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Slab track is not necessarily the answer especially on soft formations prone to settlement, such as those found on much of GEML. If ballasted track settles, you just tip some more stone and tamp it back to level. If a slab track settles you are into a world of pain.
Each additional stop introduced further reduced the capacity of the route. An extra stop between Farnborough and Brookwood would probably have quite a severe effect on performance.
I have never hear of any plans for a Oxford - Gatwick service either. I cant see where it would ever fit in with all the other services that are planning to use Oxford and with the capacity constraints on the lines between there and here I cant see it ever happening.
All very nice but the problem with reinstating the chord between the Ascot-Ash Vale and SWML is that there is no capacity on SWML to take those trains unless a Basingstoke service is sacrificed, and you can guess how popular that would be.
Also the junction would need to be grade separated...
CWR does NOT have regular expansion gaps every few hundred metres. To prevent buckling it is stretched to the length it would be on a warm day before being welded up and fastened down. The whoosh you hear as a train approaches is because sound waves from the wheel sets travel much faster through...
it depends on usage of course but an overall figure of 30-35 years is a common assumption. Individual components may last less (eg 10yrs for rail, 15 for ballast).
Brookwood is OK, just outside Woking/Knaphill, BIG Sainsburys nearby and some nice countryside. Decent service with parking. Cheaper than Woking/Guildford. Big cemetery nearby too.....
You wont achieve your 45min target to the Wharf from the SWT area outside the M25. The best you will do is about 1hr15 from Farnborough. You have the (very crowded) Jubilee line to deal with once you get to Waterloo.
Good luck.
Hi
I have recently commuted to Canary W from Camberley. Any options using the Windsor/Reading lines you are likely to find to be very slow and crowded. SWT aren't promising 10 coach services until end 2014. Farnborough is a better, faster option with better services although more expensive...
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