Reconnecting Clapton, Tottenham Hale and the Lea Valley

[leytongabriel]

Quite some years ago, at a time of some service retrenchment (poss 90's I'm not sure), Liverpool St- Hertford East trains stopped calling at Clapton. Service frequency into London went down from 5 to 3 trains per hour and the connection with Tottenham Hale and the Lea Valley was lost altogether. No line closure so it got slipped in as a timetable change and opposition was limited.

Now Tottenham Hale is a much more important interchange, there are major developments in the Lower Lea Valley and the population of Clapton has changed considerably, with many more 'young professional' types likely to be train users. There has been work on the Lea Valley line, new stock has better acceleration and trains don't go very fast through Clapton station anyway as the line speed there and through the tunnel is low.

So wouldn't it be feasible to put the Clapton stop back in on the Hertfords with little effect on timetables/line capacity now? In my experience, Lea Valley stoppers often hang around at intermediate stations to avoid leaving early so there seems to be some slack to play with. There are no alternative bus services and it seems to be a big gap in NE London.

 

[A0]

Quite some years ago, at a time of some service retrenchment (poss 90's I'm not sure), Liverpool St- Hertford East trains stopped calling at Clapton. Service frequency into London went down from 5 to 3 trains per hour and the connection with Tottenham Hale and the Lea Valley was lost altogether. No line closure so it got slipped in as a timetable change and opposition was limited.

Now Tottenham Hale is a much more important interchange, there are major developments in the Lower Lea Valley and the population of Clapton has changed considerably, with many more 'young professional' types likely to be train users. There has been work on the Lea Valley line, new stock has better acceleration and trains don't go very fast through Clapton station anyway as the line speed there and through the tunnel is low.

So wouldn't it be feasible to put the Clapton stop back in on the Hertfords with little effect on timetables/line capacity now? In my experience, Lea Valley stoppers often hang around at intermediate stations to avoid leaving early so there seems to be some slack to play with. There are no alternative bus services and it seems to be a big gap in NE London.

It's not clear what problem you're trying to solve here.

I can't believe the demand to travel between Hertford East and Clapton is that great ?

 

[JonathanH]

It's not clear what problem you're trying to solve here.

I can't believe the demand to travel between Hertford East and Clapton is that great ?

Presumably Clapton to Stansted / Cambridge as well but I guess people needing to get to Tottenham Hale go via Hackney Downs at present.

 

[leytongabriel]

It's not clear what problem you're trying to solve here.

I can't believe the demand to travel between Hertford East and Clapton is that great ?

The post title gives a hint. No mention of the demand for travel between Hertford East and Clapton but between Tottenham, the Lower Lea Valley and Clapton I believe it's worth an additional stop.

 

[A0]

Presumably Clapton to Stansted / Cambridge as well but I guess people needing to get to Tottenham Hale go via Hackney Downs at present.

Worth remembering Lea Bridge station is about 1 mile east of Clapton which gives direct access to Tottenham Hale & Hertford East and Rectory Road is 1 mile west, giving a link to Cheshunt via Southbury.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Oct 2021 ==

The post title gives a hint. No mention of the demand for travel between Hertford East and Clapton but between Tottenham, the Lower Lea Valley and Clapton I believe it's worth an additional stop.

Posted at almost the same time - but Lea Bridge is about 1 mile away and achieves this.

 

[leytongabriel]

Presumably Clapton to Stansted / Cambridge as well but I guess people needing to get to Tottenham Hale go via Hackney Downs at present.

Yes . It takes about 25m in the rush hour Clapton to Tottenham Hale ( a couple of miles away directly) via Hackney Downs with some pretty ferocious stairs at Hackney to contend with. Avoiding the ups and downs via Walthamtow Central escalators is also poss.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Oct 2021 ==

Worth remembering Lea Bridge station is about 1 mile east of Clapton which gives direct access to Tottenham Hale & Hertford East and Rectory Road is 1 mile west, giving a link to Cheshunt via Southbury.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Oct 2021 ==



Posted at almost the same time - but Lea Bridge is about 1 mile away and achieves this.

Sure but down a long road without houses / buildings which most people avoid if it's not fully daytime.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Oct 2021 ==

Yes . It takes about 25m in the rush hour Clapton to Tottenham Hale ( a couple of miles away directly) via Hackney Downs with some pretty ferocious stairs at Hackney to contend with. Avoiding the ups and downs via Walthamtow Central escalators is also poss.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Oct 2021 ==


Sure but down a long road without houses / buildings which most people avoid if it's not fully daytime.

Bus stops not especially near stations and there's a kind of social /community divide across the Lee so wonder how many people would actually think of this even if it were a viable option.