Crossrail - Through Running confirmed for November

[Sunil_P]

Caught the 1013 from Ilford to Whitechapel (surprised to see the full 8-minute Sunday frequency), and then Whitechapel to Maidenhead, arriving there at 1141. But missed the 1129 to Marlow, so had to wait till 1229, managed to visit Cookham and Furze Platt, the last two stations I needed to complete the TfL Contactless PAYG area. Got a little soaked at Furze Platt around 1330. Back to Maidenhead by 1422, waited until 1449 to catch a train from P5 so I could do the connection to the Up Relief (ex-P4).

None of the trains I caught were particularly busy. Waited westbound at the Westbourne sidings for only a minute, and around 5 minutes going eastbound. Changed at Paddington for a Shenfield service, and reached Ilford around 1600.

A middle-aged couple wanting Whitechapel were confused by the out-of-date line diagram when we departed Paddington, thinking they had to change at LST, I reassured them the train would indeed call at Whitechapel, but they still alighted at LST anyway, before hearing the onboard destination announcement, quickly jumping back aboard and apologizing to me

 

[Kite159]

I presume 345003 on the 1414 Gidea Park to London Paddington service didn't like the changeover to the signalling system used in the core as after 10 minutes the driver announced it was going into Liverpool Street high level from Stratford.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Only Twyford, Maidenhead and Slough have the GWR set up (possibly Reading?)

The other stations use the TfL set up, so the same as the east I'd imagine

I'm aware but I'm saying I can't use Stratford as an example as I believe the ATOS system there is not the same as used on the other TFL East side stations.

 

[NLC1072]

I got my video all recorded, edited and uploaded today. Weather was certainly against us, but the Elizabeth line ran well enough. I was on that first train heading westbound, enjoyed it apart from some mouthy kids!

 

[Non Multi]

Caught the 1013 from Ilford to Whitechapel (surprised to see the full 8-minute Sunday frequency), and then Whitechapel to Maidenhead, arriving there at 1141. But missed the 1129 to Marlow, so had to wait till 1229, managed to visit Cookham and Furze Platt, the last two stations I needed to complete the TfL Contactless PAYG area. Got a little soaked at Furze Platt around 1330. Back to Maidenhead by 1422, waited until 1449 to catch a train from P5 so I could do the connection to the Up Relief (ex-P4).

My advice is plan your trip around the lowest frequency connection (in this instance the hourly Marlow train with the xx29 departure), then work backwards using the PDF timetables which will determine the correct trains to travel on.

 

[STINT47]

I tried a cross London - Stratford to Hayes and Harlington journey today. It's nice to see Bond Street open and through running but I was disappointed to see that all Stratford trains appear to terminate at Paddington?

It's certainly better and quicker now as I can step off the train at Paddington and wait on the same platform for the next service to Hayes and Harlington but it would've been nice to have a direct train.

Crossrail is a great railway and asset but I can't help but feel that for the money spent it isn't being used to it's full potential.

 

[Watershed]

I tried a cross London - Stratford to Hayes and Harlington journey today. It's nice to see Bond Street open and through running but I was disappointed to see that all Stratford trains appear to terminate at Paddington?

It's certainly better and quicker now as I can step off the train at Paddington and wait on the same platform for the next service to Hayes and Harlington but it would've been nice to have a direct train.

Crossrail is a great railway and asset but I can't help but feel that for the money spent it isn't being used to it's full potential.

That's coming in the next stage, from May 2023. TfL are being cautious and have decided not to go straight for full through running through both sides.

 

[pdeaves]

Crossrail is a great railway and asset but I can't help but feel that for the money spent it isn't being used to it's full potential.

That's coming in the next stage, from May 2023. TfL are being cautious and have decided not to go straight for full through running through both sides.

Yes; as a temporary measure it's two separate lines that happen to overlap.

 

[JonathanH]

That's coming in the next stage, from May 2023. TfL are being cautious and have decided not to go straight for full through running through both sides.

As has been discussed before however isn't it just 2tph Shenfield to Heathrow running through from the Stratford route in the final iteration plus some isolated workings to get the ordering right in the shoulder peaks? Most Stratford route services terminating at Paddington long term, not least to get sensible spacing on the western side.

