Acton to Hanwell, the 607 bus would still be preferable over the train via Old Oak Common. Supposing at Old Oak they go for a people mover, that journey's actually 2 changes: first at Acton Wells onto the people mover, then at Old Oak Common to Crossrail. Now imagine they don't build a people mover.

Old Oak Common is not going to be a great interchange. It's not going to be the Clapham Junction of the northwest. At best it's going to be London's answer to Montparnasse, with a super-travelator connecting the different parts; at worst they won't even build a travelator and it will be more like trying to change between the different stations in central Birmingham or between Euston and King's Cross.

Very few people are going to change at Harlesden instead of Willesden Junction if they have to walk down Winchelsea Road. In-fact it's a joke not calling the station Craven Park but naming it Harlesden as though it's another West Hampstead. If I were wanting to go from Acton to Wembley Central and the first train was via Dudding Hill, I would skip it & wait for the Stratford train a few minutes after.

The main orbital routes in this area like the 260, 266 and 460 used to be trolleybuses. When the trolleybus network was de-electrified in the early 1960s, London Transport kept finding out that in practice, trolleybuses are a higher order of transport than buses even if they aren't on paper. A stumbling block to trolleybus replacement was that London's trolleybuses accommodated around a dozen more passengers than a Routemaster. On the scale at which London Buses operated 60 years ago, this meant that more buses were required, leading not only to a shortage of stabling space but also to a staff shortage, because LT didn't have the budget to pay crews attractive wages, which it never fully resolved until the Routemasters were replaced with one-man-operated buses. TfL is still notorious for being virtually allergic to upgrading a route to a higher order of transit: the forthcoming rollout of Irizars with tram-style bodies on the 227 is about the closest we've got since the New Addington commuter express bus became a tram. Compared with Paris, Berlin and New York, London relies heavily on bog-standard buses running in mixed traffic. Services in the missing middle between buses & heavy rail, like the Croydon Tramlink and East London Transit, are sporadic.

Saying that development is needed to justify improvements to transport such as a new station reminds me of when service providers like banks & broadband companies have offers that you can only benefit from if you're not already with them.

New platforms at West Hampstead wouldn't actually require land take south of the line. North of the line is just a Builder Depot and some disused land. • Up Metropolitan moved into short new tunnel under West End Lane immediately adjacent to Heritage Lane & Blackburn Road, serving the north side of island platform 9/10 Up Underground. • Existing platform becomes 11/12 Down Underground. • Up GCML slewed north onto road currently occupied by Down Metropolitan, with island platform 13/14 serving National Rail. The entire station would be 50 yards wide, about the same as Harrow-on-the-Hill station, and with effectively the same layout.

Just watched this again a couple of times - picking up bits I'd missed - really good video! You are right to identify the level-crossings dilemma. Green Signals podcast recently highlighted the safety benefits of getting rid of them, but level-crossings do also pose a limit to the expansion of services - critically important if the aim (rightly) is to get 80% of journeys made by train and bus. Eliminating a crossing is expensive, but against the cost should be set: 1 - the value of saving lives/injuries, plus distress to drivers (which has a cost) 2 - the increased revenue from a higher level of service possible when a crossing is removed 3 - the community benefits from improved train (passenger and freight) and bus/lorry services (climate, air quality, congestion) 4 - savings to bus operators from buses no longer delayed 5 - the value of car/lorry drivers' time (long used as an argument for motorway building) Another source of money might be - if the best solution is to put the railway underground - from the land value of the current rail trace: possibly housing, but certainly industrial - or even urban farming use. Also, there are a number of level-crossings needing elimination - as you point out - so there may be economies of scale in having a 'rolling programme'. You are right that West Hampstead would - network-wise - be ideal for a Chiltern+Met station, but how about Neasden? The Met can already stop there, and if the Chiltern platforms were built between the Met/Jubilee ones and the new WLO station, that would save the cost of a walkway. And it would be a quick and easy change for Chiltern passengers to get to the West Hampstead hub. As regards extending the WLO, how about from Hounslow to Kingston, via Twickenham, where the trains would reverse? There appears to be room, east of Kingston, for a reversing siding - perhaps between the running lines, as at Rayners Lane. Also maybe Cricklewood to Mill Hill Broadway, also extending the Northern tube-line from Mill Hill East to the disused station adjacent to the southern end of the Broadway platforms, and possibly a new station where the MML crosses over the Northern tube-line Hampstead Branch - distressingly disconnected from the rest of the NW London rail network! Old Oak Common Lane, as well as giving interchange with the Elizabeth line, is also not far from North Acton in the Central line. A further interchange could be at a new 'Acton Junction' station where the Pic+District crosses over the WLO, maybe with platforms also on the Gunnersbury lines. All this could sort out Acton's rail-mess, so that you could get from any of Acton's nine stations to any other, with only one change of train! Last idea - how about joining/splitting the two services (Hounslow-W.Hamp. and Kew Bridge-Cricklewood) so that they travel the common part of their journeys together? The old Southern Railway was keen on this and used to do it at Haywards Heath in 2 minutes. The current Southern are slower - 10 minutes at Horsham - but I gather the Berlin S-Bahn can join or split in 2 minutes!

