Brighton to Reading via Kensington Olympia

[sonic2009]

Was just thinking if dft could sort out a train service to replace the link between brighton to reading a few times a day, or maybe every 2 hours via olympia and ealing broadway with southern could do this using 171s, subject to route clearence etc. I know Brighton Main Line is Congested, but sure path's could be found

Basic Stopping Pattern

Brighton
Preston Park ( Peaks Only )
Hassocks ( Peaks Only )
Burgess Hill ( Peaks Only )
Haywards Heath
Three Bridges
Gatwick Airport
Redhill
East Croydon
Clapham Junction
Imperial Wharf
West Brompton
Kensington Olympia
Sheperds Bush
Ealing Broadway
Slough
Reading


any ideas on this or comments?

 

[SWT Driver]

It would be quicker and easier to go via Redhill, reverse & then via the NDL to Guildford & Wokingham than that way.

I'd suspect that the vacated XC paths have now been taken up by other TOCs & the chances of the paths being reinstated even if they wanted them back, negligible.

 

[sonic2009]

It would be quicker and easier to go via Redhill, reverse & then via the NDL to Guildford & Wokingham than that way.

I'd suspect that the vacated XC paths have now been taken up by other TOCs & the chances of the paths being reinstated even if they wanted them back, negligible.

yes i know it would be quicket that way, but it would restore the xc service via olympia that they used to provide.

 

[Pumbaa]

It would be quicker and easier to go via Redhill, reverse & then via the NDL to Guildford & Wokingham than that way.

I'd suspect that the vacated XC paths have now been taken up by other TOCs & the chances of the paths being reinstated even if they wanted them back, negligible.

It can't - the service needs to run via Olympia > North Pole > Latchmere No1 > Acton ML Junct, as the route has no other service. Hence the farce of the RRB and now the token service it gets.

The paths that were occupied by XC are well mashed - the paths were different for each run to say the least. Generally the Down runs were routed via Balham, Wandsworth, Thornton, Croydon, fast to Gatwick and then to Brighton, although one was routed slow via Redhill and one Sat path went on the Up path. Ups went from Croydon on the Metro lines through Crystal Palace and Gipsy Hill, rejoining through Balham. Obviously a lot of variability there.

I wouldn't object to an MK > Olympia > Reading > Olympia > Croydon service. I think the demand is there from S London and N London wishing to go West but avoid crossing into London.

 

[SWT Driver]

I think you need to look at how many people would actually want to do such a journey, when XC used to run that way, I know from seeing them pass through Clapham Junction at an extremely leisurely 20mph, that the number of passengers on them could be counted on both hands & feet.

If you typed in the journey into NRE website you'll see that whilst the quickest journey from BTN to RDG is via London Victoria, it's far more convenient (probably cheaper too) to go via Gatwick (GTW) & Guildford (GLD) than via VIC, especially if you have kids & luggage in tow.

Using a 171 is a waste of resources & pathways on two of the busiest mainlines there are, don't forget to factor in the pathways across the WLL as well, which has SN & LO trains across the Latchmere Jn on average every 10-15 mins, then there's freight/LL moves on top of that too.

Personally with trains from CLJ to RDG every 30' off peak & 15' peak, CLJ to KPA every 10-15' there's no need for such a service.

If you really want to you can do it BTN-CLJ, CLJ-WBP, District line to PAD. Simple.

At the end of the day all they need to do is just pop the closure notice in & job done.

If they want to do a useful service then do it from CLJ to STP via WLL & Camden to provide a useful bypass for those travelling to SPX, KGX & EUS.

 

[Pumbaa]

I think you need to look at how many people would actually want to do such a journey, when XC used to run that way, I know from seeing them pass through Clapham Junction at an extremely leisurely 20mph, that the number of passengers on them could be counted on both hands & feet.

If you typed in the journey into NRE website you'll see that whilst the quickest journey from BTN to RDG is via London Victoria, it's far more convenient (probably cheaper too) to go via Gatwick (GTW) & Guildford (GLD) than via VIC, especially if you have kids & luggage in tow.

