Here's an outline of the system (the southern route to Crystal Palace and beyond has been cut off, the final "link" section Clapham Jct-Surrey Quays is currently under construction):
The bit we're concerned with today runs from Clapham Junction via West Brompton and Shepherd's Bush to Willesden Junction -- the West London Line. It had no local passenger services at all for a long period, the heavy rail platforms at West Brompton station being rebuilt and reopened only in the late 1990s. At that time Silverlink operated a single, 3-carriage train an hour.
Then London Overground came along, and the service frequency zoomed-up: to two x 3-carriages trains an hour, plus a 4-carriage Southern through-service (originally a very useful Brighton and Gatwick Airport to Willesden Jct service, now a less useful (for me) East Croydon to Milton Keynes service).
This all added up to a total of 10 carriages an hour (or three times the original capacity).
Within a year, the Overground frequency had increased to 4 trains an hour, and each train had been lengthened to 4 carriages. With the through service, that made 20 carriages an hour (or roughly six times the original capacity).
Then the giant Westfield shopping centre opened at Shepherd's Bush, and suddenly this has become the key route from the rich suburbs around Clapham to the Westfield. The WLL is now swamped at pretty much all hours of the working day: standing between Clapham Jct and Shepherd's Bush is the norm.
London Overground has proposed a number of incremental changes: trains to be lengthened to first five carriages, then six (this will require platform lengthening at some stations). Two additional 8-carriage trains an hour to operate a shuttle service between Clapham Junction and Shepherd's Bush (these to be provided by Southern rather than London Overground) -- this will certainly require major platform lengthening at Imperial Wharf, West Brompton and Shepherd's Bush, and probably works at Clapham Junction, too.
Added together, this would provide 44 carriages an hour -- or roughly a 14 times increase in capacity required in just a decade so years. A graphic showing the number of carriages per hour is rather dramatic:
By any measure, this is a staggering growth in traffic and an extraordinary increase in capacity. I'm struggling to think of any other railway in Britain that has experienced such a sustained surge in traffic in such a short period.
It's a remarkable record, and a testament to the vision of the London Overground people. I hope they can pull off the planned capacity increases.
4 comments:
Wonderful! Perhaps CLJ platform 1 will be re-opened.
I often use this service to Willesden Jct and have so far always had a seat from Clapham, even around 5pm.
Really? I may get free upgrades on BA but I think you're luckier: I spend half my life on this service, but usually starting from West Brompton -- by that point there is almost never a seat. I travel either at peak weekday rush-hour (try even getting onto one of these trains at WB at 8.30-ish!), or daytime weekends when the Westfield crowd is out in force. The overcrowding is at tube levels.
Which is a startling contrast to the old Silverlink service that was almost always empty.
Testament to the investment put in by TfL, rather than the neglect shown by BR. If you make your product attractive (new trains, modernised stations, etc) people will use it. If you don't, people will stay away. I'm sure BR could have done similar if they had the will to do so.
I wish we have this type of upgrade and quality in South Wales. The Cardiff Valleys Network is busy but we have to put up with 4 car pacer trains, single track in many places (with a token signal system in one place!) and a conductor selling tickets on the train.
Brilliant blog btw
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