In many ways it is so very bad that passengers using Maryland, Forest Gate and Manor Park are being shafted in this way. Being told to use local buses is not a solution - not just because of the extended journey times but also because passengers are being financially penalised through no fault of their own. OK, so the bus 'only' costs £1.50, but even that amount to someone on a restricted income (eg: low income, state benefits) can 'break the bank'. To my eyes it is wrong that passengers should be expected to pay anything extra. They should be able to collect two free bus saver tickets - one for their required bus journey and one as compensation for the inconvenience.
In times past these stations had a 20 minute interval off-peak service. Even reverting to this would be better than simply closing the station and leaving passengers in the lurch / to fend for themselves. The 345's have very good acceleration, which should also help.
It will not endear the people who live to the east of London to the Elizabeth line if they find that at weekends they have nothing! Its bad enough that the bay at Ilford has been sacrificed (OK a different issue, but still something that disbenefits the route)
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I think I have been misunderstood - what passengers are expected to do is instead of using their local station they should catch a bus to either Ilford or Stratford stations and then change for the train. This means that the £1.50 bus fare is
in addition to the train fare, with yet another bus fare on their return journey.
It is no longer possible to travel by through bus from the areas served by the GEML to London's West End, as in anticipation of the through Elizabeth Line trains TfL have shortened bus route 25 so that it no longer reaches Oxford Circus - this is despite the reality that the trains have not started running beyond Liverpool Street! Anyway, traffic congestion and snail slow 20mph zones make buses so slow nowadays its almost like a punishment to expect passengers to use them for long distance journeys instead of far faster trains.
But how do we know that passengers will be going to the West End? Many passengers will be going to other destinations in Central London and when planning their travels would have expected to pay single through fare from their local station to the nearest Underground station to their intended destination. Not separate bus and train 'unfares'.
Of course if London had a more enlightened ticketing system then the bus element of the journey would not have incurred an extra charge, I've experienced such ticketing systems overseas.
Just to conclude, I am aghast at the thought that every time there is track maintenance which reduces the GEML down to a two track railway, east London Elizabeth Line passengers will be treated as what amounts to third class nuisances who are seen as easy prey for inconveniencing and therefore have all railway services withdrawn from their local stations.
