Crossrail - Construction updates and progress towards opening (now expected 24 May 2022)

[ijmad]

Shame they didn't stick with plan A to have fully cross platform interchange at Abbey Wood then!

Maybe so, but if Crossrail makes it out to Dartford or Ebbsfleet, or Gravesend, many won't need to change at all. And extending the layout we have at Abbey Wood will be far less disruptive.

London commuters are used to walking up and down stairs, after all most of the tube isn't step free, and for those who can't manage stairs, Abbey Wood is fully step free and London Bridge is too now.

Oh this has been raised for a long time. There are a lot of SE commuters who want the more eastern parts of the city or central London who will disappear now they don't need to change at London Bridge or Cannon St (all Covid dependent on how many "commuters" there are of course!). Abbey Wood will become a considerable interchange for people from around the Dartford area. Journey time really matters in metro world.

Once again, I really get the feeling that 12tph on the Abbey Wood branch will quickly end up being inadequate.

 

[Ianno87]

Shame they didn't stick with plan A to have fully cross platform interchange at Abbey Wood then!

IIRC the whole point of switching was to give access to the sidings and maintenance depot at Plumstead that otherwise would have been inaccessible if Crossrail had been in the middle.

 

[swt_passenger]

IIRC the whole point of switching was to give access to the sidings and maintenance depot at Plumstead that otherwise would have been inaccessible if Crossrail had been in the middle.

Also, with the two Crossrail lines between the SE lines, unless they ran through to a turnback between arrival and departure, there would only have been cross platform interchange with half the trains, as originally designed Crossrail arrivals would still have used alternate platforms…

 

[AM9]

Shame they didn't stick with plan A to have fully cross platform interchange at Abbey Wood then!

If you look at the tube lines that terminate above the surface with two platforms they are mostly all either side of an island, (e.g. Stanmore*, Edgware, West Ruislip, Ealing Broadway [Central Line), Upminster) and stations where higher volumes are catered for with starters, the three platform layout with a centre track with two platform faces can be found, (Uxbridge, White City, Loughton).
I think that the island platform is makes dipatching starters easier as passengers are less likely to resist the doors closing on a departing train when there is another less than 10 metres away on the other platform face. In that context, Crossrail at Abbey Wood is in the same situation as those tubes.
* Stanmore has had a more recent addition of a peak time platform built against an adjacent stabling siding.

 

[hwl]

Oh this has been raised for a long time. There are a lot of SE commuters who want the more eastern parts of the city or central London who will disappear now they don't need to change at London Bridge or Cannon St (all Covid dependent on how many "commuters" there are of course!). Abbey Wood will become a considerable interchange for people from around the Dartford area. Journey time really matters in metro world.

TfL were expecting lots of passengers from North West / Central London to Canary Wharf to swap from Jubilee Line to Crossrail releasing capacity too (useful for N Greenwich Canada Water and London Bridge users)

Once again, I really get the feeling that 12tph on the Abbey Wood branch will quickly end up being inadequate.

Even if you emptied all the London bound trains through Abbey Wood on to CR that would only use 40% of the Abbey Wood CR capacity at 12 tph.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

TfL were expecting lots of passengers from North West / Central London to Canary Wharf to swap from Jubilee Line to Crossrail releasing capacity too (useful for N Greenwich Canada Water and London Bridge users)


Even if you emptied all the London bound trains through Abbey Wood on to CR that would only use 40% of the Abbey Wood CR capacity at 12 tph.

Guess DLR at Woolwich will see a drop off in demand as well

 

[jyte]

TfL were expecting lots of passengers from North West / Central London to Canary Wharf to swap from Jubilee Line to Crossrail releasing capacity too (useful for N Greenwich Canada Water and London Bridge users)

The number of people who get on the Bakerloo at Paddington then use the cross platform interchange at Baker Street for the jubilee remains impressively high - so crossrail will certainly help with some of those passenger flows.

 

[reddragon]

The number of people who get on the Bakerloo at Paddington then use the cross platform interchange at Baker Street for the jubilee remains impressively high - so crossrail will certainly help with some of those passenger flows.