Using a 171 is a waste of resources & pathways on two of the busiest mainlines there are, don't forget to factor in the pathways across the WLL as well, which has SN & LO trains across the Latchmere Jn on average every 10-15 mins, then there's freight/LL moves on top of that too.

I remember the Brighton Voyagers, but also remember that the biggest Pax flows for that route from KPA > North, and North > KPA. For this end I suggested running the MK > KPA > RDG triangle. Paths down the slows on WCML shouldn't be a problem, theres the opposite half hour path to the current MKC > Croydon service. I'm not too sure on the freight, but I'm sure The Planner will pop in soon!

At the end of the day all they need to do is just pop the closure notice in & job done.

The railways do something as rational as that, no chance!

 

[Minstral25]

Whilst the route would be interesting, if you want to get from Brighton to Reading currently the fast route would be BTN - VIC - PAD - RDG. Slightly slower, cheaper and less hassle would be BTN - GAT - RDG. There are already plenty of services and I doubt much time saving for this route.

It might be interesting to see if there is demand for a Gatwick to Heathrow service, perhaps calling: -

Gatwick Airport
Redhill
East Croydon
Clapham Junction
Kensington Olympia
Shepards Bush (for Tube connections)
Ealing Broadway
Heathrow

But I suspect that it would be very hard to find a path. They cannot find enough paths to do the desperately needed additional services to the current timetable.

 

[royaloak]

I know from seeing them pass through Clapham Junction at an extremely leisurely 20mph, that the number of passengers on them could be counted on both hands & feet.

In your case that would be 22 then

 

[SWT Driver]

No, 21!

It could be more but I'm not a sadomasochist!

 

[paul1609]

If you typed in the journey into NRE website you'll see that whilst the quickest journey from BTN to RDG is via London Victoria, it's far more convenient (probably cheaper too) to go via Gatwick (GTW) & Guildford (GLD) than via VIC, especially if you have kids & luggage in tow.
.

This is one of those ignore the NRE website journeys!
Northbound arrive at Brighton in time for one of the Brighton Expresses XX.19 or XX.49 off peak go to Victoria, get on the Victoria Line Northbound to Oxford Circus. Do the cross platform (through the short tunnel) transfer to the Westbound Bakerloo line to Paddington.
Jump on the first HST to Reading where you will reliably arrive in 1 hr 45 to 1 hr 50 mins after leaving Brighton.
Saves about half an hour on the via Guildford route costs about £4 more return.

 

[SWT Driver]

Which is ok if you're travelling solo, able bodied or can afford the extra, it's not really an option if you've got loads of luggage, kids in tow, disabled or can't afford it.

 

[paul1609]

If I had loads of luggage or kids Id take the car!

 

[SWT Driver]

If I had loads of luggage or kids Id take the car!

And take nearly 3hrs. Just remember all of the little yellow piggy banks & enforcement cameras just waiting to take your money...

 

[paul1609]

I reckon about 1 hr 40 if you avoid the weekday rushour jams on the M25

 

[acg5324]

It can't - the service needs to run via Olympia > North Pole > Latchmere No1 > Acton ML Junct, as the route has no other service. Hence the farce of the RRB and now the token service it gets.

The current daily c377 Wandsworth Rd to Kensington Olympia service will be replaced in the summer timetable with a Wandsworth Rd to Ealing Broadway service using a c171. This may start back from somewhere better than Wandsworth Rd such as London Bridge.

If you are interested in what went before check out http://www.1S76.com The history of XC services to and from Brighton.

 

[Ivo]

I've been trying to find an Open-Access solution to this for a while... Something like this:

LondonCOASTAL

Brighton
Haywards Heath
Three Bridges
Gatwick Airport
Redhill
East Croydon
Clapham Junction
Kensington Olympia
Ealing Broadway
Hayes & Harlington
Slough
Maidenhead
Reading

Could also possibly run a Southend and/or Clacton service (from Brighton), although the East London Line would be a non-starter... [Unless TfL can somehow fit in a 17th train out of sequence, of course.]