On Apr 23, 1:10 pm, Paul Corfield wrote:
Some very interesting details in two articles in Transport Briefing
about the ELLX Phase 2 funding deal and consequential reductions in NR
services. Also the new Shoreditch Station is to be in Zone 1 as
demanded by the DfT.

More details here

http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=5821
http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=5820


Disappointing news on both fronts, though I can't say I'm entirely
surprised - I am however somewhat annoyed at the loss of the Victoria
to Bellingham service.

I'm afraid I always thought there was a possibility that Shoreditch
High Street would be a zone 1 station - though more because of
concerns about ELLX trains - which will only be 4 cars long -
potentially being overrun with commuters switching to this cheaper
zone 2 option instead of travelling into London Bridge as they would
otherwise have done. I hate to say it, but perhaps just perhaps this
is ultimately for the best.

Nonetheless it may well mean there's no price advantage to avoiding
travelling via central London and the Tube (one of the benefits of the
ELLX is that of taking some pressure off the Tube network) - that
said, this does somewhat depends on what the Oyster PAYG fare
structure will be when the whole of National Rail in London joins in,
as an NR+LU journey may be more expensive than an LU journey (and in
all likelihood London Overground inc. the ELLX would follow the LU
PAYG farescale as opposed to the NR one). Of course if one has a
season Travelcard then this doesn't matter - however it can be the
case that some commutes are cheaper using Oyster PAYG than with a
season Travelcard.

With regards to dropping the Bellingham service - that is rubbish. The
Vic-Bellingham service was intended to complement the ELLX by being
the 'other half' in the replacement puzzle for the doomed South London
Line (SLL) service, i.e. the Victoria to London Bridge via Peckham Rye
service. As Travelwatch's Sharon Grant says in her letter to Ian Brown
of TfL London Rail and Mike Mitchell of DfT Rail, ELLX phase 2 and the
Vic-Bellingham were basically packaged together when it came to
discussions about the future of the SLL - true, no promises were
given, but it was always cited as part of the masterplan - the two
developments were complementary.

What's unclear is what happens at Clapham High Street and Wandsworth
Road when the SLL service is withdrawn - will the current Victoria to
Dartford service (via Peckham Rye, Lewisham and Bexleyheath) take up
the slack and stop at these two stations as well, so as to maintain a
direct link to Victoria? (Going via the ELLX to Clapham Jn and then
changing for a Southern train to Victoria is really somewhat absurd.)
If so the platforms need to have work done on then to accommodate 6-
car trains which run on this service during the peak.

(Battersea Park is unfortunately a bit of a lost cause, as the plans
for lengthening the 'main' platforms mean the junction that links the
main line to/from Victoria to the SLL platforms being severed - the
Vic-Dartford trains run a different route to the east, up via the
Stewart's Lane low-level route and down via the adjacent three track
viaduct. Of course whether the Battersea Park platform lengthening
actually ever happens is another matter - it was proposed in the South
London RUS, but then so was the Vic-Bellingham service.)

Also, because the Vic-Bellingham service is not to go ahead, when the
SLL service is withdrawn then the frequency of trains from both
Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill stations to Victoria will drop from 4tph
to 2tph.

And crucially, this link provided by the Vic-Dartford service only
runs Monday to Saturday and finishes early (last train out of Victoria
at 19:46, last train from Peckham Rye to Vic at 19:06), doesn't start
that early either (first train to Vic from Peckham Rye at 07:55, first
train from Vic out at 08:21). On Saturdays the timings are slightly
different but the pattern is the same, replete with an early finish.
And there's no service on Sundays.

This link from Victoria to Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye is
particularly important as lots of people work (and indeed study) at
the big hospitals in Camberwell (King's College and the Maudsley) next
to Denmark Hill station, and obviously lots of folk go there for
treatment or visits as well.

I suppose that one good thing that could come out of this is that the
Vic-Dartford service might run a proper all day service, i.e. earlier
start and right through the evening plus Sundays as well. However
there'll be much more demand on these trains during the peak in
particular - they're already busy as 6-car trains, so I'd think they'd
have to go 8-car. This in turn presents a problem for Clapham High
Street and Wandsworth Road - whilst I reckon they'd both be able to
take 6-car trains without that much significant work (the platforms
basically exist but are overgrown) I'm not sure they'd take 8-cars
without some more significant work.

Which I suspect spells the death-knell for any ideas of getting the
Vic-Dartford trains to stop there, which would mean they'd lose their
link to Victoria. One could well argue that from Clapham High Street
the alternative route to Victoria is on the Tube from the adjacent
Clapham North station on the Northern line then a cross-platform
change at Stockwell onto the Victoria line. From Wandsworth Road {aka
(Slam)Batterclapstock - look it up!} one could either walk to Clapham
North or to Battersea Park station (the latter for Southern trains to
Victoria) or get on a bus up Wandsworth Road to Vauxhall for the Tube.
(Blimey, I should charge the DfT for consultancy services as it sounds
as though I'm writing their weasel worded excuses for them!)

Maybe folk at Wandsworth Road and Clapham High Street aren't going to
complain too much about this, but I'm sure those who use Denmark Hill
and Peckham Rye to get to and from Victoria will - the SLL sevice may
only be a little 2-car train but it's a popular little 2-car train. I
can only presume that the Vic-Dartford service will be extended in
both sense of the word - both extended to run all day every day and
also literally extended and run with longer trains during the peaks. I
dare say that a few Vic-Bellingham 'PIXC-busters' may be necessary
anyway.