Most of my pre-Covid trips to London via Paddington would now include Crossrail for part or all of the way. I will not miss the Circle Line and just the Central Line walk from Lancaster Gate.

 

[Horizon22]

The number of people who get on the Bakerloo at Paddington then use the cross platform interchange at Baker Street for the jubilee remains impressively high - so crossrail will certainly help with some of those passenger flows.

And the people changing at Ealing Broadway for the Central in the morning can be a sight to behold...

 

[reddragon]

And the people changing at Ealing Broadway for the Central in the morning can be a sight to behold...

Maybe distant memories now never to return?

 

[Meerkat]

The number of people who get on the Bakerloo at Paddington then use the cross platform interchange at Baker Street for the jubilee remains impressively high - so crossrail will certainly help with some of those passenger flows.

There must be a good few folk who moved near western stations expecting to be able to get direct to the city two years ago who must be getting very annoyed with the ugly tube commute.

 

[flitwickbeds]

There must be a good few folk who moved near western stations expecting to be able to get direct to the city two years ago who must be getting very annoyed with the ugly tube commute.

And my wife who took a job in Canary Wharf expecting to be able to change at Farringdon within a few months. She's still plodding in on the Jubilee Line from London Bridge.

 

[Ianno87]

There must be a good few folk who moved near western stations expecting to be able to get direct to the city two years ago who must be getting very annoyed with the ugly tube commute.

Most of them have probably been working from home for 16 months...

 

[MotCO]

I live in SE London and occasionally had to go to meetings in Reading, and was looking forward to using Crossrail to get there seamlessly. I've been retired for over a year!

 

[Snow1964]

There is a Crossrail status update in the TfL Board papers for next weeks meeting

Pages 52 and 57-60 (too long to quote in full)

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/board-20210728-agenda-papers.pdf

 

[Horizon22]

Maybe distant memories now never to return?

They still do at around 7am! Also on the weekends both ways.

 

[Snow1964]

West Drayton Transformation Press Release

West Drayton station transformed as extended ticket hall opens and step-free access introduced

West Drayton station transformed for customers as extended ticket hall opens and step-free access introduced for first time

tfl.gov.uk

West Drayton station has been transformed for customers ahead of the Elizabeth line opening next year, with a revamped ticket hall featuring a striking new glass and steel extension, opening yesterday (Tuesday 20 July), alongside two new lifts enabling step-free access to the main platforms serving TfL Rail and Great Western Railway.

An additional lift at the station entrance connecting the low-level subway with the new concourse has also been brought into use.
These station lifts will be complemented by a new lift at Platform 1, now making four of the station's five platforms step-free for current timetabled operations and fully step-free by the end of the year.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

There is a Crossrail status update in the TfL Board papers for next weeks meeting

Pages 52 and 57-60 (too long to quote in full)

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/board-20210728-agenda-papers.pdf

Indeed all 382 pages of it!

Anyhow positive report with Whitechapel at T-12 and Canary Wharf close to it T-12 (was the first station to be complete i recollect) and I like the comment on Bond Street

Bond Street is currently showing encouraging signs that it will meet its requirements to be able to support Trial Operations, although there is still considerable work to do at the station for it to be ready for passenger service at the front end of our opening window.

This station is worthy of a public enquiry in its own right that after an additional three years its still unlikely to be ready.

Can't see a forecast on trial operations commencement but this is what has to happen

Before being able to start Trial Operations, several programme milestones need to be achieved in addition to commissioning the remaining stations. Following the completion of the blockade and the move to 12 trains per hour Trial Running, the two remaining key milestones scheduled to take place over the summer period are:
(a) complete and integrate the ELR 100 software release, the train and signalling software that will be used for passenger service; and
(b) complete the integration and testing phase to ensure that all of the components work seamlessly together.

 

[kevin_roche]

Can't see a forecast on trial operations commencement but this is what has to happen

There is an item in the Elizabeth Line Board papers for the meeting last week that says there is likely to be a Blockade in the Autumn during which ELR100 will be installed.

