Dudding Hill Branch

[joebassman]

Is there a realistic prospect of the Dudding Hill Branch being reopened as part of the South London loop?

Freight railway could be part of passenger orbital - BBC News

A proposed route in west London could use freight tracks which have not carried passengers for 122 years.

www.bbc.co.uk

Transport for London (TfL) published a strategic document in 2021 saying it would be "a catalyst for relieving road congestion in west London".
It is estimated by TfL more than 11 million people a year would use it.

Andrew Dakers, from West London Business, said the orbital could create 120,000 jobs along the route and potentially 16,000 homes.
He said: "Given the cost of housing locally, more homes has to be a good thing".

Sharma Tatler, the deputy leader of Brent Council, called the plan "a no-brainer".
She said: "The investment isn't as big as other projects as the line is already there, so it wouldn't mean huge upheaval for residents and businesses and it means that we can actually invest with the private sector, public money as well.
"The land isn't public, so we need private investors to come and support our ambitions here."

 

[Mr. SW]

It's a case of 'Yes', then 'No', then maybe 'Yes' again.
The problem isn't so much the Dudding Hill Line, as it is the section between Acton Wells Junction and the District/Piccadilly Line, with the restrictive layout at AW Junction, and the the three Level Crossings: at Acton Central and two at Bollo Lane just south of South Acton. Acton Central LC could be simply closed and replaced by a pedestrian underpass, but Bollo Lane's two crossimgs are real head scratchers as they will become busy and there is no real alternative road route as access is required to properties and businesses. All sorts of ideas have been put forward, the only sensible ones I've seen involving sinking the rail lines... There was a recent thread on the LCs at Bollo Lane, but nothing was really answered.

 

[A0wen]

The thing with this is what is the problem it actually solves ? That's the bit that really isn't clear.

Yes, there's alot of fluffy stuff about "improving connectivity in north and west London" - but does it really ? If you want to travel from Cricklewood to Hounslow then I can see the attraction, however that's not exactly a significant traffic flow.

Between Acton and the Midland Mainline it's effectively shadowing the North London Line, it would then need to interwork with the North London Line through Acton which already has 4 tph each way, plus has a voltage changeover at the Acton Central stop, which slows things a little more, then as Mr. SW points out there's a small issue of Bollo Lane.

And the distance between Kew Bridge and Gunnersbury stations is less than 0.5 mile so it's not exactly a difficult interchange.

 

[JonathanH]

The thing with this is what is the problem it actually solves ?

It basically just solves the 'problem' of a railway line existing that doesn't have a passenger service, which could be an obsessive compulsive disorder issue for some people. Many of the journeys it would make easier can already be made by changing between West Hampstead and West Hampstead Thameslink.

It is interesting that no one ever suggests using the Neasden curve to link up to Wembley, rather than running through to Hendon, not that it would be easy to implement either. What is the actual missing link here?

 

[A0wen]

It is interesting that no one ever suggests using the Neasden curve to link up to Wembley, rather than running through to Hendon, not that it would be easy to implement either. What is the actual missing link here?

Now there's a thought, maybe the Southern Clapham - Watford service could be diverted away from the West London line and instead onto the Dudding Hill line at Harlesden and then run that onto Staines and Windsor ! Once upon a time in the distant past the Green Line 724 used to link Watford and Windsor, so there's a historic link there that's now missing....... (I'll grab my coat).

 

[Meerkat]

Wouldn't the freight users get a bit upset about letting passenger trains onto lines where they can presumably currently hide between slots on the mainline?