"Mait001" wrote in message
...
It's not the enforced closure of the line (although I fail to see how
installing a set of points and associated tunnel branching can take all of
18
months)

I wondered this too, given that similar jobs for the Victoria and Jubilee
lines were done with closures lasting no more than a few hours. However, I
understand that there are major problems with water at the site of the T5
junction, and for this reason a quite complex engineering solution is
required.


Install lifts or escalators at Hatton Cross for a start!

It would actually be pretty cheap and easy to install lifts at HC. Perhaps
this is a missed opportunity.