CANBER - Campaign Against New Beeching Report

Crossrail is certainly in the news at the moment. No doubt It will be for the next 10 years. Funding for the £16bn project is proving to be fragile, especially considering the financial issues affecting the country at the moment. The scheme also has many critics. Such a cost for a project that will improve the transport links for so few.

As the project stands, the western end of the project, from the portals of the new underground tunnel at Paddington, can only accommodate a maximum of 10 trains per hour (tph). Given that 24tph are expected to run through the tunnel to Paddington in the peak hours, this means a massive 14tph having to start/terminate at Paddington. That's in each direction! Even off-peak, some 8-10tph will terminate at Paddington. Is this a sensible use of capacity, or will it lead to problems accommodating passengers and trains that can go no further west? Does the Crossrail project represent good value for money with this lack of western end capacity? I don't think so.

I have spent a little time developing an outline proposal that would solve most of these problems. It involves reinstating a double track railway on the current little used former GWR main line which runs from Old Oak Common West Junction to Northolt Junction where it joins with the Chiltern Line. Improved infrastructure would lead to a 6-line railway from Paddington to Old Oak Common West Junction, and infrastructure improvements and electrification on the Chiltern Line from Northolt Junction to High Wycombe would enable a further 10tph to be able to run west from Paddington, serving destinations such as North Acton, Greenford, Northolt, Ruislip, Gerrards Cross and High Wycombe.

Obviously it will cost more money, but there is little major civil engineering required as most of the infrastructure is already in place. It's just woefully under-used at present. Many more people would stand to benefit in the densely populated suburbs of West London and busy commuter towns in Middlesex and Buckinghamshire. I can't see how the CBR (Cost-Benefit Ratio) of the project would not improve with these service additions, and the project could be built at any time, so could easily become a second stage to the project if the money can't be found at the moment.

You can download my proposals, which give much more detail, including maps and diagrams in a .pdf document by clicking on the following link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3NXC2RK7