North Downs upgrade
Reading R Eaton’s letter regarding North Downs electrification ( RAIL 860), I would describe the concept as a non-starter.
I have lived along the route for over 50 years, and like many users have waited for nearly 40 years for the line to be electrified since its proposal by BR in the late 1970s/ early 1980s. It was vetoed by a local councillor on the basis that electric trains were noisier and more polluting than the diesel trains that ran then.
The idea of putting just short sections of third rail down is a waste of time and money. If they’re going to do it, then they should do it properly.
It would provide the opportunity to run an all-electric service to and from west of Reading to Gatwick, but also beyond to destinations such as Ashford International and the South Coast.
It opens up the possibility of through services from London Bridge/Victoria as well as Waterloo, and would help to stop the ‘rat running’ through the country lanes from now non-rail-served villages such as Cranleigh.
The only real ‘fly in the ointment’ is the signalling sections. They are quite long, and so for the line to benefit from complete electrification, a substantial upgrade of the signalling and level crossings along the route would be required.
The current service across the North Downs Line is utterly disgraceful. Like many, I have abandoned it as the service to local stations is erratic, runs at inconvenient times, doesn’t start early enough or finish late enough, and very frequently late or doesn’t appear at all.
If the line was electrified and the signalling upgraded to allow a fast service to/from Reading and Gatwick to co-exist with a decent local service, plus some through services to/from London, then I and many others would consider using it again.
However, I feel that the notion of using the “Flex’ units is flawed. They will struggle on the more substantial grades out of Guildford and Wokingham, especially in autumn and winter due to adhesion issues, and shouldn’t be considered for use across the route.