What track layout changes will be needed on the GWML once Old Oak Common opens.

[kevin_roche]

There has been some speculation in the Elizabeth Line threads about services to OOC and rather than answer there I thought it best to start a new thread. In 2013 on the London Reconnections web site there was an article which speculated on the possible need to expand the track layout between Old Oak Common and Paddington to 8 tracks. It included the then proposed layout for the Elizabeth Line and a more speculative suggestion for the line once OOC was complete.

The key issue is that the Crossrail service beneath London is headway-driven, whereas the service west of the Royal Oak portal is timetable-driven. The section from Royal Oak to OOC forms the boundary between the two, where services are regulated. A more intensive service over this two-track section will make the whole route prone to disruption. It will almost certainly need to be quadrupled. Four-tracking from Kensal will also allow WCML and GWML services to be sorted, and this provides a buffer against disruptions on the alternative routes west.

I think the current layout is similar to the proposal from 2009 with a major difference between Ladbrook Grove and Great Western Road which causes a conflict between EL trains and any slow GWR service on the relief lines. I think the original plan was that the Elizabeth Line services would have exclusive use of the relief lines in this area. I see that might still happen with the GWR services moving to the fast lines.

There has been little information about any actual plans regarding services at OOC from TfL who seem to be hoping that HS2 will pay for everything so best not to mention it in case they get asked for some cash.

With the delay to the completion of the HS2 station at Euston improvements to the relief lines might be needed more than ever, to handle all the people wanting to get to Central London. This raises a number of questions:

1/ Is it even possible to fit 8 tracks under the bridge at Golbourne Road?

2/ Is there still anyone in the Kensington and Chelsea council pushing for a new station on the Elizabeth Line in either of the locations mentioned in the article?

3/ ETCS L2 will be installed all the way to Paddington by the time OOC opens, so is there any need for 4 Elizabeth line tracks?

4/ Would the EL tracks between OOC and Paddington be better served by the use of CBTC on that section of track?

Does anyone know if any of the above questions have been answered yet and if not what do you think the answer might be?

 

[Bald Rick]

It will remain 4 running lines to Paddington, with the split to 8 lines / platforms quite close to OOC.

It can’t be CBTC on the reliefs, as they will see occasional use by GWR trains when the Mains are under possession.

 

[swt_passenger]

I think I’d just write off that article as irrelevant and well out of date speculation. There’s certainly never been any mention of anything like their suggested 8 track layout in any NR route study, or NR route strategy, and as far as I‘ve seen more recently all the track drawings that have cropped up in relation to Old Oak Common, (eg on the HS2 website), show a four track layout generally, only widening to eight tracks through the platforms.

 

[kevin_roche]

It will remain 4 running lines to Paddington, with the split to 8 lines / platforms quite close to OOC.

It can’t be CBTC on the reliefs, as they will see occasional use by GWR trains when the Mains are under possession.

Thanks for your reply, I suspected as much though I have just had another thought and that is maybe ETCS L3 could be an option. The COS is supposed to be converted to ETCS at some point according to the original authorisation.

I think I’d just write off that article as irrelevant and well out of date speculation. There’s certainly never been any mention of anything like their suggested 8 track layout in any NR route study, or NR route strategy, and as far as I‘ve seen more recently all the track drawings that have cropped up in relation to Old Oak Common, (eg on the HS2 website), show a four track layout generally, only widening to eight tracks through the platforms.

Thanks for your reply, I was having an issue looking at the track diagrams on the HS2 drawings because the drawing I found had the GWML lines overlayed on top of the HS2 lines and that made it difficult to tell what was what.

 

[Bald Rick]

I suspected as much though I have just had another thought and that is maybe ETCS L3 could be an option

ETCS L3 doesn’t actually exist in service.

 

[kevin_roche]

ETCS L3 doesn’t actually exist in service.

I know that but maybe by 2029 it might.

 

[Bald Rick]

I know that but maybe by 2029 it might.

OOC relief side will be done long before then - 2026 I think. And it’s 2023 in just over 12 weeks!

 

[kevin_roche]

OOC relief side will be done long before then - 2026 I think. And it’s 2023 in just over 12 weeks!

Time flies.

 

[D365]

I know that but maybe by 2029 it might.

Doubt it - we’re only just approaching L2 on the ECML.