The Elizabeth Line (aka Crossrail) is go!

[Pickman's model]

Already talk of an extension to the wilds of north Kent

Elizabeth line to Ebbsfleet extension could cost £3.2 billion

A report looking at transport upgrades across the southeast of England suggests that extending the Elizabeth line into Kent would cost around £3.2 billion.

www.ianvisits.co.uk

not sure ebbsfleet any longer counts as wilds

 

[pbsmooth]

I think Elizabeth Line was always to a large extent about visitors and people travelling across London, keeping them off the tube and taking pressure off. i.e. fast direct service between Liverpool Street and Paddington - two major hubs to east and west of the country. the value of this isn't really affected by wfh. also ultimately speed of travel to Heathrow, which again is more about leisure than business.

but somewhat unfortunate timing with covid. I agree work life will never be the same but I think it will be a mix of office and wfh so people will still travel into hubs of offices like Bank and the City.

and of course a little reduced capacity is no bad thing - commuting pre-Covid was often horrifically overcrowded if you remember. there will be an adjustment for TfL and whoever else based on revenue but we shouldn't want or need it to go back to pre-Covid levels.

 

[A380]

not sure ebbsfleet any longer counts as wilds

Have you been there ?

 

[Pickman's model]

Have you been there ?

you might mean this ebbsfleet

while i was thinking of this ebbsfleet

 

[sovereignb]

I will say this line has helped me explore West London/outskirts that I never knew. There is a stunning nature park in Uxbridge I got to last week and I cant wait to return.
I've also read about peoples commutes being cut in half or more so feels very positive so far.
It definetely needs to be extend on the south side so.

 

[hash tag]

The start was fine, trains every 5 minutes, no problem.
The middle was dreadful for all manner of reasons. Had to but tickets from a ticket office to extend our travel cards beyond the zones. Paddington was crowded, difficulty finding ticket office and trains now every 15 minutes or so. Reading also good with a brand new station.
the

 

[Puddy_Tat]

the new station at reading has been around for a few years now - was formally opened in 2014, although think it was done with crossrail in mind, also done round the electrification plans and so on. i spend a number of sundays in 2013-14 running rail replacement bus services from the semi-abandoned old bus station in reading while they were digging bits of the railway line up...

the idea of extending to somewhere in the direction of north kent was part of the original plans - space for additional tracks to allow extension as far as hoo junction (east of gravesend) has been protected from development since 2004/5.

i had planned to sample crossrail yesterday as part of a visit to mum-tat's, except coming from berkshire, there was a points failure somewhere round hanwell, and the great western line was struggling, so i came in via the waterloo line. then going home, there was escalator failure at farringdon and a huge queue for the lift, so i got the underground back to paddington.

hmph.

 

[Elpenor]

The start was fine, trains every 5 minutes, no problem.
The middle was dreadful for all manner of reasons. Had to but tickets from a ticket office to extend our travel cards beyond the zones. Paddington was crowded, difficulty finding ticket office and trains now every 15 minutes or so. Reading also good with a brand new station.
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My old stomping ground

 

[hash tag]

My old stomping ground

Which end?

 

[Elpenor]

Reading

 

[hash tag]

I really didn't know Reading, apart from festivals. Big town lots of big developments and some huge ones happening. The obligatory massive shopping arcade. The Kennet is wall to wall bars and restaurants. A difficult trip to get to the football and a really massive station.

 

[klang]

The Kennet is wall to wall bars and restaurants.

good pizza?

 

[hash tag]

good pizza?

There was a Francos, pizza express and pizza hut there, amongst others. I think had I done the pizza thing, I would have come back to Pizza East at Portabello. The bars etc. Were buzzing.

 

[klang]

There was a Francos, pizza express and pizza hut there, amongst others. I think had I done the pizza thing, I would have come back to Pizza East at Portabello. The bars etc. Were buzzing.

was there the other day and was shocked to see Galicia's closed for good.

 

[hash tag]

In fairness to reading, half a day was not nearly enough time to do it justice. It generally looked like it was thriving, more so than many other towns.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Transferred from Bakerloo to a train going west @ Paddington. It’s a long old walk, will it always be like that? Still building work going on unbelievably.

 

[Elpenor]

There was a Francos, pizza express and pizza hut there, amongst others. I think had I done the pizza thing, I would have come back to Pizza East at Portabello. The bars etc. Were buzzing.

