"Peter Masson" wrote in message ...
"R.C. Payne" wrote in message
...
S R wrote:
I can't see any reason why they'd diagram in such a way to be 376 only,
but it could be done in theory, which is why I assume the OP
asked the question.


My reason for asking was concern that routes limited by platform length
to
8-car trains would see all their peak-period 6- and 8-car trains
replaced by
5-car trains.

Which stations/routes are restricted to 8 cars? I might have been
sensible to have designed the 376s with selective door opening to permit
10 car working to these stations.

What actually is the history of the 12 car networker thing? I recall
lots of platform lengthening happening at about the time the networkers
were coming in, but I wasn't really paying attention at the time? What
work was left undone that would have allowed 12 car trains, and what
were the originally intended routes for them?

As others have mentioned, the suburban routes from Victoria and Blackfriars
are limited to 8 car trains, but there is no suggestion that 376s will be
diagrammed on these routes. This includes Victoria - Dartford, because of
short platfroms at Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye and Nunhead.

The abortive 12-car scheme included Charing Cross and Cannon Street to
Dartford (via all routes) and Orpington. I am not sure whether it also
included Dartford - Gravesend (and Gillingham?), and Orpington - Sevenoaks.
It did not include Bromley North (which had already become a self-contained
shuttle) or Lewisham - Hayes. AIUI it was abandoned because of a downturn in
London commuting in the early 1990s because of a recession, because the
works required at a few stations (Dartford, Lewisham, for example) was
proving seriously difficult and expensive, because the money wasn't there
for sufficient stock to run 12-car trains, and possibly because someone did
some calculations and found that a power upgrade (which hadn't been
budgetted) was needed.
Peter

What was the problem with Lewisham? The platforms were extended and
the signals were moved as far as I can remember. Passengers at
platform 4 regularly have to chase the trains almost all the way to
Blackheath, despite the main entrance and all the information displays
being on the section of platform which is no longer used.