The Elizabeth Line (aka Crossrail) is go!

[beesonthewhatnow]

10 or 15 years from now I wonder if we'll be reading similar articles about HS2 - new services rapidly full to capacity, UK's busiest intercity line, etc etc and most people will forget that they spent the previous decade saying it would be a white elephant and there's no need for it and everyone does everything on zoom these days anyway.

You think it’s going to be operational in 15 years time? You have a greater degree of optimism than me

 

[pbsmooth]

Not too bad at weekends - often get the train to Bath, generally pay about £65 return - try and do a 1st class upgrade for £20 - last time they just didn't check the tickets

my work pays luckily! but I am always shocked at the cost.

 

[T & P]

10 or 15 years from now I wonder if we'll be reading similar articles about HS2 - new services rapidly full to capacity, UK's busiest intercity line, etc etc and most people will forget that they spent the previous decade saying it would be a white elephant and there's no need for it and everyone does everything on zoom these days anyway.

Perhaps, but then by the time it's finally up and running, a great many of the people who lived through the consultation and bulding phases of the project and helped pay a total sum with more zeros than the annual GDP of many countries, will have been long dead without having ever to ride on the thing. I'm sure those who do get to use it might think 'Ah, isn't this rad?'

 

[teuchter]

You think it’s going to be operational in 15 years time? You have a greater degree of optimism than me

I think OOC to Birmingham probably will be; my pessimism is focused on whether the phases going north of Birmingham will get shelved or massively compromised meaning that some of HS2's potential benefits get wasted.

Really who knows though; we have at least two general elections before the first bit will be done.

 

[teuchter]

Perhaps, but then by the time it's finally up and running, a great many of the people who lived through the consultation and bulding phases of the project and helped pay a total sum with more zeros than the annual GDP of many countries, will have been long dead without having ever to ride on the thing. I'm sure those who do get to use it might think 'Ah, isn't this rad?'

So what, though? I find it kind of cheering that however rubbish humans can be en masse, we do somehow manage to pursue projects which will have benefits beyond the lifespan of many working on them. You could say similar about anything aimed at addressing climate change, for example.

 

[editor]

One in six of all UK rail journeys are now made on the Elizabeth Line!

Free online talk next Thurs: The Elizabeth Line one year on

 

[Winot]

Looking at Lizard Line to get to Heathrow from Brixton tomorrow as HEX is on strike.

I knew it wasn’t that quick but hadn’t realised that trains to LHR were only two an hour.

May as well sit on the tube. First no jet packs now this.

 

[B.I.G]

Looking at Lizard Line to get to Heathrow from Brixton tomorrow as HEX is on strike.

I knew it wasn’t that quick but hadn’t realised that trains to LHR were only two an hour.

May as well sit on the tube. First no jet packs now this.

I’m not sure that’s exactly true.

Did you check all the terminals?

 

[Numbers]

I love this line. We went from Custom House to Reading on Saturday (and back on Sunday) and it was super efficient, an hour and 15 mins.

 

[Winot]

I’m not sure that’s exactly true.

Did you check all the terminals?

You’re right, it seems to alternate to T4 and T5. So how do I get to T5 from T1/T4?

 

[Crispy]

You’re right, it seems to alternate to T4 and T5. So how do I get to T5 from T1/T4?

View attachment 374205

All trains between the heathrow stations are free. You can take the express, the free shuttle or the tube.

 

[platinumsage]

Yeah it's not much fun arriving at the platform from a flight at T4 or T5 and having to wait half an hour.

 

[Winot]

Well this is bollocks - sitting at TCR for 10 mins - when I got here train to T5 was due to arrive in 8 mins - now has magically disappeared

 

[Winot]

Yeah so I missed the plane. Mainly my own stupidity but lizard line didn’t help.

 

[Winot]

All trains between the heathrow stations are free. You can take the express, the free shuttle or the tube.

PSA - transferring from EL T4 to T5 via tube takes as long as waiting for next EL train. So in practice EL to T5 is every half an hour.

 

[teuchter]

Whoever is in charge of replacing lightbulbs on crossrail needs to be fired.

 

[hash tag]

An unexpected consequence

Royal London Hospital blames Elizabeth line for patient influx

The Royal London believes a recent surge in patient numbers is due to the Elizabeth line opening.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[hash tag]

Not the first time it's had issues

Rail passengers stuck for hours in 'surreal' ordeal

One commuter described the experience as "feeling like a wartime thing".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[T & P]

Not the first time it's had issues

Rail passengers stuck for hours in 'surreal' ordeal

One commuter described the experience as "feeling like a wartime thing".

www.bbc.co.uk

Is that Councillor Troy on the foreground?

 

[A380]

.

 

[Bus Honeygun]

Is that Councillor Troy on the foreground?

"I'm sensing a lot of boredom, Captain..."

 

[A380]

Perhaps, but then by the time it's finally up and running, a great many of the people who lived through the consultation and bulding phases of the project and helped pay a total sum with more zeros than the annual GDP of many countries, will have been long dead without having ever to ride on the thing. I'm sure those who do get to use it might think 'Ah, isn't this rad?'

This is what lots of previous generations did for much of our existing infrastructure. Why are we special?

 

[bluescreen]

Anyone know what caused the damage?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

No toilets on these trains either.

 

[tim]

No toilets on these trains either.

But they did have supervised door opening for those who wished to urinate al-fresco.

 

[pbsmooth]

As long as I was on my own, didn't need a piss, and had plenty of battery on my phone and headphones, sounds ideal to be honest.

 

[T & P]

This is what lots of previous generations did for much of our existing infrastructure. Why are we special?

Nothing wrong with the principle of building for future generations if the timeline can't be helped due to the complexity or size of the project, of course. But it is a bit grating when just about every other country in the world that embarks in similarly complex projects manage to complete it and get it running within a decade at most, and at a fraction of the cost for good measure.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Nothing wrong with the principle of building for future generations if the timeline can't be helped due to the complexity or size of the project, of course. But it is a bit grating when just about every other country in the world that embarks in similarly complex projects manage to complete it and get it running within a decade at most, and at a fraction of the cost for good measure.

Oh come on, stop running the country down, Crossrail only took from 1941 until 2023 to get done, which is less time than it took Spain to make the Sierra Nevada.

 

[A380]

No toilets on these trains either.

Oh, So that's why the driver got so cross with me the other day...

 

[A380]

Nothing wrong with the principle of building for future generations if the timeline can't be helped due to the complexity or size of the project, of course. But it is a bit grating when just about every other country in the world that embarks in similarly complex projects manage to complete it and get it running within a decade at most, and at a fraction of the cost for good measure.

I'm not disagreeing with you generally (and I've seen thousands of miles of TGV track build in China* with massive cookie cutter stations (Including building metro stations underneath in. cities that don't have metro systems yet, but will later and they are planing ahead to save money, time, and disruption) but Berlin's new airport wasn't exactly a master class in efficient infrastructure provision.


*Admittedly, it's proably easier to build high speed rail when you can just acquire all the land at the stroke of a pen and send anyone who disagrees to study glaciers for years, or shoot...