On Dec 4, 4:39*am, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 21:13:13 on Wed, 3
Dec 2008, Peter Smyth remarked:

And where is the obvious place "past Shenfield"? Colchester is the
nearest that makes sense.

Southend Victoria? It is as close to Central London as Reading is.

Why would a commuter from Southend want to take a Crossrail train rather
than the much more direct line to Fenchurch St?

I am not all that convinced that many people want to travel through
London at all, although east - west might be more significant than
north - south.

The operational benefit of Thameslink is not having to turn trains
round, and the benefit to passengers has been increased frequency from
London Bridge to Brighton and St Pancras to Bedford, not the cross-
London link*.

But it wasn't at the expense of existing services, because it improved
them. If it had been restricted to Radlett to Horley to save costs,
it might have had a detrimental effect on Bedford and Brighton.

Crossrail ought to improve services on the corridors it uses, which is
why ending at Maidenhead seems so wrong.


*Mind you, that's because it's quicker to walk than get Thameslink.
East - west will probably be much faster and it's much further.