Crossrail: announcements at stations

[JW16]

Are there any indications yet how Crossrail services will be displayed in station departure boards or audible announcements?

The reason I ask is because many of the outer stations are very much National Rail oriented and Crossrail will be a TfL operation, so can we expect the boards/announcements at a station like Shenfield to be a mixture? i.e. "Platform 1 for the 11:39 Greater Anglia service to London Liverpool Street, calling at Stratford and London Liverpool Street" followed by "Platform 6 for the 11:40 Elizabeth line service to Paddington, calling at Brentwood...etc...Bond Street and Paddington"?

I assume stations like Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street are not in the National Rail system in terms of recorded announcements and display boards.

 

[swt_passenger]

Are they not currently announcing Tfl Rail as a separate TOC name on that route? Does TfL operated LO cause any problems at stations operated by a national TOC? New station names will just need to be added, whether TFL or NR, it isn’t as if the system at Shenfield will necessarily have been designed with every NR station to Reading anyway.

 

[JW16]

For example, Paddington to TfL/the tube is "Paddington" but to National Rail is "London Paddington". And will every stop be listed in the "...calling at..." announcements?

 

[swt_passenger]

For example, Paddington to TfL/the tube is "Paddington" but to National Rail is "London Paddington". And will every stop be listed in the "...calling at..." announcements?

It wouldn’t worry me how they announced Paddington. Listing all calling stations depends on number and spacing. There are many existing NR services where only the next station is mentioned “en route”, once you’ve left the first station.

 

[USBT]

The only stations that would be affected are (London) Paddington and (London) Liverpool Street. So it’s hardly going to be a huge issue.

If anyone knows how the announcements on the Overground work for trains into Euston or Liverpool Street, I’d guess they’d use the same convention. I don’t know what that is, even though last year I took an LO from Hackney Downs to LST. I wasn’t paying attention as to what was being announced, if indeed anything was.

 

[JW16]

It's more a question around whether it will all have more of a tube feel or an NR feel to it

 

[AM9]

The only stations that would be affected are (London) Paddington and (London) Liverpool Street. So it’s hardly going to be a huge issue.

If anyone knows how the announcements on the Overground work for trains into Euston or Liverpool Street, I’d guess they’d use the same convention. I don’t know what that is, even though last year I took an LO from Hackney Downs to LST. I wasn’t paying attention as to what was being announced, if indeed anything was.

Do they still call 'all stations to ...' on NR or do they now insist on listing every station along the line for every train? I remember when the slows on the GEML was announced to 'all stations to Gidea Park' (or Shenfield as appropriate). Clearly when there are skip stop services e.g. 'Ilford, Romford and all stations to Shenfield' etc.. then they need to be more precise.

 

[rebmcr]

No different to c2c/District at Upminster and at Barking.

 

[DPWH]

I guess that London Bridge should be renamed London London Bridge to be consistent.

 

[swt_passenger]

Thinking about this in more detail, the Western section of Crossrail will have skip stopping patterns so they might not ever be able to be announced just as ‘all stations to Reading’, (or Maidenhead, Heathrow T4, or T5).

 

[700007]

I reckon Anne will stay as the announcer. It will be interesting to see if they decide to say all the stations like present or if they just say 'Platform 3 for the 13:02 Elizabeth line service to Heathrow Airport' with no reference to calling patterns or anything.

I don't see why they couldn't though, because a) calling patterns vary on the Elizabeth line
b) ThamesLink even in the core announces the calling patterns of each individual trains in a reasonable time and there are some lengthy routes with a lot of stops. It would give useful information.

 

[cactustwirly]

Calling patterns would need to be announced, since a lot of the services will skip stops on the western end.

The PIS at the recently transferred TfL stations (Ealing Broadway - Langley) says 'London Paddingtn', but the GWR stations (Slough, Maidenhead etc) still say 'London Paddington'

 

[700007]

Calling patterns would need to be announced, since a lot of the services will skip stops on the western end.

The PIS at the recently transferred TfL stations (Ealing Broadway - Langley) says 'London Paddingtn', but the GWR stations (Slough, Maidenhead etc) still say 'London Paddington'

Indeed this is true and the PIS now announces in the exact same way the East Side TfL Rail announces the trains. No chimes and only repeats it twice. No Roger either.

 

[700007]

Indeed this is true and the PIS now announces in the exact same way the East Side TfL Rail announces the trains. No chimes and only repeats it twice. No Roger either.

I stand corrected - Hayes and Harlington is still using chimes and repeating the announcements a few times over.

 

[matt_world2004]

Indeed this is true and the PIS now announces in the exact same way the East Side TfL Rail announces the trains. No chimes and only repeats it twice. No Roger either.

I believe the truncation of london paddington to fit the operator name in after the last station

 

[southern442]

I would imagine after a while they will replace Anne with Emma, to give the whole line a universal voice. Emma will probably say 'Paddington' and 'Liverpool Street' for all trains without the 'London' prefix because of the nature of the Elizabeth Line system. On the WCML she says 'Euston' for all trains, even LNR, so I would imagine that this is what would happen elsewhere. I'd also imagine Emma would take over Lea Valley line announcements at some point and do the same thing.

The only exception to this rule is the ELL side of things, where she says 'London Bridge' for obvious reasons, and 'London Victoria' (I think this is because there aren't any TfL services that go to the termini from any of those stations if that makes sense).

 

[700007]

I would imagine after a while they will replace Anne with Emma, to give the whole line a universal voice. Emma will probably say 'Paddington' and 'Liverpool Street' for all trains without the 'London' prefix because of the nature of the Elizabeth Line system. On the WCML she says 'Euston' for all trains, even LNR, so I would imagine that this is what would happen elsewhere. I'd also imagine Emma would take over Lea Valley line announcements at some point and do the same thing.

