TfL consults on new Overground Stations

TfL were put under a fair bit of pressure about these stns from Assembly Members in the recent Budget Cttee Meeting. The AMs seemed to believe the stations should just be built ASAP without much consideration of anything else. From what was said by one key TfL person there is still a lot of debate about what the redeveloped area will look like (your point) and quite when each part of will be built. There was a lot of pressure about why they wouldn't be built until 2026 and if there was scope to bring forward construction. However the stations are not funded for construction and TfL are clearly expecting developer contributions to pay for them. I suspect this consultation has been brought forward slightly in response to pressure from the AMs but TfL did say consultation would be done "soon" and here we are. Don't expect rapid progress simply because so much is "up in the air" about the redevelopment area.

Previous rounds of consultation mooted the possibility of different station locations and others have suggested very radical options. IIRC there is great reluctance to do anything that would entail taking land from the Wormwood Scrubs open land. This would enrage the locals and likely result in planning appeals and a lot of wasted time and money. I think TfL are also trying very hard not to move away from existing rail alignments so as to keep costs down. I think the final related factor is not trying to lose likely development land to transport facilities expect where this is unavoidable e.g. the HS2 stn itself and the road network / bus stands. People are already moaning that the Crossrail depot can't be built over in an affordable way which has reduced the likely housing gain in the area. TfL can't, because of Mayoral policies, be seen to be doing anything that might limit housing or other development in the area. If that means people have walks of around 300m between stations for interchange purposes then so be it.

Clearly there are three things "missing" from the picture - the role of the Central Line in the development area, the possible Hounslow - Hendon / W Hampstead Overground diesel service which recently sprang back to life and the possible Chiltern service down the New North Line from the Ruislips. I think nothing is proposed for the Central Line in terms of extra stations. As for the other two well TfL have said little recently about the possible new Overground service. Local authorities seem to be leading on this but it would run via the Old Oak Common lane station if I've got my bearings right. The recent business case, produced for the local authorities, did make clear that there are some significant issues about junction redesign and bridge replacement for this new route given severe restrictions on possessions in and around Acton Wells. That may be enough to put TfL off from wanting to fund the project. I doubt we've heard the last of this prospective service. I think in better financial conditions for TfL they would probably have embraced it more willingly.

TfL wouldn't be directly involved in a Chiltern related service consultation. If anything were to happen it'd be a matter for the DfT and the next Chiltern franchise from 2021. A new service to OOC has been mooted already but DfT won't consult on the scope of the next Chiltern franchise for a long while.

If they're against an underground link between the two then why not a design similar to West Ham?

To what purpose? Passengers in the Euston area wanting Marylebone/Baker Street service, or vice versa, already have the Circle Line to get from one to t'tother, or they can use the Bakerloo Line from Marylebone to reach Queens Park and beyond, or the Met (from Euston Square) to get to Harrow on the Hill for Chiltern.

In any case, Chiltern runs the fast services on that axis - the semi fasts are run by the Met, and the stoppers by the Jubilee Line, which already has a station there - it's called Swiss Cottage (Curiously it's not listed as an OSI)

Without a metro style local service on the Chiltern line I really can't see the point in extra inner London calls, even at West Hampsted. I need to travel between the extremities of the Met line and NLL / GOBLIN locations on an occasional basis but extra stops on radial services on either the Met or Chiltern are a step too far. For me doubling back through Finchley Road is no big deal.

I think I read somewhere that simply adding passing loops isn't enough. You need a large section four tracked. May be wrong though. 

I have to say, I think in many years to come, we will regret not having linked the overground station properly with old oak common. 

Is it worth it? Really? All Chiltern's stations within Greater London are within a short walk of a Tube station with a much higher frequency than Chiltern will ever manage. And it doesn't connect with anything else except at each end.

You can look at the earlier consultations/plans/proposals. This is the cheapest plan that involves both lines served by OOC.

This thread is specifically about the two Old Oak Common stations and not others so shouldn't the title reflect that?

There's a mention of crossing the Dudding Hill line with a pedestrian bridge but other than that it sticks very much to the proposed buildings (two Overground, one HS2, one Crossrail). The master plan for the site has slipped somewhat and I've lost track of where it ended up.