Croxley link cancelled

Reinstating the old Croxley Green Line (CGL) style of service, between Ascot Road and Watford Junction just brings back the question of viability. If it was scaled down to a peak-time morning shuttle in 1993, closed finally in 1996, to be replaced by an on-demand taxi service and then finally removed from the NRT (National Rail Timetable) in 2003, all on account of not being viable, what hope is there for the service today? The CGL was only single track, by the way, not the double tracking as planned for the MLX, and the subsequent trackbed widening required meant that the substation at the West Watford Station site would prevent the reuse of that site as a station stop. They favoured the Vicarage Road site as a replacement for both West Watford and Watford Stadium. There is apparently some issue with putting a station actually on the hospital site, to do with inter-station distances, despite the fact that the station will be some distance from the hospital AND uphill. The multi-storey car park with lifts now proposed for the site has been added in response to complaints that the expansive surface level car park restricts access for the less mobile, though some cynics, myself included, would say that it's a cheaper way of freeing up even more of the area for housing.

Certainly single tracking the line would cut costs enormously as you only need half a station then as well.

It's interesting to note that there's a 24 storey high rise and other residences planned for the area immediately next to the proposed Cassiobridge (Ascot Road) station, and the 750 homes on the Hospital site (formerly the Watford Health Campus and now known officially as the Riverwell development and the Trade City development), only exist because of the transport links the MLX was going to provide.

I take your point and appreciate you are playing devils advocate here, but such a reasoning seems to me the tail wagging the dog. The problem is, and always has been, that Watford Met is poorly situated for the town centre, and the Croxley Green/Ricky branches were not ideal either. Better access to Watford Hospital is incidental to this, as indeed is the redevelopment now of the area around the branch; redevelopment was originally justified as piggy-backing on the link occurring. Redefining the problem to be that of access to Watford Hospital is disingenuous as local access is a sub-issue of the entire project. Redefining the problem will likely lead to a redefined solution, but that not because the original problem has gone away or been solved; merely that its chosen to be ignored or un-prioritised.

IMHO the main benefits of rail are in the entire link occuring between the Watford DC and the Met, which in turn open up opportunities nobody has even fully explored yet at some point in the future. As soon as you start talking about a stump-branch to serve the hospital (poorly by the sounds of it if the uphill thing is true), then you may as well resort to a rapid bus link between Rickmansworth and WJ stations, as you'd get better connectivity (both ends), more convenient boarding points, and a far far cheaper bill. As soon as the viaduct goes, so too will the main rationale for the project. And if austerity and budget cuts do become a permanent way of life, as the former Chancellor stated was intended, I would expect it to be dropped or descoped come the next axe to public funding.


OT baseless proposal:

I'd look long and hard at pushing Cassiobridge station to a later stage, leaving passive provision. Someone else said somewhere that Watford Met will still be used to terminate some trains as not all will work through to the junction, albeit with trains turfing out at Croxley. I'd investigate leaving it open until funds are found for Cassiobridge. I'd try to scalp a larger s106 contribution from whatever local authority is standing to gain from redevelopment, or investigate a business levy for the local area. Further, I'd approach Chiltern and see if there was anything they might be willing to bring to the table in exchange for pathing rights.

It would allow services from Watford Junction to Amersham and beyond, which will be a very useful link on a regional level but almost entirely irrelevant to London so it should not be TfL's bill.

You are onto something there trt. As you and indeed I suspect Mayor Khan realise the real benefits for this project will fall to Watford and its environs, so if they really want better transport, then its their pocket that needs to find the missing cash for the current project to proceed.

Just reinstating the old Croxley Green line without the viaduct link seems an ill thought through plea to reinstate an economic Albatross which BR was very pleased to let wither on the vine. One might indeed speculate what really lies behind this idea emerging now. Did the planners give unwise assurances to developers about the new link to trigger the recent wave of new building near the proposed route?

Sadly the overheads of heavy rail means you need to be able to garantee it will see strong and predictable patronage to be viable - especially on a route which is largely doubled by a regular subsidised bus service which but for a few trips per day is rarely full. The fact some of the right of way may be available for free is only a marginal plus as clearly the old route is still going to need massive and costly renovation without the viaduct. Just look at some of the web-blogs and you will see much of the old infrastructure is in a dire state which in the current H&S environment cannot be sorted with a few gallons of weedkiller!

It would generate additional track access charges though.

That's interesting. Wonder if most of those people are actually working in London, or locally? I'm only thinking of past errors in railways where there were actually major employers locally that the railway missed serving & trams & buses mopped up-Lea Valley & Greenwich Park branch spring to mind, although a very long time ago in both cases.

If it was somewhere like Loughton which is in technically in Essex but functions far more as a part of London, then that would be one thing, but Watford is clearly its own settlement.

Neigh Neigh, she's serious.

Wouldn't you be, if someone else was paying for most of it?

Err, have they decided yet where to stable the stock?

Have to calculate the horse power first.

I think the problems go back a wee bit further. I get the distinct impression from what I've read over the years that HCC were a bit gung ho in trying to get this scheme through. While there was a business case for the scheme it only worked if the scheme was cheap to deliver. It's clear that HCC had assumed land values which were somewhat outrageous when it came to the point of transfer where TfL valued them at zero. I don't think the funding package on the Herts side of things will unravel due to one party. It looks to me as if several funding channels were used simply as a way of getting the money to the right place. Quite why you need a Local Enterprise Panel alongside District and County councils is beyond me but that's the structure the politicians have imposed. At some point I expect the funding may expire if it's in the form of a grant or payment from central government although they can agree to extend such things if they wish.

We have done this argument many times before but it looks like the project was not properly scoped or risk assessed. The more you delay things the more at risk you are of further design changes because legislation and standards change. You also get programme discontinuities like signalling and track projects causing shifting scope. I also suspect that TfL manage projects very differently to HCC who are more used to Highway schemes when it comes to transport. Building a railway and stations and tying it into a wider network is somewhat different from roads although there are a fair few similarities and common engineering skills. One day it might get resolved but I suspect the next opportunity for any movement is the Budget this coming Autumn - a traditional time for spending or project issues to be "solved" (assuming the parties want or can reach a solution and that may even mean scheme cancellation and money being used for something else). Who wants to bet on a new road local network being created instead?

Is it just me being facetious, or does The Watford Elevated Railway float your boat?

Viaducts across Watford, Croxley, Cassiopark, Elstree & turning Hertfordshire into the new Chicago.