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

[whole diary]

[chrisr_75]

"bringing into use an extended bay platform at Hayes & Harlington..."

Er - the bay platform 5 at Hayes as been in use for years - likely over 100 years.

That's not what they said, is it?

CrossRail's own press release here regarding the works completed over the Christmas period (dated Tuesday 3rd January), fairly lengthy so I won't quote it:

http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/crossrail-works-successfully-delivered-by-network-rail-over-christmas

No mention of a 'Great Eastern Railway'. The quoted text from OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter) returns no results on Google, so I can only assume it has been paraphrased from a source other than CrossRail's own press release.

Edit - missing apostrophe

[ChrisB]

Crossrail has indeed put out an email this morning, part of which I quote below

NETWORK RAIL WORKS FOR CROSSRAIL

An extensive programme of work for Crossrail was delivered on the existing railway by Network Rail over Christmas. These works included the opening of a second ramp for the Stockley Flyover at Heathrow junction and a new dive under at Acton; bringing into use an extended bay platform at Hayes & Harlington, to allow Great Eastern Railway to bring in more new electric trains; track upgrades at Maidenhead and Shenfield; and platform extension work at West Ealing, Southall and Hayes & Harlington.

At Abbey Wood, the iconic timber roof structure for the new station has been completed. Installation of zinc lining around the timber structure is now underway and due to be complete in the spring. The design proposal for the new station building at Ilford was approved by Redbridge Council. The proposal includes a new bright, spacious building with a larger ticket hall and new lifts to provide step-free access from street to platform.

Linked to here - towards the bottom, you'll find the above quote - amended to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) now.

[JayMac]

Yes, to the OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter), it's worth remembering to add a link when quoting something. Especially so when it is criticism. 

[tomL]

Ah it's been a while since we've had a Crossrail/H&H rant. 

[eightf48544]

the full works at Maidenhead weren't completed.

Turnback siding between Down Relief and Up Main not completed.

All stabling sidings not complete.

[IndustryInsider]

The stabling sidings were not planned to be completed at Xmas, work on them will continue throughout the year.  The turnback siding was supposed to be finished, but the track wasn't laid (although signalling for it was).  No matter of course as neither facility is required yet.

[Bmblbzzz]

Today I came across my first reference to Crossrail increasing property prices (in a place it's not projected to reach till 2019) already. But I'm sure some of you have come across plenty.

[TaplowGreen]

Today I came across my first reference to Crossrail increasing property prices (in a place it's not projected to reach till 2019) already. But I'm sure some of you have come across plenty.

Yep, prices are rocketing round my way, there are already people trading in flats in areas like Ealing for houses further out on the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) line and this is pushing up prices together with Estate Agents using Crossrail as a selling point.....quite nice for those of us who have been in the area for 15 years + and may want to cash in over the next few years.....

[TonyK]

Homes Under the Hammer have mentioned it (and other rail improvements / expansions) so often that Mrs FT,N! now accepts that I am right in saying they increase prices.

[eightf48544]

Big price rises forecast for Taplow and Maidenhead.

Although how all the extra commuters are supposed to get to the stations is not mentioned. Parking is currently saturated at both Taplow and Maidenhead.

Makes my house desirable as it's within 10 minutes walk of Taplow.

Added: Kept me ft for 40 years walking most days.

[Bmblbzzz]

This was referring to commercial property (with a tiny hint it might have some negative impact on prices in West London). Presumably a similar effect at the eastern end. With the driver being, seemingly, better links to the City rather than to eg Taplow.

[paul7575]

A new TfL^» (Transport for London - about) board paper mentions it is their intention to run an increased frequency of 12 tph (approx every 5 mins) max west of Paddington, and 20 tph in the central core off-peak rather than the 16 tph previously planned:

4.1 The key elements of the revised proposal include:

(a) Off Peak services in the Central Core increased from 16 tph to 20 tph with additional services from Paddington to Shenfield and Abbey Wood;

(b) an increase in the Peak and Off Peak services West of Paddington; and

(c) a revision of the Peak services operating pattern across the network to provide a regular interval of trains, including a train approximately every five minutes proceeding west from Paddington.

4.2 The main impacts of the proposed service change are:

(a) no additional infrastructure works are required to implement the proposed service change;

(b) the proposed service change requires the procurement of four additional trains. No additional rolling stock stabling is required to support the increased fleet;

(c) the more regular service pattern will have a positive effect on operational reliability compared to the Iteration 5 timetable. The precise performance and reliability impact of the proposed timetable is being validated through joint modelling with Network Rail, as part of the timetable development process. Initial results indicate that the performance across the network will improve due to the improvement in the interval of trains;

(d) additional track access rights will be required to implement the proposal in accordance with standard industry processes;

(e) there are associated changes to Great Western Peak services that use the relief lines between Paddington and Reading. On the Great Western Route, the enhanced Elizabeth line Peak service results in a need to remove five Great Western Franchise services (in both morning and evening Peak) that are specified to operate throughout the Peak on the relief lines between Paddington and Reading with a semi fast stopping pattern. Great Western Franchise services to Maidenhead, Twyford, Reading and Thames Valley stations will continue to be provided during the Peak period by other trains which operate over the main lines between Paddington and Maidenhead;

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/16-elizabeth-line.pdf

[TonyK]

I love the way TfL^» (Transport for London - about) can say "We want four new trains", and no-one laughs.

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks for posting that, Paul.  I would love to see what the revised Iteration 5 looks like.  12tph in the peak heading west would, I guess, mean 4tph to Heathrow, 2tph to Reading, 2tph to Maidenhead, 2tph to West Drayton and...what else....?!  Six to Heathrow? More to Maidenhead or Reading?

[stuving]

I love the way TfL^» (Transport for London - about) can say "We want four new trains", and no-one laughs.

And what about the way they can say "we want five semi-fast paths in each peak taken off GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)"? I imagine that will concern members of this forum more!