London Overground to Finsbury Park

Ali

Don't dare touch Parkland Walk !

Thomas

I doubt Parkland track would ever be touched. As I recall it was once one of several possible routes for Crossrail 2, but they eventually safeguarded a route from Wimbledon through Chelsea to Hackney instead... Besides the Parkland track goes to relatively affluent parts (Crouch End, Highgate and Muswell Hill) and so I doubt the major investment could be justified in terms of the regenerative impact...convenience isnt enough these days!

Alex

Dalston Curve works were tendered at [£6.5m](http://www.cnplus.co.uk/news/job-to-link-east-and-north-london-lines-out-to-tender/1534158.article)(£). To reach Finsbury Park might cost more than that, given track, signaling and station works. But surely any possible value for money is severely impaired by the fact that trains would have to choose between terminating at Highbury & Islington or Finsbury Park. This would add a lot of operational complexity and cut frequency by half at each station, all else being equal.

wisteria53

Don't think the money is there for some of these projects. Those of us who travel East-West are still waiting for the electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking Overground and possible reinstatement of Tufnell Park's interchange to the Northern line. More info on <http://www.barking-gospeloak.org.uk>.

gardener-joe

In the first post in this thread, Arkady (CommentTime2 days ago edited), wrote: "<i>I don’t know why anyone would want to go to New Cross</i>."

Well, for one ... to study at the wonderful Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Arkady

Thanks for your thoughts. Interesting news re Thameslink. I'm not sure that splitting the service between FP and Hi & I would problematically reduce the number of trains. The only drawback would be in reducing the number of eastbound ELL trains between Hi &I and Canonbury. But if you look at the service pattern diagram below it rather appears that there will plenty heading eastbound from Hi&I anyway, and running some services as an FP-New Cross shuttle needn't have a big impact on the service as a whole. Indeed the 8 additional trains due to start from Dalston could start from FP instead. It would mean that people wanting to change from the NLL to the ELL eastbound would be better off doing it at Canonbury than Hi&I, but it's an easier cross-platform interchange there anyway, so all to the good. <http://www.alwaystouchout.com/img/projects/orbirail-phase-1.png>;

Arkady

In the absence of the Canonbury Curve, people might be interested to know that the Dalton Curve opened this morning. This means you can get the train directly from Highbury & Islington to New Cross/Crystal Palace via Dalston, Shoreditch etc. without having to change trains. Details: <http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15397.aspx>; New Underground map showing double-tracking!: <http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf>;

tosscat

Hooray - I might actually make it to #meateasy now.

Arkady

I read about that in the Londonist. I anticipate a pilgrimage.

tosscat

Does it better Byron, I wonder?

Arkady

Ah, still not been to Byron… I take it you recommend it? I do love a good burger. Especially with bacon & blue cheese.

JaneDoe

#meateasy is worth the journey!

tosscat

I can't wait.

kreuzkav

This is a surprise, opening three months ahead of time. This opens up quite a few parts of London to us. Travelling on overground is much more pleasant than on stuffy tubes and buses.

ShaunG

I took the new ELL from Dalston down to Forest Hill last week to take the kids to the Horniman Museum. The journey was great, and it would really encourage me to go to those parts of London I'd not normally go to. The H&I link wasn't yet open so we got 236 - going from Highbury would have been even better. Personally I'm happy to know that it can be got from Highbury, no need really to bring the link right into Finsbury Pk. The Thameslink connection will be more exciting - I think that will give direct trains through to Brighton.

dorothy

Wonder if I could take my bike on it? It would probably take 20 minutes off my journey to East Dulwich.

Ali

Is the Thameslink/Great Northern Finsbury Park south to New Cross etc route actually funded or is it on a wish list ? It all seems a bit vague on here http://www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk/cms/pages/view/30 which is a shame. Unless there is going to be one big franchise called Thameslink or Thameslink Trains are running on the same tracks as currently Greater Northern there won’t be any Thameslink Trains at Finsbury Park but you will be able to get South/North etc by other operators. Usually the line of least resistance (best business case) is taken first so I suspect that the Cannonbury Curve may be quite expensive as pointed out above it would need revised signalling which is one of the most expensive parts of a railway

Arkady

@Dorothy - folding bikes at any time, anywhere on the Overground. No non-folding bikes between Dalston and Croydon between 7:00-10:00 and 16:00-19:00. @Ali: When they built the Channel Tunnel Rail Link they built a spur from the Main line twixt FP and KX, connecting it to Thameslink just north of St Pancras. This link runs under the Kings Cross Central site – the portal can be seen on Google Maps where York Way goes under the CTRL. A rare instance of forward planning. It’s a tiny stretch that only needs track and electrifying. They are not going to touch it for years though, as London Bridge won’t have the capacity to handle additional trains until after its massive refit. That refit won’t start until after the Olympics, hence a 2018-9 projection. The reason I’m almost certain it will happen (following research prompted by a comment above) – is that the servicing of Thameslink trains will happen at Hornsey Depot – they have already submitted planning permission for the necessary changes to the depot. If they don’t lay down track on those few metres of the link the trains won’t be able to get there! Ultimately it will mean that the various routes from the south that funnel into the Thameslink core won’t just have the Bedford route to emerge into – they can be funnelled towards Cambridge via Finsbury Park. Thus we will be able to get to Brighton from FP. I took the Highbury extension home last night. Quite amusing to see the confused looks on faces at Dalston. Defenders of the Parkland walk beware – the Phase 2 extension of the ELL (from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction) is underway, taking over an old abandoned trackbed that had been used as a footpath for years… there’s a precedent!

Thomas

@Ali - funding for the full programme was confirmed in November, so presumably it is more than just a wish list - <http://nds.coi.gov.uk/clientmicrosite/Content/Detail.aspx?ClientId=202&NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=416742&SubjectId=36>;

Ali

Thomas. This seems to be the relevant bit 6. The second stage involves the reconstruction of London Bridge station and its approaches and a new connection to the East Coast Main Line just to the north of St Pancras. This stage will deliver 24 trains per hour in both directions through the central London core section, as well as longer 12 carriage operation to a range of destinations to the north and south of London from December 2018. Shame Thameslink web site doesn’t seem to have this on it Parkland Walk will be okay because it doesn't really go anywhere and is more of a spur than a circle route etc. It would be better if they re-instated the tunnel just our side of Gospal Oak and take trains from the Barking line around onto the new lines at the back on St Pancras. It would help relieve the Victoria Line a bit and would reinstate an additional useful route from Crouch Hill ie directly into the city via Kentish Town and onwards south of the

Arkady

I don’t know about the Northern Heights ‘going nowhere’. Imagine if these links were possible: <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Northern_heights.png>; Imagine the boost to the much-neglected Ally Pally too. Ah well, one can dream.

andy

We could pave the Heath too. And the parkland in front of Ally Pally could be a big carpark.

Arkady

Allright Joni.

Emma

I am so excited about the ELL High&Is extension opening: Croydon creeps ever closer to the north.

Also meateasy is flipping amazing, but get there early (6pm on the dot or even earlier if you can manage) otherwise you're in for a long wait. And go soon as it's not going to be around much longer.

Arkady

Right, I'm going on Saturday. I feel a bit threatened about ‘Croydon creeping closer’

tosscat

I'm on the ELL towards there right now.

Arkady

Do let us know how you get on...

tosscat

I will.

tosscat

It really was jolly good. It's a different world down there mind.

Arkady

What's so different?