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Elizabeth Line / Crossrail Updates.


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Hi,

 

Thought I'd post this:

 

 

It's a 360 degree video of the concreting train making its way from Plumstead to Custom House (if on a computer, use your mouse to drag the screen around, if on a mobile device, move the device around or use your finger to drag the screen). It shows the extent of the track laying and other works in the East.

 

(You may have to click on the video to take you to YouTube to view it properly)

 

Simon

Edited by St. Simon
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Hi,

 

The Acton flyover has been structurally complete:

 

 

In other news all the scheme plans for Crossrail West for this Christmas have been approved, the highlights being:

 

- The Acton Diveunder is to be brought into use

- Wesr Ealing will see some new stabling sidings brought into use I believe

- The bay at Hayes and Harlington will be extended slightly, with a new crossover from the Down Relief line, one crossover is taken out to the West of the station and a couple of new signals

- The new Up Airport Relief ramp will be commissioned

 

Simon

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Hi,

 

The first of the new Class 345 Crossrail Units were unveiled this morning to the press, the first of the initial 7 car units are now being test at Derby for introduction of services in May next year.

 

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/new-elizabeth-line-crossrail-trains-testing

 

Simon

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http://www.londonreconnections.com/2016/pictures-crossrails-trains-make-debut/

 

I knew that there were to be inward-facing seats to allow for more standees across Central London. But there really seem too many given the length of journey that many travellers will be making.

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just me or an odd choice of pattern for the seats? 

 

According to this article, http://www.londonreconnections.com/2016/pictures-crossrails-trains-make-debut/

 

"Before leaping into photos and videos, it is worth pointing out that the internal fitting out is far from complete. The moquette is not the final design, nor have internal features been fully painted. Nonetheless, this represents a good opportunity to get a good feel for the new class, both within and without."

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http://www.londonreconnections.com/2016/pictures-crossrails-trains-make-debut/

 

I knew that there were to be inward-facing seats to allow for more standees across Central London. But there really seem too many given the length of journey that many travellers will be making.

 

I have an increasing suspicion that they will be even less popular with Thames Valley commuters than I'd thought they were going to be.  

 

Somehow I don't think they're likely to go down all that well with Maidenhead commuters (currently) paying £3,728 for an annual season ticket to London (including Zones 1-6 Travelcard) who quite honestly ought really to be getting something better for the portion of their journey travelling at speed over the GWML.

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Like the look of them. I wonder how long before these appear on the various model manufacturer wishlist threads?

 

Cheers,

Mick

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Like the look of them. I wonder how long before these appear on the various model manufacturer wishlist threads?

 

Cheers,

Mick

Not sure how many people are modelling Paddington post Crossrail!

 

Although I think the new Stockley flyover would be an awesome model!

 

Simon

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It's essentially a tube train. For Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood they'd be fine... How many non crossrail trains will serve Maidenhead and Slough? Presumably the Oxford slow trains will continue to call?

 

I'm not sure about Slough as the arrival of Class 800 will change things on the Main Lines but the last I heard from the mouth of GWR was that the will have at least one train peroff-peak hour from Maidenhead and 2 seems to be the intention for both Maidenhead and Twyford.  Crossrail will I think have 4 tph from Maidenhead although I begin to wonder - even that far out - where the line capacity to run them will come from as there needs to be at least one freight path per hour east of Reading in most of the off-peak hours (and in some of the peak shoulders).  

 

The freights (other than the loaded 4,000 tonne stone trains) can, and do, easily outrun all stations stopping trains but the problem they potentially face is having got in front of one stopper they'll be stuck behind the next one when they catch it up.

 

No doubt things will become clearer as the timetables evolve but some of the stuff Crossrail has put out is a bit misleading although they have taken off some of their wilder comparisons with existing journey times although I get the impression - certainly as far as the Western side is concerned - that they are quoting nett times rather than properly pathed timetable times and they appear to be excluding any sort of Recovery or Pathing Allowances.  For example they are quoting 6 minutes journey time between Twyford and Reading which they used to claim as faster than existing times although it is actually no different from what the 165 & 166s have been achieving for years if they get a clear run into Reading.  

 

Similarly their journey time from Twyford to Paddington is quoted as 44 minutes (for 31 miles) which produces some strange numbers if you compare it with other information; they have stated all trains will stop at all stations so that 44 minutes immediaiately includes at least 6 minutes standing still (assuming 30 second station dwells) leaving a nett running time of 38 minutes.  They will certainly be able to hit their maximum speed on some sections - basically west of Maidenhead - but even then they are gaining very little compared with a Turbo (1 minute faster between Maidenhead and Twyford) - further east the frequent stops will limit their abiilty to reach maximum speed even with good acceleration.  I shall be reserving judgement until we see some properly timed trains in the WTT but I'm not sure i fancy travelling sideways at 90mph. 

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I'm not sure about Slough as the arrival of Class 800 will change things on the Main Lines but the last I heard from the mouth of GWR was that the will have at least one train peroff-peak hour from Maidenhead and 2 seems to be the intention for both Maidenhead and Twyford.  Crossrail will I think have 4 tph from Maidenhead although I begin to wonder - even that far out - where the line capacity to run them will come from as there needs to be at least one freight path per hour east of Reading in most of the off-peak hours (and in some of the peak shoulders).

Plus there's the four trains an hour that they want between Reading and Heathrow when the Western Access line comes in.

 

Of course, it's not just capacity, but signaller workload will be stretch considerably.

