Elizabeth Line / Crossrail Updates.

[jamie92208]

I actually rode a 345 out to Ealing and found it very uncomfortable.  This was probably partly my fault as I actually wanted to look out of the windows an get unit umbers at North Pole as we were en route to Ealing.   I didn't like the longitudinal seats at all.   However I was definitely in the minority, most of my travelling companions were glued to their personal device screens.

 

Jamie 

[Zomboid]

I had a ride on a 345 from Romford to Stratford the other day. It was pretty well suited to what is essentially a glorified tube service. It was better than the 315s it replaced, too. So the GEML inner suburbans are getting an upgrade in most senses, at least. Seats are very hard though.

[2750Papyrus]

Overruns both in cost and time are not confined to the railways; The first section of the Aberdeen bypass opened today, several months late and hundreds of millions of pounds over budget, and how is Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium getting on ?

 

Not to mention the new set for East Enders!

[jim.snowdon]

I had a ride on a 345 from Romford to Stratford the other day. It was pretty well suited to what is essentially a glorified tube service. It was better than the 315s it replaced, too. So the GEML inner suburbans are getting an upgrade in most senses, at least. Seats are very hard though.

Whereas on the GW, the 345s are a distinct step down from the 387s they will be replacing, and whilst Paddington to as far as West Drayton (the Zone 6 boundary) might be describable as a glorified tube service, those travelling to farther parts such as Slough, Maidenhead and Reading are likely to have different views. In reality, I would not be surprised if passengers from Maidenhead and Reading opted to stick with the GW services, on either 387s or 8xxs unless their onward journey from Paddington made using Crossrail services seriously attactive compared to other parts of the Underground.

 

Jim

[Ron Ron Ron]

Crossrail Class 345's testing at Reading.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Ron Ron Ron

[Mike Storey]

This is a useful one to watch too - shows the interiors as well as external shots, from Paddington to Heathrow.

 

[The Stationmaster]

Crossrail Class 345's testing at Reading.

 

 

 

Yes, they seem to appear regularly reversing on the Relief Lines west of the station.  Although oddly the only one I've seen moving west of Hayes was on the Up Main Line - which is about as much use as chocolate teapot to Crossrail so I presume they are basically on mileage accumulation running.  definitely s no signs of any test/monitoring gear on the units I've seen.

[jim.snowdon]

There is the minor point of acquiring and maintaining route knowledge, at least amongst the core team of driver trainers, and that should include the main lines, if only to cover perturbed operations when they have to be used to work around a problem on the relief lines. It wouldn't go down well if a Crossrail driver pulled up at the signals for the Southall or West Drayton crossovers, for example, and said I can't take the route because I haven't got the knowledge (for the main lines).

 

Jim

[Ron Ron Ron]

This is a useful one to watch too - shows the interiors as well as external shots, from Paddington to Heathrow.

 

 

 

Yes, useful..

 

n.b. That video has already been posted here in this thread, back on the 23rd May last year.

Page 25 - post no. 601

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Ron Ron Ron]

The poor old, new Class 345's are getting very bored, sitting around all day in the OOC depot sidings, with nothing to do.

 

So to alleviate the boredom, one or two have decided to take themselves off to foreign parts, just to get out for a while.

 

 

Crewe 14th January 2019 (this last week).

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Ron Ron Ron

[Mike Storey]

Yes, useful..

 

n.b. That video has already been posted here in this thread, back on the 23rd May last year.

Page 25 - post no. 601

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

Sorry! Must have missed it. 

[caradoc]

The opening of Crossrail cannot come soon enough; Travelling east from Paddington on Friday (18th Jan) involved a 7 minute wait at the Circle Line station for a train to Edgware Road and a 5 minute wait there for a Hammersmith & City train, by which time another terminater had arrived so the H&C train had its own load of passengers plus that of the two other trains. If I was cynical I might think TfL were providing such a poor service deliberately to make people use Crossrail......

[Joseph_Pestell]

The opening of Crossrail cannot come soon enough; Travelling east from Paddington on Friday (18th Jan) involved a 7 minute wait at the Circle Line station for a train to Edgware Road and a 5 minute wait there for a Hammersmith & City train, by which time another terminater had arrived so the H&C train had its own load of passengers plus that of the two other trains. If I was cynical I might think TfL were providing such a poor service deliberately to make people use Crossrail......

No, the Circle Line has always been c**p and always will be. Too many flat junctions to run a dependable frequent service.

[caradoc]

No, the Circle Line has always been c**p and always will be. Too many flat junctions to run a dependable frequent service.

 

That's a fair point. I should have added, while waiting at Edgware Road an announcement told us 'A good service is operating on all routes'. I thought, but didn't say out loud (I think), if you reckon this is a good service you're having a laugh.

[Chris116]

Why would anyone travelling to a station east of Edgware Road and arriving at Paddington from the west go anywhere near the Circle Line when the H&C has direct services from Paddington to all Circle Line stations towards Liverpool Street?

[The Stationmaster]

Why would anyone travelling to a station east of Edgware Road and arriving at Paddington from the west go anywhere near the Circle Line when the H&C has direct services from Paddington to all Circle Line stations towards Liverpool Street?

 

It depends which platform you run into - especially since access to the H&C platforms was relocated about 1900 yards further from the mainline station and it now involves going outside instead of being under cover all the way, f definitely not the way to go when the weather is bad.   Last Saturday our train from Reading ran into No.2 so the obvious way was straight across the Lawn and down to the Circle Line platform - we were on a (District) train to Edgware Road within about 6-7 minutes of arriving on the mainline and the only penalty was having to cross the bridge at Edgware Road but we were on an H&C within no more than 3 minutes.  I was on a train out of KX for Stevenage barely 30 minutes after arriving at Paddington.  I did use the H&C coming back but it was a rush to jump on the 17.45 ex Paddington after arriving KX at 17.20 - it would have been slightly quicker if it had been a through Circle line train instead having to cross an awful lot of Paddington station to get to Platform 3 from the H&C.

