In message , Rich Mallard
writes
But the trouble is Greater London, in transport terms amongst others,
is an artificial cut-out of the South East of England.

Indeed it is.

But that applies to any territorial authority; there will always be a
boundary *somewhere* and it will always throw up anomalies. Ewe see
this now with borderline cases such as Romford, Croydon, Dartford and
Watford.

If we create a Greater South East body, exactly how far would it
stretch? Would Luton be included? How about Oxford? Or Chelmsford?
Or Brighton? All of these places are recognisable at the end of a
"commuter line" [1] but making them part of a Greater Greater London [2]
would throw up a hornets nest of its own problems.

For the record, I feel that Greater London probably ought to include
Dartford and Watford but little more. It would be interesting to see a
map of the boundary of London's Green belt (I've never seen such an
animal, at least not in detail). That *ought* to be a good GLA area
boundary. But these things are always arbitrary and one has only to
look at the recent thread concerning whether places are "London" or
"Kent" or "Essex" to see what this throws up in terms of local
allegiances.


[1] In the widest sense of the word

[2] So to speak

--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Ian Jelf wrote:

If we create a Greater South East body, exactly how far would it
stretch? Would Luton be included? How about Oxford? Or Chelmsford?
Or Brighton? All of these places are recognisable at the end of a
"commuter line" [1] but making them part of a Greater Greater London [2]
would throw up a hornets nest of its own problems.


Look no further than the boundaries of the 1980s Network SouthEast.



Tony

In message , Tony Polson
writes
Ian Jelf wrote:

If we create a Greater South East body, exactly how far would it
stretch? Would Luton be included? How about Oxford? Or Chelmsford?
Or Brighton? All of these places are recognisable at the end of a
"commuter line" [1] but making them part of a Greater Greater London [2]
would throw up a hornets nest of its own problems.


Look no further than the boundaries of the 1980s Network SouthEast.

Didn't that get to Exeter, though?!
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Ian Jelf wrote:

In message , Tony Polson
writes
Ian Jelf wrote:

If we create a Greater South East body, exactly how far would it
stretch? Would Luton be included? How about Oxford? Or Chelmsford?
Or Brighton? All of these places are recognisable at the end of a
"commuter line" [1] but making them part of a Greater Greater London [2]
would throw up a hornets nest of its own problems.


Look no further than the boundaries of the 1980s Network SouthEast.

Didn't that get to Exeter, though?!


Yes, but only for sound operational reasons.

You couldn't sensibly operate two separate services (commuter/Inter
City) over the one route in NSE days. Maybe it could be done now?



Tony

In article ,
(Tony Polson) wrote:
Ian Jelf wrote:

Look no further than the boundaries of the 1980s Network SouthEast.

Didn't that get to Exeter, though?!

Yes, but only for sound operational reasons.

You couldn't sensibly operate two separate services (commuter/Inter
City) over the one route in NSE days. Maybe it could be done now?

King's Lynn then? It's part of the Cambridge service and that does include
London commuting. We don't want to be run from London though London-like
public transport rules would be an improvement.

While commuters (including part-time ones like me) go one-way, to central
London, tourists go both ways, in large numbers.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In uk.railway Ian Jelf wrote:
If we create a Greater South East body, exactly how far would it
stretch? Would Luton be included? How about Oxford? Or Chelmsford?
Or Brighton? All of these places are recognisable at the end of a
"commuter line" [1] but making them part of a Greater Greater London [2]
would throw up a hornets nest of its own problems.

One thing that's puzzled me. Why was the NSE boundary set the way it was?
So we have all of BR(SR), fine, which I suppose drags in Exeter though
that's a bit of a strange inclusion. We have IC lines up to just before the
first(ish) major station (Leamington, Northampton, Huntingdon) so you can't
get an IC train to get there. But why King's Lynn and not Norwich (DMU vs
IC?), and what about the rest of East Anglia? Why so little of BR(WR)?

Theo