Tom Anderson wrote:
On Thu, 3 Mar 2005, Dave Arquati wrote:
Surely the only solution that would allow such a service would be
isolation of the metro tracks from the "country" tracks - much like
Crossrail hopes to do


Bingo.


(although the current setup of the GW and GE makes their plan relatively
easy).


Also bingo, sadly. Are there any separable bits in the SWT area? The
Hounslow loop isn't needed by country trains, since they can go via
Richmond, but it will be needed by goods trains until there's a freight
crossing across the Thames in the east. How about the slow lines on the
LSW mainline? Are those used by country trains, or does everything run
fast when it gets to Surbiton? Is there any scope for more tracks round
here?

Trains to Guildford, Woking, and Dorking all use the slow lines. Not
enough demand at the country end to justify a metro service, and not
enough capacity on the fast lines (not to mention large numbers of
passengers using Clapham Junction and Wimbledon).

The alternative is just to scrap the country service. Not sure i like the
idea of all these bumpkins getting into London anyway. It's bad enough
just with people from south of the river.

Possibly the only way to make my current journey even more difficult ;-)

Ian