In message , Alex
Terrell writes

The Daily Telegraph reports that Eurostar will quit Waterloo in 2007.

I think this is a good idea. Even from Waterloo, it would be quicket
to take the tube to St Pancras and then take a fast Eurostar.

There's no direct tube! It ought to be quicker to take the Jubilee
direct from Waterloo to Stratford and pick-up Eurostar there. However,
the interchange at Stratford looks as though it is going to be poor.

--
Paul Terry

I would suggestr that if E* quit Waterloo then they are going to upset a lot
of important people. However leaving them aside I would think that at least
50% of E* present ridership has direct access to Waterloo and as a result
of the move any saving on the journey time from St.Pancras will be lost in
getting to St. Pancras. I foresee that the gainers in this piece of muddled
thinking will be E* competitors the airlines. Services from Gatwick to Paris
and Brssels will be reinstated and new ones will start from Southampton and
possibly Shoreham.

There are two other matters which come to mind E* say they cannot afford
Waterloo and yet they can afford three new stations. Perhaps someone can say
how they will be able to justify Stratford and Ebbsfleet. E* is at pains to
tell us how they have carried 6M passengers so far this year but I seem to
remember that 10 years ago the projection was that by now that there would
be 16M passengers. With regard to interchange at Stratford the E*station is
about 1/3rd of a mile from Stratford ML, UD and DLR but this will be
ameliorated by the decision to require Union Railways North to provide a
travelator.

Perhaps it is just as well that the passenger usage predictions have proved
to be wide of the mark because dispersal of such a measure of usage from the
Kings Cross area would only serve to demonstrate just how wrong the decision
to abandon Waterloo was.
MJW

"M.Whitson" wrote in message
...
I would suggestr that if E* quit Waterloo then they are going to upset a
lot
of important people.

Do important people only live in London and the South East, with rail
connections directly into Waterloo?

SNIP
E* is at pains to
tell us how they have carried 6M passengers so far this year but I seem to
remember that 10 years ago the projection was that by now that there
would
be 16M passengers.

Perhaps because of factors: NoL Eurostar, 11th September, and the delay in
building CTRL, to name but a few?

I'd like to be able to travel from my local station (about 1/4 mile from my
home), and get to France with minimal interchanges and fuss.

Present journey - Nodding Donkey to Sheffield, then a MML HST/Meridian to
St. Pancras, tube to Waterloo, E* to Lille.

Ideal journey - Tram/train to Sheffield, E* to Lille, along HSL.

As much as I'd like to go on train, as we prefer it, I drive us down to
Ashford, or we fly from Manchester. I don't want to suffer multiple changes
and dragging of suitcases on the tube, just to London and the SE can have
Waterloo for their sole "exclusive" use.

Charley, Huddersfield

"Charley_Ashbury" wrote in message
...

"M.Whitson" wrote in message
...
I would suggestr that if E* quit Waterloo then they are going to upset a
lot
of important people.

Do important people only live in London and the South East, with rail
connections directly into Waterloo?

I think you have missed the point. The important people are the denizens of
Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster both within a short taxi ride of
Waterloo. Also you cannot escape the fact that it is more than likely that a
very large proportion of E* passengers originate from locations with direct
access to Waterloo. Paris/Brussels bound passengers from more than 40 miles
north of London will find it far more convenient and less time consuming to
use their regional airport - Stanstead, Manchester, Liverpool Newcastle etc.
MJW

"M.Whitson" wrote in message
...

I think you have missed the point. The important people are the denizens
of
Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster both within a short taxi ride of
Waterloo. Also you cannot escape the fact that it is more than likely that
a
very large proportion of E* passengers originate from locations with
direct
access to Waterloo. Paris/Brussels bound passengers from more than 40
miles
north of London will find it far more convenient and less time consuming
to
use their regional airport - Stanstead, Manchester, Liverpool Newcastle
etc.

Those from South-East of London find it more convenient to go to Ashford,
rather than go into London, transfer to Waterloo, walk down a very long
platform, and return whence they came. Gatwick was much more convenient, but
nature abhors a vacuum.
--
Terry Harper
http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/

In message , at 23:03:05 on Mon,
15 Nov 2004, Terry Harper remarked:
Those from South-East of London find it more convenient to go to Ashford,
rather than go into London, transfer to Waterloo, walk down a very long
platform, and return whence they came. Gatwick was much more convenient, but
nature abhors a vacuum.

A year ago I had to plan a trip that involved an international flight
into Gatwick early morning, then getting to Brussels by lunchtime. There
was only one flight, which was too early. A train to Ashford was too
slow to make a useful connection with any of the few trains that stop at
Ashford. So I could only make it via Gatwick Express, Victoria and
Waterloo.

But my inbound flight was very late, and the next best plan was to drive
to Ashford and get to Brussels by teatime ahead of the second day of the
meeting (at least then I could drive straight home from Ashford on the
way back, rather than getting a train to Gatwick then driving home).

Integrated transport! Don't make me laugh.

--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...

A year ago I had to plan a trip that involved an international flight
into Gatwick early morning, then getting to Brussels by lunchtime. There
was only one flight, which was too early. A train to Ashford was too
slow to make a useful connection with any of the few trains that stop at
Ashford. So I could only make it via Gatwick Express, Victoria and
Waterloo.

But my inbound flight was very late, and the next best plan was to drive
to Ashford and get to Brussels by teatime ahead of the second day of the
meeting (at least then I could drive straight home from Ashford on the
way back, rather than getting a train to Gatwick then driving home).

Integrated transport! Don't make me laugh.

You would have done better to use Thameslink and change at London bridge for
Waterloo East. Anyway, train from Gatwick to Ashford is not one of the
natural routes to follow, especially if you don't live on the airport.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/

--- Terry Harper said:

Those from South-East of London find it more convenient to go to
Ashford,
rather than go into London, transfer to Waterloo, walk down a very
long
platform, and return whence they came. Gatwick was much more
convenient, but
nature abhors a vacuum.

Some parts of South East London, maybe? But what about those of us in
other parts of South London? To get from here to Ashford, I'd probably
have to go to Victoria or London Bridge and change for a semi-fast train
out to Ashford, taking forever to get there. And again on the way back.
There'd be no time left to enjoy my day trip to Paris at all.

"Solar Penguin" wrote in message
...
--- Terry Harper said:

Those from South-East of London find it more convenient to go to
Ashford,
rather than go into London, transfer to Waterloo, walk down a very
long
platform, and return whence they came. Gatwick was much more
convenient, but
nature abhors a vacuum.

Some parts of South East London, maybe? But what about those of us in
other parts of South London? To get from here to Ashford, I'd probably
have to go to Victoria or London Bridge and change for a semi-fast train
out to Ashford, taking forever to get there. And again on the way back.
There'd be no time left to enjoy my day trip to Paris at all.

I didn't say South East London, I said South-East of London, which covers
large parts of Surrey, all of Kent and a large part of Sussex. Those who
have the misfortune to live in Chairman Ken's domain have to put up with the
consequences.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/

There'd be no time left to enjoy my day trip to Paris at all.

"enjoy" and "Paris" aren't normally words I'd expect to see in the same
sentence :-P
--
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