Crossrail/Elizabeth Line. From construction to operation - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Reading General]

I just had a look at the return journey from Maidenhead to Reading (general) tomorrow, off peak in the middle of the day and,while there are four trains an hour, crossrail trains are only four minutes ahead of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains, then a 26 minute gap. Why are they not at 15 minute or as close as possible intervals?

[stuving]

I just had a look at the return journey from Maidenhead to Reading (general) tomorrow, off peak in the middle of the day and,while there are four trains an hour, crossrail trains are only four minutes ahead of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains, then a 26 minute gap. Why are they not at 15 minute or as close as possible intervals?

They are - 13-14 minutes apart - leaving Paddington. The GWR service being, if not truly semifast, then at least less-stopping, catches up with the TfL^» (Transport for London - about) one in front. You could make a case for moving it forward by about 7 back by about 6 minutes to be closer to even spacing on average over the run, if you think it's worth the effort.

[Reading General]

Ah right, so it doesn’t start out like that, just occurs like that at the last few stops.

[Marlburian]

Another helpful article on a local news website:

How long does it take from Reading to Paddington on the Elizabeth Line?



I confess that the times are a bit better than I'd imagined, not that they will often concern me.

Marlburian

[stuving]

Another helpful article on a local news website:

How long does it take from Reading to Paddington on the Elizabeth Line?


I confess that the times are a bit better than I'd imagined, not that they will often concern me.

Marlburian

I can't see where they've got those times from. The "how long it takes on a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) stopping service" comes from the old timetable, where there are two kinds that skip different stops. But in the new timetable the GWR trains skip some stops - such a Iver - so that table misleads.

TfL^» (Transport for London - about) trains are generally 55 minutes, and a bit slower in the peaks, both ways, GWR trains are more variable, but some daytime ones are well under 50 minutes. Oddly, just after the morning peak they are slower than TfL ones - but only inbound. 

I can't see any TfL RDG^‡(resolve)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) train at 50 minutes. There are supposed to be TfL peak services with similar stopping pattern the GWR off-peak ones, but for now the peak reinforcements stop everywhere.

[Marlburian]

Then that's the latest in a series of misinformative articles about Crossrail on local news websites.

Marlburian

[Reading General]

Another article that suggests a complete takeover of the relief lines by crossrail, instead of half. Also, where did they get that explanation of why it’s called crossrail?

[Adelante_CCT]

At Abbey Wood the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) are already programmed with departures to Paddington, Heathrow and Reading

[Bmblbzzz]

At Abbey Wood the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) are already programmed with departures to Paddington, Heathrow and Reading

For a second I was really excited about direct services from Filton to Heathrow. 

[stuving]

Another article that suggests a complete takeover of the relief lines by crossrail, instead of half. Also, where did they get that explanation of why it’s called crossrail?

And this, from today's CityAM. It's not on-line, but only short so I'll retype it:

"Crossrail 'opens' but delays still plague central London segment
COMMUTERS will now be able to travel from reading to Paddington in 58 minutes, after a limited section of Crossrail opened yesterday.
  The new line marks the largest opening of any part of the Crossrail project, which was supposed to open in December 2018. The project's original budget of £15bn is expected to be exceeded by up to £2bn.
  It comes amid widespread travel chaos yesterday after GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s new timetables promising more trains and faster journeys failed to deliver.
  Passengers were hit with delays and cancellations that are likely to continue throughout the week."

58 minutes! Wow!

[TonyK]

At Abbey Wood the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) are already programmed with departures to Paddington, Heathrow and Reading

For a second I was really excited about direct services from Filton to Heathrow. 

#MeToo.

[Reading General]

Another article that suggests a complete takeover of the relief lines by crossrail, instead of half. Also, where did they get that explanation of why it’s called crossrail?

And this, from today's CityAM. It's not on-line, but only short so I'll retype it:

"Crossrail 'opens' but delays still plague central London segment
COMMUTERS will now be able to travel from reading to Paddington in 58 minutes, after a limited section of Crossrail opened yesterday.
  The new line marks the largest opening of any part of the Crossrail project, which was supposed to open in December 2018. The project's original budget of £15bn is expected to be exceeded by up to £2bn.
  It comes amid widespread travel chaos yesterday after GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s new timetables promising more trains and faster journeys failed to deliver.
  Passengers were hit with delays and cancellations that are likely to continue throughout the week."

58 minutes! Wow!

Now that just made me laugh. This is written by somebody who is definitely educated to a far higher standard than me but who clearly thinks that they need to do no research whatsoever. A new line opened? It’s two trains an hour off peak, travelling on a line which opened fully between the two points 179 years ago! The level of arrogance in this piece of journalism astounds me.

[stuving]

Now that just made me laugh. This is written by somebody who is definitely educated to a far higher standard than me but who clearly thinks that they need to do no research whatsoever. A new line opened? It’s two trains an hour off peak, travelling on a line which opened fully between the two points 179 years ago! The level of arrogance in this piece of journalism astounds me.

Not familiar with CityAM, then? (Though other free sheets are not so different.)

[4064ReadingAbbey]

So were GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) looking to completely give up service of the relief line between Slough and London, dividing a through line in two? I can’t see TFL^▸ (Transport for London) sympathising with those passengers from outer london heading west. Would the Didcot relief line service not have continued to do what it does today, providing a half hourly option heading east from those stations?

The outer-suburban trains, the 2 per hour Paddington to Didcot (and later Oxford), would have continued to run as now. It is simply that Crossrail would have been terminated at Maidenhead and as a Reading - Maidenhead shuttle would have been difficult to arrange at Maidenhead and many of the Reading - Slough passengers would have had to have changed at Maidenhead it was published that Crossrail would go on to Reading.

The announcement was made after the rebuild of Reading station was completed to avoid any chance of Crossrail having to pay for any of the enhancements there. The other advantage of not running a shuttle was that the expense of a west-facing bay at Slough was avoided.

[IndustryInsider]

And IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the original layout at Maidenhead included the construction of a specific platform for the Bourne End branch, instead of sharing platform 5 with services on the slow* lines.

With less trains starting/terminating at Maidenhead that was presumably no longer needed.

* Just to tease S&Tengineer.