Petition Upgrade and Extend Crossrail

We the undersigned urge the Government to upgrade and extend Crossrail. For £15 billion only a slow,stopping sevice of high density trains will be provided to link Maidenhead and Shenfield/Abbey Wood. Long distance passengers using Crossrail will suffer inconvenience and lose 10 min every time they change on and off.

Once the electrification of the Great Western Mainline has provided most of the infrastructure needed, limited stop, express services should be introduced between e g Ipswich/Harwich/Clacton/ Shoeburyness and Oxford/Newbury/Basingstoke/Heathrow/Swindon. These would be operated by 110mph low density trains bought in lieu of part of the Crossrail fleet and use the surface fast lines with a core frequency through the London tunnels of 6 trains/hr.

For a little extra investment many more people from a wide swathe of SE England could enjoy faster and more convenient journeys into and across London. New travel opportunities would encourage greater use of rail.