"Mizter T" wrote in message
...

On Jul 16, 6:29 am, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:

"John B" wrote:

An acquaintance has just been briefed on progress on the Battersea
Power Stations Northern Line extension:http://bit.ly/riSsr

Semi-off-the-record-ly, he's been told that the feasibility studies
are done, that TfL, LU, the GLA, LB Wandsworth and LB Lambeth are all
in favour of the project, that (entirely private) finance is almost
complete, that a provisional route from Kennington to Battersea via
Nine Elms has been earmarked, and that RFPs for project managers,
engineers and lead contractors will go out shortly.

Meanwhile LU will look at funding options to extend the work to
Clapham Junction at public expense.

The more I read this discussion the more I find myself asking if this is
the
correct solution to "the problem". Mind you, what is "the problem"? For
the sake of argument we'll say a significant new traffic generator on the
site of Battersea Power Station. Looking at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea-Hackney_line
would the private money be better spent as seed money for a completely
new route?

Ha ha ha, very funny, you got any more like that?

A Chelsea to Hackney line (aka "Chelney", aka Crossrail 2}, would be a
*massively* expensive endeavour. Given the epic struggle Crossrail has
had in getting funding - which aren't necessarily over either (it's
going to have to prove itself in Cameron and Osbourne's comprehensive
spending review), and bearing in mind the *huge* cost - £16 billion -
the idea that a little contribution from a developer could somehow
kick start it is just somewhat incredulous (sorry to come across in
such a blunt manner, but I think it's justified).

This proposal meanwhile is on a completely different scale. Apparently
the developers really think they can fund the relatively short
extension of the Northern line with private dosh - at least as far as
the Battersea Power station site, via a new station at Nine Elms. The
reasoning here is that both the Battersea Power station site, and also
a large site just down Nine Elms Lane - the Nine Elms site itself -
are to be redeveloped in a big way. The saga of the fate of the
Battersea Power station site is of course an epic, long running one,
but the Nine Elms redevelopment is a relatively new proposal - see the
recent announcement by the US Embassy that they were to move to a new
(more secure, more practical etc) home at Nine Elms as part of this
overall redevelopment.

This is what's generating the prospective "need" for these stations.
No way could this extension be justified, or would even be proposed,
without them. At the moment, people wanting to access the Tube from
Nine Elms Lane or Wandsworth Road can do so without too much hassle by
either taking the bus up to Vauxhall (for the Victoria line), or
otherwise catching a mainline train to Victoria from Battersea Park
(frequent service). The developers however obviously don't feel that
this would suffice for what they are planning - and of course the very
question of transport links is instrumental to any new development
such as this.


-----------------


Ever heard of a strawman?

Several people here have questioned the ability of the Northern to absorb
extra traffic. I'm trying to explore alternatives to the proposal.