Heathrow Connect to Aldgate?

IIRC, this was talked about when Heathrow Express was introduced: BAA were fairly keen to have the train serve Central London rather than terminate on the outskirts at Paddington.

There was no spare capacity on the northern Circle or at any reasonable terminating point, so it got no further than talk.

Again, wont happen. Congestion is at a premium. Cost of OHLE?

Wasnt it suggested years ago, to divert it at Acton onto the NLL, again, a very congested route. On to Willesden, Dudding Hill link, onto MML metals at Cricklewood, thence to St Pancras.

build a link between the Bakerloo and Hammersmith and City, in order to make the space for trains on the northern circle. the H&C west of Paddington is more like the DLR in terms of station spacing than an SSL with fairly big trains, it can be an equal branch of the Bakerloo (upping frequency in the middle).

Or, 4 track the Circle between Praed Street and Farringdon, then rebuild the link between Moorgate and Liverpool Street Mainline, and don't bother building Crossrail (which would fund it and more).

Treachery to let NR trains on LU metals? Dont forget a lot of the underground is ex-mainline.

....provided they keep themselves to themselves

What on earth is the point of reducing capacity?

not if that line is Crossrail, which seemingly is designed to cost as much as possible (mainline gauge, tunnels longer than needed, OHLE in tunnels, huge grand stations, etc), though admittedly things like a lack of City Airport station, ending short of Reading, and so on do lower the cost slightly, though if you are going to spend shed loads of money, the extra 2 or 3% shouldn't be hard to do, especially seeing as how much better it would make the scheme.

Anyway, 4 tracking was my fantasy scheme (though would be cheaper than crossrail-as-is for all the same benefits) - the cheap way would be, as I suggested, to link the H&C beyond Paddington to the Bakerloo, and then plug the H&C into the lines out of Paddington, taking over the Heathrow services, which wouldn't cost that much at all as it's about a mile of new track and some more trains for the Bakerloo, and having some dual voltage S stock to serve Heathrow (or a reelectrification, which might be cheaper, but is more annoying)

I think it makes perfect sense to make an effort to get Heathrow Connect into the monster that King's Cross/St. Pancras/Thameslink is becoming. Through connections to Eurostar, three quarters of England with the main line and 6(!) London Underground lines.

Still, it should be using main line track and not making life for the Circle Line any more miserable than it already is.