Crossrail - Through Running confirmed for November

[island]

I took a Heathrow to Woolwich trip earlier. Nice and smooth, though relatively few passengers joined at Heathrow and there were several manual announcements urging people not to join the train and to instead use the HEX.

 

[345 050]

Not helped by the fact that no in-train maps have been updated and very few station signs have had the temporary stickers removed to reveal the proper through running maps.

I saw an updated in train map on 345 048 I think it was. Admittedly no other units that I saw seemed to have the updated diagram unfortunately.

 

[Kite159]

I noticed one of the departure screens at Bond Street (around the 3rd coach down) on the westbound platform kept showing up eastbound departures (Abbey Wood/Shenfield) which seemed odd.

 

[pbin]

I noticed one of the departure screens at Bond Street (around the 3rd coach down) on the westbound platform kept showing up eastbound departures (Abbey Wood/Shenfield) which seemed odd.
View attachment 123345

I noticed the exact same thing at the exact same door (7, as shown in the image). It would then switch back to the correct westbound departures but occasionally would show eastbound trains. It also ended up showing the ”Train Departing, Stand Clear” message 30 seconds after the other displays, by which the train had already departed and the other displays had returned to normal. It’s weird error to see as it was only that display.

I actually came to this thread just to see if someone else had noticed.

 

[grandgarrande]

As I understand it Terminal 5 is the busiest and Terminal 4 is the least used (it was closed for a couple of years during lockdown), so it seems a bit back-to-front to arrange like this. Notably the overpriced HEx gets to only serve Terminal 5.

It was bad enough understanding the Piccadilly Line arrangements going to Heathrow, where the Terminal 4 services were also portrayed as then serving Terminals 2/3, but in fact were always overtaken to there (sometimes by a significant amount) by the following Terminal 5 service. Now we have two complex-for-visitors operations.

BAA still owns the tunnels for Heathrow there HEx will have priority for Terminal 5 and TfL still has to pay track access charges to Heathrow until 2032 per train. However 10 tph from Heathrow Terminals 2&3 should be rather convienient.

As we found out this evening. Waiting at Whitechapel for an Abbey Wood train there were two showing at identical times. Ocasionally one would be a minute ahead. The first train was 9U89 from Heathrow to Abbey Wood and that was on time. The second train (which I took) was 9U85 from Maidenhead which had been delayed before Airport Junction. We paused for 10-20 seconds outside every station apart from Abbey Wood but we did consistently run 1 minute behind.

The CBTC can (but not ideally) run trains 40 metres apart. Which is necessary because the Reading/Maidenhead trains do pick up a lot of delays on the GWML.

 

[345 050]

Looks like Normal service running today on EL. They managed to get the back up plan in place now that the strike is cancelled.

I noticed the exact same thing at the exact same door (7, as shown in the image). It would then switch back to the correct westbound departures but occasionally would show eastbound trains. It also ended up showing the ”Train Departing, Stand Clear” message 30 seconds after the other displays, by which the train had already departed and the other displays had returned to normal. It’s weird error to see as it was only that display.

I actually came to this thread just to see if someone else had noticed.

Speaking of Platform edge doors, I noticed yesterday that the door at the bottom of the most commonly used Down escalator is out of service at Paddington. I can't help wondering is this is to manage late comers to the platform, rather than a genuine fault?

Re. Heathrow, let's not forget that T4 currently only gets 2tph, and that's it. No shuttle and no HEX services at all. Fewer trains to T5 is not the end of the world, the HEX shuttles are free to all passengers so if you end up on a T4 service you can switch at Central T2,3.

 

[VauxhallandI]

That is pretty poor for T4 what’s their Picc Line frequency?

The shuttle and change isn’t always a great option as I found out it really wouldn’t have made any difference

15 min wait and a change not knowing if there would be a train between the change and the EL we waited 22 mins for.

 

[Horizon22]

Looks like Normal service running today on EL. They managed to get the back up plan in place now that the strike is cancelled.


Speaking of Platform edge doors, I noticed yesterday that the door at the bottom of the most commonly used Down escalator is out of service at Paddington. I can't help wondering is this is to manage late comers to the platform, rather than a genuine fault?

Re. Heathrow, let's not forget that T4 currently only gets 2tph, and that's it. No shuttle and no HEX services at all. Fewer trains to T5 is not the end of the world, the HEX shuttles are free to all passengers so if you end up on a T4 service you can switch at Central T2,3.

It’s probably out of service because someone has run through and bashed the doors slightly - those nearest the escalators tend to have those problems with people shoving it with their luggage / backpack last minute.

 

[DC1989]

A few confused faces today on my train after it left Stratford. Bemused looks as they looked at the old unchanged in car diagrams

 

[LLivery]

Another questionable design choice is the route diagram displays in the core - they show every station along the line for each service but have extremely thin white lines crossing out the names of the stations the service doesn't stop at. Wouldn't it be simpler & easier to understand if they were removed from the diagrams altogether?

