I know this is not a very objective way to decide these things but in the days when I used travel regularly between Birmingham and Exeter it felt like I lost hours of my life waiting for the track to clear at Westerleigh.
Once HS2 comes along, paths into Euston should become less of an issue.
I expect that it won't take too long before a 'definitely-not-HS2-guv' emerges to bypass Colwich and Stafford once the southern section is open, because as you say that will release paths into London.
Westerleigh I'd grade separate to speed it up, it certainly feels damned slow for the diverging route. I'm pretty sure it is on a couple of shopping lists but no idea where it falls on the priority ranking.
I think the issue with that is that it really impacts 4 track routes which are paired by direction. And there's not that many of those - the ECML and SWML are the major ones, and we've already discussed Woking and Basingstoke, whilst the ECML doesn't have anywhere relevant.
See the Southern end of the Midland Mainline for an example where you not only have Thameslink services that need to cross Fast to Slow (and vice versa) to use the Core but EMR ECS moves to/from Cricklewood Depot have to do the same as well.
Good argument for making more effort to get costs down as well.
If the cost for Werrington of £200m given upthread is accurate, then yes.
I've just done a very similar map too - but with a dive under on the ECML onto the old roue to Melton Mowbray (which is currently a cycle way). Mainly as there are a few overbridges in the way.
Yes, pricing people off the railways is definitely one way to avoid infrastructure spending. Not sure it's quiiiite the kind of solution I was hoping for though....
Is this one of those situations where ICWC/Avanti trains run half empty whilst everyone crowds onto stoppers instead?
Yes that's basically what I'd do. Get as close to the viaduct as you can and build through smoothest curve possible.
Presumably Swindon- bound trains can be held at platform at Bristol Parkway, while a train from Gloucester direction wends its way across to 'arrive into' Bristol Parkway. Is that so very disruptive as to merit expenditure on a flyover?
It’s the flat junction where the connection to the Hayes line diverges and is also a slow to fast connection on the Lewisham avoiding lines. It’s part of the wider Lewisham complex, hence being included in the original post without extra geographical clarification.
How many passengers and potential pasengers are being inconvenienced, and how massively, by being unable to interchange at Lewisham? Where are they, or would they be, travelling or intending from and to? I think it unlikely that a part of the extensive network in a well-served part of the country will merit the cost of a flyover, let alone to eliminate the number of conflcting movements in SE London. Folk learn to live with limitations and organise their lives accordingly.
I'm hoping Southeastern go for a level boarding solution for new metro stock. That comes with extending gap filler steps that could be a solution to the large horizontal gaps of severely curved platforms at Lewisham and elsewhere.
