The Croxley Rail Link Project
If you're travelling in the Watford area, or live there.....
......You may be interested to know that the Metropolitan Line is going to Watford Junction from 2017 using the Croxley Rail Link, a project using the abandoned Rickmansworth Railway which officially closed in 1996.
The Metropolitan Line will be extended using the to be re-instated line. However the track will be replaced as 20 years on, of course the truck has corroded and is covered in rust, dirt and dust bunnies. Also, the line was single track so it does mean that obviously engineers need to double track the line and station.
I'm quite happy about this idea, most of it anyways. The original Rickmansworth Railway service called at three stops between Croxley and Watford High Street which had the names of Watford Stadium, for the local Watford FC stadium, Watford West which is located on Tolpits Lane and Watford Hospital, for the general health centre. From there it goes to Watford High Street, and then terminates at Watford Junction.
The Metropolitan Line was always needed to go Watford Junction in my experiences, so it's doing me and obviously you good too. The current Watford terminus is about 20 minutes from the town centre itself, about 40 minutes - Noting these timings are on foot - to Watford Junction. The buses are infrequent, inflexible and expensive to just get to the town centre, the W30 service operated by Red Rose. Obviously for those who lives in the Watford and Cassiobury area, Watford Station is of such use.
Unfortunately, as part of the plans, TfL would like to close Watford station completely, meaning that it would just be used as a reverse sidings if engineering work was to ever take place on the Croxley Rail Link where trains can just terminate at Croxley and park the trains further up the line on the platforms of Watford Station or in the sidings at Watford. If that happens, Watford would gain a status like Aldwych and be used for filming and media purposes as it's actually a nice, clean and spacious station.
This is causing disagreement with local residents in the Watford and Cassiobury areas as the station has a healthy use. It's not an almost-abandoned sort of station such as Mill Hill East or Roding Valley for that matter, it's like your average-Joe suburban station, like North Harrow, Chiswick Park, Southfields (Non-Tennis days) and Sudbury Town. It's not filled with people 24/7 like Oxford Circus or Bank is, but has a good share of passengers and good passengers that try to make the use of Watford station. The nearest station would be Croxley or Cassiobridge, which are about a mile from each other, with Croxley a 30 minute walk and Cassiobridge to be about up to 20 minutes away. Members and residents in Watford have tried to save the station, unfortunately the stations is still being ruled out and is to shut completely. There are hundreds of people that use Watford everyday, maybe even a thousand or two however TfL ignored that. The residents even tried to get a compromise, and I actually like this idea too, saying that Watford shouldn't shut down, bet let it only be open at certain times, such as the peak and services to/from the station would be infrequent - To let it gain a status like Kensington Olympia on the District Line with 1 or two trains an hour there on weekday peaks. I've attached two photos to this post of the Metropolitan Line maps - which contain both before and after in both shots. One has all stations and the other one has the fast/ semi fast services only.
I like that compromise - Right now, there are about 4 trains an hour to/ from Watford at a frequency of every 15 minutes. That word - Frequencies. That's the next subject in fact, TfL propose to increase the frequency when the line is re-routed to Watford Junction station, from 4 to 6 trains an hour, a frequency of every 10 minutes. Now being honest, how likely is that? First question I raise is 'Are there enough trains?' to boost the extension and frequency of the line. I wouldn't believe there are enough trains. I guess something they could do is re-instate the Chesham shuttle which runs between Chesham and Chalfont & Latimer. That would benefit the whole Metropolitan Line as more trains can run to Amersham, Watford (Junction) and Uxbridge. In fact, I think to keep Watford open - There should be a shuttle between Watford and Chesham via the Watford North Curve and run every 60 minutes using one train. If that's not possible, then why not save a C stock - Or if there is still a 4-car A stock that can still be in passenger use, then why not let it work the Chesham shuttle?
Work has started now on the Croxley Rail Link, for starters taking the Amazon Rainforest out of the railway, and starting to introduce tracks on the line. Works will continue as they have been approved until 2017, when the line should open. We're asking you guys on what you think of the Croxley Rail Link and your opinions on it. Comment below, whilst you enjoy this interactive map below!
Thank you for reading this post. Stay safe, and comment below! We hope you are enjoying our monthly railway posts.
......You may be interested to know that the Metropolitan Line is going to Watford Junction from 2017 using the Croxley Rail Link, a project using the abandoned Rickmansworth Railway which officially closed in 1996.
The Metropolitan Line will be extended using the to be re-instated line. However the track will be replaced as 20 years on, of course the truck has corroded and is covered in rust, dirt and dust bunnies. Also, the line was single track so it does mean that obviously engineers need to double track the line and station.