Their design choice on calling points seems to be the most confusing way possible. They've tried to fix a problem that never really existed, instead of justing show where it's stopping, which is all you need. Onboard, showing a few next stations and then a dashed line to the end, instead of just scrolling all stations across the screen, makes absolutely no sense to me either. You've got no reassurance where it's going to actually stop until you get to a few stations away. Fine for the Jubilee line, silly for a skip-stop route with branches.

 

[Acton1991]

Their design choice on calling points seems to be the most confusing way possible. They've tried to fix a problem that never really existed, instead of justing show where it's stopping, which is all you need. Onboard, showing a few next stations and then a dashed line to the end, instead of just scrolling all stations across the screen, makes absolutely no sense to me either. You've got no reassurance where it's going to actually stop until you get to a few stations away. Fine for the Jubilee line, silly for a skip-stop route with branches.

I also find the in-carriage diagrams overly confusing too. All the lines denoting the zones makes it look so messy!

 

[345 050]

It’s probably out of service because someone has run through and bashed the doors slightly - those nearest the escalators tend to have those problems with people shoving it with their luggage / backpack last minute.

That would make perfect sense. People have not yet learnt that you really can't argue with Platform Screen Doors!

 

[Horizon22]

I also find the in-carriage diagrams overly confusing too. All the lines denoting the zones makes it look so messy!

They’ll be replaced soon enough although those lines could indeed be slightly more faded.

Anyway if my experience is anything to go by, the passenger numbers entering Paddington from street level must be reduced by 80-90% (maybe less if you remove the Ealing Broadway interchange) as pretty much everyone stayed on the train into Central London. Bond St now much more popular.

From Western stations there’s a much more gentle filtering at all the Z1 stations as opposed to the disgorging at Paddington, which is to be expected I suppose. Seems to be more churn on the GEML, particularly at Stratford and Whitechapel - Liverpool St is of course more of a destination than Paddington.

 

[Acton1991]

They’ll be replaced soon enough although those lines could indeed be slightly more faded.

Or just stick to the blue bars at the top or bottom of the diagram highlighting the fare zone like every other TfL in-car diagram.

 

[itfcfan]

It was good to see trains running through to the Crossrail core from the east & west yesterday.

One quirk I heard on the PA while travelling from Bond Street on a train to Heathrow T5 was approaching Paddington with "Change here for trains to Heathrow airport" being announced. Given we were *on* a train to Heathrow airport, it (unsurprisingly) confused some tourists heading in that direction. Someone reassured them that our train would indeed continue to Heathrow and there was no need to change at Paddington. Hopefully this is a left-over from the previous setup and something that is removed from the PA soon.

 

[Acton1991]

It was good to see trains running through to the Crossrail core from the east & west yesterday.

One quirk I heard on the PA while travelling from Bond Street on a train to Heathrow T5 was approaching Paddington with "Change here for trains to Heathrow airport" being announced. Given we were *on* a train to Heathrow airport, it (unsurprisingly) confused some tourists heading in that direction. Someone reassured them that our train would indeed continue to Heathrow and there was no need to change at Paddington. Hopefully this is a left-over from the previous setup and something that is removed from the PA soon.

Trains heading from Heathrow into Paddington tended to announce 'change here for trains to Heathrow Airport' too before the core opened. Very strange . Hopefully just a quirk in the system that they will iron out soon

 

[XAM2175]

Another questionable design choice is the route diagram displays in the core - they show every station along the line for each service but have extremely thin white lines crossing out the names of the stations the service doesn't stop at. Wouldn't it be simpler & easier to understand if they were removed from the diagrams altogether?

Their design choice on calling points seems to be the most confusing way possible. They've tried to fix a problem that never really existed, instead of justing show where it's stopping, which is all you need.

Arguably, it's actually a better user experience to show skipped stations like that as it definitely confirms that they're not being stopped at - as opposed to just leaving them out, which can be confusing for people who are trying to find the station on the map or who are used to travelling on systems where certain diagrams and listings don't show all intermediate stops. It's a similar concept to showing cancelled trains as cancelled, rather than just vanishing them.

 

[Goldfish62]

Went on it yesterday to sample the through running. Smooth and seamless and everything running like clockwork.

 

[tgsh2011]

I took a trip from Custom House to Ealing Broadway (and return) yesterday. Everything seemed fine except when entering and leaving the core/GWML. For some reason the train stopped for 3 or 4 minutes on both legs to ensure we reached the next station 'on time'.

