Making a to b by rail joined-up more

The English Regional Transport Association (ERTA) is a voluntary association seeking to move things towards better public transport. 

We are committed to all the regions across England and in terms of rail as a greener, cleaner mode of transport, we note Scotland and Wales have forged ahead and England is lagging behind. 

What we wish for for London, to be studied further can be found on our Blogspot: https://ertarailvolunteer.blogspot.com/ just scroll down to 'London Calling'. 

But main themes are as attached to this email on our London flyer. Currently there is no east-west rail link for 100 miles north of the North London Line. This means that all east-west movements (passenger and freight) must go by road and the lack of choice has fuelled demand for road expansion, but this heaps congestion up to urban areas which lack the sheer capacity to handle it all, let alone provide premium land for parking when demands for employment and housing abound.

We do need orbital rail links between the Channel Tunnel/Tonbridge and the radial lines north and west of London and these orbitals east and west M25 corridors of London. Likewise, the proposed east-west rail between Oxford-Milton Keynes-Bedford-Cambridge must be made fit for purpose from day one, is long overdue and must be designed to link radial north-south lines and carry freight as well as intense passenger workings. 

Concerns are also that whilst we do need more capacity and lines to the West and East Midlands and London, HS2 may not be the right type of railway to deliver what is required, capacity not speed per se. As, if the M1 for example crawls along at 25mph on average speed, why do you need 225 mph to beat it? So costs could come down if we go for capacity rather than just speed, a 125 mph cap on speed is fast enough. Likewise a railway which only deals with passenger trains, and leaves freight to existing lines fails to see we need to cater for both. If we are to take a climate emergency seriously, modal shift will means a need for more by rail, not less or just 'business as usual'. London needs more capacity on its rails for more London bound passenger and freight workings and capacity. It needs lands for depots and handling more freight by rail. Other concerns are, if the projected figures for HS2 are true, discharging at Euston will require additional tube and overground rail based capacity to cater for all the extra numbers. We must look at surface Light Rapid Transits (LRT) (in old money trams); for Central and West London areas as well as extension of the Docklands via the North London Circular to link East London with Cricklewood via Brent Cross. There should be few caps, rather encouragement to expand as demand and supply enables. At Old Oak Common in West London, the lack of HS2 running into Heathrow and onto the Channel Tunnel and the failure of Crossrail to be consistent Continental Loading Guage restricts joined-up-travel. People don't like changing and may cause crowding of Crossrail at the western end if the projected numbers use HS2. Other options are HS1/Stratford-Stansted-West Cambridge (M11 corridor)-A14 to Lutterworth-M6/M1 corridors to serve West and East Midlands in a seamless, consistent railway and could accommodate a link from Felixstowe in the east as well. We do need reopenings, rebuilds and select new builds, and on the London patch, we see the need for more cross-Thames rail based solutions not roads and a new link between Pitsea and Rayleigh could enable a joined up Woolwich-Southend Airport corridor by rail intercepting several trunk roads for Park and Ride access and avoid the need to travel into and out of central London with changes.

Building the current Stansted Rail Link onwards to link with the Braintree Branch, would inform a loop out of Liverpool Street-Stansted-Chelmsford-Stratford-London Liverpool Street. It would open up all sorts of connectivities and again challenge road based presumption in accessing a number of places. A new Park and Ride Rail Station along the A120 at Great Dunmow could also be installed if lands are not developed over without proper planning to keep options open. It is good to talk and worth together for the common interest or as John Donne said "no man is an island" and this can be the case in locations too. 

Likewise if the North Downs Line is electrified, you could run a semi-fast Thameslink Train from Central London to Guildford and possibly extended to Reading, saving the hassle of changing at St Pancras for the Northern Line to Waterloo, again freeing up seats. These things need studying but enables people to get around more and less changing and less gaps for fuelling demand for more road travel. 

I hope these ideas can be looked at and supported.