On Dec 13, 3:34 pm, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Thu, 13 Dec 2007, Paul Scott wrote:
"Lew 1" wrote in message
...
And it's still going to have NR-style frequencies, unlike the tube.

Surely that's only in the short-term though? I understood that the aim
was to create mass transit systems out of them, ala the current
Underground frequency. I may be wrong.

Achieving mass transit frequencies on a heavy rail route (say 24tph) is
the sort of thing provided by Crossrail or Thameslink, at a cost of
£billions. The Overground is a much more modest affair

Is there anything technical about the Overground that prohibits that sort
of frequency, in terms of rails and whatever? I thought it was just that
the demand does't (yet) justify spending money to achieve it. Plus, the
need for freight paths and working in with other NR services down south.


The main problem is the lack of paths on the section between Stratford
and Camden Road / Willesden Junction. Don't forget that there is only
4 tph at the moment, with an increase to about 6tph in the peaks (but
irregular intervals). There is no reason that the frequency can't
increase from the infrastructure, but the freight paths tend to block
things up in between Stratford and Dalston and at Camden Road, where
there are only two tracks. The central section between Dalston and
Camden Road has 3-4 tracks and so there is a bit more capacity. The
other problem at the moment is a lack of trains to run the service!!