Crossrail - operating discussion and opening day 24th May

[sftfan1909]

OK. I guess they decided to allow access once the 0620 had gone. Did anyone get on the 0625 from Abbey Wood?

No the staff were directing everyone onto the 0630 which arrived just as I made it onto the platform

 

[Busaholic]

I live 10 minutes' walk from Abbey Wood station, so I don't really have an excuse for not looking in on it...

Woke up (somewhat unusually) at 5:45. Thought briefly about Crossrail and popping down to see what was going on at 6:30. Heard rain outside. Went back to sleep.

Woke up again at 6:31. Vaguely thought, 'drat'.

Guess I'm just not committed/geek enough

I can relate to that - it'll still be there in a day or two's time (presumably ).As a fellow resident of the London Borough of Greenwich, I went on the DLR on its first day from Island Gardens,and I wished I hadn't , it was so chaotic. Croydon Tramlink showed hoW to do it - open without prior announcement, even to the media, though I realise that isn't possible with a railway line.

 

[345 050]

OK. I guess they decided to allow access once the 0620 had gone. Did anyone get on the 0625 from Abbey Wood?

No. The doors were closed and the PSI said it was the 0635.

 

[DC1989]

I wonder if the on board announements will change to 'This is a Elizabeth line to XXX'

It used to say TFL Rail and changed a few weeks ago simply to 'This is the train to xxx'

 

[ijmad]

I wonder if the on board announements will change to 'This is a Elizabeth line to XXX'

It used to say TFL Rail and changed a few weeks ago simply to 'This is the train to xxx'

There's not a great deal of consistency even on the tube. For example, the Central Line announcements say "This is a Central Line train to XXX" whereas on the Jubilee/Victoria we just get "This train terminates at XXX". So this may be their final form. Especially since inserting "an El-iz-a-beth Line" is six extra syllables, it might make the announcements too long!

 

[AndyNLondon]

BBC Radio London had a beautiful bit of timing by their live reporter on the first train out of Abbey Wood:

Studio: How long will it take to get to Woolwich?
Train: It's going to be at Woolwich in 3 minutes, which would normally take 5 because there's a stop on the National Rail section at Plumstead. We are shortly going underground, so if you loos... [audio breaks up]
Studio: Which we have, we've lost him

(1hr 32mins into the 5am breakfast show: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0c3yxlt)

 

[jumble]

Thread for discussion to follow on from the construction thread.

Arrived Paddington 06.10
Long Queue Already
Met another forum member
We were only allowed on the 3rd train and kept upstairs
Looks like first train was mostly big wigs
Having said that the third train was not at all crowded and must have been far nicer to travel on than the first two.

 

[TFN]

Having said that the third train was not at all crowded and must have been far nicer to travel on than the first two.

I was on the second train (at the rear).
Plenty of seats and standing space available.

 

[jumble]

I was on the second train (at the rear).
Plenty of seats and standing space available.

I wonder why the fools managing the barriers upstairs who stopped us going downstairs at some random point did not know this.

 

[345 050]

I wonder why the fools managing the barriers upstairs who stopped us going downstairs at some random point did not know this.

Sounds similar to situation at Abbey Wood, there was plenty of space nearer to the front of the first train.

 

[Snow1964]

The stations are massive, the platforms are very long (although Thameslink is just as long so I'm not really that shocked), but they're also very wide, there is a huge amount of headroom and concourse space. You don't want to be at the wrong end of one of these trains if you can avoid it, particularly as the exits are positioned at the far ends of the platforms in most of the central section

The platforms are designed for 11 x 23m = 253m (although initial trains are only 9car), Thameslink is 12 x20m =240m so Elizabeth Line platforms are bit longer, but probably appear much bigger due to width or as the curve upwards more

 

[Roger100]

BBC Breakfast now based Up t'Norf these days for some weird reason.

Some of us live Up t'Norf you know. But they ripped out our railways 60 years ago so we're stuck up here. And the BBC is down south around Manchester I think.

 

[OxtedL]

Everyone queuing at Woolwich made it onto the first train I think.

They opened all stations at 6.30 and any trains already out were opening their doors, not just the two official "first" trains.

At Custom House we met someone who had already come from Canary Wharf.

 

[Uzair]

Managed to get on the first train from Paddington to Abbey Wood. There was indeed a decent amount of space towards the middle and end of the train. Some observations:

1. The design of the stations is wonderful. The stations are expansive and look very clean. Love the overall feel of them.
2. Canary Wharf at platform level is disappointing. I don't understand why the floor tiling is dark. I believe another member has said the same.
3. The Inspector Sands announcement was being played for a few minutes at Paddington after I returned from Abbey Wood, followed by the evacuation message. Staff performed well in directing passengers outside.
4. The reactions of some people to seeing an aforementioned YouTuber were ridiculous. Several people seemed to only be present to see said individual. I had someone on my train practically scream when seeing him at Custom House. Other passengers then ran towards him inside the train. It was pathetic.

 

[WelshBluebird]

The reactions of some people to seeing an aforementioned YouTuber were ridiculous. Several people seemed to only be present to see said individual. I had someone on my train practically scream when seeing him at Custom House. Other passengers then ran towards him inside the train. It was pathetic.

No different to some people's reactions to pop stars and other celebrities. For a lot of people YouTubers are in that same category now. You may not understand it (I don't either), but that is how it is these days. Just look at the reactions other YouTubers have got in recent years too.

