A great place the Internet,
you can find out all sorts of things............
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldhansrd/text/81124w0008.htm
Railways:
Closure
Baroness Hanham
asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they intend
to institute closure proceedings for the railway
line which from 14 December will no longer be
used for passenger services in the Willesden,
Acton and Clapham areas, as a result of the
decision to withdraw those services previously
provided by the Arriva Cross Country franchise.
[HL6480]
The Minister of
State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis):
The Government do not intend to institute
closure proceedings for any of the railway
routes in the Willesden, Acton or Clapham areas.
Railways:
Replacement Services
Baroness Hanham
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have
considered replacement services for the Factory
Junction to Latchmere No. 1 Junction, West
London Junctions (Willesden No. 1) to Acton
Wells Junction, and Acton Wells Junction to
(Poplar Junction) Acton East Junction, such as a
new Greenford to Clapham Junction service
stopping at all stations. [HL6481]
The Minister of
State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis):
There are currently no plans for new services
over the routes set out above.
Baroness Hanham
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, given
the effect on road congestion of the opening of
the Westfield development, they will consider
providing a rail service between the Great
Western Main Line and the West London Line using
the tracks formerly used by Arriva, to provide
an alternative way of getting to Westfield and
the exhibition centres at Olympia and Earl's
Court. [HL6482]
Lord Adonis:
There are currently no plans for new services
between the Great Western Main Line and the West
London line.
Subsequently the Dft has stated that the bus is
a temporary arrangement until a more permanent
train service solution is found.
As a result of this I had a go
at guessing what this might be..............
Two fairly obvious solutions
came to mind, both would involve some not
completely insurmountable problems.
1. FGW currently run Gatwick
to Reading via Redhill and Guildford. A service
could continue via the Brighton mainline to East
Croydon then run via Crystal Palace, Tulse Hill,
Herne Hill, Factory Junction, Kensington
Olympia, Willesden West London Junction, Acton
Wells Junction and Acton Mainline to join the GW
Mainline.
Pros:-
Part of an existing service pattern, no need for
additional trains.
Cons:- Reading crews no route
knowledge, class 165's not cleared for the route
north of Redhill.
2. After the morning peak
several Southern class 171's work ECS London
Bridge to Selhurst Depot and remain there until
the evening peak. A service could run from
London Bridge via the South London line to
Factory Junction then pick up the route as
above.
Pros: - Units spare during the
day, Norwood drivers who work the 171's also
cover the East Croydon to Milton Keynes service
so have route knowledge to Willesden West London
Junction.
Cons:- No route knowledge
Willesden to the GW Mainline destination. Class
171's not route cleared, however as class
165/166's are bigger this should not be too much
of a problem.
My personnel favourite is
option 2, although this will give me even more
work in my real job!
Lo and behold in the March
2009 edition of Modern Railways is the snippet
that Southern are to operate the 'new' service
from the start of the franchise using class
171's.
Bidders for the new franchise
have been told to plan 'at least' a weekly
service. The report also states that the DfT has
proposed a Wednesday only service as this is the
day used for revenue allocation and the operator
would get five days worth of revenue
irrespective of how lightly loaded the train
was. - Tony Miles
From
18th May 2009 Southern will operate the
following services Monday to Friday.
2B29:
1012 Kensington Olympia to Wandsworth Road.
2M48:
1635 Wandsworth Road to Kensington Olympia.
The
morning train is formed of a Lovers Walk allocated
class 377 and originates off the 0507 Hastings
to London Bridge service.
The
afternoon service is formed of a Selhurst
allocated class 377, this comes ECS from the
depot.
These
trains
will cover the Factory Junction to Latchmere
Junction curve.
From
the 24th May 2010 this and the 'Ghost Bus' were
to have been
replaced by yet another parliamentary service, which will run Monday to Friday.
Formed of a 2 car class 171 and running ECS from
Selhurst Depot.
This
will depart Wandsworth Rd at 1157 then call at
Kensington Olympia 1209, Shepherds Bush 1211 and
terminate at Ealing Broadway at 1243.
The
return journey departs Ealing Broadway 1308,
Shepherds Bush 1326, Kensington Olympia 1330 and
terminates at Wandsworth Road at 1341 before
returning ECS to Selhurst Depot. However due to
pathing problems the WR refused access to the
service so as of August 2011 the bus still runs
as does the M-F Olympia to Wandsworth Road
train service.
 |
377110 forms 2B29 the 1012
Kensington Olympia to Wandsworth Road service. On this day in addition to the
driver and conductor there was another driver learning the route a Revenue
Protection Inspector and myself the only passenger and I don't have pay.
Photo taken 7th July 2009.
Photo by the
Author. |
 |
Even the PIS system has
been updated to show a Wandsworth Road destination.
Photo taken 7th July 2009.
Photo by the
Author. |
 |
377110 arrives at
Wandsworth Road. The stock then runs ECS to Selhurst Depot by way of Herne Hill
and Tulse Hill.
Photo taken 7th July 2009.
Photo by the
Author. |
Conclusion
By
2015 both had finished with the parliamentary
requirements removed, although there are still
some ECS moves around the Factory Junction area
including a London Bridge to Olympia working on
weekday afternoons.
Kensington
Olympia and the West London line now gets five
trains an hour off peak, in 1979 it barely got
that all day. All are very well used to the
extent that train lengths have also increased to
5 or 8 cars. A huge improvement in the number of
trains with two an hour to Stratford via the NLL,
two an hour to Willesden Junction and an hourly
service to Milton Keynes. South of Clapham
Junction only the service from Milton Keynes
continues any further south but only as far as
Croydon.
The West
London line is now a major passenger artery but
mainly for local traffic...oh how different it
could have been.
I
DO FEEL THAT THIS MAY NOT BE THE END!