On Mar 3, 12:39*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 3 Mar 2009, wrote:
On Mar 3, 6:39*am, Clark F Morris wrote:

From what I have read in various British Publications such as Modern
Railways and Rail, Crossrail as designed may well make existing
services less reliable and reduce freight carrying capacity. *Part of
this is related to the priority to be given Crossrail trains on the
mixed service trackage.

The South Eastern branch is not an issue. *The Eastern branch would not
be an issue if Crossrail took over all services to Shenfield. *It will
be a problem if DfT insist on retaining a service into the Liverpool
Street terminus.

"if DfT insist"? You say that as if not decreasing capacity on that line
was some sort of bizarre and arbitrary folly.

As for the Western portion of Crossrail, this always has been a confused
mess waiting to happen. *It would be much simpler in my view if
Crossrail ran to Ealing Broadway and Hammersmith on dedicated tracks and
avoided sharing with Western Region, or whatever it is called this week..

It will have dedicated tracks in the west, won't it? I admit i'm hazy
here.

14tph will be turned back from newly constructed platforms at
Paddington. The remainder will share WR tracks with Intercity, local
and freight trains as far as Maidenhead. This will guarantee service
pollution.

IMHO It is still essential for London's future that Crossrail is
constructed.