And there I was thinking I'd invented it! I won't even mention my
earlier rather more hare-brained idea of splitting the Bakerloo west
of Paddington to take over the Hammersmith branch...

Be that as it may, the Circle Line problem I was referring to was not
the flat junctions, fiddly though they are, but the problem of running
round in circles exacerbating delays and preventing recovery, which
led to the current (I believe) proposal for the Hammersmith - Aldgate
- H St Ken - Edgware Road "teacup". My suggestion would replace this
with the Wimbledon - Edgware Rd - Aldgate - H St Ken - Aldgate loop.
Any late running can thus be absorbed by reduced layovers, short turns
at Moorgate or Putney Bridge etc etc.

There are no spare H&C paths in all this; they are taken up by the
trains from Wimbledon extended over the north circle. The frequency
end-to-end would be every 8 mins, giving a 4-minute frequency where
the route wraps round itself between High St Ken and Aldgate (via
King's Cross). Earl's Court - High St Ken, Aldgate - Tower Hill and
Gloucester Rd - H St Ken each every 8 mins as at present. [Assuming 2-
min headways round the circle - I'm not sure exactly how many tph run
nowadays; in the good old days of District trains to Hounslow they
managed to squeeze 1 1/2 min headways through the south side.]

The only other change would be rerouting & extension of some Met
trains (presumably Uxbridge) every 8 mins to Barking instead of
Aldgate, in place of the H&Cs.

And if they can run 10 or 12 tph from Crossrail to Hammersmith, even
better - that addresses TfL's other objective of increased capacity on
the Hammersmith branch (which would also be achieved with 10-car
trains at the existing frequency; but the line really needs a more
frequent service with White City et al).

So benefits all round!

Paul W