 

But if you're heading for another station in the vicinity of Euston/StPancras/KX/Liverpool St  with luggage it is now an awful journey from Paddington on the Underground, definitely not a 'good' service so nowadays we invariably take a taxi if we are carrying luggage.  Crossrail won't really make it any better as there will still be stairs at any interchanges although Liverpool St should be a quicker journey from Paddington, in fact Crossrail probably won't make any difference to quite a lot of journeys from Paddington although at least the Bakerloo Line might be a bit more habitable.

Edited January 20, 2019 by The Stationmaster

[caradoc]

Why would anyone travelling to a station east of Edgware Road and arriving at Paddington from the west go anywhere near the Circle Line when the H&C has direct services from Paddington to all Circle Line stations towards Liverpool Street?

 

Because I was in the front coach of a train which arrived into Platform 1 (Stationmaster has explained the situation very well above).

[Zomboid]

Why anyone would use the top of the circle line for any journey at all is beyond me. The 18 bus is more reliable.

 

I once allowed 'only' 45 minutes for Paddington to Euston. Five stops. I had to sprint from Euston Square, and only made my train from there because it was late. The bakerloo line is hardly any better, but I find it more reliable to do Paddington to Euston via Oxford Circus.

 

The district line side seems to behave itself much more, but there are still some long gaps between trains (long for tube trains at least).

Edited January 21, 2019 by Zomboid

[Joseph_Pestell]

That's a fair point. I should have added, while waiting at Edgware Road an announcement told us 'A good service is operating on all routes'. I thought, but didn't say out loud (I think), if you reckon this is a good service you're having a laugh.

That announcement about a "good service" always gets on my nerves.

[phil-b259]

There is the minor point of acquiring and maintaining route knowledge, at least amongst the core team of driver trainers, and that should include the main lines, if only to cover perturbed operations when they have to be used to work around a problem on the relief lines. It wouldn't go down well if a Crossrail driver pulled up at the signals for the Southall or West Drayton crossovers, for example, and said I can't take the route because I haven't got the knowledge (for the main lines).

 

Jim

 

Exactly

 

London Overground drivers sign the fast lines between Norwood Junction and New Cross gate even though all passenger services are scheduled to use the slow lines so as to allow a service to be provided at times of disruption or to facilitate ECS moves.

 

I would also assume that Elizabeth line drivers in the GEML will sign the main as well as the electric lines from Stratford to Shenfield for the same reasons

[Pete the Elaner]

Why would anyone travelling to a station east of Edgware Road and arriving at Paddington from the west go anywhere near the Circle Line when the H&C has direct services from Paddington to all Circle Line stations towards Liverpool Street?

I rarely chanced the District/Circle platforms when Paddington-Euston was part of my commute.

 

I tried the H&C a few times but got very frustrated at the 'The next train is at Latimer Road & will arrive in 5 minutes'. It always seemed to be way longer than that so I timed it. It was 7. This may sound like a petty whinge but if I can time it at this, why can't TFL do the same & use an accurate announcement?

I ended up only using the H&C if I passed an incoming train around the Royal Oak area.

 

Bakerloo then Victoria lines became my preferred route for this part of the journey.

[Mike Storey]

I rarely chanced the District/Circle platforms when Paddington-Euston was part of my commute.

 

I tried the H&C a few times but got very frustrated at the 'The next train is at Latimer Road & will arrive in 5 minutes'. It always seemed to be way longer than that so I timed it. It was 7. This may sound like a petty whinge but if I can time it at this, why can't TFL do the same & use an accurate announcement?

I ended up only using the H&C if I passed an incoming train around the Royal Oak area.

 

Bakerloo then Victoria lines became my preferred route for this part of the journey.

 

In the olden days, a London Transport Minute was shorthand for a very long time indeed.

[lyneux]

I once allowed 'only' 45 minutes for Paddington to Euston. Five stops. I had to sprint from Euston Square, and only made my train from there because it was late. The bakerloo line is hardly any better, but I find it more reliable to do Paddington to Euston via Oxford Circus.

 

I gave myself 30 mins for Wood Lane to Edgware Road last Thursday (a similar number of stops). I was 15 minutes late!

 

 

I tried the H&C a few times but got very frustrated at the 'The next train is at Latimer Road & will arrive in 5 minutes'. It always seemed to be way longer than that so I timed it. It was 7. This may sound like a petty whinge but if I can time it at this, why can't TFL do the same & use an accurate announcement?

 

The indicators at Wood Lane are more often than not completely blank and/or only show a train when it's almost upon you. They might as well just remove them.

 

Guy

[TomJ]

During my uni days I had to travel between Paddington and Kings Cross a lot. In the days when the Circle line was still a circle you had to make a guess as to which tube station might be quicker. Invariably I got it wrong! At least coming back you could take the first H&C or Circle line train (and I could get the first available local train out of Paddington rather than waiting ages for my booked one!)

[The Stationmaster]

During my uni days I had to travel between Paddington and Kings Cross a lot. In the days when the Circle line was still a circle you had to make a guess as to which tube station might be quicker. Invariably I got it wrong! At least coming back you could take the first H&C or Circle line train (and I could get the first available local train out of Paddington rather than waiting ages for my booked one!)

 

In the days when the Circle Line provided a reliable service (i.e. no later than c1970/71 I was quite happy to allow 20 minutes train-to-train between Kings Cross and Paddington as the H&C was also a reliable alternative and much closer to the mainline station at Paddington back then.