Post by gal06 on Dec 10, 2006 1:49:46 GMT
After more than 160 years of service, North London Line services to North Woolwich have come to an end.
The line, which once hosted many journeys and played a vital part in the area's docklands, has been neglected for many years and seen both North Woolwich and Silvertown stations reduced to just one platform and one line of track which severely reduced the level of service to about every 20-minutes.
The area will now solely be operated by the Docklands Light Railway on the City Airport extension, which opened in December 2005.
The track decommissioned by the North London Line is earmarked for use as part of the proposed Crossrail service to and from the Abbey Wood branch, though bored tunnels would have to be built to transport it across the river just as the DLR are doing currently to get over to Woolwich Arsenal.
Despite the docklands coming to an end in the area and the train service reduced to single platforms and single tracks, the line remained a vital part of the commuters access to areas like Canning Town, Stratford and connections to the city.
The two stations in the area were also handily placed, with North Woolwich a 2-minute walk from the ferry, and 2-minute walk from neighbouring council estates, and Silvertown served all commuters from Albert Road and the side streets from it.
I believe the reason they have decommissioned this line and built the route for the DLR is solely down to service for London City Airport, at the expense of the handy station locations for the community.
The replacement stations on the DLR, London City Airport (replacing Silvertown) and King George V (replacing North Woolwich) are quite a way apart and in much more isolated locations, I'm not surprised the local community are not happy.
One of the other reasons they are abandoning this line is because the usage of the DLR extension over the last year has been lower than expected with the North London line still doing good business despite the competition.
Quite a humiliation for a mayor that must throw millions at researching new route building only to find that the old route is still superior to the community! No wonder he has closed it - to save face!
Also, the North London Line had a handy link onto the middle of the Docklands Light Railway's Beckton branch, that brought you out at Custom House where you could change. For this reason, I'm surprised and feel an opportunity has been missed to turn the line to DLR control where you can connect to the Beckton branch without having to go all the way back to Canning Town.
Perhaps, in the long-run Crossrail will be built and take over this section of track and Ken will be proved right, commuters will get their DLR train from King George V and London City Airport without any hastle.
More than likely, I think Crossrail will never be funded and a great opportunity will be missed for the DLR extension, one that could have saved millions.
In my view, the extension should have been re-aligned to come off after going to London City Airport and sloped down onto a bridge to Silvertown, which would have been re-furbished with a second platform and track added.
It would then have carried on down Albert Road before going underground to a new North Woolwich station that would be in a tunnel, just like the DLR did with Island Gardens Station, which is now underground. It would then carry on in the tunnel under the river to Woolwich Arsenal, where the line would terminate.
Services to Woolwich Arsenal could be every 6-minutes, with one train going to Bank or Statford International by going past Silvertown and up the ramp via London City Airport, while the others could go via the former North London Line tunnel through to Custom House and meeting up with the City Airport trains at Canning Town. That would see a 12-minute service for City Airport and 12-minutes via the tunnel to Canning Town.
I feel Ken has got it all wrong, the North London line transformation has been wasted . . .
The line, which once hosted many journeys and played a vital part in the area's docklands, has been neglected for many years and seen both North Woolwich and Silvertown stations reduced to just one platform and one line of track which severely reduced the level of service to about every 20-minutes.
The area will now solely be operated by the Docklands Light Railway on the City Airport extension, which opened in December 2005.
The track decommissioned by the North London Line is earmarked for use as part of the proposed Crossrail service to and from the Abbey Wood branch, though bored tunnels would have to be built to transport it across the river just as the DLR are doing currently to get over to Woolwich Arsenal.
Despite the docklands coming to an end in the area and the train service reduced to single platforms and single tracks, the line remained a vital part of the commuters access to areas like Canning Town, Stratford and connections to the city.
The two stations in the area were also handily placed, with North Woolwich a 2-minute walk from the ferry, and 2-minute walk from neighbouring council estates, and Silvertown served all commuters from Albert Road and the side streets from it.
I believe the reason they have decommissioned this line and built the route for the DLR is solely down to service for London City Airport, at the expense of the handy station locations for the community.
The replacement stations on the DLR, London City Airport (replacing Silvertown) and King George V (replacing North Woolwich) are quite a way apart and in much more isolated locations, I'm not surprised the local community are not happy.
One of the other reasons they are abandoning this line is because the usage of the DLR extension over the last year has been lower than expected with the North London line still doing good business despite the competition.
Quite a humiliation for a mayor that must throw millions at researching new route building only to find that the old route is still superior to the community! No wonder he has closed it - to save face!
Also, the North London Line had a handy link onto the middle of the Docklands Light Railway's Beckton branch, that brought you out at Custom House where you could change. For this reason, I'm surprised and feel an opportunity has been missed to turn the line to DLR control where you can connect to the Beckton branch without having to go all the way back to Canning Town.
Perhaps, in the long-run Crossrail will be built and take over this section of track and Ken will be proved right, commuters will get their DLR train from King George V and London City Airport without any hastle.
More than likely, I think Crossrail will never be funded and a great opportunity will be missed for the DLR extension, one that could have saved millions.
In my view, the extension should have been re-aligned to come off after going to London City Airport and sloped down onto a bridge to Silvertown, which would have been re-furbished with a second platform and track added.
It would then have carried on down Albert Road before going underground to a new North Woolwich station that would be in a tunnel, just like the DLR did with Island Gardens Station, which is now underground. It would then carry on in the tunnel under the river to Woolwich Arsenal, where the line would terminate.
Services to Woolwich Arsenal could be every 6-minutes, with one train going to Bank or Statford International by going past Silvertown and up the ramp via London City Airport, while the others could go via the former North London Line tunnel through to Custom House and meeting up with the City Airport trains at Canning Town. That would see a 12-minute service for City Airport and 12-minutes via the tunnel to Canning Town.
I feel Ken has got it all wrong, the North London line transformation has been wasted . . .