London Banter - View Single Post - Crossrail link to Reading hangs in the balance

Tom Anderson · January 1st 08, 08:46 PM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007, wrote:

On Dec 31, 3:09 pm, (Adrian the Rock) wrote:

That's one view, but I would turn the coin on its head and say it shows
a lack of ambition to run only that far on the eastern stretch. This is
why I'm concerned about the 'Ken factor' having too much influence, as
their formal responsibilities stop at Z6.

I'd surely have thought there would be a market for through trains from
places like Colchester and Southend to points west of London - Heathrow
is surely a no-brainer, but the Thames Valley itself is a thriving
business zone and this would make it far more accessible from Essex.
Again, think how successful Bedford - Brighton is.

There probably would be the market for it - I think the bigger concern
is capacity. The Shenfield line has something insane like 15tph during
the peaks at the moment, and is likely to have more under Crossrail
(with some terminating at Liverpool Street).

The trains from beyond Shenfield could run on the fasts, as they do now.
You'd need a junction at the portal if you wanted to handle both
long-distance trains and suburban ones.

tom

--
Things fall apart - it's scientific