 

[Watershed]

I took a trip from Custom House to Ealing Broadway (and return) yesterday. Everything seemed fine except when entering and leaving the core/GWML. For some reason the train stopped for 3 or 4 minutes on both legs to ensure we reached the next station 'on time'.

That's timetabled and it is an unfortunate byproduct of the decision to introduce through running mid-timetable change. It will be fixed in May; obviously that's a long way away but if XR hadn't been so behind schedule, it would have been feasible to bring the May recast forward to December.

 

[FGW_Lad]

Travelled between Burnham & Whitechapel yesterday, journey was fine albeit the short delays outside of Paddington as others have mentioned. Made my journey to Wapping so much easier than before. Will be travelling again tomorrow to Euston so with one simple change at Tottenham Court Road it will save so much time going across London.

 

[bicbasher]

Great to see trains every 3-4 mins instead of 5 between Paddington and Whitechapel, just a shame the Abbey Wood branch is now 7-8 minutes. But it's the same frequency as between New Cross Gate and Sydenham on London Overground and it's still turn up and go.

 

[345 050]

Great to see trains every 3-4 mins instead of 5 between Paddington and Whitechapel, just a shame the Abbey Wood branch is now 7-8 minutes. But it's the same frequency as between New Cross Gate and Sydenham on London Overground and it's still turn up and go.

I wonder if people will resort to the timetable?

 

[Sunil_P]

Oh, yeah! Completely forgot re. my journey yesterday!

A young American lady stayed on the train all the way to Maidenhead, and as we alighted she asked me, "Um, does this train go to Heathrow?".

I replied, No, you have to go all the way back to Hayes & Harlington and change there.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Due to strike timetable I took liz line from maidenhead to Paddington today.
I found it frustrating at low level Paddington with a bike.
First lift I got in only went down to bakerloo line so got in another lift at end of platform to go to Gateline level. Then walking about 300metres to get up to street level.

 

[345 050]

Due to strike timetable I took liz line from maidenhead to Paddington today.
I found it frustrating at low level Paddington with a bike.
First lift I got in only went down to bakerloo line so got in another lift at end of platform to go to Gateline level. Then walking about 300metres to get up to street level.

The lifts do seem a bit odd. Perhaps if there was a lift both ends it might make more sense. Unless you know where you're going, you can easily go through the wrong gate line and then you have no way to get to the lift. And yes it is quite a walk to get to the exit lift as well - not ideal for people who need lifts - often seemingly forgotten when step free access is designed. You can sort of understand when lifts are retrofitted, however in this case, it is all brand new so no excuse !

 

[Acton1991]

Geoff Marshal's video is out:

Seems like there is some communication about the trains sitting outside Paddington for up to 7 minutes in leaflets/posters. I do wonder whether it would be better to add some stops into the service vs waiting idly at Westbourne Park...

 

[345 050]

PM peak observations so far. Central stations seem a lot busier than usual. Liverpool Street Low level very busy. Shenfield trains are arriving at low level with the front coaches full and standing, and regular Liverpool Street commuters are not best pleased. Seem to be slightly fewer people at Stratford.

Geoff Marshal's video is out:

Seems like there is some communication about the trains sitting outside Paddington for up to 7 minutes in leaflets/posters. I do wonder whether it would be better to add some stops into the service vs waiting idly at Westbourne Park...

I did suggest that services sit at Ealing Broadway, but it was pointed out that this would block the up relief. However, I got a Heathrow train this evening and it seemed to lose a few minutes, conveniently, so we only had to wait about a minute outside Paddington. I wonder if the drivers have been given special instructions....

 

[Horizon22]

Geoff Marshal's video is out:

Seems like there is some communication about the trains sitting outside Paddington for up to 7 minutes in leaflets/posters. I do wonder whether it would be better to add some stops into the service vs waiting idly at Westbourne Park...

The service patterns are (relatively) fixed going forward, whilst the dwell times aren’t - they are “temporary” even if 6 months is a long temporary! The issue is pathing because by adding stops you may impact freight or GWRs 2tph Didcot Parkway service on the relief lines in the rear

I did suggest that services sit at Ealing Broadway, but it was pointed out that this would block the up relief. However, I got a Heathrow train this evening and it seemed to lose a few minutes, conveniently, so we only had to wait about a minute outside Paddington. I wonder if the drivers have been given special instructions....

It ranges anywhere from 0-7 minutes, so it is nowhere near every train. Heathrow starters do not have as long a dwell as Maidenhead/Reading starters.

 

[ijmad]

PM peak observations so far. Central stations seem a lot busier than usual. Liverpool Street Low level very busy. Shenfield trains are arriving at low level with the front coaches full and standing, and regular Liverpool Street commuters are not best pleased. Seem to be slightly fewer people at Stratford...

Ironically, of course, the people on the outer sections should be the ones who find the middle parts of the trains most useful, given the varying exit locations from those station platforms