R A I LT R AC K - The Railways Archive

19 Brighton Main Line and South London network continued
Route characteristics continued
Option D Complete resignalling of the existing three-aspect signalling to four to
i m p r ove headways. It is not considered that resignalling would provide any
s i g n i ficant increase in capacity on the line (no more than one additional path per
hour). Although the ave rage headways on the West London Line are about fo u r
m i nutes, limited benefit could be obtained from resignalling, due to the wide mix
of tra f fic using the line. In addition, reducing signal spacing would only increase the
number of instances when long freight trains bridge two or more signal sections.
Option E Transferring the AC/DC electrification interface to a location where a
train is already stationary to release one additional path. Currently, trains have to
stop in both directions to change from one electrification system to the other.
This effectively reduces available capacity by one train path per hour. Transferring
this interface to a location where a train is already stationary, eg at a station,
would increase capacity.
This can be achieved either by extending the overhead line southwards or
the conductor rail northwards. The nearest station at present is Kensington
Olympia. However, a new station is proposed at Shepherd’s Bush.
Extension of the OLE would require structure clearance to accommodate
the OLE and immunisation works to ensure compatibility with London
Underground lines. Extension of the conductor rail would require a new
substation at Willesden Junction.
Route vision
Our vision for this route is to increase capacity for south London commuting
services and to enable the interurban commuting and leisure market to grow by
a series of strategic developments.
The route must satisfy the still-growing demand for fast, frequent and
reliable services between central London, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and the
South Coast, while also meeting the developing needs of freight and north of
London services.
Many main line morning peak services into and through London are now
suffering significant overcrowding, and we believe that passenger numbers will
continue to grow. We intend to work with our customers to develop a range of
options, including train lengthening and, in the longer term, major infrastructure
enhancements.
We have already completed an initial study which has two key conclusions.
The fi rst is that, in the short term, some improvements can be made at Victori a .
We will begin a £2.6M package of track and signalling enhancements at Victori a
this year as our fi rst phase of the upgrade of the Brighton Main Line. This will ease
congestion at Victoria and is funded entirely by Railtrack. The second conclusion is
that an additional four train paths per hour could be created by major
i n f ra s t ructure wo rk at Clapham Junction, East Croydon and Gatwick Airp o rt at a
total cost in excess of £150M. The study demonstrated that the additional ticke t
r e ve nue that this would create would not fund the higher operating costs and
interest charges on this investment. We will develop this wo rk further and discuss
our conclusions with the Franchising Director to try and ensure that demand fo r
rail travel is not suppressed in future ye a rs on this key route.
We expect that an upgrade at Gatwick will be the first of these areas to be
Route development and customer requirements
Improving train punctuality when the numbers of trains running on our network
has increased substantially is an enormous task. Working with customers, we will
improve charter punctuality two percentage points over the next two years. This
improvement, which will vary across service groups, will typically result in 16%
fewer trains arriving at their destinations more than five minutes late.
The Thameslink 2000 project, by improving track layout in the London
B ridge area, providing a new station at St Pa n c ras and improving facilities at
F a rringdon and Blackfri a rs, will facilitate movements across the capital, provide a
key interface with London Underground and relieve some of the congestion at
V i c t o ria Station. More details of the Thameslink 2000 proposals can be found on
subsequent pages.
The WLL will continue to develop as a key artery for local and longdistance
passenger and freight traffic. Potential solutions are described in the
Bottleneck analysis section above.
Discussions are taking place with Borough and County Councils concerning
234
Due to the limited capacity benefit and expected cost, it is not recommended
that this option is pursued in isolation. The infrastructure works required would
only be carried out in conjunction with the construction of an additional station
on the line, which would neutralise the effect on overall capacity. The full extent
of the works to move the interface has yet to be determined.
Option F Release capacity through flexing, or rerouteing of existing trains. The
existing traffic mix leads to a very inefficient use of the available capacity, due to
the differing train speeds and stopping patterns. The effect of this option would
be to make more efficient use of the available capacity and/or to free up paths
for other operators.
Options for re-routeing freight have been looked at, including the altern a t i ve
routes of Kew Dive rs i o n a ry and North Downs. We have concluded that we
should increase capacity by removal of the linespeed constraint at Chelsea Rive r
B ri d g e, justified by the reve nue from the additional services, together with
assessing the case to move the AC/DC interface to a station location.
These are the only available options that will provide any significant
capacity improvement.
addressed. We will seek to create an integrated development plan at Gatwick
Airport to ensure rail can continue to grow its market share. This will put more
pressure on the remaining Clapham Junction and East Croydon bottlenecks for
which we have identified solutions. We wish to proceed with these in
partnership with the Franchising Director and our customers.
We and our customers want to see improved journey times. In the longer
term, these would be built into any major infrastructure enhancements but, in
the short term, opportunities are limited because of the effective capacity of the
route. We will examine economic incremental linespeed improvements during
major maintenance or renewal of the suitable infrastructure.
The South London suburban netwo rk is constrained to a maximum of eightvehicle
operation and is now under enormous pressure from increased demand.
While this is good for the ra i lw ay, it has proved ve ry difficult to improve tra i n
punctuality and passenger comfo rt now that all the effe c t i ve capacity in the peak
p e riods is used up. We and our customers are looking at short - t e rm solutions.
Medium- to long-term solutions could be longer trains, together with a platfo rm
lengthening programme to at least ten coaches, more innov a t i ve train solutions
and major infra s t ructure capacity improvements. We will be taking options to
potential funders to agree both the solution and the method of funding.
Capacity improvements on the core central route would, in turn, bring
greater accessibility to the important radial routes to Eastbourne, Newhaven,
East Grinstead and Chichester. It is our determination that the Uckfield Line will
be electrified. The timing will be heavily dependent on issues relating to the life of
the current rolling stock.
interchange improvements to be provided in conjunction with a proposed highquality
transport system. This would link residential development areas to
stations, town centres and employment areas at Horley, Gatwick, Three Bridges
and Crawley.
A feasibility study has been undertaken into the development of a
concourse-level airline check-in facility at Victoria, and negotiations are continuing
with various stakeholders to determine commercial arrangements to allow this
project to proceed. We are also developing a programme with Connex to create
key hub-interchanges at East Croydon, Sutton, Three Bridges and Haywards
Heath. A planning application has been submitted for a redevelopment of Epsom
Station, which will enhance the station environment, provide undercover car
parking and improve the customer-information system.
Significant refurbishment of Brighton, Stewarts Lane and Streatham Hill light
maintenance depots currently under way. The facilities at Selhurst Depot are
planned to be upgraded, including the provision of a new wheel lathe.