ERTA London Calling Notes and Tasks: Reliable Volunteers Welcome.

#ertarail Over recent years, ERTA has debated what improvements in and around London public transport-wise, especially rail are needed. Here's a rough list. It is not exhaustive, but could you email any other ideas, suggestions and why/justification and any comments for/against and why/justify please?

richard.erta@gmail.com We are looking for volunteers to help us with report production, any reliable offers are welcome to entertain.

Here's the list:

1. All London's suburban rail services must be devolved to TfL (London Overground) as soon as possible

2. Better integration of London's suburban rail with TfL bus, tube and tram services, including new and improved interchanges with these services

3. Chessington Line extension to Leatherhead including station for Chessington World of Adventures

4. cooling the Tube network (especially in summer) where feasible and affordable

5. Crossrail

6. Crossrail 1 to Windsor & Eton Central

7. Crossrail 2 [SW-NE]

8. Double-track Frimley Green – Ash Vale

9. Epping – M11 Park & Ride

10. Extend Docklands Light Railway Bank – site of old Broad Street station(underground)

11. Extend LU lines - Edgware – Stanmore-Watford

12. Gospel Oak-Barking line (GOB) services integrated more with existing London services and

13. Heathrow Rail Links

14. Heathrow Southern Railway (short tunnel from Terminal 5 and then a mainly surface route parallel with the M25 to new junction with the Windsor-Staines line. HSR will then continue alongside the M25 to new junction with the Virginia Water–Weybridge/ Byfleet Junction line north of Chertsey. Could also incorporate old West Drayton - Staines West branch and be linked into reopening old Great Central mail line in the longer term.

15. Improved pedestrian access between Dorking West/Dorking Deepdene

16. Lack of Light Rail in Central and West London despite growing volumes of people.

17. Light Rapid Transits should be allowed to grow organically via local planning systems in North/South /East/West/Central London e.g. Croydon Tram link - extend to Crystal Palace and Lloyd Park curve eliminated (site of accident Autumn 2016)

18. lines, with better interchanges at stations along the existing route?

19. London Orbital Railways

20. London Underground Extensions

21. LU:

22. Mill Hill East-Edgware

23. modern signalling systems

24. More disabled access for both LT and National Rail stations, particularly on London Overground and LU stations.

25. Muswell Hill Metro

26. new air-conditioned trains which are energy-efficient with regenerative breaking

27. New Lower Thames Transport Tunnel

28. New platforms Willesden Junction Low Level for London Midland and Southern services, thereby enabling interchange with North London Line, West London Line and LT Bakerloo Line.

29. New rail link Southend Airport – Rayleigh/Pitsea parallel to A13, A130, A1245

30. New station Old Oak Common (interchange Crossrail 1/HS2/West London Line); it must be built before HS2 begins

31. New station on London Overground North London Line at North Acton (interchange with LT Central Line and possibly Crossrail 1, adjacent Chiltern and First Great Western Services).

32. New station on London Overground West London Line at Battersea

33. North Downs Line

34. Pitsea-Rayleigh new build project and Grays-Dartford railway tunnel under Thames for more by rail north-south including Woolwich-Southend Airport access direct and vice versa.

35. Re-open Bank-Aldwych (closed for sake of new lifts!) and old Fleet Line to Charing Cross

36. Restoring through services to Bromley North from London Bridge/Charing Cross etc.

37. Sites close to railway lines offering potential locations for rail freight terminals and logistics centres must be protected from alternative transport proposals these include disused railways and rail sidings

38. Thames Tunnel Grays – Dartford (Lower Thames River Crossing scheme), built to HS1 standards, to include Crossrail 1 extension and cater for freight between ports and Channel Tunnel.

39. -That GOB network should extend eastwards to Barking Riverside and Abbey Wood via a Thames Tunnel.

40. -That GOB network should extend eastwards to West Hampstead -Dudding Hill – Acton – Kew Bridge -Heathrow

41. The lack of cross-Thames tunnels and bridges for north-south rail travel within London as well as getting more freight off the roads and back onto the rails, freeing up capacity/reducing hazards.

42. The lack of orbital rail links around east and west London for enabling through traffic from the radial rest of the country get to and from the South East, South Coast and the Channel Tunnel.

43. up-grade on the District Line (with population increase crowding is set to increase on that line from Richmond in next 25 years; that line is also notoriously crowded in peak-hours between Earls Court and Westminster),

44. West Hampstead - new platforms for Chiltern Line services and possibly Metropolitan Line, thereby enabling interchange with North London Line, Thameslink and Jubilee Lines.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55322340

 Notes of ERTA London Meeting Saturday 28^th November 14.00 hours. Disclaimer: These are notes taken during the meeting and are for general reference and flavour only, not forensic.

 Present: Simon Barber, David Shamash, Conway Castle-Knight, Eleanore Pond, Richard Pill, Peter McBeath, Ian Sesnan, Gillian Radcliffe, Anne Newton (Muswell Hill Metro Group), Mr Hugh Richards, Kathy Keeley and Cllr Hilary Gander.

 1. Chairman’s welcome: Richard who chaired the meeting, welcomed people to it.

2. Apologies: Mr Ivor Wiggett, Cllr Awale Olad, Cllr Georgia Gould (Camden), Cllr Dan Tomlinson (Tower Hamlets), Cllr John Locker (Wandsworth), Cllr Rowena Champion, Richard Watts (Islington), Cllr Steve Curran (Hounslow), Cllrs Muhammed Butt, Shama Tapler (Brent), John Dulwich (Barking), Cllr Claire Toghill.

3. Covid19 Considerations and Impact: Public Transport – general rules of wearing masks, washing hands before and after and taking precautions. Avoid rush hour and check beforehand if and where lines are closed or bus-substituted.  Revenues are reported to be down on the general rail network 95% and this has a devastating impact.