 

Simon

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Plus there's the four trains an hour that they want between Reading and Heathrow when the Western Access line comes in.

Of course, it's not just capacity, but signaller workload will be stretch considerably.

Simon

Something something ERMTS something Digital Railway something.

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Plus there's the four trains an hour that they want between Reading and Heathrow when the Western Access line comes in.

 

Of course, it's not just capacity, but signaller workload will be stretch considerably.

 

Simon

 

It all makes interesting comparison with some capacity assessments done in the early 1990s.  At that time what is now 'Heathrow Connect' was envisaged as running from St Pancras - not Paddington - with a flying junction to join the GWML at Acton.  Putting the then Crossrail proposals into the mix (which meant around half their trains would turn right at Old oak Common West and head for High Wycombe/Aylesbury) the key conclusion that was reached was a need for two extra running lines throughout from Acton to Airport Junction and an initial (mainly paper) survey was carried out to assess the feasibility of providing them.

 

What is now being planned for Crossrail - with no trains heading up the northern route at Old Oak West of course - is producing considerably greater planned line occupation than was considered back in the early '90s.  In fact on the standard UIC capacity assessment fiche it would inevitably mean an extra pair of tracks from Acton westwards if not all the way from Old Oak East.  It would be very interesting, and not a little illuminating, to know what perturbation modelling has been carried out for the planned/proposed Relief Lines level of occupation over various stretches east of Reading but experience suggests to me that even a temporary speed of 40 mph in some places could lead to considerable delays building up in the peaks unless the service is thinned while on the fast stretches west of Maidenhead a 60mph TROS could be almost as destructive.

 

We shall be living in interesting times.

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I have an increasing suspicion that they will be even less popular with Thames Valley commuters than I'd thought they were going to be.  

 

Somehow I don't think they're likely to go down all that well with Maidenhead commuters (currently) paying £3,728 for an annual season ticket to London (including Zones 1-6 Travelcard) who quite honestly ought really to be getting something better for the portion of their journey travelling at speed over the GWML.

 

Last year I had cause to commute down to the City for around six weeks, to Liverpool St.

 

A couple of chaps in the same office were commuting in daily from Maidenhead.

 

My commute from the West Midlands was only taking the tube journey (around twenty minutes) longer than their's from Maidenhead (around 80 minutes including train changing time).

 

Of course, most days my commute home was taking somewhat longer, via Marylebone rather than Euston, because (well) sometimes you just have to.

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I'm not sure about Slough as the arrival of Class 800 will change things on the Main Lines but the last I heard from the mouth of GWR was that the will have at least one train peroff-peak hour from Maidenhead and 2 seems to be the intention for both Maidenhead and Twyford.  Crossrail will I think have 4 tph from Maidenhead although I begin to wonder - even that far out - where the line capacity to run them will come from as there needs to be at least one freight path per hour east of Reading in most of the off-peak hours (and in some of the peak shoulders).  

 

The freights (other than the loaded 4,000 tonne stone trains) can, and do, easily outrun all stations stopping trains but the problem they potentially face is having got in front of one stopper they'll be stuck behind the next one when they catch it up.

 

No doubt things will become clearer as the timetables evolve but some of the stuff Crossrail has put out is a bit misleading although they have taken off some of their wilder comparisons with existing journey times although I get the impression - certainly as far as the Western side is concerned - that they are quoting nett times rather than properly pathed timetable times and they appear to be excluding any sort of Recovery or Pathing Allowances.  For example they are quoting 6 minutes journey time between Twyford and Reading which they used to claim as faster than existing times although it is actually no different from what the 165 & 166s have been achieving for years if they get a clear run into Reading.  

 

Similarly their journey time from Twyford to Paddington is quoted as 44 minutes (for 31 miles) which produces some strange numbers if you compare it with other information; they have stated all trains will stop at all stations so that 44 minutes immediaiately includes at least 6 minutes standing still (assuming 30 second station dwells) leaving a nett running time of 38 minutes.  They will certainly be able to hit their maximum speed on some sections - basically west of Maidenhead - but even then they are gaining very little compared with a Turbo (1 minute faster between Maidenhead and Twyford) - further east the frequent stops will limit their abiilty to reach maximum speed even with good acceleration.  I shall be reserving judgement until we see some properly timed trains in the WTT but I'm not sure i fancy travelling sideways at 90mph. 

Just for the record, the GN 365 emus have a small number of sideways seats, in a 100mph emu. I think they could be on the ex SE batch, which for a while had a telephone booth installed, these have now been removed and I'm certain the sideways seats fill that space.

 

Stewart

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Interesting commute there...to the City via Liverpool St, from the West Midlands?

 

Stewart

 

Euston Square to Liverpool Street on the MET could certainly be described as interesting during the rush hour.

 

Mostly a view from the door windows, if you were lucky, and one morning at Barbican it gave me a view down in between the platforms of the biggest rat I have ever seen.

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When I worked in Fenchurch Street I used to walk from Euston to work and back in the evening, a bit longer than using the tube but not that much longer and it is a very pleasant walk.

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Euston Square to Liverpool Street on the MET could certainly be described as interesting during the rush hour.

 

Mostly a view from the door windows, if you were lucky, and one morning at Barbican it gave me a view down in between the platforms of the biggest rat I have ever seen.

It is only a matter of time before zoologists recognise the London Underground rat as a specific breed. Should make for an interesting Latin name.

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