 

[DPQ]

I May have missed earlier in the thread, but has the frequency dropped between Whitechapel and Abbey Wood?

 

[JonathanH]

I May have missed earlier in the thread, but has the frequency dropped between Whitechapel and Abbey Wood?

Yes. It was only ever at the 12tph frequency to maintain the necessary level in the core during the introductory period. Pushed back to 8tph now off-peak to match the frequency from Shenfield and give combined 16tph through the core. More trains in the peak.

 

[Sunil_P]

My advice is plan your trip around the lowest frequency connection (in this instance the hourly Marlow train with the xx29 departure), then work backwards using the PDF timetables which will determine the correct trains to travel on.

Thanks, but Forgot to mention - I was running late. I aimed for the 1006 at Ilford!

 

[danielcanning]

Yes. It was only ever at the 12tph frequency to maintain the necessary level in the core during the introductory period. Pushed back to 8tph now off-peak to match the frequency from Shenfield and give combined 16tph through the core. More trains in the peak.

Now leading to some lengthy waits, such as tonight when two Abbey Wood trains were cancelled in a row resulting in a near 20 minute wait. Not what London was promised…

 

[ijmad]

Now leading to some lengthy waits, such as tonight when two Abbey Wood trains were cancelled in a row resulting in a near 20 minute wait. Not what London was promised…

Two cancelled trains should be rare once the service beds in properly. But the final plan was always 12tph peak / 10tph off peak on the branches (so a bit more than now, but not much more). Crossrail moves people using enormous trains, not the highest possible frequency. Although the CBTC signalling can go higher than 24ttph in future if needed.

As has been discussed before however isn't it just 2tph Shenfield to Heathrow running through from the Stratford route in the final iteration plus some isolated workings to get the ordering right in the shoulder peaks? Most Stratford route services terminating at Paddington long term, not least to get sensible spacing on the western side.

In theory the final service pattern on the Western side should feature 2tph more to Reading/Maidenhead in the peaks (I would guess these will go to/from Shenfield), and 2tph more to Heathrow T4 all day, not sure where those will originate from.

 

[Horizon22]

All seemed to be running rather smoothly today. Lots of patronage, most seemed impressed, although one or two confused looking people and at least one person who looked very annoyed after realising they'd taken a train up the wrong branch to Stratford.

The ex-Heathrow train I ended up on at one point did pause for a minute at the CBTC boundary, and the driver announced something like 'he was waiting for the system to pick up the train'. Are there still some demons in the system doing this at line speed, or did I perhaps mishear?

When it did get 'picked up' I noticed the PIS went blank until we were birthed in Paddington at which point it started showing Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf again. No such problems making the transition between Stratford and Whitechapel.

Appears to be some sort of tracking fault between Acton and Paddington, as it was doing it when trains were running into the High Level platform. I imagine there will be a fair bit of natural confusion the first few weeks.

 

[ijmad]

I imagine there will be a fair bit of natural confusion the first few weeks.

Yes! Although I was surprised to see how well people were adapting on Day 1 - loads of folks with large suitcases on the Heathrow trains, clearly clued in to it being a good option for the airport. I suppose there has been local TV news coverage but nice to see it's not just the rail geeks taking advantage!

 

[penguin8967]

I imagine there will be a fair bit of natural confusion the first few weeks.

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.

 

[Watershed]

Yes! Although I was surprised to see how well people were adapting on Day 1 - loads of folks with large suitcases on the Heathrow trains, clearly clued in to it being a good option for the airport. I suppose there has been local TV news coverage but nice to see it's not just the rail geeks taking advantage!

Yes, I noted that too. I was quite surprised, but I suppose a lot of people will just be relying on what Google Maps etc. spits out - and that will have been fully up to date with the new timetable.

Definitely some confusion over whether trains between Shenfield and Paddington stop at Whitechapel. Incidentally, that seemed to be one of the busiest 'core' stations.

 

[ijmad]

Incidentally, that seemed to be one of the busiest 'core' stations.

The PA/PIS is telling people to change at Whitechapel to swap Eastern branches, so it makes sense there would be a few people dwelling on the platforms. I also still think there'll be some people from the Shenfield branch who use Whitechapel to turn back towards Canary Wharf and maybe some from Woolwich/Abbey Wood travelling to Stratford. Whitechapel doesn't seem to be that busy in terms of entries/exits though - after all I note it's the only single entry station on the trunk, although anecdotally some people seem to be wising up to the decent change from the Overground there instead of doing so en masse at Canada Water.