During the Elizabeth Line Board meeting, Mark Wild said that Trial Operations would run from November 2021 and take 3 months, if all went well.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

There is an item in the Elizabeth Line Board papers for the meeting last week that says there is likely to be a Blockade in the Autumn during which ELR100 will be installed.

During the Elizabeth Line Board meeting, Mark Wild said that Trial Operations would run from November 2021 and take 3 months, if all went well.

Thanks for update and good firmer dates being forecast by Wilde now rather than windows. Mind you i would like to know why it takes so long to do all this testing we aimed to clear by midnight on resignalling schemes I was involved so we could run some route provers up and adown a couple of times. Yes i appreciate this is bit more involved but best part of year seems at the other end of the spectrum.

 

[Pshambro]

Saw Mark Wild (crossrail CEO) and assorted other big cheeses getting a tour of the newly opened Eastbourne terrace entrance to Paddington mainline this morning. Didn’t want to attempt a closer photo of them lest the camera police get me.

 

[Harold Hill]

Great job, that side of Paddington had always been on the scruffy-side until now

 

[MotCO]

Saw Mark Wild (crossrail CEO) and assorted other big cheeses getting a tour of the newly opened Eastbourne terrace entrance to Paddington mainline this morning. Didn’t want to attempt a closer photo of them lest the camera police get me. View attachment 100039

Just put an id lanyard and a hard hat on and join the tour!

 

[swt_passenger]

Is that a temporary fence behind the seating, perhaps because someone’s decided the actual railings are too low to stop people climbing or falling over them…

 

[Pshambro]

Is that a temporary fence behind the seating, perhaps because someone’s decided the actual railings are too low to stop people climbing or falling over them…

There is a lot of temporary fencing around as the subterranean section still appears to have construction work going on, the reason for that fencing wasn't clear when I was there

 

[ScotGG]

TfL were expecting lots of passengers from North West / Central London to Canary Wharf to swap from Jubilee Line to Crossrail releasing capacity too (useful for N Greenwich Canada Water and London Bridge users)


Even if you emptied all the London bound trains through Abbey Wood on to CR that would only use 40% of the Abbey Wood CR capacity at 12 tph.

Most passenger and housing projections for crossrail were made a decade ago and so much has changed in terms of masterplans and housing projections.

Bexley didn't plan for 20,000+ homes in the north of the borough for example. There were vague suggestions but not formal planning policy.

Same in many, many areas in North Kent and SE London. East London too.

 

[Dstock7080]

message to Staff from Mark Wild CEO:

Hi Everyone,
I attended the Public Accounts Committee this week with the Commissioner, Andy Byford. I let the Committee know that it’s our intention to start Trial Operations in November this year and open stage 3 in February 2022. Of course we have our “opening window” of the first half of next year but the whole programme should be focused on that leading early edge – we can do it!
You will also have seen some press interest in our revised plans for stages 4 and 5. As we all know, these are the final stages following the opening of the central section. We had previously planned to stagger stages 4 and 5 as two separate stages (trains from the east and then the west). We will now combine them in one single stage, creating an end-to-end railway.
12TPH Trial Running is going well thanks to the continued excellent effort to work around existing bugs we know are fixed in ELR100.
Stations-wise, lots of great progress by the Paddington team and we are very nearly there now. We will move the actual commissioning a couple of weeks to allow sufficient time for the final assurance reviews.
Whitechapel is closing in on its T-4 and we plan to open this new station to the public when we transfer across to LU on 23 August, providing step-free access to the existing lines. The transfer of Whitechapel is actually the fourteenth major integration stage in and around the existing LU and LO lines.
Thank you.

 

[Ianno87]

Great job, that side of Paddington had always been on the scruffy-side until now

Certainly looks the part - must check that side out when I pass through Paddington next week.

Is that a temporary fence behind the seating, perhaps because someone’s decided the actual railings are too low to stop people climbing or falling over them…

There is a lot of temporary fencing around as the subterranean section still appears to have construction work going on, the reason for that fencing wasn't clear when I was there

Presumably it's still technically live construction site, so is secured accordingly.

 

[Chris125]

Great video demonstrating CBTC in action, especially at 10:30 with two moving trains just a few carriage lengths apart.

 

[Ianno87]

Impressive!