Recent content by Shalford

HS/2 is a classic 'Basket Case' a few issues to ponder a) The original benefit proposed that by serving Birmingham Airport it would provide extra capacity for Heathrow as it could be accessed so quickly from London b) Replacing the 390's by a new fleet proposed by Chris Gibb which appear to...

An aspect of this proposal is that provided the link is established to Terminal 5 and then either by change of train or by through services it allows passengers from South West Suburbs and out to Basingstoke, Guildford to access HS/2 at Oak Common. This might spare some governmental blushes due...

SWR no surprise. The lines out of Waterloo have been treated as a cash cow for years (SWT used to make a 'profit' under the DfT mad accountancy) with little investment in the basic infrastructure (apart from Waterloo) for what is one of the most intensively used parts of the rail network. It...

Having had a day last week where I used a 442 up and down from Guildford to Waterloo including a non-stop service on return via Effingham. Smart refurbish some think they are new trains - seats OK, ride nothing special. I still think they are fundamentally wrong for the Portsmouth Line - they...

Guildford - as correctly identified, has a horrible walk down one of the most polluted, and accident prone, one way systems in the country. Guildford Station is a example of how not to do Station planning. Network Rail, Surrey Council and Guildford Borough Council have failed to work...

Portsmouth Direct New Flyover from Aldershot line over north throat of Guildford Station to enable easier crossing of North Downs Line and Portsmouth Traffic. Also provides for new east west services extending New Line Services to Aldershot etc (Reverse at Guildford). New Platforms at...

The other point on the 442's is that the Direct to Portsmouth is a mix of heavy commuter load particularly from Haslemere inwards to Waterloo and longer distance traffic to Portsmouth. There are also some big local flows e.g. Guildford, Godalming etc. The small vestibule and door is going to...

Another reason to get this infrastructure built is for the proposed southern link to Heathrow that in some of the proposals will terminate in Basingstoke/Guildford having joined the South West Mainline via the junction at Byfleet. The service frequency looks like 2TPH to both destinations.

Thanks for the comments on my post. A key point is that the rail strategy is I believe 2015 and has little detail of what would happen to Guildford though there was a draft fuller layout posted by NR at one stage. The key issue is to ensure the Station operational footprint is preserved to a...

Guildford has many challenges, including a possible virtual doubling, if all the current ideas come to fruition, of train movements (including 6 TPH Portsmouth, 4TPH North Downs, 2TPH to Heathrow, increased New Line Services , Woking Stoppers,etc.). Platform 0 is almost within the footprint...