On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:52:10 +0000, Colin McKenzie wrote:

It doesn't make much sense to make the longer line the slowest one here,
and the shorter (Ealing Broadway) line the express.

Surely Ealing Broadway would remain District too... the point of the plan is
to increase Picc frequency to Heathrow, and sending Picc trains to Ealing
Broadway would defeat the point of ceasing to serve Uxbridge.

Anyway, didn't they rebuild a Sudbury station or two to have platforms level
with the tube stock a few years ago?

Maybe, but District to Ealing Broadway AND Uxbridge is the only
solution that could eliminate all platforms served by trains of both
sizes. Without this change, level wheelchair access cannot be achieved
at Ealing Common or between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge.

The southern Circle couldn't handle a fifth western destination - the
frequency on each is bad enough with 4. Perhaps Ealing Broadway could
be served instead by an Ealing Broadway - High Street Kensington
service. Or the District service could even become a bit like the Met,
with a proportion of trains from all branches terminating at HSK (cf
Baker Street) instead of running onto the Circle.

Here's an alternative idea, though it's a bit off the wall. By this
time, the District will run under ATO. The driver won't actually drive
the train (under normal circumstances), but will just press "go" and
the train will drive itself to the next station. This would mean that,
just like on the DLR, the driver wouldn't need to be sitting at the
front end of the train - he could reside in an area with door controls
(like the guard's areas on pre-DOO Tube stock), or roam the train
(like on the DLR).

Build a west-to-north curve so that trains can run through from Ealing
Broadway to North Ealing. District trains to Uxbridge would run
Central London - Ealing Common - Ealing Broadway (reverse) - North
Ealing - Uxbridge. A reversal en route wouldn't be a problem as
there'd be no need for the driver to change ends.

Result: Ealing Broadway and Uxbridge branches both served; new local
service to Ealing Broadway from the north; faster journey for London
commuters (by changing to Crossrail at Ealing Broadway).

You need less trains for an Ealing Broadway picc. branch than an
Uxbridge picc. branch. Those extra trains could go towards the
increased Heathrow frequency.
I don't think complicating the District line even more is ever a good
idea.

Arguably, when Crossrail is built, Ealing Broadway won't need both
District and Central trains to central London.

Not everyone who takes the District goes to central London, though.

The capacity might be
better used to create north-south links to Richmond and Uxbridge,
Harrow, or Willesden Junction.

How do you mean? A Harrow-Ealing-Richmond orbital line would be very
handy for a lot of people, but...