Crossrail - a new railway for London

[whole diary]

[paul7575]

Interesting point about Liverpool St & Moorgate.  I expect before long someone will enter and exit 10 mins later at the other end and be charged a fare for an underground walk.

I don’t know how the barrier lines will work collectively, because presumably a single station journey on the H&C or Circle is still valid as before.

[Reading General]

What a ridiculous rail system we have where stuff like this exists. High prices for those who don’t individually do the research. It’s 2022.

This just reflects the way GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) pricing has been for years. Contactless fares for the bit outwards of Paddington (which is most of the cost here) have been set at half the equivalent day return fare. For Reading-Paddington you can split at Slough: £11.80+£18.60 vs. £52.10 (anytime) saving £21.70. In this case you don't even need to get off!

Quite. The fact that all these arrangements still exist all over the network demonstrates what a poor railway it is with loopholes and discrepancies. We require a railway where everything is transparent on the price without having to shop around and do research. We require a railway which all works as one system rather than one with competitive pricing and operators. Instead, demonstrated by the misinformation over this vast project and the above fare arrangements, we still have a confusing railway that shows no signs of changing or moving on to become a simple, useable, affordable network for everyone to use for all journeys, without using apps and the internet to find what the best or cheapest way of doing things is. As far as I’m concerned, we’re getting transport wrong.

[Mark A]

Write up of some of the fares weirdness from MyLondon, here:

https://www.mylondon.news/lifestyle/travel/crossrail-how-elizabeth-line-fares-24059991

[Marlburian]

"Mum who commutes to Burnham disappointed in Elizabeth Line launch"

Seems quite a long article about not very much?

National Rail gives journey times between 96 and 113 minutes for Chadwell Heath to Burnham.

[bobm]

I am going to echo much of what II has posted as I took a trip on the new line today.

My trip started at Paddington at 7.20am and got me back there at 9.45am.   Assuming the initial rush of enthusiasts has died down somewhat the trains were all busy but not uncomfortably so. 



Throughout signage is good and there are plenty of staff on hand to guide people through the system and answer questions.

As many have said, the first thing that strikes you is the space.  High ceilings, well lit and spacious concourses as soon as you enter the new station at Paddington.







Although not officially part of the Underground network, the trains do of course travel below the surface but there is none of the screeching, uneven ride or stuffy interiors associated with the tube.  We moved swiftly beneath the city before emerging to the east and the current terminus at Abbey Wood.

I will bet not many had heard of Abbey Wood until recently - other than it is the first station alphabetically in pick lists on journey planners.  Unlike Paddington where terminating trains go out to Westbourne Park before returning to form an eastbound service, trains here use one of two platforms alternately. 





With such a frequent service a departure board is almost superfluous, so much so that no one seemed to notice it was more than ten minutes out of date



All the stations are understandably clean but their exteriors do blend in well with their surroundings



All the trains I caught ran on time and my journey to Abbey Wood and back (exiting at two stations) reached the daily cap of £11 on my Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card.  Very hard to criticise on the basis of one round trip and the only thing I did notice was on occasions the platform doors opened momentarily after the train doors and I did see a couple of people bump into the second set of doors as they started to exit.



The big plus for me is the new areas of London it opens up with an easy journey from Paddington.  I had a walk around the site of the old Woolwich Arsenal - where my grandfather worked - the Woolwich pier and Thames Clippers and Canary Wharf.  All within a couple of hours of leaving Swindon.

[eightonedee]

"Mum who commutes to Burnham disappointed in Elizabeth Line launch"

Seems quite a long article about not very much?

It's not the only Berkshire Live article on the Elizabeth Line about which that can be said.

There's a link to another one embedded in the article with the clickbait title "House prices explode in Slough, Reading and other Elizabeth line stations". Having recently retired from providing services to the housebuilding industry since the 1980s I thought I would check it out (https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/property/elizabeth-line-house-prices-explode-24012349).

I do hope that the credulous readers of (or contributors to?) this site have not piled into investing in residential property beyond Burnham. The article quotes house price increases of 62% in Taplow, 61% in Maidenhead, 50% in Twyford and 62% in Reading between 2012 and 2021. For comparison, the Nationwide House Price indices for Greater London, Outer Metropolitan and Outer South-east increased by 67.7%, 65% and 66.5% respectively between the second quarter of 2012 and fourth quarter of 2021. So while Langley, Slough and Burnham have "won" with increases of 73%, 81%  and 75% respectively over the same period, it looks like the correct headline should be "Elizabeth Line has had no positive effect on house prices west of Burnham".

