Rebuilding Lewisham

[Horizon22]

Anyone in the South East / Kent area will know that Lewisham and its surrounding lines, flyovers and flat junctions and crossing moves can be a bit of a nightmare. If something goes wrong at Lewisham you sure will know about it and it doesn't matter if you're on a metro or mainline service.

So what would you suggest to solve the layout at Lewisham if you had a considerable sum of money and backing for disruptive works?

For me I would:

• Rebuild the station further west (around where the flyover is now) with 6 platforms closer to the mainline. Probably angled for 5&6.
  • Fast lines 1&2 (probably rarely used)
  • Slow lines 3&4
  • North Kent / Lewisham 5&6
• Line from Nunhead continues to cross over the mainline.
• Demolish St. Johns (new Lewisham would be 300m away)
  • Add a new St. Johns Junction for Fast lines to Slow Lines.
• New junctions just near station
  • Lewisham West Junction (where the line from Nunhead can join into slow lines)
  • Lewisham East Junction (where the line from Blackheath can join into slow lines)
  • Renwed Parks Bridge Junction (slow lines under Mainline to Mid-Kent)
• Demolished junctions / track
  • Tanners Hill (and Tanners Hill Junction / Lewisham Vale Junction)
  • Courthill Loop
  • Some of the current track to Lewisham (add a new pedestrian path to centre)

Evident issues are equalising the gradient for smooth platform layouts, the landtake that might be required, the A road, the new flats which have recently been built, the new 400+m distance to the DLR and the sheer disruption it would cause.

 

[30907]

Disruptive is the understatement of the year!

In less disruptive vein, you could try simplifying the layout by one of:
remove the flydown - so no trains from Charing X to Lewisham;
remove the scissors crossings altogether - no trains CHX/Victoria via Blackheath and no trains Cannon St to Mid Kent. I think this puts too many trains onto the CST lines.
reduce the scissors to a double junction allowing only CHX/VIC to Blackheath. Ideally shift the North Kent platforms slightly east to allow a double ladder crossing.
I would go for this one, it might only take a summer holiday blockade
(Note - I know you lose CST-Lewisham-Hither Grn as an option, but that can be covered by a timetable rejig.)

 

[Meerkat]

The window has been missed - there is so much major development tight into the lines that nothing significant can be done without huge disruption. Even crazy tunnel options are limited by restricted space for portals, high rise foundations, and station boxes.
The only scale project I can suggest is if you want fast trains to stop for interchange then build a station where the Hayes line goes under, removing the link to the current station from the mainline and extending the DLR to the new station.

 

[Train Maniac]

If the Bakerloo Line southern extension is ever approved fully, this would remove the need for Hayes line trains to cross the junction. Surely this would free up some capacity?

 

[4-SUB 4732]

You can never get rid of the diamond at the end of the station. The reality is that even if you think stuff from Blackheath should only go to Cannon (etc), you need to be able to have some level of service recovery options.

For me, it's a simple case of moving to Taktfahrplan and then building a timetable from top to bottom, and for anything in/out of Charing Cross / Cannon Street / Victoria (via Lewisham) / Thameslink and Blackfriars / Victoria (via Catford and Chatham) so that everything slots in. The current timetable is a mess.

We definitely need to extend the Bakerloo via Lewisham and Catford Bridge to both Beckenham Junction and Hayes; and use resulting freed capacity for other stuff. I'd also suggest, as this would create a direct route from Lewisham to the West End, allowing trains from the Bexleyheath line (every 15 minutes or close) to go to Charing Cross but not stopping at Lewisham during peak in order to keep things moving. You will of course also need to get Victoria stuff from the Sidcup or Orpington lines and have minimal Cannon Street service from Lewisham (some stuff from the Hither Green direction could always bypass Lewisham).

 

[MotCO]

Would it be easier to build a new station on the main Orpington - London Bridge line? Granted you would lose the connection to the existing station / DLR terminus, but could there be a walkway? At the moment, the deviation off the main line to serve Lewisham does add quite a bit of tome to journeys.

 

[4-SUB 4732]

Would it be easier to build a new station on the main Orpington - London Bridge line? Granted you would lose the connection to the existing station / DLR terminus, but could there be a walkway? At the moment, the deviation off the main line to serve Lewisham does add quite a bit of tome to journeys.

It just wouldn’t work. Your best bet is to extend the DLR to Lee, Grove Park and Bromley North and also have the Bakerloo extension. With these two options in play, the number of trains needing to run via Lewisham can reduce.

 

[Dr Hoo]

...
For me, it's a simple case of moving to Taktfahrplan and then building a timetable from top to bottom, and for anything in/out of Charing Cross / Cannon Street / Victoria (via Lewisham) / Thameslink and Blackfriars / Victoria (via Catford and Chatham) so that everything slots in. The current timetable is a mess.
...

Noting that the timetable through Lewisham has been developed over 30 years from twinkles in Network SouthEast's eyes, the Thameslink 2000 project, etc. by BR, OPRAF, SRA, DfT, Railtrack, Network Rail, Connex, Govia, etc. by some of the leading exponents of the art, using regular interval principles, on the back of billions of pounds of enabling investment in new infrastructure, signalling, London Bridge and rolling stock (also supported in the background by the DLR, Jubilee Line, Overground, HS1 and Crossrail that have affected or will affect demand patterns across the area) can you flesh out what aspects of a Taktfahrplan we could "simply" move to that would eliminate the "mess"?