Changes in London

I was fascinated by the article on Holborn Viaduct ( RAIL 897). It brought to mind my time studying for the final examinations of the Chartered Institute of Transport in 1975.

Based in Oxford, my nearest course was the City of London Polytechnic in London. Naturally enough, the majority of students on the course were from London Transport and British Rail.

I recall remarking one day about the possibilities for expansion of public transport in London. I particularly suggested reopening the Snow Hill link, and improving night bus services (almost non-existent on Saturday nights/ Sunday mornings) and local under-used surface lines of BR in greater London.

My fellow students, as politely as they could manage, explained to their up-country cousin why none of these things were possible or desirable.

Snow Hill, they explained, had been closed as long ago as 1916, long before the impact even of the motor car. It was clearly a complete non-starter!

As for night buses, I was told they were designed mainly for cleaners, security guards and so on. That was particularly the case for the Saturday/Sunday services. London had a marvellous system of black cab taxis, and they were the main providers of night-time public transport services for leisure.

As for overground rail services, my fellow students explained that most of these had had their passenger traffic decimated by the LCC electric trams from the 1890s onwards. They were useful for freight movements, but realistically there was no prospect of increasing the passenger services on such lines.

Naturally enough, one had to defer to the accumulated wisdom of those staff who knew the area best.

Well, now I know what happened with my Snow Hill suggestion. Wonder how my other musings turned out?

Duncan Stewart, Denbighshire