Victorian Line north/eastern extension.

[Sunset route]

While visiting a relative in Whipps Cross Hospital it became apparent how poorly served the area was by the Tube/Rail Network. It was use the A12 or nothing and as found either visiting from the south coast or from the Docklands/Westham area this journey was a nightmare.

So now to the total pie in the sky idea lol. Just doing a simple look at the maps (nothing in depth), I was wondering if the Victoria Line could be extended from Walthamstow Central via a new station serving Whipps Cross hospital and surround area on to Snaresbrook and either terminating at Wanstead or Redbridge?

This would open up connections from most of London and it’s main line stations into an area that looks poorly served and from doing a nearly daily commute for three weeks proved to be a total nightmare.

 

[EM2]

Wood Street station on the Chingford line is just over half-a-mile away.
Leytonstone is longer (just over a mile) but the W15 runs between there and Whipps Cross, and West Ham to Leytonstone is just one change at Stratford. Probably less than half-an-hour all told, and I'd think easier than trying to get to Walthamstow from Docklands or West Ham.

 

[Bald Rick]

Could be - yes.

Will it? No.

Why? The Vic is already full. In the morning peak you often have to let 3 or 4 trains go before you can get on, at stations from Highbury to Warren St. Putting more people on it from further out will just make it worse.

 

[swt_passenger]

Could be - yes.

Will it? No.

Why? The Vic is already full. In the morning peak you often have to let 3 or 4 trains go before you can get on, at stations from Highbury to Warren St. Putting more people on it from further out will just make it worse.

Probably cheaper to move the hospital anyway...

 

[Sunset route]

Wood Street station on the Chingford line is just over half-a-mile away.
Leytonstone is longer (just over a mile) but the W15 runs between there and Whipps Cross, and West Ham to Leytonstone is just one change at Stratford. Probably less than half-an-hour all told, and I'd think easier than trying to get to Walthamstow from Docklands or West Ham.

The only bus service I’m familiar with is the No69 not being local to the area. Travelling up from the South Coast the only option that doesn’t involve a car is mainline service to Victoria, victoaia Line to Walthamstow thence Main Line to Wood Street followed by the walk inclinducing getting across the A104. Well I supposes the 15 minute frequency on the Chingford branch is not a total disaster.

Being railway staff with staff travel and used to travelling by train the journey as it stands is a pain but doable. Other relatives wouldn't and didn’t contemplate such a journey to non Central London that involves a lengthy walk. So then you wonder could there be an easier way. The answer is probably yes, but cost the of such an idea is prohibited, hence why I said it was my pie in the sky idea.

As I said the car journey from said relatives home, using the Barking Road A124, East India Road A13, Blackwall interchange A12 thence the A114. Tube maps are easy to follow whether you live in London or not, understanding bus routes now that’s a different matter if your not local to the area(s) as they are not presented in the same way as the tube/Rail maps.

 

[rebmcr]

Tube maps are easy to follow whether you live in London or not, understanding bus routes now that’s a different matter if your not local to the area(s) as they are not presented in the same way as the tube/Rail maps.

I think the appropriate tool is the journey planner.

 

[EM2]

The only bus service I’m familiar with is the No69 not being local to the area. Travelling up from the South Coast the only option that doesn’t involve a car is mainline service to Victoria, victoaia Line to Walthamstow thence Main Line to Wood Street followed by the walk inclinducing getting across the A104. Well I supposes the 15 minute frequency on the Chingford branch is not a total disaster.

Or Vic line to Oxford Circus, change for Central line to Leytonstone and then the bus?
Or Circle/District to Mile End and then the Central?

 

[Sunset route]

I think the appropriate tool is the journey planner.

There are some that still don’t own or understand how to use a computer/tablet/smart phone, let alone use a journey planner. Maybe in a few years time when the post war baby boomers have all passed on we will should virtually have all the population at least tablet/smart phone literate, including in my case the relative who ended up in hospital and the only visitor other than myself who managed to visit.

We got very used to the M25, A2, blackwall tunnel, A12 and the A13 as the only practical method of travelling.

Or Vic line to Oxford Circus, change for Central line to Leytonstone and then the bus?
Or Circle/District to Mile End and then the Central?

