If I've understood the extracts S&T▸ has quoted correctly, they are proposing an increase in the number of freight train slots in what is already (apparently) quite a crowded network.
Perhaps it is time for someone now to contemplate HS4, a high speed passenger line following approximately the line of the M4 to north Bristol and the M5 south to Exeter?
IIRC▸ , the plans for MetroWest had to wait for the Crossrail timetables to be finalised, because it would impact on
GWML▸ timetabling all the way to Bristol, that's how tightly managed things are, and that was several years ago.
Again, IIRC, whilst the capacity crunch is currently Reading to Paddington,
NR» modelling suggested at that at some point in the next decade, Didcot would need some kind of grade separation to get the throughput required, along with re-instatement of tracks between Didcot and Swindon. `i
I suspect that if you really wanted