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

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

Not great I grant you, but mountains out of molehills if you ask me.  It’s not as if they spent the whole day roaming the tunnels and stations at will.  They snuck through a gate onto a train and got picked up when they got off at the other end.

I’d have thought someone with ‘evil intent’ would be better off waiting until it was properly open…or get a job actually working on the project?

"Snuck" doesn't seem to be the right word here. "Walked" through a gate that should not have been open and got on the train showing "Paddington" as the destination seems more like it. As you say, a real malefactor would probably wait until the service was up and running, then buy a ticket or use a card to gain entry.

Embarrassing, probably not a sacking matter, but there will have been a memo with a three-line whip.

[Electric train]

There are internal memos seeking volunteer railway staff to assist in a couple of evacuation exercise days.  (Note these are not open to members of the public)

So things are getting close to opening, the hard line in the sand for opening seems to be in time for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend ..................... or heads will roll 

[eightonedee]

It might be the Charles Line by the time they finish!

[Surrey 455]

So things are getting close to opening, the hard line in the sand for opening seems to be in time for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend ..................... or heads will roll 

Before the previous scheme was mothballed, it had been hoped to open in 1991...

Thames News (London ITV)

 

[broadgage]

There are internal memos seeking volunteer railway staff to assist in a couple of evacuation exercise days.  (Note these are not open to members of the public)

So things are getting close to opening, the hard line in the sand for opening seems to be in time for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend ..................... or heads will roll 

I expect that some degree of opening will indeed be achieved by the Jubilee weekend.
Fully open and with a frequent service, most unlikely in my view. Far too much still to go wrong.

Signaling trips or locks up, resulting in a very restricted and slow service.
Over sensitive fire alarms resulting in frequent evacuations.
RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) find something unsafe and threaten to strike, more money makes the risk go away.
Extreme weather floods, overheats, or breaks something important.
Failures of traction current, due to increased complexity and reduced reliability.
Failures of power supply to stations, backup arrangements found inadequate.
Endless security alerts.
Cyber criminals close down the computer systems and demand ransom. Foreign powers likewise to cause trouble.
Extinction rebellion or other protest groups do something disruptive.

[TonyK]

It might be the Charles Line by the time they finish!

At least that beats Portishead, which may yet be the George VII line.

[IndustryInsider]

I expect that some degree of opening will indeed be achieved by the Jubilee weekend.
Fully open and with a frequent service, most unlikely in my view. Far too much still to go wrong.

The opening stages have been clearly defined for some time now (though without exact dates) - https://www.crossrail.co.uk/project/our-plan-to-complete-the-elizabeth-line/phased-opening

I consider it very unlikely that the initial 5-minute interval service (12tph) won’t happen from the get go…any less and you might risk disruption due to crowding…and I would certainly describe that as frequent.

[Marlburian]

New-look Burnham Station opens ready to bring the Elizabeth Line to Reading

I did wonder about some of the phrasing in the article, such as: "Part of the new Crossrail network, Burnham Station will eventually connect Elizabeth Line passengers with central London as well as Shenfield in the east."

[Reading General]

This has been going on since the end of British Rail. Crossrail has been sold and confused as a brand new line for the service’s entire length rather than a tunnel under london joining railways well established. I guess it’s a marketing trick learnt from estate agents and the like that the current cabinet are now also using for ‘new’ hospitals etc. Using the word ‘delivered’ to describe something done appeared around the same time. It works too, many times have I corrected better educated than me people on what crossrail actually is, with many convinced it was a brand new line in tunnel from Reading to Essex running at unimaginable speeds. The connecting of stopping services much like Thameslink, which wasn’t promoted in the same manner and isn’t confused as more than it is.

[REVUpminster]

It might be the Charles Line by the time they finish!

Could it be.......
william line by Robert, on Flickr

[grahame]

I'm pretty sure that member's views will range from ardent royalist to fervent federalist with many shades between. I'm going to take the highly unusual step of asking members to stay roughly on topic, as well as the highly usual step of having/asking members to be respectful of all individuals, even where we strongly question their office or actions. This request is NOT triggered by posts so far but rather in anticipation of where they could lead, especially over a period of time ahead. It will probably made a separate thread in due course; this thread HAS triggered my own though process, looking ahead.

The Queen has reached the age of 97, and UK^▸ (United Kingdom) data tells us that life expectancy is not great at that age - the following table showing (mid year 2020 the last line, mid year 2019 the row above, and so on) how the numbers of people in the UK of a certain age falls rapidly in the "very old".  So, whether or not we are royalist, unviewed or federalist, we should also be realistic and understand that in all likelihood The Queen will pass while most of us are still around, and on this forum too.  I understand that "Operation Forth Bridge" is in place for when this comes to pass and no doubt it have elements that relate to the forum (the very title of the operation does!) and also no doubt that members will continue to act as they have with other areas of great controversy, such as Brexit and of great public concern such as Coronavius, Climate and the Environment.

[Celestial]

Interesting to see in that table if you look at the bottom left you can see a pattern in recent years where there's a sudden big increase of around 50% in the number reaching each age. It's most obviously seen in 2020 where the number aged 100 goes up from 4980 to 7590 (and it happens a year earlier for 99 and so on).

That looks like the effect of the end of WW1, when everyone who survived returned home and family life resumed.  Amazing that we can still see a pattern in our population due to an effect of the Great War. 

[grahame]

Interesting to see in that table if you look at the bottom left you can see a pattern in recent years ....

Utterly fascinating.  I had wondered but - duh - of course!   On a more sombre note, I see a significant reduction of numbers in nearly every year in 2020 - the effect of Coronavirus, I would suggest. And I wonder what the figures for 2021 will show when they're published in September.

Data source:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/ageing/datasets/midyearpopulationestimatesoftheveryoldincludingcentenariansunitedkingdom

[Celestial]

I think that's as much to do with birth patterns a century ago too, in that the post war baby boom was very short lived, so the columns below 100 are already drifting back downwards after the sudden spike.  I can't seem to post an image, but there's a chart in the link you posted where you can see the spike.

[grahame]

I think that's as much to do with birth patterns a century ago too, in that the post war baby boom was very short lived, so the columns below 100 are already drifting back downwards after the sudden spike.  I can't seem to post an image, but there's a chart in the link you posted where you can see the spike.

I'm not sure if this is the chart - but I have hosted it, and it does show the pattern change