brixtonite wrote:
Dave A wrote:

Shepherd's Bush (WLL) will almost certainly be the next new station to
open in London - construction is nearing completion and I hear that
Network Rail are keen to get the station operating as soon as possible
(probably the second quarter of this calendar year).



That sounds good. I'm surprised by how busy the WLL is already - it's
been full and standing when I've taken it - even though there are only
four stations. It has the potential to be very useful, although
unfortunately the RUS (I think it was) ruled out even 4 tph in the near
future, and I reckon 6 tph is the minimum for a turn-up-and-go service,
particularly when many people will be interchanging from other lines.
But certainly Clapham Junction to Shepherd's Bush will be an order of
magnitude easier with the new station.

My observations of the WLL are certainly that AM peak northbound trains
arriving at Olympia are full and standing. The RUS estimated about 1,000
passengers per hour leaving Clapham Junction on the WLL in the morning
peak, with an average load factor of 103% (ratio of passengers to
seats). Whilst this isn't as high as some LU and other NR routes, I
think it indicates a strong underlying demand given the relatively poor
and uneven frequency.

Interestingly, the RUS itself indicates quite a low utilisation of the
available capacity - in the range of 20-40%, similar to Gospel Oak to
South Tottenham and the now-closed Stratford to Custom House.

The RUS's recommendation was to extend all NLL/WLL trains to 4 cars in
the short term (by 2009), increase all-day frequency to 4tph on the WLL
in the medium term (2009-12) by creating an additional Southern service
calling all stations from Shepherd's Bush to East Croydon (with
additional "PIXC-busters" to relieve peak overcrowding if trains can't
be lengthened further).

TfL instead wanted an all-day frequency of 5tph on the WLL in the medium
term, by running 4tph Stratford to Clapham Junction to replace the
current 2tph Willesden J to Clapham J, and retaining 1tph Southern
Watford J - Brighton/East Croydon.

--
Dave Arquati
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London