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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2010 12:19:45 GMT
Did Boris saved Crossrail from being cut/scrapped? www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11251580"Nowhere is the clash with the Cameron government likely to appear more bruising than over the £16bn Crossrail project, which will connect the City, West End and Heathrow to areas east and west of the capital. One aide suggested it would be "an eyeball-to-eyeball" confrontation but, despite the public posturing, Mr Johnson appears to have won already. Tory MP Stephen Hammond, who is the prime minister's link man on London, said the coalition government clearly wanted Mr Johnson to win, and to win well. "I think there are a number of things where the national government is going to assist - the commitment to Crossrail and the commitment to making sure Boris will be able to make sure there is enough finance available to make sure the Tube upgrades happen," he said." Discuss! |
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Post by DrOne on Sept 10, 2010 14:05:47 GMT
Well that makes sense. Everyone knows (and accepts??) that the tories are here to make cuts. Although Boris is a Tory it won't hurt his re-election campaign if he appears to take on government to secure funding for a big London project like Crossrail. Whichever way the "confrontation" is reported its win-win for them. Same with the reported immigration "confrontation". I'll get excited when its up and running and they actually put the capacity at the western end to good use (but that is a discussion for elsewhere  ). |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2010 14:32:40 GMT
Well, if Boris will save the Crossrail - he will certainly get my vote in 2012. There are certain projects which just have to be built, no matter how bad the economy is - and Crossrail is one of those.
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Post by Chris M on Sept 10, 2010 15:49:24 GMT
There are certain projects which just have to be built, no matter how bad the economy is - and Crossrail is one of those. And I think central government recognises this, which is why it is my opinion that if Crossrail gets built, it will have very little to do with Boris (i.e. it would get built whomever was sitting in the mayor's seat). |
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Sept 10, 2010 15:55:22 GMT
But in full? - - - watch for the western terminus to be cut back (perhaps under the excuse of not enough capacity on the GWML west of........). It would still be proclaimed as a 'massive victory'.  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2010 16:04:17 GMT
There are cuts which can be easily reversed in the future (surface termini, train length) and cuts which are permanent in practice (deep level stations and exits from them, length of platforms in tunnels). I just hope that if there will be cuts - they will be of the former kind.
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Post by DrOne on Sept 10, 2010 16:50:45 GMT
But in full? - - - watch for the western terminus to be cut back (perhaps under the excuse of not enough capacity on the GWML west of........). It would still be proclaimed as a 'massive victory'. That could well prove true. Wouldn't be as bad as cutting any of the other termini though. In fact I'd trade an extension to Gravesend for Maidenhead. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2010 16:11:54 GMT
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10323035Whether or not Crossrail comes up in the Spending review scheduled for 20/10/2010 is another matter. But I think I read somewhere last week that Network Rail have made some changes to practices of construction and design which have they believe will save £800million. They've been submitted to Crossrail Ltd and are being reviewed. My opinion is that electrification of GWML (alongwith IC Express programme) will be cut and so CR will be scaled back to Heathrow as the Western most terminating destination.Ideally, I would like to see it extended to Reading in the West and Gravesend with intermediate stations at Dartford and Ebsfleet Itl.
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Post by DrOne on Sept 11, 2010 21:54:39 GMT
Something ocurred to me the other day: Is cutting back the western end compatible with having exclusive use of the slow lines?
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Sept 11, 2010 22:13:09 GMT
Something ocurred to me the other day: Is cutting back the western end compatible with having exclusive use of the slow lines? If they decide not to electrify GWML any further it's game over for Crossrail going the distance. |
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Post by DrOne on Sept 11, 2010 22:15:15 GMT
"Going the distance"?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2010 22:18:46 GMT
I think he means Crossrail going to Reading |
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Post by andypurk on Sept 12, 2010 0:14:42 GMT
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10323035Whether or not Crossrail comes up in the Spending review scheduled for 20/10/2010 is another matter. But I think I read somewhere last week that Network Rail have made some changes to practices of construction and design which have they believe will save £800million. They've been submitted to Crossrail Ltd and are being reviewed. My opinion is that electrification of GWML (alongwith IC Express programme) will be cut and so CR will be scaled back to Heathrow as the Western most terminating destination.Ideally, I would like to see it extended to Reading in the West and Gravesend with intermediate stations at Dartford and Ebsfleet Itl. I think it unlikely that Crossrail will have the western extension to Maidenhead cut. A couple of reasons being that Crossrail is needed to cope with overcrowding on the Paddington suburban trains and that more money would need to be spent on reversing facilities outside Paddington for the 6 tph which are planned to run beyond Heathrow Junction (on top of the 14 tph already only running to Paddington). One of the most expensive bits of the western extension is the rebuilding of the flyover for the Heathrow branch, which would need to be done whether or not the line runs to Maidenhead. I think it is more likely that the fitting out of Abbey Wood branch will be delayed until after the Shenfield route has been finished. Also, the plans for electrification of the GWML are not a prerequisite for Crossrail to reach Maidenhead, as the original plan was for the Crossrail project to undertake the electrification this far. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2010 16:12:23 GMT
An obvious cut would be the refurbing of the existing stations on the GWML and GEML. Supposedly, Ealing Broadway (to pick an example because it's the one that matters to me) is supposed to receive a massive facelift as part of the Crossrail works. This could be cut because it could easily be done later when we're not in such financial straits. That would be far better than scaling down the expensive tunnelling works where we would have to live with it.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Sept 13, 2010 6:26:26 GMT
I think he means Crossrail going to Reading Yes, exactly. Sorry!! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2010 8:34:07 GMT
Why should Crossrail go to Reading? Anyone as far out as reading wanting to get into London will probably find it much quicker to use FGW rather than catch Crossrail which will stop at every village and its dog on the way in. It's like that time early in my Tube going days when I needed to get from Victoria to Baker Street and I opted for the Circle line. I chose it because it was simple, a direct service despite the fact that playing jiggy with the tubes would be a quicker way to do it.
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Post by andypurk on Sept 13, 2010 11:37:30 GMT
Why should Crossrail go to Reading? Anyone as far out as reading wanting to get into London will probably find it much quicker to use FGW rather than catch Crossrail which will stop at every village and its dog on the way in. It's like that time early in my Tube going days when I needed to get from Victoria to Baker Street and I opted for the Circle line. I chose it because it was simple, a direct service despite the fact that playing jiggy with the tubes would be a quicker way to do it. Crossrail will get to Reading in the end, in order to serve journeys between intermediate stations. Remember that Reading is currently served by slow trains from Paddington, on the relief lines. These will have to run on the main lines from Maidenhead once Crossrail starts. The services currently planned will lead to a reduction in through trains from Reading and Twyford to places such as Slough, Hayes (for Heathrow) and Ealing Broadway, with passengers having to change at Maidenhead. |
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