Dalston Junction to Rectory Road link

[adamedwards]

Dalston Junction to Rectory Road is roughly one mile. So I propose a tunnel to connect the two. London Overground run both lines. Trains from Clapham Junction and New Cross which terminate at Dalston Junction would then extend north to Enfield Town and Cheshunt to give a tube like frequency on the Southbury lines. With Shoreditch High St a viable alternative for the City, some services into Liverpool St might be removed to allow more trains on other lines. New AC/DC trains will be needed, but not a major barrier. One mile of tunnel creates a significantly improved cross London route with out the mega costs of a Crossrail 2 type scheme.

Now what have I failed to allow for with my crayoning? And are there any other places in London where a mile of tunnel would be as good or better?

 

[JonathanH]

Shoreditch High St a viable alternative for the City

Maybe, but still an extra ten minutes walk for passengers who work west of Liverpool Street and the loss of connections to other parts of the network. Could Whitechapel take the extra passengers connecting? I appreciate that they would drop onto Crossrail there but it is slower than going into Liverpool Street.

Do the Southbury lines need a tube-like frequency?

Where are you going to put the tunnel portals? I don't think you can go 'straight on' at Dalston Junction.

If the trains on the Southbury lines no longer ran into Liverpool Street, would the Chingford trains have to pick up stops at Cambridge Heath and London Fields? What is the freed up capacity going to be used for?

 

[Railwaysceptic]

If something like this were ever going to be done, it should have been done at the same time as the creation of the entire route between Dalston and Whitechapel. We could then have added sub-surface platforms to Dalston/Kingsland station.

As the advantages to passenger from Enfield are so questionable, it would have been more helpful to more people to have extended the tunnel to South Tottenham station and Tottenham Hale.

 

[swt_passenger]

If something like this were ever going to be done, it should have been done at the same time as the creation of the entire route between Dalston and Whitechapel. We could then have added sub-surface platforms to Dalston/Kingsland station.

They’d have to be pretty deep to get them under HS1…. There’d be an ambitious gradient between Haggerston and Dalston.

 

[JonathanH]

We could then have added sub-surface platforms to Dalston/Kingsland station.

Dalston Junction is already sub-surface - there is a big drop down from Haggerston. Isn't Crossrail 2 meant to go underneath?

 

[zwk500]

Now what have I failed to allow for with my crayoning? And are there any other places in London where a mile of tunnel would be as good or better?

At the moment you can do this journey with a short hop on the Victoria line between Seven Sisters and Highbury & islington. Is there demonstrable demand for a tunnel to be built? There is passive provision at Dalston Junction for a curve towards Stratford, which would probably be better value for money.

If you're doing a massive piece of railway engineering in London I'd go for sorting out Herne Hill & Tulse Hill for Thameslink services to get to Sutton without needing to cross everything on the flat.

 

[SynthD]

Your termini have level crossings nearby, which would need closing for tube-like frequency.

 

[Bald Rick]

Issues I can think of in a 1 minute review:

Getting the tunnels out of Dalston - the whole oversite development at Dalston is in the way, plus the HS1 tunnels, plus the safeguarded Crossrail 2 route.

Getting a tunnel up at Rectory Road, and a Junction to the existing route (flat junction or flyover?)

Line capacity on the Southbury Loop, given its use for regular diversions off the Lea Valley

Where to terminate the trains at Cheshunt

Can’t see it being less than £2-3bn, very controversial locally (a lot more so than Crossrail 2), and for limited benefit.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

They’d have to be pretty deep to get them under HS1…. There’d be an ambitious gradient between Haggerston and Dalston.

Dalston Junction is already sub-surface - there is a big drop down from Haggerston. Isn't Crossrail 2 meant to go underneath?

You'll have to take this up with the OP. It was his idea to build a tunnel!