BBC London showed a short visit to a Crossrail TBM today:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21196455

"Recliner" wrote in message
...
BBC London showed a short visit to a Crossrail TBM today:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21196455

I found myself thinking, "why start at Shenfield?"

Is there so much demand on that line for such a route, or capacity further
up it (at Chelmsford for example)?

--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."

In message , at 09:19:35 on
Sat, 26 Jan 2013, Brian Watson remarked:
I found myself thinking, "why start at Shenfield?"

Is there so much demand on that line for such a route, or capacity further
up it (at Chelmsford for example)?

Shenfield is where the line stops being 4-track and splits into two
2-track lines (one to Southend the other to Chelmsford and beyond). As
well as being a junction, it's always been an important railhead and
interchange point. And the "town on the edge of London" although being a
couple of miles inside Essex.

Also the railway through Chelmsford, and the station itself, is on a
brick viaduct, which makes any additional trackwork required to turn
back a large number of trains somewhat impractical.
--
Roland Perry

"Brian Watson" wrote

I found myself thinking, "why start at Shenfield?"

Is there so much demand on that line for such a route, or capacity further
up it (at Chelmsford for example)?

The GEML is 4-track as far as Shenfield, with the Slow (Electric) [1] Lines
used for the stopping Metro service, most of which will be diverted to
Crossrail. To run Crossrail trains beyond Shenfield would impinge on
reliability. In the same way, on the GWML Crossrail trains will normally be
confined to the Relief (Slow) Lines.

[1] In the original Shenfield electrification only the Slow Lines were
wired, and named the Electric Lines. Subsequently all four tracks have been
wired.

Peter

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 09:19:35 on Sat,
26 Jan 2013, Brian Watson remarked:
I found myself thinking, "why start at Shenfield?"

Is there so much demand on that line for such a route, or capacity further
up it (at Chelmsford for example)?

Shenfield is where the line stops being 4-track and splits into two
2-track lines (one to Southend the other to Chelmsford and beyond). As
well as being a junction, it's always been an important railhead and
interchange point. And the "town on the edge of London" although being a
couple of miles inside Essex.

Also the railway through Chelmsford, and the station itself, is on a brick
viaduct, which makes any additional trackwork required to turn back a
large number of trains somewhat impractical.

Well, yes, but the capacity from Southend and the Chelmsford direction is
(as you say) throttled and I'm wondering why the people beyond Shenfield are
suddenly going to get a great urge to travel to Maidenhead and beyond and,
if they do, whether those outer reaches are going to be able to handle such
a demand.

--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."

In message , at 17:35:07 on
Sun, 27 Jan 2013, Brian Watson remarked:
I found myself thinking, "why start at Shenfield?"

Is there so much demand on that line for such a route, or capacity further
up it (at Chelmsford for example)?

Shenfield is where the line stops being 4-track and splits into two
2-track lines (one to Southend the other to Chelmsford and beyond). As
well as being a junction, it's always been an important railhead and
interchange point. And the "town on the edge of London" although being a
couple of miles inside Essex.

Also the railway through Chelmsford, and the station itself, is on a brick
viaduct, which makes any additional trackwork required to turn back a
large number of trains somewhat impractical.

Well, yes, but the capacity from Southend and the Chelmsford direction is
(as you say) throttled and I'm wondering why the people beyond Shenfield are
suddenly going to get a great urge to travel to Maidenhead and beyond

They won't be. Maybe some as far as Heathrow, but the majority of Essex
travellers will be heading for central London.

--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 17:35:07 on Sun,
27 Jan 2013, Brian Watson remarked:
I found myself thinking, "why start at Shenfield?"

Is there so much demand on that line for such a route, or capacity further
up it (at Chelmsford for example)?

Shenfield is where the line stops being 4-track and splits into two
2-track lines (one to Southend the other to Chelmsford and beyond). As
well as being a junction, it's always been an important railhead and
interchange point. And the "town on the edge of London" although being a
couple of miles inside Essex.

Also the railway through Chelmsford, and the station itself, is on a brick
viaduct, which makes any additional trackwork required to turn back a
large number of trains somewhat impractical.

Well, yes, but the capacity from Southend and the Chelmsford direction is
(as you say) throttled and I'm wondering why the people beyond Shenfield are
suddenly going to get a great urge to travel to Maidenhead and beyond

They won't be. Maybe some as far as Heathrow, but the majority of Essex
travellers will be heading for central London.

Yes, the same as Thames Valley travellers, who may be going as far as
Canary Wharf or perhaps Stratford, but not out to Shenfield. It's just the
same as Tube routes that run through central London: hardly any normal pax
do end-to-end journeys.

In article , Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 09:19:35 on
Sat, 26 Jan 2013, Brian Watson remarked:
I found myself thinking, "why start at Shenfield?"

Is there so much demand on that line for such a route, or capacity further
up it (at Chelmsford for example)?

Shenfield is where the line stops being 4-track and splits into two
2-track lines (one to Southend the other to Chelmsford and beyond). As
well as being a junction, it's always been an important railhead and
interchange point. And the "town on the edge of London" although being a
couple of miles inside Essex.

Also the railway through Chelmsford, and the station itself, is on a
brick viaduct, which makes any additional trackwork required to turn
back a large number of trains somewhat impractical.

well ok you say that, and Id agree, but local politicians have started pushing
that kind of thing for a few years now, and then today Greater Anglia possibly
to remind the government HS2 isnt the only railway investment needed published
a letter calling on interested parties to the ORR to make the case

http://www.greateranglia.co.
uk/about-us/news/2013/01/greater-anglia-seeks-stakeholder-support-to-build-the
-case-for-major-east-anglian-rail-upgrades

and it specifically mentions track expansion north of chelmsford as a
solution, presumably as holding loops for freight.

On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 05:12:08PM -0600, Recliner wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
They won't be. Maybe some as far as Heathrow, but the majority of Essex
travellers will be heading for central London.

That depends on how long the journey takes.

Shenfield to Maidenhead takes two hours right now. With Crossrail it'll
be an hour and a half. More significantly, Ilford to Maidenhead also
takes about two hours right now, but will become a smidge over an hour,
making it commutable. It will enable journeys that are currently
impractical, so I don't think you can reasonably predict that
cross-London traffic will be minimal.

Yes, the same as Thames Valley travellers, who may be going as far as
Canary Wharf or perhaps Stratford, but not out to Shenfield. It's just the
same as Tube routes that run through central London: hardly any normal pax
do end-to-end journeys.

That's because there's nothing of interest to anyone at Morden or Barnet
(for example) apart from their home. Crossrail, on the other hand, will
have useful interchanges and employment at the ends - especially in the
west, and doubly so if it ends up going to Reading.

--
David Cantrell | A machine for turning tea into grumpiness

"IMO, the primary historical significance of Unix is that it marks the
time in computer history where CPUs became so cheap that it was possible
to build an operating system without adult supervision."
-- Russ Holsclaw in a.f.c

In message , at 12:43:42
on Tue, 29 Jan 2013, David Cantrell remarked:

Crossrail, on the other hand, will have useful interchanges and
employment at the ends - especially in the west, and doubly so if it
ends up going to Reading.

Most of the employment in Reading is some way from the station, doubly
so in the rush hour.
--
Roland Perry