Speeding up suburban heavy rail London Services. How could it be done?

[renegademaster]

The West London line was one that stood out at me the other day. On the Southern service you have long dwells at each station, you spend most of the time crawling around at 15mph. You stop for 2 minutes to change over to OLE. Acceleration feels slow. Overground is pretty much the same. North/South London line, and the Southern Metros have the same issues. West Croydon - New Cross does feel a bit more snappy, so do the SE metro services.

The underground feels so much more efficient even though it faces a lot of the same challenges like bendy routes and frequent stops.

 

[yorksrob]

Give every seating bay their own slam door. Passengers will soon re-learn to enter/exit the train quickly.

 

[Bald Rick]

You stop for 2 minutes to change over to OLE.

Acceleration feels slow.

Well there’s two answers:

1) Change over on the move like the LO trains do
2) Advise drivers to accelerate more quickly.

 

[brad465]

I'm amazed the West London line is only 3-aspect, for a route with a frequent passenger service AND a core freight route. 4-aspect would allow closer headways and a faster journey as each section is cleared quicker.*

Other suggestions I'd put are:

- Minimum acceleration requirement for suburban stock (I'd aim for 0.9ms-2 minimum). While the slower accelerating 455s are on the way out, the 377s are too low for stop-start patterns, to give a couple of examples.
- Ease/remove line-speed bottlenecks where possible.
- Increase entry/exit speed from terminal platforms. Stations I can think of where this would be effective are Charing X, Victoria, Orpington and Dartford.


*If this has been upgraded, or there are plans to do so, please correct.

 

[The Planner]

I'm amazed the West London line is only 3-aspect, for a route with a frequent passenger service AND a core freight route. 4-aspect would allow closer headways and a faster journey as each section is cleared quicker.*

Other suggestions I'd put are:

- Minimum acceleration requirement for suburban stock (I'd aim for 0.9ms-2 minimum). While the slower accelerating 455s are on the way out, the 377s are too low for stop-start patterns, to give a couple of examples.
- Ease/remove line-speed bottlenecks where possible.
- Increase entry/exit speed from terminal platforms. Stations I can think of where this would be effective are Charing X, Victoria, Orpington and Dartford.


*If this has been upgraded, or there are plans to do so, please correct.

4 aspect doesnt help if the red to green sections are made longer, the headway would actually increase. The timetable assumes green aspects.

 

[HSTEd]

Well an ETCS 'Hybrid' solution would allow signal sections that are shorter than the train.

Probably the most effective way of improving performance would be to insist that all new rolling stock have all axles motored.
After that, install track brakes to reduce emergency stop distances.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Yes I know what you mean, the Overground really is slow for some reason. The passage from NXG to Surrey Quays feels like a real crawl.