Possible Victoria line extension?

There were plans to extend to Croydon via Streatham & Thornton Heath but British Rail objected that it would take away their revenue,same thing that happened in the 20's when Southern Railway objected to the Northern Line extending south of Morden.

As aslefshrugged stated elsewhere on DD's: "Boris doesn't do detail. "

But it certainly gives a hint as to the direction the political winds are blowing. There's got to be something to balance OOC, HS2, CR2 in the S/SE, and somehow I don't think Thameslink has any political "gloss" any more.

Am I correct, even roughly?

Honest answer - don't know and I doubt anyone does. There are too many variables - some "in play" at the moment, others not - that could influence what is done to South London's rail services. I don't want to veer off into territory that should be elsewhere on this board or which will badly skew debate about the Victoria Line. Sorry.

Which page of the strategy refers to the possible Victoria line extension? I've just read the whole report (skimmed, actually!) and can't see this. I've also searched for 'Victoria', 'Brixton', and 'Bakerloo', and none of these showed a reference. The quotation in the original part of the thread ('extend the Victoria line beyond Brixton') isn't in it either.

It has occurred to me that once Crossrail 2 is built (Whenever that is) the number of passengers on the Victoria Line may drop considerably (especially if Crossrail 2 is connected to both Euston and Kings Cross/St Pancreas).

At that point it might be possible to extend the Victoria Line north from Walthamstow Central up the Chingford Line (Which is going to be transferred to TFL by the end of 2015) and east from Walthamstow Central in a tunnel to Hainault taking over the southern section of the Hainault Loop (with the Central Line keep the Northern Loop as a branch line from Woodford).

As for the extension south of Brixton. I don't know if there are any tracks that could be taken over but it might be possible to extend the line into two branches.

Having two branches at each end would be useful in preventing delays when turning the trains around.

Which isn't too bad as they've only just re-fleeted so hopefully the factories are still tooled up.
I'm not sure if TfL have a policy about keeping the production tooling for a specified length of time. Up at Silcocks in Bolton where they make aircraft and car parts and press tools, they recycle the metal pretty much within a year of the contract being completed if it's not specified otherwise. And of course the presses that the tools fitted might have been changed or scrapped at any point.

I would venture to suggest that any extensions to the existing deep level network would cause even more crowding in the central area, so should be avoided! There just isn't the space for more people or more trains.

I think everyone by now is acutely aware of the fact that any extension southwards can only take place after the Victoria line receives relief from a new cross-london line like XR2. Maybe even Boris?


Having said that, whilst there are lines to the south of the river that can easily be removed from the tangled spaghetti of the SR network, it ought to be the long term aspiration for TfL to do so, not least because it is TfL mandate to provide transport in London, but by removing such lines from a network with a far larger area to cover, it enables better transport to areas outside of London.

London is saturated with supressed demand. XR2 as with XR1 will only help put off the enevitable increase in crowding on the system. If thats the case then by the time an opportunity comes around for a Vic line extension in 30 odd years yet again the same reason will come out that its 'too busy anyway'. At some point someones going to have to grasp the nettle, because that implies that you've now lost 30 years of extra ecconomic productivity plus social progression, and considering a plan for the southern extension of the Vic is already 50 years old, by the time it *might* happen youre talking the best part of a centuary of missed opportunities and people unable or unwilling to make journies because the travel choice has simply not been there. If anyone thinks that that matches TfLs vision of a 'world class metro' or its mandate to provide transport for London and in London then they must consider just what this city would be like had that attitude been the prevailing one 150 years ago. It is glib and bleakly true that these things are put off because things are already bad enough, as it were, but that doesnt mean to say that they should be.

The rate of construction of new tube lines and new transport corridors in this country is now so slow that it will never be able to be ahead of the curve again I fear. And with that, saturation of existing options will continue to occur, and the inability to consider further strategic expansion will prevale, thus completing a viscious circle. Perhaps it is time not just for an odd extension, but for a phased programme to be committed to. One that provides he southern equivilant of the New Works programme of ~80 years ago, with not just the Vic going south, but the Bakerloo, W&C, and Aldwych branch doing something to help. Another programme to create and enhance new and existing stations and interchanges in the London are would also a very wise move, but that is for another thread perhaps.

Surely the best terminus would be an overground terminus with 3 platforms (like Stanmore/Edgeware/High Barnet) or even 4 (Wimbledon)

I also mean extending to Herne Hill is a bit of a waste , extending to Streatham (Hill) at least would surely lead to much higher increases in revenue and patronage?

Also having 3 platforms at a terminus allow for 'spare trains' so if something goes wrong (i.e train breaking down in a platform) it might still be possible to run a service. Personally I think any significant empty (suitable) space in SOuth London near a town centre should be used as a Victoria line terminus. Even turning part of Brockwell Park into a station (unless the gradient would be too sharp for a tunnel connecting Brixton and Herne Hill street level?