Procurement for next Overground concession starts

The OS 25" '1890s-1920s' (post 1912 as the line is labelled MR) georeferenced map on the NLS website (here) puts the loop at TQ535880 (and shows it as about 110m long), just east of The Ravensbourne (stream), where the line moves from cutting (from Emerson Park) to embankment: this is actually pretty much the mid point of the branch. The somewhat earlier 6" map on the same site (line is labelled LT&SR) does not show halt (Emerson Park), loop or Romford (LTS/MR) goods station, making me wonder whether they were all put in together (and when). Interestingly, the loop is not marked on the MR distance diagram.

Are you sure about that?

They were - the loop was to allow a loco to run round an Upmisnter - Emerson shuttle.
If I've mislocated the loop by a couple of hundred yards, it doesn't negate the point that it would be difficult to maintain a 15-minute interval service over a single track line, even if the passing loop is at a station at the midpoint.
LO only has the Emerson line because it doesn't fit with what's left of AGA. And in any case it already has four trains an hour, all connecting with fast London trains (two at Romford, and two at Upminster).

Must be imminent because the standstill period has finished and the contract should have been signed. No press release yet on the Bombardier site.

twitter chat today said..
The new Aventra trains have mixed longitudinal / transverse seating ... That's the plan says Tfl.

Thank you snoggle. That confirms to me the most likely chain of events. I expect no change in services until October 2018 or earlier once all of the train sets on the Seven Sisters line get changed to Aventra, with the exception of some off peak eight car trains on known busy services. For example, I just got the last train to Cheshunt and it was eight carriages. This is because the old trains are not reliable enough to run a full peak service off peak. Though there may be some slight enhancement, I.e. Extension of the peak to 10am. And a later last train via Seven Sisters for the last tube,

What I expect now is a slow grind towards four trains per hour at all times to Enfield, retaining the existing two trains per hour at all times to Cheshunt.

No talk of Hertford East yet because this is not confirmed. But we have a precedent that may indicate the future action. One of the first changes when TFL took over was to shift Sunday semi fast Hertford East services to be via Tottenham Hale to facilitate clockwork timetables to all stations via Seven Sisters. Also, Network Rail's West Anglia strategy acknowledges a desire to have all Hertford East trains run via Tottenham Hale. The next shift that could allow week day Hertford East peak services to shift from Seven Sisters to
Tottenham Hale is STAR, because there is already a gap in the timetable to allow two additional Brimsdown trains with a turn back facility. STAR could release enough capacity to open two Hertford East journeys.

Thus, I expect the final interim solution to be eight trains per hour on the core, four to both branches once STAR is commenced and after all initial new trains are in service. Then no change in frequency until they have maxed out on five car EMU's. By which time, other solutions may come into play to separate stopping and mainline trains at Bethnal Green to facilitate six trains per hour for each branch. A half way house could occur once Crossrail is live, because two Greater Anglia trains could shift to the old Shenfield lines and we may then see six trains per hour to Enfield, retaining four to Cheshunt, which may require a further platform for higher frequencies. I am sure that once those services are full, that other solutions will come into play once Crossrail 2 is implemented.

I suspect that development on the West Anglia lines will be slower than on the original Overground network for two reasons. Firstly, the original network included two new sections of line, opening up journeys that previously had to be done by going in and out of central London (or more likely, were not done at all). Secondly, and more importantly, nearly all the expansion has been on the orbital routes - I can remember when the West London Line service consisted of a twice-daily shuttle between Clapham Junction and Olympia (with the Manchester- Brighton Intercities added later), and when I could join a train at Acton Central and have the entire class 501 carriage to myself. There is one line which has not shared in this expansion, and indeed is shortly to have its 5car 378s replaced by new 4-car Aventras. (And, I can remember when peak hour services on that line had six-car trains!) It is also the only radial route in the original network. The radial routes are starting from a much higher base, so the relative scope for improvement is likely to be much less.
So, yes, there may be improvements on West Anglia - but if you want to know what to expect, the Wat-Eus route might be the place to look.

Actually, there is no repetition, It is a new iteration based upon Snoggle's feedback. Whilst many humans hate iteration, it is a ubiquitous factor of nature, without which the universe would not function.

Looks like we are very close to awarding the new concession for the Overground. There is a paper going to the Finance and Policy Cttee next week and the Board later in March. TfL are clearly getting the contract award out of the way before purdah starts for the Mayoral Election and to allow an appropriate mobilisation period. Obviously no hints as to who the preferred operator is but confirmation of how some bits of the new contract will work plus a range of pre-priced options for service enhancements.

There are also changes to the reliability and punctuality regimes with a tightened "3 min window" for punctuality. There are also new linkages between the two measures to stop perverse behaviours of skip stopping services all the time to restore right time running. There are also measures to apply pressure on Network Rail and freight companies to bolster their performance. This is similar to the arrangements on the Crossrail concession. Also an interesting observation about high levels of fare evasion on the newly inherited routes but TfL plan to gate many more stations.

content.tfl.gov.uk/fpc-160302-15-london-overground-operating-concession.pdf