is the HS2 heathrow spur the right route?

One problem with the current HS2 design is that the later stage Heathrow spur may have to cross asbestos deposits f those fields with it near Yiewsley reach further west than the ones already exploited in Cowley for the building of post war prefab housing and some forms of brick mortar before that. As such it is a construction challenge and one for the engineeers.

If A stock is unfeasible for HS2 building relief work

If the A stock is unadaptable to 3 rail current collection. then either teh 4 rail format could be put back to Watford Junction and South Hampstead from its Harrow and Wealdstone- Kilburn High Road limits or the outgoing Circle Line C stock or District Line D Stock could run in 4 carriage format. The D stock is the most recent and therefore its with longer carriages might have sapce for current shoes and wheel adaptation. Plus its been driven on one of the most multicultural staffed tube lines, including many Irish, as was noted by the last London Mayor.

It could therefore be a way in tough economic times and as an act of reconciliation between the islands for HS2 construction to occur with minimum disruption which would aid regional regeneration and manufacturing in South Wales, Scotland and Northern England. The choice of which trains to recycle like this is in the hands of teh TfL board chaired by the present Mayor of London.

If i were writing the 2012 GLA manifesto for anybody, this would be it

Transport manifesto for the GLA and London Mayorality 2012

1) Continue with the building of Crossrail with extra branches to Tring and St Albans Thameslink via links from Old Oak Common Interchange station for HS2 (building to begin of that sooner than 2018 opening of Crossrail so as to minimise disruption to Great Western Line and allow for better services when Euston is rebuilt for HS2.
2) Also build Croxley Rail Link if Dft and Transport and Works Approved after public consultation.
3) Prepare Airtrack construction and consultation with Transport and Works Act and depot in Feltham
4) Diesel Tram train or Class 172 Diesel train service West Ealing to Greenford, with possible extension to new platform at West Ruislip via Central line during peak hours, with future extension via Chiltern line to Gerrards cross and south Harefield station as section 106 for High Speed Two.
5) Support the rest of the Network Rail SE Rail study and Greengague 21 proposals for HS2 (particulary rail service to Derby and Sheffield on High Speed 2 and link line in West Midlands to Birmingham-Derby line.
6) Possible use of Metropolitan Line A Stock on Watford Junction- South Hampstead to augment LO rolling stock and allow some of it to be used on Barking- Gospel Oak electrified service to run on to Stonebridge Park and be stabled there.
7) Balham loop for London Overground to use some more rolling stock.
8) Chingford- Stratford service for London Overground after the Olympics to allow commuting to the new office blocks from day 1.
9) Adapt HST slam door carriages to driver operated automatic doors as on similar Irish, Australian, New Zealand and Chiltern Railway rolling stock.

What to do with teh HSTs

The HST 125 Intercity rolling stock that runs at present on the Great Western and Midland Mainlines ( and the East Coast), have Mark 3 carraiges. These are in an unadapted manual door opening state at present. However The Chiltern and Wrexham and Shropshire rail services have developed an adapted format for these carriages that could be implemented. With new locomotives these could run to SW England, Swansea / Carmarthen & Lampeter, Hereford and Worcester services from Paddington, Midland Mainline services and on the Oxford - Marylebone services once Evergreen 3 is built. Then when IEPs (the new trains) are built and enter service they could be further cascaded elsewhere. This was advocated in teh letters pages of Rail magazine.

The West Coast reasons for HS2

The West Coast Main Line has been upgraded as far as it can be. It carries freight trains and 125-140 mph express trains on its fast lines and freight and stopping services on its slow lines. If HS2 is built there will be less express trains using the Euston - Birmingham section allowing for more frieght to run onto the Channel tunnel and a better commuter setvice, Plus reopening of the Bletchley- Oxford Line so that Milton Keynes commuters can reach Oxford and Cambridge (scheduled for opening in 2031) has also been proposed.

Some of these trains can run via an upgraded link to the North London Line and Old Oak common and onto Crossrail as Green gauge 21 have advocated.

