Edward Cowling London UK wrote:

I used the North London Line to get from Highbury and Islington the last
two days there were enough people to fill 8 carriages, but only 3 on the
train.

It must be common, because there was no hesitancy getting on board,
everyone runs and crams into every available inch of space.

Is this cattle truck scenario the norm ??


On 27 Feb, 19:01, Edward Cowling London UK
wrote:
I used the North London Line to get from Highbury and Islington the last
two days there were enough people to fill 8 carriages, but only 3 on the
train.

It must be common, because there was no hesitancy getting on board,
everyone runs and crams into every available inch of space.

Is this cattle truck scenario the norm ??

--
Edward Cowling London UK


You didn't say where and when you were going but yes, in my experience
at peak times the North London Line between Stratford and Willesden
Junction can be very busy in both directions, though I think it's
slightly less rammed west of West Hampstead. I don''t have a lot of
experience of the NLL south from Willesden Junction to Richmond but I
don't think it's quite so packed.

TfL have ambitious plans for the NLL once they take over in November,
but as yet I don't think there's been any talk of lengthened trains,
just some plans for more frequent trains though I don't think there's
anything concrete yet.

The NLL isn't getting new trains until 2009 - there's 24 three car
trains on order for the NLL but I'm not sure how many old trains are
in the fleet now, nor am I sure how intensive a service the new fleet
(or the old one for that matter) could provide. Another major issue
with the NLL is that it's an important cross-London freight link which
has no real alternative, for some stretches at least.

Running longer trains on the NLL would require a number of stations to
have their platforms extended, which is easy in places but much harder
in others (such as at Kentish Town West). I have read somewhere
(either here on uk.railway) that Network Rail's Route Utilisation
Strategy doesn't anticipate the NLL needing longer trains for the next
few years - which is a bit of a surprise when you've seen it in cattle
transportation mode!

The NLL has seemingly turned from a forgotten backwater of London's
rail system to become a very popular orbital link, but it's now almost
too popular for it's own good.

There's a lot more about plans for the NLL on alwaystouchout:
http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/43