Second busiest station outside of London apparently

Papa Gee is meant to be the best pizza in Reading - it’s an independent place between the station and the Thames

 

[hash tag]

Second busiest station outside of London apparently

Papa Gee is meant to be the best pizza in Reading - it’s an independent place between the station and the Thames

Shame it is not next to the river, worse, no white pizza for Mrs tag. I do worry about pizzas like melanzana for Mrs Tag as parmesan is not normally vegetarian and I doubt that the provola is.

 

[Crispy]

Next phase of opening is November 6th. Sunday trains will run, Bond Street will be open, all Abbey Wood trains will go through to Heathrow or Reading, and all Shenfield trains will go through to Paddington. So no more changing trains at Liverpool St. and you only have to get off and get back on again at Paddington (no more going upstairs). The last phase, which will let Shenfield trains go past Paddington, will come in May next year.

Elizabeth line set to further transform travel with direct links to central London

New direct links through Berkshire and Essex through central London Increased operating hours and Sunday services will see the Elizabeth line run seven days a week More frequent train services between Whitechapel and Paddington Bond Street station, at the heart of London’s West End, to...

www.crossrail.co.uk

 

[skyscraper101]

This is great news. Finally being able to and from Heathrow to central and East London without the cumbersome Paddington/Liv St changes will be very welcome.

 

[Crispy]

Train geeks have been finding some weird delays in the timetable around Paddington. Some trains will get held for 3-6 minutes, in both directions. A handful of trains each day will still be terminating upstairs too. The probable cause is GWR not having enough time to alter their timetable to suit, so liz line trains are having to work around it. So if you're going past Paddington in either direction, allow a little slack in your plans.

 

[T & P]

Heathrow supplement or not, I can't imagine the Heathrow Express service being long for this world once the Elizabeth Line LHR branch becomes operational, unless they drastically reduce their fares. 25 fucking quid for a one-way journey...

 

[hash tag]

Heathrow supplement or not, I can't imagine the Heathrow Express service being long for this world once the Elizabeth Line LHR branch becomes operational, unless they drastically reduce their fares. 25 fucking quid for a one-way journey...

You would have thought that about the Gatwick express but 30 nearly 40 years later it's still running.

 

[Crispy]

There is no Heathrow supplement on the liz line. Same fare as the tube. The only advantage of the express is that it's 20m vs. 35m into Paddington. Once you factor in the time it takes to change, then yeah there's really no competition. Trouble is the tracks and trains are owned and operated by LHR so they won't give it up without a fight.

The Gatwick express is daft, but it doesn't have to compete with trains that carry on past Victoria to places people want to actually go, so there's still a market for it.

 

[skyscraper101]

The one that makes the least sense to me is the Stansted 'Express' which calls at three other stops between the airport and Liv St, and is only 17 minutes quicker than taking the coach.

 

[alex_]

There is no Heathrow supplement on the liz line. Same fare as the tube. The only advantage of the express is that it's 20m vs. 35m into Paddington. Once you factor in the time it takes to change, then yeah there's really no competition. Trouble is the tracks and trains are owned and operated by LHR so they won't give it up without a fight.

The Gatwick express is daft, but it doesn't have to compete with trains that carry on past Victoria to places people want to actually go, so there's still a market for it.

The interesting journey times are the direct train times - eg Liverpool st to Heathrow on crossrail will be faster than a cab from someone’s office to Heathrow

 

[Winot]

Heathrow supplement or not, I can't imagine the Heathrow Express service being long for this world once the Elizabeth Line LHR branch becomes operational, unless they drastically reduce their fares. 25 fucking quid for a one-way journey...

HEX changed their pricing model years ago (probably in anticipation of Crossrail). I bought advance singles PAD-LHR for £10.95 total for our family of four.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

The one that makes the least sense to me is the Stansted 'Express' which calls at three other stops between the airport and Liv St, and is only 17 minutes quicker than taking the coach.

Yeah, took this last month from Tottenham Hale, 'express' is not an adjective I'd have used for it.

 

[T & P]

HEX changed their pricing model years ago (probably in anticipation of Crossrail). I bought advance singles PAD-LHR for £10.95 total for our family of four.

That's pretty good. I chose a random date in September and it was £25, then the same day in October was £16.50, and in November £10. So booking massively in advance makes it more financially appealling. But even at £16.50 it seems poor value compared with Xrail unless you're in a massive hurry.

 

[Winot]

That's pretty good. I chose a random date in September and it was £25, then the same day in October was £16.50, and in November £10. So booking massively in advance makes it more financially appealling. But even at £16.50 it seems poor value compared with Xrail unless you're in a massive hurry.

Yes, I booked massively in advance. Obviously in a lot of cases (eg holidays) that’s possible.