Greengauge 21 advoate HS2 to Sheffield and Derby

This may sound like the consolation prize to the Lib Dems in Sheffield who lost control of the city council last week, but your party leader might yet retain his seat at the next election.

The independently and government commissioned think tank Greengauge 21 has advocated in Rail magazine that where HS2 has a birmingham rail link, there should also be a link to the East onto the line o Derby to allow through running to there and Sheffield. It advocates this rail link as a way to cut journey times to London by 30 minutes and relieve capacity on The Midland Mian line for freight to the North Sea ports in East Anglia and Thanmeslink upgrade services. Further at present the St Pancras UK rail service platforms are soon to reach capacity.

Also advocated for similar reasons is the diversion of slow (London Midland) Euston- Birmingham (or perhaps the traisn that only run as far out as Milton Keynes, Tring and Watford) onto a link to serve Old Oak Common Interchange station and then Crossrail (subject to funding). That way capacity would be created at Euston station for HS2 rebuild and expansion of the station after Crossrail has opened in 2018. This is in Network Rails latest strategy document for the South East according to the article in Rail magazine. It would mean that the trains that werre going to run from Abbey Wood and terminate at Paddington on Crossrail would have a further destination, thus increasing Crossrails business case).

In the meantime there is the London Underground Metropolitan line A stock. If it is signalling compatible and adapting it for three rail running is not cost prohibitive or a health and safety risk, then it could run on Watford Junction - Kilburn High Road / South Hampstead slow services while Euston is being rebuilt. The risk with that is that it could interfere with the AC power lines as their capacity has been upgraded since that was designed.

If this were overcome then the new London Overground rail stock could run from Willesden Junction to Stratford and be reallocated temporarilly onto the Balham loop proposed service to upgrade the East London Line stage II line to Clapham Junction. Or if not then the A stock could always be adapted to run on the Balham Loop itself.

In hillingdon the Chiltern Line has had capacity enhancements (a new track to allow fatser running of through trains to Banbury and ultimately Oxford as part of a private sector investment called Evergreen 3).

This is regardless of teh HS2 proposal for most of its route and has space for upgrade and reversing siding between Field End Road and Northolt park station for Rubbish trains so as to keep the waste transfer facility open.

It has been done on time and on budget as I understand it so as to deliver a sustainable upgrade and allow teh slow line round teh south of the waste transer facility (colloquially refferred to as the dump) to link into any London Overground Paddington or Clapham Junction to Denham service via South Greenford)

The Central Line could be diverted after Northolt in tunnel to Heathrow in tunnel via Hayes End and Stckely Park as well as the Heathrow Spur proposed for HS2. Then the South Ruislip to West Ruislip Central Line stretch could be used by Overground and the Ruislip Gardens Depot upgraded and rebuilt to take 'main line / sub surface' stock sized trains. Interchange for teh City and Docklands could be at Old Oak Common for Crossrail as well as the Central Line in Northolt.

A new Depot for tehCentral Line could be under housing development (similar to the White City westfield siding replacements built in the last decade). thsi housing could be dedicated to evacuees from Commonwealth Islands and returning armed forces personnel as well as to maintain the local economy employment base).

If Air capacity to the East of Greater London is upgraded with a Thames Estuary airport and expansion of Stanstead or Southend then RAF Northolt (the diplomatic airport by the A40) could also be sold for housing and Heathrow be used in part as its replacement. Then HS2 trains from Birmingham could use the proposed Ruislip depot track spur and run SOuth Beind teh housing of teh Ruisllip Gardens Estate under RAF Northolt to join the spur if the minor ROyalns living in Bucks and Berks object successfully through the planning process to the Parliamentary proposal of the Governments DFt for the new Misbourne Line under the M25 to a terminal between Iver and West Drayton.

This requires a GLA and dedicated English Parliament transport review and is why there needs to be a devolved English Parliament with statutory powers to raise 'on the books' finance by government bond issues and income tax variance (the latter already done by Edinburgh, the former by US cities such as Boston and New York). It could bring about sustained economic recovery and the restoration of the health of both public and private pension schemes.