why not extend the ongar line past the rodings and dunmow to stansted - linking 3 airports with a couple of new villages on the way?

"it just wasn't financially viable" - That's crap and anyone who worked in LT at the time knew/knows that. The line was miss-manage as LT never wanted it, and were planning to get rid of it from the 1960s!

peter leach wrote:
why not extend the ongar line past the rodings and dunmow to stansted - linking 3 airports with a couple of new villages on the way?

That's called 'Cross Rail 2', which will happen in about 25 - 30 years time.

Ex-LT in Ongar, there are still some there?!

Yes it is true, the line was fine. However, it was purpously over-staffed and totally mis-managed as LU only wanted up to Epping. They planned to close Epping-Ongar in the mid 1960s but Government wouldn't okay it.

So they 'cooked the books' and finally managed to close the line in 1994 (a sad day for many).

The line will re-open but only once more housing is put along the M11 corridor, so no need for petitions just patience!

The people who own the line now, know nothing about what LT/LU knew and did, so they are not qualified to comment on how profitable the line was!

Richard Woodham wrote:
Ex-LT in Ongar, there are still some there?!

Yes it is true, the line was fine. However, it was purpously over-staffed and totally mis-managed as LU only wanted up to Epping. They planned to close Epping-Ongar in the mid 1960s but Government wouldn't okay it.

So they 'cooked the books' and finally managed to close the line in 1994 (a sad day for many).

The line will re-open but only once more housing is put along the M11 corridor, so no need for petitions just patience!

The people who own the line now, know nothing about what LT/LU knew and did, so they are not qualified to comment on how profitable the line was!

Just have to clarify one thing, Blake Hall was a dead horse and correctly closed.

"The people who own the line now, know nothing about what LT/LU knew and did, so they are not qualified to comment on how profitable the line was!" - That's so true, they think that the scorpions live in the station gardens! And have no idea that they were pets of someone in Bansons Way that escaped by accident. And that when the BBC came down they brought their own scorpions with them!

There is one thing, places like Harlow have their own stations it just costs more to use them than the Underground.

So if the Government lowered prices on National Rail then Epping wouldn't be so over-loaded with people from towns miles away!!!

Sadly I never really had any cause to use the line between Epping and Ongar, but did do so on 30 September 1994, its last day of operation. It was then that I saw what an absolute gem it was.

Some years ago I had read in a book that the original Great Eastern Railway had intended that the line should be projected northwards beyond Ongar. Whether it was quite the alignment suggested by Peter Leach I cannot now remember.

The ultimate end of this service was a classic example of death from a thousand cuts. The operator wants to close, but cannot convince the government in the face of public objections. So the level of service is cynically whittled down to the point where its lack of use is proved beyond any doubt.

I have to disagree with Richard Woodham. Blake Hall was an opportunity lost, possibly due to the monolithic attitudes of an organisation like the old London Transport Executive. Nearby is that great historic treasure called Greensted Church. Had Blake Hall station been advertised as the Underground's gateway to this famous church then it may well have attracted far more people - almost certainly more than North Weald.

If this line is to be opened again as part of the Underground system then its funding arrangements will need close examination. As a London council tax payer I see no reason why Londoners alone should pay for a service that is for the benefit of rural Essex, and Essex County Council is demonstrably indifferent to public transport west of Chelmsford.

As a commuter to Westminster I would use the line. And so perhaps would some of my neighbours who also travel in. The line may also be useful for a good few people as the 500 bus has ceased. Ok, the tube does not run to the same places as the bus did, but it would help people get around.

Morris Hickey wrote:
Sadly I never really had any cause to use the line between Epping and Ongar, but did do so on 30 September 1994, its last day of operation. It was then that I saw what an absolute gem it was.

Some years ago I had read in a book that the original Great Eastern Railway had intended that the line should be projected northwards beyond Ongar. Whether it was quite the alignment suggested by Peter Leach I cannot now remember.

The ultimate end of this service was a classic example of death from a thousand cuts. The operator wants to close, but cannot convince the government in the face of public objections. So the level of service is cynically whittled down to the point where its lack of use is proved beyond any doubt.

I have to disagree with Richard Woodham. Blake Hall was an opportunity lost, possibly due to the monolithic attitudes of an organisation like the old London Transport Executive. Nearby is that great historic treasure called Greensted Church. Had Blake Hall station been advertised as the Underground's gateway to this famous church then it may well have attracted far more people - almost certainly more than North Weald.

If this line is to be opened again as part of the Underground system then its funding arrangements will need close examination. As a London council tax payer I see no reason why Londoners alone should pay for a service that is for the benefit of rural Essex, and Essex County Council is demonstrably indifferent to public transport west of Chelmsford.

Blake Hall isn't that close to Greenstead Church, there was no way to make money from the station even if you made it free entry.

It was a hang over from the days of steam when the station served Blake Hall (house) and it's farms and it was pure luck it managed to stay open in to the 1980s.

When the line comes back, it will work like the all other Underground services that come in to Essex, Essex County Council will pay a subsidy to TfL.

The original plan for ongar when first opened by Eastern Counties Railways was to connect it to Brentwood and there is the start of a tunnel under Ongar High Street, however, it was gong to cost too much and work stopped. In the future Ongar will be connected to Stansted Airport under the Government's "Cross Rail 2" plan.

this sounds like a good idea. although dont think they would extend it as far as stansted though.

THIS TRAIN TERMINATES AT EPPING. . . THIS IS EPPING WERE THIS TRAIN TERMINATES. . . ALL CHANGE PLEASE

I would definitely support the reinstating of the Epping-Ongar line. My family and I currently pay in excess of £300 in tube fares, plus the £200 per month in bus fares - if the last bus bothers to turn up or when we can all manage to meet at the same time to catch the last bus - otherwise it is a huge £16.00 minicab fare. What about the people who work very early and very late evening shifts and who do not own vehicles? Bus travel in and around Ongar gets worse, as during the weekends, the buses run every hour and on Sunday every 2 hours, again finishing very early in the evenings, yet all buses travel to Harlow! Public transport in the district is a joke, I would rather wait 40 mins for a train connection that gets me nearer home, than wait for a phantom bus or pay price hiked cab fares. How can LU justify trains to Amersham in Bucks, and other far flung places, yet the reopening of an existing train service is falling on deaf ears. Reopen Ongar Tube!