Just a word on how the automatic fire bottles operate:

They are for the engines only and do not operate when there is a saloon fire - manually operated extinguishers have to do the job then.  A heat detecting circuit runs round the engine and when it detects abnormal heat then the fire alarm sounds in the drivers cab and when the speed of the train is reduced to less than 6mph the automatic extinguisher activates.  If there is an engine fire and that doesn't put it out, then there's a separate extinguisher which can be operated by a pull handle manually.  The driver is aware which engine is affected by that carriages 'cant rail' light being lit.

So, if there wasn't a fire it must have been a defect with this heat detecting circuit.  They have been known to set the extinguishers off at very low temperatures (explain that one if you can!), but it's unusual (though not unheard of) for them to go off under normal running conditions.  Ironically when the extinguisher contacts the hot engine there's a hell of a lot of steam which actually makes it look as if there is an engine fire, even if there isn't! 

Because the nature of the service will be completely different.  The present structure was determined when all that would operate is a designated Heathrow Express link operated by BAA.  As a through service will presumably be operating when the western link is operational, then BAA will not be operating those services (again presumably) and I can see the link becoming more of a proper National Rail route and then it would make sense for Network Rail to take over full responsibility for it - after all, they might not own it, but they do still maintain it.

Either that, or you have a high surcharge for travelling on a through service from, say Slough to Ealing Broadway that goes via the airport (can't see that happening), or you only pay the surcharge if your journey is actually to/from one of the airport stations.

Personally, I can see BAA being 'persuaded' to give up Heathrow Express operation and hand it over to the National Rail network when this link goes live.  There are already murmurings of significant changes to the HEx services as a result of Crossrail.  

Might that situation change should this through link get built though?

Wires are starting to be strung between the overhead line structures installed in the east sidings of the new depot.  Meanwhile it looks as if the new platforms won't be wired up in time for their opening after the Easter blockade, though the structures will be in place for them.

I quite agree with Jo and Worcester Passenger - how would anyone not in the know, know?

I had the dubious honour of being at Oxford as the first through train to London departed at 16:00 today.  Usually a HST^▸ (High Speed Train) from Hereford, today it arrived as a 3-Car Turbo full and standing and left as a 5-Car Turbo totally choc-full.  Must've been at least 500 on board and that was before it picked up at Didcot, Reading and Slough.  Perhaps a 6-Car might have been slightly better, but even then people would have been faced with no option but to stand for well over an hour?

I used to think the first part of 'STANOX' stood for STAtion Number, but you also have the 9-characted STANME codes which are alpha based and not numeric, so the 'N' must stand for something else!

Blimey!  I think I'd have waited for the next train in the morning!

Yes, we'll have to wait until more structures are fitted, but it appears, from the one example we have so far, to be a very neat and unobtrusive solution.

Last week was the first 100% week of 180 coverage so far.  The first to get close to 100% to be honest.  This week was pretty good as well with an 88% coverage rate - as usual it was diagram OC504 which was the first to be sacrificed, which only has one trip on the Cotswold Line meaning that only two trips further out that Oxford during the entire week were Turbos instead, and in both of those cases it was a 3-Car.  Much better, FGW^▸ (First Great Western)!

The concerns are still there, but it looks like the multi-storey car park is still very much on the agenda having been passed as acceptable by Cherwell District Council.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-21613675

The number of times these back-up generators fail to work must be quite high!

Will they have 2+2 seating though?  The specification states that each Crossrail train will have 450 seats (with room for a total of 1500 passengers).  That equates to just 45 seats per carriage in a 10-car train.  Compare that with the Class 378s 38 seats per carriage with its longitudinal seating and the 60-70 seats per carriage you'd expect to find in a typical 2+2 seated 20m carriage, and that suggests to me there will be quite a lot of longitudinal seating?

http://www.crossrail.co.uk/assets/download/4962

I personally think that they will go with a mixed layout of 2+2 and longitudinal, in a similar fashion to the S8 underground stock on the Metropolitan Line, to achieve that 45 seats per carriage ratio.

It looked like Marlow to me - the footpath crossing by the A404 overpass.

Set 108 has let the side down a bit so far this week, and 106 is still locked away receiving attention.

Worth mentioning that preliminary work continues at a pace, with foundation holes dug most of the way from Reading to Oxford for the overhead masts that will be installed by this wonderful electrification train that will soon be with us.

Most of the holes have simply been dug, lined with a strong canvas sack with handles, and then filled in with gravel, soil and ballast.  But at a few locations the foundation post to which the gantry will be attached has also been installed.