Surely a journey starting on the Northern line and finishing on the Elizabeth Line would be quicker, despite the long tunnel at Moorgate?
Coming from the East there will be a cross platform change at Stratford, this is not being taken away. Passengers who currently change from EL to Central at Stratford will be much less likely to do this when through running begins, therefore Central will be quieter.
Equally, although the interchange is not quite as good at Ealing Broadway, passengers who currently change from EL to Central at the moment maybe be able to continue their journey on EL when through running begins. Again this will take passengers off the central line.
Of course if they have a destination on the central line where the Elizabeth Line does not stop, then they may find it quicker to continue to use the central line. But to say that no one would switch is frankly quite silly.
I agree it is frustrating that a lot of the interchanges are quite time consuming, although as has been mentioned, this is by design.
The other thing to bear in mind is that people are still more slow in EL stations, admiring the architecture etc. Walking times will soon speed up to normal Tube station pace as people get used to the new line.
Yes - obviously people using NR coming in from the west or east, who currently change to the Central Line in the suburbs, might sensibly stay on Crossrail instead
if they're heading somewhere served by it (once there's through running). Though it might not make sense to stay on if they have to change to a different line in the centre anyway, given that the Central has more connections and they're much much easier connections too.
What I was getting at is that
I see no journeys in the centre or the inner suburbs where many people would use Crossrail instead of the Central Line. (Once the novelty wears off...)
Also, re "Surely a journey starting on the Northern line and finishing on the Elizabeth Line would be quicker, despite the long tunnel at Moorgate?" If I were coming from the Northern Line in the suburbs, going to a destination reached by Crossrail, I'd certainly use the Charing X branch, not the Bank branch, and make a
relatively easy change at TCR. Even if I were setting off from somewhere actually on the Bank loop, where there were alternative options I'd be likely to use them (and change at Farringdon, Liverpool Street itself, or Whitechapel) rather than digging out my hiking boots and changing from Moorgate.