One could argue these days Manchester Piccadilly is a very small through station with 12 bays attached.
the victorians took fright at the idea of railways crossing London. Which is why KX, Ss P, Euston and Marylebone are on the marylebone Road, and the southern stations just got over the river and stopped. Dunno how what is Thameslink snuck through!You could probably add every London terminal! If you were planning railways from scratch today, you wouldn't have come up with a ring of terminals around London for every suburban route! Hence Thameslink, Crossrail and Crossrail 2 to fix this historic constraint.
It has 6. Isn't that enough?Edinburgh is a prime example. Suffers greatly from lack of through platforms.
the victorians took fright at the idea of railways crossing London. Which is why KX, Ss P, Euston and Marylebone are on the marylebone Road, and the southern stations just got over the river and stopped. Dunno how what is Thameslink snuck through!
...and I suspect the rationale was originally more about getting livestock and produce to Smithfield than a through passenger service as we know it today.It had the Metropolitan Railway as a precedent - the idea of railways crossing Central London in tunnel had gained acceptance.
One could argue these days Manchester Piccadilly is a very small through station with 12 bays attached.
Edinburgh is a prime example. Suffers greatly from lack of through platforms.
It has 6. Isn't that enough?
...and I suspect the rationale was originally more about getting livestock and produce to Smithfield than a through passenger service as we know it today.
...and I suspect the rationale was originally more about getting livestock and produce to Smithfield than a through passenger service as we know it today.
However what is now Thameslink avoided the really expensive areas in the City itself, passing through a gap of relatively cheaper land between the City and the West End. That's probably why Smithfield was there as well.Ludgate Hill was overground and busy. right by st pauls cathedral
It wasn't called the Metropolitan Widened Lines for nothing! And interestingly no other full-sized railway was built across Central London until Crossrail, though there were some post-WW2 (and other) plans.It had the Metropolitan Railway as a precedent - the idea of railways crossing Central London in tunnel had gained acceptance.
In fact, all the Underground lines that have been extended into the suburbs taking over existing lines after The War could be considered as early versions of Thameslink, such as the Central to West Ruislip/Epping etcYou could probably add every London terminal! If you were planning railways from scratch today, you wouldn't have come up with a ring of terminals around London for every suburban route! Hence Thameslink, Crossrail and Crossrail 2 to fix this historic constraint.
Edinburgh only has 6 independent through platforms- certain combinations of platform use will result in other platforms being blocked from one direction, effectively making them into bay platforms.Nine, I think, thanks to the wonders of double length platforms and cross-overs. Also capacity to add an extra through platform after extension work on 5/6 and 12.
True enough, although on my regular trips through Waverley it is not that common to see all four sections of the platforms with crossovers in use simultaneously - one of the features of interest I tend to look out for. As a serious question, are there current services that TOCs would organise differently if there were more through tracks, or is this about future-proofing?Edinburgh only has 6 independent through platforms- certain combinations of platform use will result in other platforms being blocked from one direction, effectively making them into bay platforms.
True enough, although on my regular trips through Waverley it is not that common to see all four sections of the platforms with crossovers in use simultaneously - one of the features of interest I tend to look out for. As a serious question, are there current services that TOCs would organise differently if there were more through tracks, or is this about future-proofing?
Edinburgh has:
West End - 4 track approach with numerous diverging routes after Haymarket
East End - 2 track approach with only two relatively minor brances (Tweedbank and North Berwick)
So having lots of west facing bays makes sense - not sure where you'd send all the through trains to (or where the capacity to fit them to the east would come from)
3 trains per day run beyond Waverley from North Berwick. This looks like it reduces to just 1 after the timetable change.There are occasional Ayr-North Berwick services. Also I think a few North Berwick - Haymarket. I'm surprised there aren't more like this actually - a quick crayoning gives Tweedbank to the fife loop?