 

[Backroom_boy]

• I remain apprehensive about the provision of escalators at the central stations, particularly Whitechapel which seems like it may have a lot of interchange but is single ended and only has 1 or 2 escalators running upwards, and Farringdon, which again only has 1 or 2 escalators going up to the 'useful' end and only 1 going up at the less useful Barbican end.

Yes that's a worry for me too. Hope it works out OK and the double-ended stations spread the demand because there is little that can done about it. Perhaps its because the stations feel so big but escalator provision feels 'standard underground'

 

[ijmad]

Yes that's a worry for me too. Hope it works out OK and the double-ended stations spread the demand because there is little that can done about it. Perhaps its because the stations feel so big but escalator provision feels 'standard underground'

The gigantic scale of the platforms and concourses may mean there's less urgency to get people up the escalators which might smooth demand out. Fingers crossed.

Here are my photos from this morning

 

[JonathanH]

but escalator provision feels 'standard underground'

I thought that the escalator at Farringdon from the Crossrail platforms seemed a little steep. Was this just an illusion or was the space restricted?

 

[ijmad]

Jago Hazard's vid has arrived, must be one of the first transport Youtubers to get their video edited and uploaded

 

[danielcanning]

Is there any sign of Crossrail taking the pressure off the Central and Jubilee lines yet?

 

[southern442]

Canary Wharf at platform level is disappointing. I don't understand why the floor tiling is dark. I believe another member has said the same.

Canary Wharf definitely seemed like a bit of a weird one, I guess they knew they weren't going to be able to top the Jubilee line station there so they just made it a little more in keeping with the building it's in. It still looks nice, just doesn't have the 'wow' factor of the big Central London stations, especially Tottenham Court Road which I got off at and seemed incredibly vast. My favourite has to be Paddington though, a little small but a really lovely design.

 

[M-Train]

View attachment 115180
[345011 forms the second train (carrying passengers) from Abbey Wood - 9Y14 0635 Abbey Wood to London Paddington]

I seem to find myself—I’m in the pink polo shirt!

 

[ChrisEL]

Carto Metro has now been updated to show that the Elizabeth line core has opened.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I wonder if the on board announements will change to 'This is a Elizabeth line to XXX'

It used to say TFL Rail and changed a few weeks ago simply to 'This is the train to xxx'

Just a matter of getting Emma Hignett in

There's not a great deal of consistency even on the tube. For example, the Central Line announcements say "This is a Central Line train to XXX" whereas on the Jubilee/Victoria we just get "This train terminates at XXX". So this may be their final form. Especially since inserting "an El-iz-a-beth Line" is six extra syllables, it might make the announcements too long!

2009 stock has always said “This is a Victoria line train to XXX; since the Northern line was updated about five years ago, the Jubilee is the only line that doesn’t say the line.

No different to some people's reactions to pop stars and other celebrities. For a lot of people YouTubers are in that same category now. You may not understand it (I don't either), but that is how it is these days. Just look at the reactions other YouTubers have got in recent years too.

Geoff Marshall is not a celebrity though

 

[urbophile]

At 0630, BBC1 "Breakfast" went live ...

... to a chicken farm in Yorkshire.

A fallback because their planned Elizabeth Line coverage fell through, or did they really think that it was too much trouble to get a crew to Paddington or Abbey Wood for a live broadcast?

Now you know how we feel in the North when significant events are passed over to make way for London-based trivia. (Not that I think Crossrail is trivia of course)

 

[Searle]

Is there any sign of Crossrail taking the pressure off the Central and Jubilee lines yet?

Probably won't take pressure off the Central line out east until there is a direct link between Stratford and the central core. Central line at Mile End was still absolutely rammed this morning

 

[urbophile]

It's a pity the idea of a loop connecting with Kings Cross/St P and Euston didn't happen. Three massive infrastructure projects (HS1, HS2 and Elizabeth) and none connecting with any other. I suppose it's a metaphor for the lack of joined-up thinking in British politics generally.

 

[ijmad]

It's a pity the idea of a loop connecting with Kings Cross/St P and Euston didn't happen. Three massive infrastructure projects (HS1, HS2 and Elizabeth) and none connecting with any other. I suppose it's a metaphor for the lack of joined-up thinking in British politics generally.

HS2 will connect to the Liz Line at Old Oak Common

I agree a better link between Liz/HS1 and HS1/HS2 would have been great, although Crossrail 2 was supposed to fill one of those gaps wasn't it...

Maybe some future government will come around to the idea again.

 

[Christmas]

They're already calling it the new 'London Underground' line on the BBC and Radio 2 news. Steve Wright said it was an addition to London Underground too. Is it actually National Rail?

 

[AM9]

It's a pity the idea of a loop connecting with Kings Cross/St P and Euston didn't happen. Three massive infrastructure projects (HS1, HS2 and Elizabeth) and none connecting with any other. I suppose it's a metaphor for the lack of joined-up thinking in British politics generally.

Well, the Lizzie connects with HS1 at Stratford (with a small walk), the Lizzie will connect with HS2 (when it exists) at Old Oak Common. If there is a big enough demand, Crossrail 2 will connect to Euston and St Pancras. If the Lizzie connects up with everything it will become too congested at peak times.

They're already calling it the new 'London Underground' line on the BBC and Radio 2 news. Steve Wright said it was an addition to London Underground too. Is it actually National Rail?

That's a bit of a grey area ATM, but does it really matter?