Dave Arquati wrote:
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 20:12:38 +0000, Dave Arquati
wrote:


Fresh off the press - to prevent performance pollution from SET,
Crossrail will share no track with SET on its Isle of Dogs branch
and will terminate at a new cross-platform interchange at Abbey
Wood.


http://www.crossrail.co.uk/pages/pro...announced.html


That's a rather neat way of cutting scheme costs now while leaving
open the door for a separately funded extension through to
Ebbsfleet at some far off point in the future. Something tells me
this is the first of many such announcements to ensure the
financial problems are resolved.

I also just realised that they no longer need dual-voltage stock. I
don't know if this makes any significant difference to cost or
reliability.

However, Crossrail's announcement says "We can all look forward to
completing the direct link to Ebbsfleet once the technical [sic]
problems of using the lines beyond Abbey Wood have been overcome", which
suggests that they would buy stock capable of running to Ebbsfleet.
Hounslow's Corridor 7 proposal (Paddington-Hounslow) also assumes
dual-voltage stock.

My impression is that dual-voltage doesn't add much to cost these days,
as it has been provided with little hard justification on various recent
EMU designs.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)