4. Muswell Hill Metro: The proposal is to re-rail the Finsbury Park – Alexandra Palace rail link. Not much happening because of Covid19 lockdown. The group wants to recruit especially younger support. It and ERTA will forge links for 2-way support and making common ground.

5. London Underground Extensions: Contact as a significant contact: Ms Caroline Pidgeon.

Concerns current are safety on the tube/underground. How safe are we? Theft is a concern.

Schemes raised included:

Kennington – Nine Elms, Bakerloo Southern Extension, Cockfosters-Potter’s Bar, Barnet – Napsbury (a new station south of St Albans) and via a duck-under to terminate either into a reinstated second bay at St Albans Abbey and/or amalgamate into Watford Junction.

The Croxley Link (Baker Street Met into St Albans Abbey, with added proviso of Aylesbury-Watford sharing same tracks for link up as well. Watford West could be retained as an overflow capacity and/or a Metroland Museum.

Edgware and Stanmore to Watford – problem is development has hit hard route options and accommodation. Could be looked at and whether they could do more.

It was felt the various transport systems around London need to be better integrated generally.

Hammersmith Bridge closed as in danger of falling down, may reopen to pedestrians and cyclists but traffic will have to be diverted elsewhere. Someone said there may be a ferry, but as yet no hard and fast news.

6. London Orbital Routes. Dire lack of outer orbital rail routes. Freight comes from Felixstowe-London-West Coast Main Line and vice versa. If more direct rail links existed across north of London i.e. East Anglia to the Midlands as per the A14 goes, then that would free up a lot of capacity. Likewise, ERTA had called for an integrated approach of 3 proposals for rail links from the south and west to Heathrow, to share same tracks and go on to Old Oak Common (OOC) with a tunnel provision under it to link with the Chiltern Main Line. That optimally would give an Aylesbury – Guildford rail arc and Guildford-Horsham reinstatement would enable more for more and buy-in to these new links and journey opportunities.

It was felt by many that Heathrow is a polluter and noise issue and yet, regardless of whether it stays open or shut, the legacy of better rail links utilising the opportunity afforded, remains useful to court and usher along surely.

Peter said about his Lower Thames Crossing Link for road and rail. He wants shipping to come to UK than Europe, so we export more and raise revenues and drive down costs. That means some 7000 lorries per day by rail which is better for the environment.

His tunnel would link Kent and Essex and send more to RAF Mildenhall – so out of London.

He also said digital signalling will create capacity more as well.

It was agreed Richard to put the ERTA ideas into a basic umbrella report to bring together the ideas and circulate it with a press statement which ideally organisations like TFL, new London Assembly, Network Rail and elsewhere can pick up on and work with to next stages/give our ideas a boost.

London is growing again with M25 cordon mooted as a natural boundary. Utilising M25 space in pertinent for orbital and new rail links, extensions and integrated public transport designs. Land is premium and must be retained for enabling rail projects like England’s Economic Heartland (EEH) Southern East-West Rail Link to be realistic. The old St Albans Abbey-Hatfield Line could be a candidate but about 8 houses sit on the old formation and would need to be relocated which is always a sensitive issue. Otherwise brand-new lines radiating and linking with a new station at Napsbury needs wider consideration. Hertfordshire County Council say they have no resources.

The Highways Road Tunnel idea has been rejected. East London River Crossing / Silvertown is a road only, a missed opportunity.

7. Heathrow Rail Links: dealt with see elsewhere. But David Shamash also said when this Pandemic is over it is likely that the use of public transport will not go back to what it was before this Coronavirus Pandemic as people are now used to working from home and going to Zoom meetings. The rush hour commute will not be like it was before the Pandemic. The new normal will be different from what was normal before the Pandemic and people will probably not eat out and drink out as much as they used to so stay at home more. This means that before the Government plan any more major transport improvements they should wait until this Pandemic is over so we see the likely future demand.

8. New Lower Thames Transport Tunnel – is road and rail in design. 50, 000 homes going into Essex but a key issue is water supply. Discussion was held as to suitability of desalination plants like they did for Perth’s water issues in Australia?

9. Crossrail: Things are happening according to Simon. Many of these projects take a long time. They also seem to over-run costs. Crossrail 1 will serve Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road and Farringdon in central London and reach between Reading and Abbey Wood/Shenfield. Crossrail 2 is on hold but would serve Clapham Junction, Euston and Victoria. These links could relieve other parallel lines and free up capacity generally it was felt.

10. Pitsea-Rayleigh et al scheme: ERTA has long mooted it but so far, no backers for whatever reason. It needs working up. But consists of a rail tunnel between the Dartford area and Grays/Pitsea and a new-build link, taking on 4-5 trunk roads to link Pitsea to Rayleigh. This would give Southend and South-East London direct arcing rail links avoiding the need to go in and come out, freeing up seats, saving time and money. Woolwich-Southend Airport could be a typical journey possibly. See rough diagram which we want working up:

11. Appointment of area reps: It was decided to have North East, North West, South East and South West Area Reps charged with taking a general interest in what is going on, forging our interests, recruiting new members, growing teams and liaison via these meetings. An overall coordinator would also be welcome and could come on the Executive Committee for liaison.

12. There was no other business.

13. Day, Date, Time, Place of Next Meeting: Next Zoom Meeting will be Friday 26^th February 14.00 hours. All welcome/open to all/please try and introduce a friend to us.

Meeting finished 15.30pm

Notes:

1. ERTA is enjoying more success and better turn-out with Zoom and for large areas like London is easier and more cost-effective time-wise than numerous area meetings at cost to ourselves. So, a Zoom future is a way forward for now.

2. If any wish to be on our free no obligation email loop, please send to richard.erta@gmail.com