metro-style (is there a word for this?)
light trains, as long as the frequency's good, it's still a win (of sorts)
over heavy rail, as trains from Maidenhead to London are much more
frequent than those from Bourne End to London.

tom

--
Crazy week so far, which at one point involved spewing down the inside of my jeans! -- D