I'm quite happy about this idea, most of it anyways. The original Rickmansworth Railway service called at three stops between Croxley and Watford High Street which had the names of Watford Stadium, for the local Watford FC stadium, Watford West which is located on Tolpits Lane and Watford Hospital, for the general health centre. From there it goes to Watford High Street, and then terminates at Watford Junction.
The Metropolitan Line was always needed to go Watford Junction in my experiences, so it's doing me and obviously you good too. The current Watford terminus is about 20 minutes from the town centre itself, about 40 minutes - Noting these timings are on foot - to Watford Junction. The buses are infrequent, inflexible and expensive to just get to the town centre, the W30 service operated by Red Rose. Obviously for those who lives in the Watford and Cassiobury area, Watford Station is of such use.
Unfortunately, as part of the plans, TfL would like to close Watford station completely, meaning that it would just be used as a reverse sidings if engineering work was to ever take place on the Croxley Rail Link where trains can just terminate at Croxley and park the trains further up the line on the platforms of Watford Station or in the sidings at Watford. If that happens, Watford would gain a status like Aldwych and be used for filming and media purposes as it's actually a nice, clean and spacious station.
This is causing disagreement with local residents in the Watford and Cassiobury areas as the station has a healthy use. It's not an almost-abandoned sort of station such as Mill Hill East or Roding Valley for that matter, it's like your average-Joe suburban station, like North Harrow, Chiswick Park, Southfields (Non-Tennis days) and Sudbury Town. It's not filled with people 24/7 like Oxford Circus or Bank is, but has a good share of passengers and good passengers that try to make the use of Watford station. The nearest station would be Croxley or Cassiobridge, which are about a mile from each other, with Croxley a 30 minute walk and Cassiobridge to be about up to 20 minutes away. Members and residents in Watford have tried to save the station, unfortunately the stations is still being ruled out and is to shut completely. There are hundreds of people that use Watford everyday, maybe even a thousand or two however TfL ignored that. The residents even tried to get a compromise, and I actually like this idea too, saying that Watford shouldn't shut down, bet let it only be open at certain times, such as the peak and services to/from the station would be infrequent - To let it gain a status like Kensington Olympia on the District Line with 1 or two trains an hour there on weekday peaks. I've attached two photos to this post of the Metropolitan Line maps - which contain both before and after in both shots. One has all stations and the other one has the fast/ semi fast services only.
I like that compromise - Right now, there are about 4 trains an hour to/ from Watford at a frequency of every 15 minutes. That word - Frequencies. That's the next subject in fact, TfL propose to increase the frequency when the line is re-routed to Watford Junction station, from 4 to 6 trains an hour, a frequency of every 10 minutes. Now being honest, how likely is that? First question I raise is 'Are there enough trains?' to boost the extension and frequency of the line. I wouldn't believe there are enough trains. I guess something they could do is re-instate the Chesham shuttle which runs between Chesham and Chalfont & Latimer. That would benefit the whole Metropolitan Line as more trains can run to Amersham, Watford (Junction) and Uxbridge. In fact, I think to keep Watford open - There should be a shuttle between Watford and Chesham via the Watford North Curve and run every 60 minutes using one train. If that's not possible, then why not save a C stock - Or if there is still a 4-car A stock that can still be in passenger use, then why not let it work the Chesham shuttle?
Work has started now on the Croxley Rail Link, for starters taking the Amazon Rainforest out of the railway, and starting to introduce tracks on the line. Works will continue as they have been approved until 2017, when the line should open. We're asking you guys on what you think of the Croxley Rail Link and your opinions on it. Comment below, whilst you enjoy this interactive map below!
Thank you for reading this post. Stay safe, and comment below! We hope you are enjoying our monthly railway posts.
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Back on Track,
Post with Jacob
It's a nice idea but:
ReplyDelete1. There are enough trains. Pile through the TWA documentation and you'll see there are (the project is actually buying 1 additional train).
2. Retaining an old train isn't an option. The newest C Stock is now 35 years old and most are 43. They will be life expired and maintaining one unique train will be unbelievably expensive. You've also got to make it compatible with the new signalling.
3. Timetabling. You've got to make this extra train fit between the others. The route to Chesham would require meshing it with southbound services from WJ and northbound services towards Amerham/Chesham. Sounds easy, actually hard.
4. The Chesham branch is full. You would have to remove a direct train from London (they are all direct now) and replace it with one to a residential suburb of Watford. I suspect this may not go down well.
5. Read the TWA documentation. Retaining the service to Watford would be extremely cost-inefficient.
6. You've used a weasel word - 'up to'. For most people, the walk to Cassiobridge will not be 20 mins but much less. I acknowledge that it will be as much as that for a few people.