On Aug 15, 10:22*pm, "Peter Masson" wrote:
"cj" wrote



Do 2 Chiltern trains an hour really necessitate the suspension of the
Greenford trains (AFAIK they weren't even running up that branch, but
turning off at Acton?) Could FGW not have run a Hayes/Hanwell-
Greenford service (as they have done before e.g. Ladbroke Grove/lorry-
v-train incident at West Ealing)?

Much of Old Oak Common West Junction to Northolt Junction is single track,
and the permitted speed is pretty low (40 mph?). So it's almost certainly
necessary for a proportion of the Chiltern trains to be routed via Drayton
Green. They will also take up Relief Line paths between West Ealing and
Paddington, and occupy platforms at Paddington. It does however seem that
Network Rail and fGW have given up too easily, and it should certainly be
easier to find out what's going on.

The walk from West Ealing to Drayton Green isn't actually all that far.

Peter

I went that way on Saturday and a half-hourly service was running from
Paddington to the Chiltern line, with all trains using the direct line
via Park Royal. I agree that a combination of the single line and low
linespeed precludes more than 2 tph that way but if that can run on a
Saturday, then the only thing that is different on a weekday seems to
be the availability of paths between Old Oak West and Paddington. The
weekday Chiltern service shows 2 tph running non-stop from Paddington
to Gerrards Cross in about 30 mins, which tallies with running on the
direct line.

Here's a shot of one such train at North Acton:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6053903...in/photostream

And for nostalgia's sake, here's what you would have seen once a day
at North Acton in 1984:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6053903...57626998739154