Richard Ingram
Member
Ely North Junction is 50mph for most routes except Down Peterborough which is 60mph, and to/from West Curve which is 25mph.
If you reduce the speeds through the junction any gains made from doubling the junction and/or closing the level crossings will be more than cancelled out by the longer times for trains, particularly the long liners, to pass over the junction.
I suspect there will have to be some compromise on the junction, they can't close the crossings completely, it would be particularly unfair to the locals, but we drivers are going to have to put up with some inconvenience. Out of interest, I had another look, and perhaps this would be better. What sort of speeds would these routes allow? This is possibly an improvement, since the busiest line is not changed, and it closes the middle crossing, rather than the end one, so the two remaining crossings are as far from each other as possible. Maybe the Norwich line would not require any mitigation at all. I think the only regular freight on the King's Lynn line is the sand train, which goes through the West Curve anyway, so is always slow.
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