I'd rather read Industry Insider and BobM for informed views of the effect of the scheme!

[bobm]

I'd rather read Industry Insider and BobM for informed views of the effect of the scheme!

Praise indeed, thank you.   I've just had a text from a friend though saying "I see you've posted your ramblings from today."!! 

[TonyK]

"Mum who commutes to Burnham disappointed in Elizabeth Line launch"

Seems quite a long article about not very much?

There's no pleasing some folk.

I'd rather read Industry Insider and BobM for informed views of the effect of the scheme!

Hear hear!

[bobm]

I meant to add - if you are thinking of taking a trip on Saturdays 11th of June or 30th July; don’t.  Services between Paddington and Abbey Wood are suspended both days.

[infoman]

Would any one know what surcharge was levied on Buisness's and residents in the London area to part pay for cross rail?

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

A new and useful travel opportunity which I didn’t realise straight away is the Farringdon interchange between the EL and Thameslink, whose trains go to many destinations north and south of London.

[bradshaw]

One million journeys in just five days
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61629982

[Electric train]

Would any one know what surcharge was levied on Buisness's and residents in the London area to part pay for cross rail?

A quick Google and -
"How will London’s businesses help fund Crossrail?
The Crossrail Business Rate Supplement (BRS^▸ (Business Rates Supplement)) has been
used to finance £4.1 billion of the costs of the project. Of this,
around £3.3 billion has been borrowed with the remaining
£0.8 billion being funded directly using BRS revenues. It will
need to be levied until the GLA’s borrowing is repaid. This is
expected to be some time in the 2030s.
Does my business have to pay the Crossrail BRS?
Your rates bill makes clear if you are liable to pay the
BRS. Since April 2017 the Crossrail BRS is applied only to
assessments (for example business and other non domestic
premises) with a rateable value of over £70,000 on the local
rating lists of the 32 London boroughs and City of London
Corporation. Around 85 per cent of non domestic properties in
London will be exempt from the BRS in 2018-19 due to
this threshold.
How much do I pay if my property’s rateable value is
 above £70,000?
The Crossrail BRS multiplier for 2018-19 remains at 2p per
pound of rateable value. Reliefs for the Crossrail BRS will
apply on the same basis and at the same percentage rate as
for your National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR) bill. However,
no transitional relief is provided for the BRS."

[Electric train]

A new and useful travel opportunity which I didn’t realise straight away is the Farringdon interchange between the EL and Thameslink, whose trains go to many destinations north and south of London.

When I was working on the Thameslink Programme (2012 to 2016) the journey opportunities became apparent to me then, EL to Thameslink Farringdon from there choices are going North Amsterdam and Paris via St Pancras,

just think Maidenhead to Paris 3 trains with only 2 changes  or staying domestic Luton airport, Peterborough, Cambridge.  Going South Gatwick, Brighton, Maidstone.

Farringdon will become one of the busiest interchanges in London with its connections to Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton airports and Stanstead via Liverpool St add in all the Thameslink destinations. 

If we look forward 10 years when the HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) Station at Old Oak Common is open Farringdon will see even more passengers heading for Gatwick, Luton and St Pancras

[paul7575]

A new and useful travel opportunity which I didn’t realise straight away is the Farringdon interchange between the EL and Thameslink, whose trains go to many destinations north and south of London.

When I was working on the Thameslink Programme (2012 to 2016) the journey opportunities became apparent to me then, EL to Thameslink Farringdon from there choices are going North Amsterdam and Paris via St Pancras,

just think Maidenhead to Paris 3 trains with only 2 changes  or staying domestic Luton airport, Peterborough, Cambridge.  Going South Gatwick, Brighton, Maidstone.

Farringdon will become one of the busiest interchanges in London with its connections to Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton airports and Stanstead via Liverpool St add in all the Thameslink destinations. 

If we look forward 10 years when the HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) Station at Old Oak Common is open Farringdon will see even more passengers heading for Gatwick, Luton and St Pancras

I can see Farringdon being overwhelmed in time, if it becomes as popular as many people expect.
About 50-60% of the Thameslink platforms’ length are pretty much substandard against latest standards in terms of width, and at the north end they’re very narrow. 

Also, there’s those definite pinch points where the arches are supporting the listed LU station building.   

But incredibly difficult to fix at the north end, without widening the whole site. Probably missed the boat on that one…

Paul