On Mon, 1 Oct 2007, Mwmbwls wrote:

http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/document/2940/get

Interesting suggestions.

Mostly fairly pedestrian, but LTW's job is to focus on things which can be
practically delivered.

Things which struck me:

"on the Moorgate Welwyn Garden City / Hertford North routes contra peak
services (i.e. northbound until 0900 and southbound after 1600) are only 2
tph."

Christ! How the hell does that work? Do most of the trains run ECS back up
north? How much time does that save over running in service?

"Indeed we have seen no convincing explanation of why LUL can work on the
basis of routine engineering access being provided largely at night,
whereas on four-track sections of its network Network Rail imposes
timetables which give it carte blanch Sunday access to 50% of the tracks."

That isn't quite fair - on LU, the overnight closures are supplemented by
a generous serving of weekend closures on many lines. Okay, so the tube is
being heavily renewed rather than just maintained, but still.

"We believe that the Dutch/Swiss Taktfahrplan system should be the model
to adopt, with timetables planned on the mirror-image principle so that
connections between trains are as good in one direction as they are in the
other."

The what now? There's a footnote about this earlier on that refers to
LTW's 'Requirements for Train Services - Principles', but that doesn't
make things enormously clearer to me. Probably because i'm not really
aware of these "different patterns in each direction" situations. Anyway,
sounds like a splendid plan! Treble kirsches all round!

"work should start now to arrange for the transfer and refurbishment of
Class 313 units as soon as they can be released from the London
Overground."

AAAAAARGH! 313s! 313s don't need refurbishment, they need a stake through
the transformer and burying! Still, this is the only practical option at
the moment.

"However for weekday evenings, when the Moorgate service has recently been
successfully extended to run up to 2200, the level of activity in the City
and around Old Street is such that there appears to be a strong case for a
further extension to the normal close of traffic."

Amen to that. On fridays and saturdays, they could run those trains all
night and have people on them. I've often been going home from an evening
in the City, on various weeknights, and gone to Moorgate in an attempt to
get a train straight home to Finsbury Park, and been thwarted.

"An issue not covered in the RUS is that of high demand, and therefore of
crowding issues, when fixtures are held at Arsenals new Emirates stadium."

Bloody right!

"The present situation is that Drayton Park station one of the closest to
the stadium is closed when most events take place."

Exactly! *******s!

"Historically this is because of the restricted operating hours of the
Moorgate line. It would obviously be beneficial for the line to be opened
at these times, but First Capital Connect have made it clear that even if
the line were open they would keep Drayton Park closed because its narrow
island platform and booking hall access could not cope with the expected
crowds. However opposite the present platform, on the down side, there is
vacant land on which an additional platform could be built."

Excellent idea, and why on earth was this not in the RUS?

"London TravelWatch considers that this should be done as soon as
possible, and we understand that S106 money may be obtainable as a
contribution to such a scheme."

S106 = Arsenal pays.

tom

--
The final chapter, prophetic, poetic