Silverlink at Stratford

[Coxster]

Hi gang,

Before today's 87 trip to Brum behind Porterbrook liveried 87002 (a trip which was well worth £8!) myself an Harold spent a short while at Stratford due to one forum member being delayed. At Stratford the down slow was closed due to emergency engineering works so all down services were using platform 8(?) on the fast lines where we saw a variety of things such as the Anglia 170 with a centre 'one'-liveried coach.

Something that puzzled us was 313114 (IIRC) which kept travelling between the North London Line connection and the curved platforms at Stratford that lead up towards Tottenham Hale. Why was this doing this line - some sort of driver training? If so, why? When do Silverlink reguarly use this stretch? We also saw a Stansted Express 317 just outside Stratford. Is this a regular service via Stratford as I thought they usually branched off at Bethnal Green.

Many thanks,

 

[Tom]

Overrunning engineering works in Enfield Lock area basically cocked up the entire service until about 0900 with residual delays for quite some time after!

 

[O L Leigh]

Silverlink Metro are route-learning the short stretch from the Channelsea Curve up to P11 in preparation for the December TT change. Presumably this is where they will be terminating once they lose the NLL towards Docklands (at least in the short term).

I can't suggest anything for the StanEx unit other than ECS between Ilford and LST.

one TN

 

[Daniel]

Curved Platforms are now normally used for the new (hourly?) service from Stansted Airport to Stratford.

According to the new 2006 TT for SimSig, some early morning SEx's go:

Liverpool Street - Stratford - Tottenham Hale - Onwards.

With engineering works on my stretch, (Enfield Lock), I doubt that a SEx would be on a regular service, as I know of no line between the Seven Sisters branch, (where all services were diverted by), and Stratford, except by means of going to Liverpool Street vis Bethnal Green then back out to Stratford

One TN - Will they be sharing the 2 platforms with the new Strat - Stan service? As I have only ever seen 1 of the 2 platforms in use at a time...?

 

[O L Leigh]

This is the problem with looking at SimSig and transposing it to real life. It just isn't the same thing...!!

To correct:

There are no StanEx services timetabled to run via Stratford. As far as I am aware there is only a single early morning service that does this, and that runs to Hertford.

The STN-Stratford services are not the only services running down there. We also run Hertfords and Broxbournes from there at various times through the day.

It is possible to run trains from Stratford to Seven Sisters. Don't forget that the early attempts to run Stratford services involved running a train from Cheshunt via Seven Sisters up in the morning and then back down again in the evening. The link is the South Tottenham line, although this is already a very congested route thanks to it being part of the NLL GOBLIN line. However, you are right to say that running services this way would be very rare. It certainly wouldn't be planned that way, although it could happen if there were a combination of emergencies that required a number of lines to be closed.

I don't know what the platforming arrangements will be at Stratford, although I would imagine that they would have P11 and we would have P12. Silverlink could actually use either platform and still have a clear signalled run back down to the NLL. However, we have problems with using P11 because there is a fixed red signal at the country end of the platform which means we can't just go back the way we came. We can run round in a loop by way of Channelsea and High Meads curves and regain the Temple Mills line just before the new Eurostar depot, but it's a hell of a long way around and would no doubt put us in the way of freight or other movements using these lines. You may not realise it because this route is largely out of view (even from passenger trains), but it is actually quite a busy spot even now.

one TN