On Tue, 31 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote:

I wondered whether Crossrail could take over Hammersmith - Paddington;

Yes, i've heard that idea mentioned by others. Strikes me as a good one,
basically.

Frequency on the northern side of the Circle could be maintained by
extending Wimblewares through to Whitechapel etc.

Or bringing more Metropolitan trains down from Baker Street to Aldgate -
sorry, Barking? That would leave a gap on the section before Baker Street,
though. Oh, if only they'd built a reversing bay at Baker Street, and we
could have a Wimbleker service ...

The problems would include the resiting of Royal Oak station (as the
Crossrail tunnel will surface right next to it)

Although if they knew they were going to do this all along, they could
probably bring the tunnel up slightly further east, destroying the link
from the SSL to Royal Oak in the process.

Where are the Crossrail lines going to be in the GW formation? Would
Crossrail - Hammersmith trains have to cross other lines? I doubt there's
room for a flying junction in the Paddington throat ...

and poorer access to stations Edgware Road - King's Cross.

That's probably the biggest issue - i should imagine lots of people living
on the H&C route work somewhere on the northern edge of the circle. All
such people who i know do. But then i work somewhere on the northern edge
of the circle, so they would!

tom

--
power to the people and the beats