28 June (Part 1) - Crossrail. Taken far too literally
Councillor
John Waters was right about the downgrading of the passenger interchange facilities at Abbey Wood’s Crossrail station but just with
their hand wringing over Queen Mary’s Hospital
two years ago, Bexley council is powerless to do anything about it, the deed is already done.
A reader has drawn my attention to the current issue of Modern Railways
magazine. The gist of their report as it affects Abbey Wood station is that the
original design had Crossrail trains terminating in platforms sandwiched between
the North Kent Line platforms. The redesign puts the Crossrail island platform
on the north side of the station, with North Kent trains using an island to the
south. This means that changing trains will involve either a footbridge or a
subway, much less convenient than before.
The reason for the change is that Crossrail has specified some berthing
sidings to be built at the Plumstead tunnel portal, which would be impossible to
include if the Crossrail lines emerged between the North Kent running lines. The
sidings will permit rolling stock to be kept near Abbey Wood overnight, reducing
the need for empty stock movement back to Old Oak Common at the end of the day's
service, and thus also extending the period that the line can be taken over for
engineering work during the night.
The first plans I saw for Crossrail showed track extending for half a mile beyond Abbey
Wood station towards Belvedere. I suspect that is still on the cards as several
surveys and bore holes have been made in that area, but you can imagine how many
carriage windows would be left intact if trains were parked overnight alongside Alsike Road.
Anyone who has been on a train between Abbey Wood and Plumstead is likely to
have noticed that the ramp to the tunnel portal is to the north of the existing
tracks and is wide enough for two tracks. Councillor John Waters is right but
he has well and truly missed the boat. And the train.
Index to more Crossrail blogs.