Very Good. Thank you from New Zealand. 👍

I used to be a relief projectionist at the David Lean Cinema. When I was at school, fifty years ago now, there were several pupils from Shirley Oaks Children’s home. I suspect that it no longer exists, but do you know where it was, and what is on the site now? There is another ‘slow’ bus route between Croydon and Bromley, in the 3xx series I think. Does this take a significantly different toute to the 119. I used the 119 a few times some years ago, and it took forever. Why does the SL4 terminate at Grove Park. If it was extended to Bromley it could probably enable the Bromley North railway branch to be closed. I would like to see Tramlink extended to Lewisham to connect with the DLR. I doubt that it will ever happen, but I would use the DLR far more if it did. 21:49 21:49

I've been asking my local MP about this exactly and still waiting on her response. The WLO would be so much help for me.

A greater benefit would be to use the Dudding Hill Line to provide access for Thameslink services from the north to access Heathrow so connecting the MML with the GWML thus reducing congestion on the NW section of the M25 and saving having to change at Farringdon for Elizabeth Line services

Yeah, public transport is great, I can see a lot of expensive issues with level crossings, but you know what really struck me> London again, all the money goes to London. A few more thousand people here, a few more thousand jobs there, I know it's not your fault, but for pity's sake where is the investment further north than Birmingham, Wales? East Anglia? Millions of people with shit infrastructure. And what about transport around London, you know it get's in the way for some journeys, Channel tunnel journeys, say, a direct journey from Edinburgh or Cardiff to Paris or Brussels? Oh, I don't know. I liked your analysis, but we need a much bigger picture for the UK as a whole. And a proper balance as to where expenditure should be directed, not really moaning at you.

lionel road should be called brenford stadium.

FYI Sidcup is in bexley not bromley

All quite fascinating. Reconnecting South Acton to Acton Town by shuttle would give additional passenger flow. For a really radical suggestion, link the Piccadilly line between Acton Town and Chiswick Park to the Overground, then link it to the Brentford loop line where they cross south of the Great West Road. Then you have a Piccadilly Line spur from Heathrow to Waterloo! My final suggestion is extending the line which terminates in the ‘freight’ area by the Great West Road at Brentford, as suggested, to join the Brentford Loop. Then you have a line from Oxford to Waterloo. But no, don’t even think about another Piccadilly Line spur from Waterloo to Oxford!

Third rail extensions are banned by ORR and RSSB, so it makes logical sense to extend wires from Acton Central to Houslow Loop, where you would change there.

Thank you ever so much for such a wonderful video and all the research you had to do to get it to such a high standard. I grew up in Birmingham and lived there in various suburbs for most of my adult life (although I live outside the UK now), so it was fantastic to see how much change has happened and is happening to the Birmingham I knew and love so well. Know intimately so many of those locations you featured (the first house I ever bought was in Bournville - old Mrs. Cadbury lived at the end of our road at the time; perhaps I should say that I lived on Mrs. Cadbury's road). Thank you again for such a enthralling (to an ex-Brummie) video; you took me back in time so often and I relived many brilliant times (esp in what is now known as the "Balti Triangle") through your visuals. The no. 11 bus route is the longest urban stage carriage service in Europe, as far as I know (loved hearing you reel off the names of some of the suburbs it passes through) but I could be wrong; no doubt someone more knowledgeable of these matters will correct me if I am. Subscribed, obviously.

Excellent video. I don't why the west London orbital cannot be extended to Heathrow from Hounslow via feltham. At Heathrow it would link up with the Piccadilly and Elizabeth lines. That would be great.

