Crossrail work closes section of Circle line for three weeks
Ross Lydall
25.06.10

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...three-weeks.do

Passengers on the Circle line face more upheaval in the summer during
a three-week part-closure.

Building work at Paddington station for Crossrail means Hammersmith
and City platforms will be closed for safety reasons.

Hammersmith and City and Circle line services, [the latter of which]
which were extended to Hammersmith in December, will be suspended
between Hammersmith and Edgware Road from July 24 to August 15.

This will return the Circle line, which carries 218,000 passengers on
weekdays, back to its old layout of a full circle, clockwise and
counter-clockwise, rather than the "lasso line" that saw trains
terminate at Edgware Road.

Hammersmith and City services will operate only between Edgware Road
and Whitechapel rather than to Barking. Rail replacement services will
operate between Hammersmith and Edgware Road. The [separate]
Piccadilly [and District] line[s] will still serve Hammersmith.

The Crossrail works at Paddington involve removing a disused taxi ramp
and canopy above the Hammersmith and City platforms. It is not safe to
carry out the work while trains run below. TfL says it will take
advantage of the closure to carry out essential upgrades that would
otherwise have required weekend closures.

The work includes platform lengthening to accommodate new air-
conditioned trains. They are in service on the East London line and
London Overground, and will start running on the Metropolitan line in
weeks.

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Does this last mean the new ELL cattle trains are coming to all Met.
and H&C lines? Being longer will they fit at all stations? Its easy
enough to lengthen Paddington H&C platforms, but what about the
underground stations like Edgeware Road etc? And what about
lengthening the stations between Hammersmith and Paddington H&C.?

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