The only exception to this rule is the ELL side of things, where she says 'London Bridge' for obvious reasons, and 'London Victoria' (I think this is because there aren't any TfL services that go to the termini from any of those stations if that makes sense).

I like Emma so I am alright with that however TfL have just changed the station announcements on the WCML South lately in terms of the scripting (Emma is still the voice) and it strings poorly now when the old script worked much better. Also lots of issues with the announcements.

What used to be:
'The next train to arrive at platform 2 is the 10:02 Bakerloo line service calling at all stations to Elephant & Castle'

Is now:
'The next train to arrive at platform 2 is the.... London UNDERGROUND.... service to Elephant & Castle calling at Kenton, South Kenton, North Wembley, Wembley Central, Stonebridge Park, Harlesden, Willesden Junction, Kensal Green, Queen's Park and Elephant & Castle'

The new announcements play well after the train has arrived or departed the station. I know why it doesn't announce the stations between Kilburn Park and Lambeth North but still, it can be confusing for someone who doesn't know this.

Hopefully they don't give this treatment to the Elizabeth line.

 

[JW16]

I like Emma so I am alright with that however TfL have just changed the station announcements on the WCML South lately in terms of the scripting (Emma is still the voice) and it strings poorly now when the old script worked much better. Also lots of issues with the announcements.

What used to be:
'The next train to arrive at platform 2 is the 10:02 Bakerloo line service calling at all stations to Elephant & Castle'

Is now:
'The next train to arrive at platform 2 is the.... London UNDERGROUND.... service to Elephant & Castle calling at Kenton, South Kenton, North Wembley, Wembley Central, Stonebridge Park, Harlesden, Willesden Junction, Kensal Green, Queen's Park and Elephant & Castle'

The new announcements play well after the train has arrived or departed the station. I know why it doesn't announce the stations between Kilburn Park and Lambeth North but still, it can be confusing for someone who doesn't know this.

Hopefully they don't give this treatment to the Elizabeth line.

If listing the stations it's calling at, why miss out the ones between Kilburn Park and Lambeth North?

 

[700007]

If listing the stations it's calling at, why miss out the ones between Kilburn Park and Lambeth North?

I don't think all of the stations between Kilburn Park and Lambeth North are recorded (with the exception of Paddington and Waterloo) from the script that I have and the programme that reads the announcement is only reading from a list similar to this:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/L52166/2018/05/06/advanced

 

[axlrosen]

Will the Elizabeth Line be the first TfL service that skips stops?

 

[traji00]

Will the Elizabeth Line be the first TfL service that skips stops?

The Metropolitan Line has some (semi?) fast trains in the peaks that skip stops.

 

[D365]

Even excluding that, I believe the Chingford services run fast through some stations.

 

[LLivery]

Will the Elizabeth Line be the first TfL service that skips stops?

Na, West Anglia Enfield Town/Cheshunt peak services are skip-stop, Chingford services never call at Cambridge Heath & London Fields and TfL Rail peak services are skip-stop too.

 

[700007]

Will the Elizabeth Line be the first TfL service that skips stops?

Expanding on the above responses, the Metropolitan line has services that skip stations between Wembley Park and Northwood (all do stop at Harrow-on-the-Hill regardless). These namely operate in the peaks only and occasionally during the off peak when perhaps a train is running late and they need to make up time.

London Overground indeed does operate a skip stop pattern on the Lea Valley services where calls at various stations are omitted. There is one service I think is the 0800 every weekday morning from Liverpool Street that goes to the extremes of only calling at Hackney Downs, Seven Sisters, Edmonton Green and all stations to Cheshunt.

TfL Rail operates 100s of different skip-stop patterns skipping any station between Maryland and Manor Park, Seven Kings and Chadwell Heath and also Harold Wood and Brentwood. These are supposed to be removed and become all stations when the Elizabeth line starts but I don't think regulars on the line, myself included, will appreciate this as the fast trains are appreciated a lot and distributes capacity much better.

The new TfL Rail 'West' that officially starts next Sunday 20th will also operate skip stopping patterns even after the Elizabeth line starts.

 

[axlrosen]

On the Metropolitan it’s easy, because all the skipped stops are in two contiguous chunks. And that makes it really easy to understand on the in-car map. All you need to know is if it’s fast, semi-fast, or all stations. Will it be similar on the Elizabeth Line?

 

[matt_world2004]

Expanding on the above responses, the Metropolitan line has services that skip stations between Wembley Park and Northwood (all do stop at Harrow-on-the-Hill regardless). These namely operate in the peaks only and occasionally during the off peak when perhaps a train is running late and they need to make up time.

London Overground indeed does operate a skip stop pattern on the Lea Valley services where calls at various stations are omitted. There is one service I think is the 0800 every weekday morning from Liverpool Street that goes to the extremes of only calling at Hackney Downs, Seven Sisters, Edmonton Green and all stations to Cheshunt.

TfL Rail operates 100s of different skip-stop patterns skipping any station between Maryland and Manor Park, Seven Kings and Chadwell Heath and also Harold Wood and Brentwood. These are supposed to be removed and become all stations when the Elizabeth line starts but I don't think regulars on the line, myself included, will appreciate this as the fast trains are appreciated a lot and distributes capacity much better.

The new TfL Rail 'West' that officially starts next Sunday 20th will also operate skip stopping patterns even after the Elizabeth line starts.

I believe once the line is fully class 345s the quicker acceleration will mean the same journey time as the skip stop service.that is certainly the case in the west where 345s are apparently going to do Hayes &Harlington to paddington Crossrail in 18 minutes. The same amount of time as a fast gwr train calling hayes and ealing broadway despite the three additional station calls.