Whitechapel (EN) and Crossrail

Quite so ! It will become an emergency reversing point only, that will almost never be used unless their are engineering works, because it will delay the through service. Like those at Bromley-by-Bow, Embankment and so on. West Ham is too far east to be an adequate substitute. Whitechapel's main District useage is to turn odd trains during disruption to plug gaps in the West or particularly Eastbound. Especially useful as Mile End becomes very crowded very quickly during peak times. It also gets used to "thin" Westbound services when there is city congestion because of some problem. Again most passengers can get to the adequate substitute of the Central Line at Mile End (The Jubilee is no use as a District substitute it goes too far off the beaten path).

Crossrail will not be any use as a substitute for most District Line customers, so this loss of Whitechapel's flexibility is going to be a poor show.

Probably the wrong place for this, but .....

Royal Oak was used just after 7/7 (2005) when the H&Cs couldn't reach Edgware Road. Trains ran Hammersmith - Paddington (platform 16), then wrong line on the EB back to Royal Oak and across the crossover. It was only ever the intention to use the crossover at Royal Oak for engineers trains.

As for Totteridge, whilst it is still there, I am fairly sure it wouldn't be immediately available for use any more. On that basis, I would be surprised if anyone was still trained on it and it would be more aggravation than it is worth to turn trains there. It was last used on a regular basis when there was the landslip at Totteridge.

And as for East Putney - this is 'main line' stuff and I certainly can't remember it being used for many years. Maybe the last time was when the then Southern Region operated an East Putney (Up SR platform) - Wimbledon shuttle because of District Line engineering work? On the first occasion (1978 I think) the two shuttles comprised a 4-CEP and a 4-VEP. On the second I think it was two new 508s.

I am trying to recall if North Ealing was a GF? I was around when it was being removed, and yet the consensus was that it was likely to prove very handy 'in the future'. I have of course heard reasons for its demise but an emergency crossover there could have proven handy and arguably well-used. However, I feel that it stands out as an example of when a reversing facility is removed, subsequently it proves to be a mistake. As I asked before, will the new arrangement at Whitechapel be used other than in the anticipated rare circumstances?

Again - off topic, but -

North Ealing:

* Box at west end of EB platform. Closed by end-1906, believed demolished soon after.
* Ground frame provided from late-1906.
* Replacement ground frame west of station from 04.05.1941.
* Ground frame abolished 19.06.1971.

Originally it was intended for engineers trains (and was installed for their movement during a track replacement project in the early 1990s). However, the use of it following 7/7 was by utilising the "Royal Oak Ground Plan" which had been published years before, but rarely used.

There was one other time it was fully used for service. There was one weekend I recall (sometime in the 1990s) when I think engineering work was taking place in the Edgware Road area (it could well have been when Edgware Road was re-signalled in 1996 but I'm not certain).

Single-Line working was used between Royal Oak and Hammersmith (using both east and westbound roads.) However, at Royal Oak, trains were taken from the single-line working and sent using just the eastbound road to Paddington. Cannot recall why the single-line working for both roads could not be used all the way to Paddington, but think it would be related to protection arrangements beyond Paddington.

It's possible I'm confusing 2 separate shutdowns, but in any case there has been one other time Royal Oak was used to run a service. One thing is certain, they should have powered the crossover and stuck a switch in Edgware Road cabin so it could be used remotely. Would have cost a fair bit, but the advantages would soon have paid for it.