http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtime..._crossrail.php
Stop dithering and give Kingston Crossrail

THE government has been warned to stop dithering and delaying over its
Crossrail plans for Kingston.

Cllr Tricia Bamford, executive member for transportation and sustainable
development, has written to the Chancellor Gordon Brown, Minister for
London Tony McNulty and chief executive of Crossrail Sir Christopher
Benson urging them to support the Crossrail proposals in full, including
its development in Kingston.

She has also urged the Mayor of London to throw his weight behind
Kingston's cause.

Recently there have been rumours that the government is considering
axing Kingston from the Crossrail 1 plans. The line may now finish
instead at Richmond or Turnham Green.

Crossrail 1, which is a £10 million joint venture between Transport for
London and the Strategic Rail Authority, will create a brand new network
of services linking areas to the east and west of London. It would give
Kingston a direct rail link to Heathrow and Paddington for the first
time if it comes to the royal borough.

Cllr Bamford said: "Crossrail is vital to Kingston's future. We are
currently the second biggest retail centre in London, but we will need
Crossrail to maintain our economy and tackle congestion in the years ahead.

"It would be shocking if these rumours are true, and the government is
thinking of excluding Kingston from the Crossrail project. The loss to
Kingston would be incalculable."

She concluded: "The government have dithered and delayed for too long.
They need to commit themselves to Crossrail and commit themselves to
Kingston. They must not leave us out in the cold again."

Transport Minister Alistair Darling has been expected to make an
decision about the future of Crossrail for months.

Kingston's Town Centre Manager Graham McNally said: "We have brilliant
bus services but compared with other towns of a similar size such as
Croydon, the number of trains and carrying capacity is well down.

"If we get a link like Crossrail it will be really helpful our overall
transport policy- otherwise we are just left with the motor car."

He said it is important for Kingston to be included in Crossrail as it
is not just a retail centre, but has a large numbers of offices and a
major university. He said they were disadvantaged by poor public
transport links.

A spokesman for Transport for London said this week that an announcement
was expected but they did not know exactly when.

----
I spot two major inaccuracies and a grammatical mistake.
I would also contest that Kingston has "poor" public transport links.
I'm sure not all towns have as frequent a rail service, as good a bus
service and easy access to the motorway network. That's not to say they
can't be improved.

I'm also quite sure as chairman of Crossrail, Sir Christopher Benson
doesn't *need* to be persuaded of the value of Crossrail.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

In article , Dave Arquati wrote:
Recently there have been rumours that the government is considering
axing Kingston from the Crossrail 1 plans. The line may now finish
instead at Richmond or Turnham Green.

We had letters in our local paper (Richmond & Twickenham Times) asking
whether it could be routed round the Hounslow loop to Feltham. If
there is a town in Japan called Kamikaze perhaps we could be twinned
with it!

At least Kingston have learned their lesson: in the 1830's they fought
hard to keep the railway out so as to protect the coaching trade -
which is why the main line goes through Surbiton which then didn't
exist. By the time what became the Kingston loop was being planned in
the 1850's they vowed to fight any proposed railway extension in the
area that didn't go to Kingston.

--
Tony Bryer

Crossrail 1, which is a £10 million joint venture between Transport for
London and the Strategic Rail Authority, will create a brand new network

If it only costs £10 million, then we want five Croxley Links in the Watford
area!

Burkey

"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...

Another mistake:

Crossrail 1, which is a £10 million joint venture between Transport for
London and the Strategic Rail Authority, will create a brand new network
of services linking areas to the east and west of London. It would give
Kingston a direct rail link to Heathrow and Paddington for the first
time if it comes to the royal borough.

Would it? While Crossrail may be planned to go to Heathrow, you wouldn't be
able to get there directly from Kingston...

Angus

"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...

Another mistake:

Crossrail 1, which is a £10 million joint venture between Transport for
London and the Strategic Rail Authority, will create a brand new network
of services linking areas to the east and west of London. It would give
Kingston a direct rail link to Heathrow and Paddington for the first
time if it comes to the royal borough.

Would it? While Crossrail may be planned to go to Heathrow, you wouldn't be
able to get there directly from Kingston...

Angus


If it only costs £10 million, then we want five Croxley Links in the Watford
area!

Burkey

Yes and yes. It frightens me sometimes that people in charge of
disseminating information to the masses don't even bother to get their
facts straight. I can understand the £10m thing - it's stupid but it's
probably a relatively easy mistake.
However, the Heathrow thing is complete ignorance of the thing they're
reporting, which annoys me. All they need to do is to look at one map...

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

Dave Arquati wrote:
"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...

