In the "Ideal Fleet" thread in the rolling stock section I made a throwaway comment about using class 378s on the Subsurface Underground lines, effectively integrating them into the National Rail network.
now, clearly for this to happen on the whole network would require a fair bit of work- but quite how much work?
Most of the "open air" sections should be fine, and should even be relatively easy to convert these to 25kV overhead, yes?
Width clearances should be absolutely no problem on the sections served by the Metropolitan A -Stock- in fact, platforms could possibly do with alteration to reduce gaps
Height should be fine on the Aldgate-Farringdon section (Especially Moorgate-Farringdon!)- it's a pity the conversion to 12 car platforms will cut off what would be a potential connection point to the current mainline- not that those would be lacking elsewhere. Much of the rest of the Circle is near open-air as well. Could be tight through Euston and Kings Cross I think, and along the river bank? Ideally the whole thing would be wired though.
There would be potential issues on sections shared with "deep" tube lines, especially where these currently share tracks. I'd ideally like to make platforms as level as possible with the 378s.
Could the western sections of the Picadilly be included in this madness? If the tracks west of Acton were reconfigured with under and overpasses, the Picadilly could run to Heathrow without touching District metals, yes? Alternatively, terminate it at Acton and run the Over/Underground to Heathrow instead.
I'd stop the Bakerloo at Queen's Park and wire up the Watford DC.
Could wires go through the Brunel tunnel? Could we really wind up the aficionados of the Southern, and actually get rid of any operational need for the 378s to be dual voltage by wiring up all sections of the extended ELL, the NLL and West London route? (not forgetting the GOBLIN, too)
Finally, a name for this. If we're combining the Overground and parts of the Underground, and even running to Wimbledon, could this be the Womble network?
now, clearly for this to happen on the whole network would require a fair bit of work- but quite how much work?
Most of the "open air" sections should be fine, and should even be relatively easy to convert these to 25kV overhead, yes?
Width clearances should be absolutely no problem on the sections served by the Metropolitan A -Stock- in fact, platforms could possibly do with alteration to reduce gaps
Height should be fine on the Aldgate-Farringdon section (Especially Moorgate-Farringdon!)- it's a pity the conversion to 12 car platforms will cut off what would be a potential connection point to the current mainline- not that those would be lacking elsewhere. Much of the rest of the Circle is near open-air as well. Could be tight through Euston and Kings Cross I think, and along the river bank? Ideally the whole thing would be wired though.
There would be potential issues on sections shared with "deep" tube lines, especially where these currently share tracks. I'd ideally like to make platforms as level as possible with the 378s.
Could the western sections of the Picadilly be included in this madness? If the tracks west of Acton were reconfigured with under and overpasses, the Picadilly could run to Heathrow without touching District metals, yes? Alternatively, terminate it at Acton and run the Over/Underground to Heathrow instead.
I'd stop the Bakerloo at Queen's Park and wire up the Watford DC.
Could wires go through the Brunel tunnel? Could we really wind up the aficionados of the Southern, and actually get rid of any operational need for the 378s to be dual voltage by wiring up all sections of the extended ELL, the NLL and West London route? (not forgetting the GOBLIN, too)
Finally, a name for this. If we're combining the Overground and parts of the Underground, and even running to Wimbledon, could this be the Womble network?
(although we never know what could happen). Why are things not built for passenger comfort and too last these days 
