STAR and Tottenham Hale updates

There is generally space for quadrupling between Coppermill and Broxbourne junctions. A major constraint is level crossings, which would have to be eliminated.
I do not recollect the main route to and from Cambridge being other than straight down the Lea Valley line, Coppermill Jc, Clapton Jc and into LV via Hackney Downs and the fast lines. There were occasional diversions of course.
The Lea Valley line was not electrified for some 8-9 years after Chingford. I used to use Angel Rd station a bit; it was more or less still a wayside country station. There was disused and semi-lifted track, the remnants of goods loops and gasworks everywhere, all covered in weeds and detritus. The trackbed of the original Enfield line was still intact.
Think I'm right in saying there was no passenger service between Stratford and Coppermill Jc at all for a few years after Lea Bridge closed in 1985

Quick update:

They are putting in cable troughs alongside the stretch between Tottenham Hale and Coppermill Junction.

There has also been significant clearing going on between Tottenham Hale and Lea Bridge.

The wall that existed just after Tottenham Hale that was between the railway and Ferry Lane has been demolished and a metal fence erected alongside the road side

I have a definite memory that four tracking as mentioned was in fact planned in detail by the LNER way back, before it became BR. Maybe that was due to pre 1939 traffics - loads of coal southbound, or maybe wartime requirements for the various ROF type installations. I think there are some culverts etc already widened.

Erm.... a large chunk of the Lea Valley line was 4 tracked well before the late 1930s (2 passenger lines, 2 goods lines) - it was the decline in freight traffic during the late 60s that saw the goods lines removed by BR. The culverts / bridges have thus not been widened speculatively, but are things that became redundant and have sat unused for the past 40 years or so.

The current STAR works will effectively reinstate these goods lines and add platforms (such things not being necessary in their former incarnation) with redundant structures being bought back into use.

Network Rail seem to be doing a lot of veg' clearance at the moment in various parts of the country.

Sorry to bump. Any updates on any aspects of this project? Not my area of London, you see.

Thank you. What is the eventual anticipated end-game of the project currently? I understand its only a third track at the moment, but where between?
Is full four-tracking between Coppermill and Broxbourn still an aspiration? If so, how likely is it to occur?

When i was a lad!! back in the 50's i used to live near Picketts Lock SB where the four track section Started. There is a brook running on the east side about 10ft from the SB track which would have precluded any four track further north. From Ponders End onwards building and Bridges/LC etc also made it impossible. Since the four track section was removed ( late 60's?) a relief road has been built to the east of the still existing brook from the North Circular to Ponders End. Also more building has gone on north of here which makes it a rather big job should they wish to extend it to Broxbourne. The third track is only going to go to Angel Road, if i have read the notices at Northumberland Park Stn, but as i wont be going there for the next 12 months i cannot give you any updates,but in May it seems there was some scrub clearance going on. Also Park LC is to be closed. ( Oh might have an update Monday as taking BiL to see the New White Hart Lane football ground.)

I saw an options document about 18-24 months ago which included a range of track plans that have been refined and rejected as cost estimates rose and the funding remained the same. City Hall used to publish the papers for meetings held by funding and development bodies it controlled. The one channelling money to support housing development had papers about STAR. Unfortunately all those papers have been taken offline since the new Mayor came in with the "most transparent administraion ever". No meeting papers are published for those bodies now - just funding decisions that the Mayor and his deputies sign off. They somehow believe this is "better" and "more efficient". They have failed to define who it is better for though.

I understand the STAR service will be half hourly but supplemented by 2 main line services also stopping to give a 15 min headway. However a pure clockface timetable has not been guaranteed by the DfT during peak periods because of track capacity issues. London Reconnections reported on Enfield Council's court case on the train service requirement which Enfield felt was not what was needed to support the development at Meridian Water. Enfield lost their challenge.

This Network Rail project rail gives a tiny bit more info on the work they are doing.

www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/anglia/lee-valley-rail-programme/

Unfortunately it is not entirely clear what they are doing at Tottenham Hale as it refers to extra tracks (plural) which implies two tracks but only mentions a new island platform. I take this to mean a new platform face being added to the existing southbound platform. I assume the new platform will be worked bi-directionally. The service is going to be very tightly run given it must be 10 or 11 mins from just south of Coppermill Junction to Angel Road (looking at the public timetable). This gives a likely turnround time of only 6 or 7 mins at Meridian Water if the train is to leave the single track section just in time to avoid the northbound shuttle having to stop and wait for access to the third train. Heaven help the operators if they have any sort of major failure as those are very thin margins. It also implies a 15-16 minute turnround time at Stratford which means both platforms 11 and 12 will be in use or the shuttle may have to interwork with the mainline service to B Stortford / Hertford E. I had sort of assumed the shuttle would be standalone but it doesn't look the most effective way of working.

The interesting assumption is that Northumberland Park and Meridian Water will presumably gain a Sunday service on the mainline as well as from STAR in order to give the daily 15 min headway service. That'll be a tad revolutionary for that part of North London. Looking at the Anglia franchise train service requirement (TSR) is a right old mess - the core service requirement is very limited for N Park and Meridian Water in terms of main line services. It is supplemented by a further appendix for STAR with the implication that a lot of the extra frequency is provided by the shuttle service. That can't be done if there is a single track and no passing loop at T Hale. I wonder if the people who specced the TSR spoke to the people who designed the STAR tracks? It'll be interesting to see what Abellio actually run in terms of a timetable. Passengers for N Park and Meridian Water are going to have a whale of a time at T Hale working out what platform to go to for their train and then making sure they get on the right one. Not sure how familiar London passengers are with bi-directional platform working [1] other than at stub end terminals like Mill Hill East and Gospel Oak (GOBLIN).

[1] I want to go to Northumberland Park.

Yes the next train is on platform 3 over there and the one following will be on platform 1. However do pay attention on platform 3 because the first train to actually arrive will be going to Stratford.

I thought you said the train from P3 was going to N Park?

Yes I did but trains go in two directions from P3.

Eh? I thought trains always went in one direction from a platform

Well yes they *normally* do but P3 works differently.

etc etc

I thought Sundridge Park had 2 platforms? Is only one used these days?

Many of which are low frequency services. Isn't West Croydon a terminating platform plus two through tracks? I've never seen trains routinely run both ways on each of the through tracks. Wimbledon P9 is probably the busiest all day working of both directions on one platform.

I'll bow to your superior knowledge but aren't the London Bridge examples peak hour working patterns - one direction in the AM and reversed for the PM?