busman
Junior Member
Posts: 61
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Post by busman on Jan 27, 2010 13:06:26 GMT
Dear Mr Bulleid
I was thinking of withdrawing all or most the service via Grasevend. Then for the Medway towns trains to run via the link proposed as above. Not looping the service. One of the issue with the current HHS apart from the cost and going to a wrong station for most users is the lack of any time gain over the normal service. The Strood to Gravesend section the HHS in my opinion was not the correct routing for the service . It needed to to connect to the HHS route as soon as possible after leaving the Medway towns.
There might just be enough room left to make use of the land once used to be the refuge\cripple siding on the down side at Rainham station to make turnback siding with a new crossover and entrance point to the west of the station
Regards
Busman
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Post by O.V.S.Bulleid on Jan 28, 2010 8:37:00 GMT
busman, sir
Now I'm a little clearer on what you suggest - thank you.
I'm assuming that you would suggest that such connection would be a "flying junction" to avoid a conflict of flows. Yes you have an alternative that would bring the trains back onto the mainline to pass through the Medway Underground.
I suppose my argument would be that Maidstone would still be remote from a CTRL station (although listed as an objective in the Kent RUS with a station on the Ashford Line, I would expect just east of the North Downs Tunnel on the M20).
If that station was near Junction 3 on the M2/A229 then it would service both Maidstone and the south side of Medway, leaving the existing stations to service their existing main destinations of Victoria and Cannon Street. The suggested station would speed up services to London from Sittingbourne (& Sheerness), Faversham and the commuter towns along the North Kent Coast.
If the RUS is correct then the railway between Dover and Folkestone could be cut in the next 30 years because of geological change. The present plan would be to build a new spur between Canterbury East and the Thanet/Ashford Line. My suggestion would promote fast trains between Dover and the new station with little change in the overall journey time. Trains from Thanet would also gain by operating all day via the North Kent route instead of operating via Ashford thus having a better chance of being profitable than now.
Yours sincerely O.V.S.Bulleid
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Post by robbierunciman on Jan 28, 2010 23:39:02 GMT
did not Maidstone have the offer of a station when the line was built - surely the Medway Valley line option is the best?
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Post by NoOnions on Jan 29, 2010 20:41:31 GMT
I'm pretty sure they did but the NIMBY voices were too loud. Maidstone really lost out there IMHO.
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