 

[matt_world2004]

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.

The train map in the carriages I was on was updated .

 

[VauxhallandI]

We landed 15 late so I missed the train and had to wait 23 mins but was determined not to crack and get the HEX.

Ran through to Liverpool St, felt the dwell times were a bit long on the journey

The maps on our train had not been updated

 

[matt_world2004]

We landed 15 late so I missed the train and had to wait 23 mins but was determined not to crack and get the HEX.

Ran through to Liverpool St, felt the dwell times were a bit long on the journey

The maps on our train had not been updated

If you were at terminal 5 you could have caught the hex to Heathrow central for a more frequent service. Using the Heathrow express/Elizabeth line is free to travel between terminals

 

[penguin8967]

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?

 

[MikeWh]

Although the CBTC signalling can go higher than 24ttph in future if needed.

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.

 

[ijmad]

If you were at terminal 5 you could have caught the hex to Heathrow central for a more frequent service. Using the Heathrow express/Elizabeth line is free to travel between terminals

I wonder how many people know that trick. Eventually there's supposed to be 4tph of Elizabeth Line to Terminal 4, but I'd seriously hope 4tph to Terminal 5 might be a possibility in future.

 

[VauxhallandI]

If you were at terminal 5 you could have caught the hex to Heathrow central for a more frequent service. Using the Heathrow express/Elizabeth line is free to travel between terminals

Alas that wouldn’t have done us much good the hex had just left when we got to platform level

 

[JonathanH]

I wonder how many people know that trick. Eventually there's supposed to be 4tph of Elizabeth Line to Terminal 4, but I'd seriously hope 4tph to Terminal 5 might be a possibility in future.

I suspect that you would need Heathrow Express to reduce its service to get 4tph Elizabeth Line into Terminal 5. An overall 8tph to Heathrow Terminal 5 doesn't seem likely. Having said that, the Elizabeth Line service does have a 21 minute turnaround there. 6 minutes would be a bit tight.

 

[hwl]

but I was disappointed to see that all Stratford trains appear to terminate at Paddington?

That is the plan and it has long been know about that Shenfield Running west of Paddington will be minimal (mostly shoulder peak) till OOC station opens and turn back will happen there instead.

Two cancelled trains should be rare once the service beds in properly. But the final plan was always 12tph peak / 10tph off peak on the branches (so a bit more than now, but not much more). Crossrail moves people using enormous trains, not the highest possible frequency. Although the CBTC signalling can go higher than 24ttph in future if needed.



In theory the final service pattern on the Western side should feature 2tph more to Reading/Maidenhead in the peaks (I would guess these will go to/from Shenfield), and 2tph more to Heathrow T4 all day, not sure where those will originate from.

Have another guess than involves Abbey Wood.

The missing 2tph to T4 are the currently two missing Abbey Wood services till next May. The missing "least stops" Reading are due to the lack of GWML recast till May with the delays out side Paddington which stretches the rolling stock requirement

 

[Taunton]

I wonder how many people know that trick. Eventually there's supposed to be 4tph of Elizabeth Line to Terminal 4, but I'd seriously hope 4tph to Terminal 5 might be a possibility in future.

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.

 

[345 050]

Yes. It was only ever at the 12tph frequency to maintain the necessary level in the core during the introductory period. Pushed back to 8tph now off-peak to match the frequency from Shenfield and give combined 16tph through the core. More trains in the peak.

Despite the reduction in frequency of trains to Abbey Wood, it appears that services still have to wait to enter the platforms there - the dwell times have been extended from about 7 minutes to about 12 minutes, which is a bit of a pain. I suppose it should improve resilience in the event of late arrivals.

Now leading to some lengthy waits, such as tonight when two Abbey Wood trains were cancelled in a row resulting in a near 20 minute wait. Not what London was promised…

I was at Paddington around 1900-1930 and a train seemed to have a few issues departing Eastbound. I got the impression that the transition is here and at Stratford, is that correct? It got moving eventually, but created quite a backlog of trains....