Your not going to get many occasional if ever at all travellers to London from the shires moving around the suburbs of city like they are a rail enthusiast or seasoned commuters! If your under the Barts Hospital group and end up at Whipps Cross, then having visitors from anything other than the local area is hard work. End up at the Royal London Hospital and come 2019 your only one change from most of the world once crossrail opens let alone the rest of London and the shires.

I’m not saying that it should be built, just saying there appears to be a gap in rail coverage. London like most big cities is all about radial routes with not many orbital routes.

 

[Busaholic]

As I said the car journey from said relatives home, using the Barking Road A124, East India Road A13, Blackwall interchange A12 thence the A114. Tube maps are easy to follow whether you live in London or not, understanding bus routes now that’s a different matter if your not local to the area(s) as they are not presented in the same way as the tube/Rail maps.

Not helped by TfL's decision to stop printing bus maps: with one of those, I think many people with at least a basic knowledge of how maps work could manage to get from Stratford, Leytonstone or Walthamstow Central by bus without too much angst.
Getting to hospitals in London by public transport can be fraught. King's College Hospital in Camberwell, for instance, is extremely poorly served by train services, having to rely on the overstretched Denmark Hill station, although that does at least now have a 15 minute Overground service. Plans for other lines and stations in the area have been produced for as long as I've lived (and that's seventy years next month) but nothing ever comes of them. Most Camberwell bus routes don't pass the hospital, and it's not a pleasant or safe-seeming walk at night from Camberwell Green.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Many of London's major suburban hospitals are poorly served by rail - Hillingdon, Ealing(Southall), Barnet General, Enfield, Whipps Cross and even those with stations close by like Northwick Park and The Royal Free don't exactly offer easy access from the station to the hospital. A lot of major district hospitals seem to be very much car orientated (with car parks at a price) than being public transport, and in particular, rail friendly.

 

[EM2]

I’m not saying that it should be built, just saying there appears to be a gap in rail coverage. London like most big cities is all about radial routes with not many orbital routes.

As someone brought up in Walthamstow, went to school right by Wood Street station, attended more appointments than I'd care to remember at Whipps, and then lived for another ten years in Forest Gate, I can't agree.
It might not have a station on the doorstep, but I wouldn't say there's really a gap. Even if it was built, would the hospital itself and the surrounding area generate enough traffic to make it worthwhile? Can't see it myself.

 

[PeterC]

As someone brought up in Walthamstow, went to school right by Wood Street station, attended more appointments than I'd care to remember at Whipps, and then lived for another ten years in Forest Gate, I can't agree.
It might not have a station on the doorstep, but I wouldn't say there's really a gap. Even if it was built, would the hospital itself and the surrounding area generate enough traffic to make it worthwhile? Can't see it myself.

Recalling visiting somebody there with Epping Forest opposite the entrance I agree that the catchment would be very limited.

 

[TheNewNo2]

Even when a hospital is close to a station it's not easy to get there. The Royal London Hospital is very close to Whitechapel station, and there are signs within the station which point you to the hospital. You follow the signs, you cross a road, and then the signs stop while you're still nowhere near being able to see the hospital.

Regarding the OP, no, the Victoria Line is already busy enough without extending further, even if ideally it would go to Whipps Cross and Herne Hill. The reason the Bakerloo and Northern can be extended is that they are not full (at least not on the Charing Cross branch), and thus can accept an extension, especially as both could in future be upgraded to higher numbers of trains per hour. The Victoria however already runs 36tph during peak, and it's really a case of diminishing returns. Without using pistons to push people on to trains, it's hard to see how you could reduce dwell times enough, and even if you could squeeze 40tph somehow, that's barely a 10% capacity increase, which would easily be swallowed within a year or two anyway.

Also it's really expensive to dig a tube line, and the only reason the Northern got its extension is that TfL didn't have to pay for it.

 

[LU_timetabler]

Victoria no extension - for reason described above - it's already full, it'd be really expensive and the cost not justified. If nearest station is 0.5 mile, that's pretty good. TfL journey planner suggests W15 or W19 buses from Leytonstone Central line station.