Another mistake:

Crossrail 1, which is a £10 million joint venture between
Transport for London and the Strategic Rail Authority, will
create a brand new network
of services linking areas to the east and west of London. It
would give Kingston a direct rail link to Heathrow and Paddington
for the first
time if it comes to the royal borough.

Would it? While Crossrail may be planned to go to Heathrow, you
wouldn't be able to get there directly from Kingston...

Angus


If it only costs £10 million, then we want five Croxley Links in
the Watford area!

Burkey

Yes and yes. It frightens me sometimes that people in charge of
disseminating information to the masses don't even bother to get
their facts straight. I can understand the £10m thing - it's
stupid but it's probably a relatively easy mistake.
However, the Heathrow thing is complete ignorance of the thing
they're reporting, which annoys me. All they need to do is to look
at one map...

Regrettably, this is is typical of the standard of journalism on the
Richmond & Twickenham Times. I notice that, despite the title of the
paper, they didn't bother to contrast Kingston's views with those of
Richmond Council leader Tony Arbour, who has been vociferous in his
opposition to Crossrail. Anyway, according to 2003 figures, the paper
sells a grand total of 54 copies in Kingston, so it's hardly "the
masses" who were misinformed.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...


http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtime..._crossrail.php
Stop dithering and give Kingston Crossrail

Cllr Bamford said: "Crossrail is vital to
Kingston's future. We are currently the
second biggest retail centre in London,

How do they figure that one? Surely they are behind the West End and
Croydon, and I would have thought they were behind Romford and Harrow as
well.

Kingston's Town Centre Manager Graham McNally
said: "We have brilliant bus services but compared
with other towns of a similar size such as Croydon,
the number of trains and carrying capacity is well down.

The difference is that Croydon has light and heavy railways coming from all
directions, mostly from places with limited shopping opportunities.
Crossrail won't give Kingston this, so it won't do anything for retail in
Kingston, any more than the Piccadilly Line does anything for retail in
Cockfosters. However, it will increase the number of drunks who accidentally
end up in Kingston late at night.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"Dave Arquati" wrote in message ...
Recently there have been rumours that the government is considering
axing Kingston from the Crossrail 1 plans. The line may now finish
instead at Richmond or Turnham Green.

Why would you dig a 5.3km tunnel between Old Oak Common and Turnham Green
for a new railway line and terminate the line at TG, rather than taking it to Richmond
and beyond?

Isn't it more likely that if Kingston and Richmond don't want Crossrail, then the whole
of corridor 6 will be scrapped?


Robin

"JWBA68" wrote...


If it only costs £10 million, then we want five Croxley Links in the
Watford
area!


It's not fair. Why should the Watford area have all the fun? We want at
least two Croxley Links in the Crystal Palace area as well!

Stop dithering and give Kingston Crossrail

Cllr Bamford said: "Crossrail is vital to
Kingston's future. We are currently the
second biggest retail centre in London,

How do they figure that one? Surely they are behind the West End and
Croydon, and I would have thought they were behind Romford and Harrow as
well.

My guess would be that on some measure or other Kingston beats
Croydon. In terms of sheer personal prejudice, I prefer shopping in
Kingston anyway.

Crossrail's a bit of a red herring as far as Kingston's transport
needs go. There are already two perfectly good railway lines to London
and no-one would want to get onto the District/NLL or any line running
through over it at Richmond as it's so bloody slow. The directions
poorly served are on the other side of the town. What I'd recommend
would be a tramway network with the following lines:
1) to Epsom via Surbiton, Tolworth, and Ewell Village (running on Wood
St, Eden St, Brook St, Penrhyn Rd, Surbiton Rd, Surbiton Hill Rd,
Ewell Rd, Tolworth Bway, Kingston Rd, High St Ewell, Epsom Rd, East
St, High St Epsom, Waterloo Rd, Station Appr)
2) to Leatherhead via Surbiton, Chessington, and Chessington WOA
(branching off (1), from Ewell Rd running on Ditton Rd, Hook Rd,
Leatherhead Rd, ROW parallel to Kingston Rd, alongside the railway,
Station Appr, Station Rd, North St, High St Leatherhead)
3) to Heathrow T4 via Hampton Court, Hampton, and Feltham (running on
Wood St, Clarence St, Kingston Bridge, Hampton Ct Rd, Church St, High
St Hampton, Uxbridge Rd, Hampton Rd W, Uxbridge Rd, Hanworth Rd,
Hounslow Rd, Bedfont La, Staines Rd, Gt SW Rd, then into the Airport)
4) to Weybridge via Hampton Court, East Molesey, and Walton-on-Thames
(branching off (3), from Hampton Ct Rd running on Hampton Ct Bridge,
Bridge Rd, Walton Rd, Terrace Rd, High St Walton, Ashley Rd, Queen's
Rd, Hanger Hill, Station Appr)