Staggering amount of interesting information. Must have taken ages to research. Thank you

This is all pie in the sky. Overall this proposal has a poor business case with only £2m net fare revenue and nothing has been released on this since 2017. No proposals have been made to address the effective closure of level crossings which 6 + 8 t.p.h would imply. This makes the proposal for 4 t.p.h to West Hampstead a completely crazy idea: it creates no journey time savings and drags down the business case. The walk time Old Oak Common Lane to the Elizabeth Line is 12 minutes and I have seen no proposals for an overhead walkway. There are much better ways to spend money in west London. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gs-hZqmr193Zias.html

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Great to see Acton Central. Lovly station staff there.

Nit from London, but I have many London videos because I'd like to visit one day, but this was a great video!!!

The line could also branch off at Neasden to wembley stadium station, although that would require more electrification. Possibility of a Chiltern metro overground?

Kew bridge did you mention that, maybe I was sleeping, but no in any case send those trains to acton mainline to connect with the Elizabeth line

Brent Cross West opened with a set of platforms specifically for the WLO if it goes ahead, so they at least future proofed that

Maybe an extension past Hendon to Elstree & Borehamwood? It' the zone 6 boundary so keeps within the oyster system. The downside is that the car park is already full to bursting and a new or larger one would be difficult. If time isn't an issue, we take 2 buses down to West Hendon. It's slightly cheaper and drops us closer to our final destination at Hendon FC.

Great video! when it comes to the level crossings, surely we could make the project in 2 phases, with the first phase ending at harlesden?

Great video, however as someone not familiar with London it would be great to have more maps to show what you mean. Show each station on the map before talking about it, and the route of each section of track.

Shame the cost of tunnelling is prohibitive, and the existing tracks too busy, otherwise it's only a mile or so to connect this to the Gospel Oak to Barking line, and make an entire second orbital for north London. Also not enough room to get up to the Overground line without a DLR-style gradient after West Hampstead... The extra tracks continue until just by the tunnel entrance, and there are the remains of an old station there - would it make sense as part of this plan and the O2 regeneration to put a terminus there? As part of the construction work they could even provide a link straight into Finchley Road station, as they'll be digging up the entire area between the two anyway!

So glad you have addressed this - I'd been hoping you would! I need to view it again to really appreciate the detail and amount of thought you've put in, but a couple of points: 1. Buses - thanks for all your usual thorough listing of existing bus links. I'm sure you are right that a few routes will lose long distance custom to the WLO, but they should make it up in local journeys connecting people to the rail line, and from the rail line to hospitals and other major destinations - as you suggest . But TfL Buses must up their game; sometimes I wonder if they are really aware they are part of the same organisation as the tube/OG lines! Better bus connection facilities are needed at a host of town centres which are at a distance from their stations - including Brentford and Hounslow. This must include publicity/wayfinding signage - just make it as easy and obvious as changing tube lines - not rocket science; bus stop siting; bus timings; ticketing (don't charge for the station-to-town-centre trip), and making sure that station staff know about bus connections. 2 Frequency - Sadiq Khan's ambition for 80% of trips to be by public transport is excellent, but needs much better frequencies in the main tube/OG/Rail/SL routes connecting centres, as well as the local buses connecting with them. How about an ambition for 8 per hour on all modes from 6am to midnight? Are there any figures for e.g passenger numbers on the OG 8tph+ sections (e.g. the NLL, the ELL) as opposed to the 4tph sections? My friends who live in 'outer' London almost all have cars as they say much if not most of their travel is to other suburban centres - which makes it ironical that most rail services are into central London: they will use rail/OG - but not if it's only a half-hourly service, as is common in south London. Thanks again for this excellent video

Thanks for a clear & exhaustive appraisal. I see Hounslow Sta. as a weak point. Only the 281 as a bus link, and the stops are some distance away. The bridge across the station is worryingly narrow (for pedestrians!). The 3rd platform would take some serious rearranging. The only other connection is the existing H’w Loop trains. H’w town centre a tidy step away.

Great informative video as always! The level of congestion in North West London is certainly evident so hopefully this project can help with this.

A very informative and thoughtful video.

I really think the line should go one stop further than Hounslow to Feltham, which would allow passengers from the SWR lines from Reading and Windsor to change onto the new line, instead of having to change once at Feltham and then again at Hounslow/Isleworth/Syon Lane/Kew Bridge.

Anyone notice the van go through the red light at 32:02

Excellent video. Well researched, scripted and narrated, but I suggest you use the "see" construction much less as it gets a bit tiresome.

I grew up beside the Outer Circle Loop and 50 yards from the Harlesden and Stonebridge Station that was Gabs shop and the Building beside it was one side Cherrington's Coal and Classic Cars, A news agent, tobacco and sweet shop, on the other side of the station building and around the corner on Craven Road a cobblers shop.

I think it needs the direct connections with other trains and it needs 8 trains per hour if you want people to get out of there cars

An excellent, comprehensive and well-presented video. My local corner of NW London featured often. This project has been talked about for decades - it is well past the time to create this important link. Developers will contribute generously to the costs involved, as they will benefit greatly over the years.

This looks like an interesting project, especially if it'll improve connectivity in the areas it'll serve!

Traditionally North London has overhead electrification while South London has third rail. Of the two overhead electrification is far better, as it can be used to power freight trains. Third rail is actually incredibly unsafe as it can instantly kill people who touch the rail. That is why the Office of Road and Rail has banned new use of third rail. The best way to manage the risk of level crossings in the UK is to remove the level crossings. removing level crossings is also going to be essential if we are going to roll-out overhead electrification, as double decker busses would not be compatible with a level crossing that has overhead electrification. If the West London Orbital has the sort of success that reopening Thameslink, converting radial lines into London Overground and opening Crossrail have had, we could see demand for bus routes that feed passengers into the stations on the West London Orbital line rise. And having additional trains per hour on a line with level crossings that cause delays to busses would mean that you have two transport modes that are blocking the other from increased frequency. So I think there is a solid business case for fixing the problem once and for all. When you combine level crossings, which allow unauthorised people (like naughty kids) to easily access the railway line and third rail you have a very high risk to intruders on the railway lines. So shutting down any and all of those level crossings has a business case benefit that can be measured in the value of saving the lives of intruders who are stupid enough to trespass on the railway line. Get rid of the level crossings and you can have a future-proof scheme for the West London Orbital, where more trains can be run on the shared track by retrofitting in the same system that the Thameslink core uses to automate trains. We would never be able to get to the "90 second railway" ambition that the Victoria Line management had in the 1960s, but if this railway gets crowded, we need to have a way forward. Given that the disfunctional London Underground system got funding for the "New Works Program" almost 100 years ago and the commuter lines in cities in the rest of the UK have not all had electrification programs or programs for cross-city lines to connect to suburban routes, I would usually argue that priority should be given to electrifying commuter lines to cities outside London that lack any sort of electrification. However, given that DC is unable to power freight trains and given that the freight carriers in the UK have to use diesel trains if there is a gap in overhead electrification, I think there is a health benefit to the people of London, if we bridge the "electrification deserts" with new bits of overhead electrification. And there is also a benefit to long-freight journeys if we can punch an electrification route from the Channel Tunnel through the third rail zone to the parts of the rail network that have the more sensible overhead electrification. The passenger railways that currently straddle both overhead electrification and third rail power systems are Thameslink, the not-very-well-served West London Line route that goes from East Croydon to Watford Junction and London Overground. If we are going to have passenger services that are only run by London Overground, it makes sense to transfer power from third rail to overhead electrification, when the electrification equipment needs to be renewed. And with the extra benefit of being able to get electrified fright trains from lines north of London to lines west of London, I'd say there is a business case for central government to put it the extra investment needed to banish a bit more of the third rail and modernise some of the West London Orbital track early.

Acton could be quadrupled as the locals are used to HS2 disruption so do this sooner and then not too much of a problem. Caroline

Well researched, constructed, Informative and entertaining video. Thanks for this. Let's hope it progresses rapidly. Thank you.

My favored orbital extension is the one taking the Metropolitan line, via Croxley, into Watford Junction. Most of the route already exists and all it needs is a rail flyover at Two Bridges. Several million pounds has already been spent in getting this project together, before it was pulled by Transport for London.

Old oak common lane will be used by HS2 passengers too. However the problem is that Acton Wells junction needs to be quadrupled to prevent a problem with the well used freight route. Caroline.

A very informative and comprehensive summary of the West London Orbital . I live a short walk to Brent Cross West in North Cricklewood . Getting to Ealing or Brentford is long journey by tube and really getting there by bus involves the North Circular ; which is nearly always congested as you mentioned . With all this new housing it can only get worse . I have a friend in Shepherds Bush and after discovering the Overground it's a much better option even getting a bus to Kilburn or West Hampstead . When I had to get to Southall for a job it was terrible . It's a shame how long these developments take to get into service .

I never understood all the paranoid comments about the '15 minute town' we've had a similar concept for years before the WW2 era in most major cities, including the one I live in in the Midlands.

If you look at a map of the train lines in and around London the east side looks even worse for orbital travel

Great video as always. I wonder what the proposal is for electrification? These lines are mix of 3rd rail, overhead, or nothing.