Crossrail - operating discussion and opening day 24th May

[TFN]

Unless you were driving it, the above seems ironic.

Unfortunately I had little choice. I was making a comparison to yesterday as I took the first train out from Canary Wharf as well but I saw the irony

 

[JaJaWa]

Just boarded the 8.42 from Acton Main Line heading to Paddington. It was crush loaded. One question - the doors I tried to board at came up with the red sign saying they weren’t in operation.

Is this because people inside are leaning against the door open button? It seemed to then open fine at Paddington.

A bit annoying as many passengers then had to scramble to other doors.

Because of the curved platforms at Paddington, the doors in the middle or at the ends of the carriages don’t open depending on which way the platform curves (because those have the biggest gap).

Unfortunately the system doesn’t work very well (aka worse than useless) because sometimes the wrong doors (those with the biggest gap) open and those with a small gap don’t.

 

[iphone76]

Just boarded the 8.42 from Acton Main Line heading to Paddington. It was crush loaded. One question - the doors I tried to board at came up with the red sign saying they weren’t in operation.

Is this because people inside are leaning against the door open button? It seemed to then open fine at Paddington.

A bit annoying as many passengers then had to scramble to other doors.

Yes. I believe that is a feature of the 345s.

 

[Basil Jet]

Yes. I believe that is a feature of the 345s.

If the door thinks that the button is broken, shouldn't the default be to open as soon as the driver unlocks it?

Something I've had on tube trains in the past is where the train is crush-loaded and no-one is outside to push the buttons, but the people inside have their backs to the buttons and can't work out where they are. Since the 345 knows when it is crush loaded, it should open the doors automatically whenever crush-loaded - or would that increase the carbon footprint?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

If the door thinks that the button is broken, shouldn't the default be to open as soon as the driver unlocks it?

Do you have to consider if there is a risk of some falling out if they are leaning with their back or their side to the door, and they are not expecting the door to open - because they can see that no-one has pushed the button?

 

[Basil Jet]

Do you have to consider if there is a risk of some falling out if they are leaning with their back or their side to the door, and they are not expecting the door to open - because they can see that no-one has pushed the button?

I expect every door I am leaning on to open automatically and every door in my way to need a button push.

 

[plugwash]

eg Paddington to KX/StP

A lot of journeys from KX/StP can also be done from either Farringdon or Moorgate.

For journeys like Heathrow to Cambridge it will be interesting to see if people pick the quicker option of changing twice or the single change option.

 

[Acton1991]

Yes. I believe that is a feature of the 345s.

This is going to be super annoying outside of the core where the doors need to be manually opened by pressing a button.
Are TfL aware of this? It could leave people behind/stranded.

 

[ashkeba]

A lot of journeys from KX/StP can also be done from either Farringdon or Moorgate.

For journeys like Heathrow to Cambridge it will be interesting to see if people pick the quicker option of changing twice or the single change option.

Cambridge may be faster changing at Liverpool Street onto the twice-hourly limited-stop service if the time falls as kind as for the twice-hourly Thameslinks. xx26/56 from Faringdon (75mins), or xx58 (72mins) and xx28 (82mins) with faster 64-min ones at 0803/33 and 1907 from Liverpool Street.

 

[JaJaWa]

This is going to be super annoying outside of the core where the doors need to be manually opened by pressing a button.
Are TfL aware of this? It could leave people behind/stranded.

It’s not, it’s because of the mentioned bug at Paddington.

 

[Acton1991]

It’s not, it’s because of the mentioned bug at Paddington.

This was at Acton Main Line

 

[matthewmacleod]

The door button placement and operating sequence on 345s is consistently pretty frustrating on the eastern branch. The 710s are better for having an additional door button on the actual door – I'm not sure if the operating sequence has been improved though.

 

[iphone76]

This is going to be super annoying outside of the core where the doors need to be manually opened by pressing a button.
Are TfL aware of this? It could leave people behind/stranded.

It's been a "feature" since the 345s were introduced on the East back in 2017. It just hasn't been that noticeable for the past few years as fewer people have been travelling and there haven't been many crush loaded trains.

 

[345 050]

Just boarded the 8.42 from Acton Main Line heading to Paddington. It was crush loaded. One question - the doors I tried to board at came up with the red sign saying they weren’t in operation.

Is this because people inside are leaning against the door open button? It seemed to then open fine at Paddington.

A bit annoying as many passengers then had to scramble to other doors.

It's a feature. The doors won't open if someone is leaning on the button. I suppose someone could fall out by accident. Although as has been pointed out, tube doors always open automatically, despite the presence of buttons, and that is deemed safe.

 

[tomuk]

Is the exterior button on the door and the interior buttons on the door jambs to the side? If they aren't they should be.

 

[345 050]

Is the exterior button on the door and the interior buttons on the door jambs to the side? If they aren't they should be.

Yes the outside button is on the door. There are two buttons inside either side of the doors.

 

[DC1989]

I don't understand why they don't have automatic door opening across the whole thing?

 

[kevin_roche]

I don't understand why they don't have automatic door opening across the whole thing?

Doesn't it save passengers being blown about and getting rained on at surface-level stations when there is no need?

 

[LNational]

I don't understand why they don't have automatic door opening across the whole thing?

Heat loss / gain at quiet times maybe ?

 

[coppercapped]

I don't understand why they don't have automatic door opening across the whole thing?

Think about it. Why lose all that expensively heated (or cooled) air every time the train stops at, say, Burnham or Goodmayes on a windy winters evening (or a hot summer afternoon) by opening 27 sets of doors when only five people want to get off and two get on?

These open trains can be like a wind tunnel. It is not peculiar to this country, an example are the S-Bahn trains in Munich which have passenger operated opening outside the central zone and auto-close the doors if nobody has passed through in the last 3 seconds.

Not all the world is like central London.

 

[ijmad]

Think about it. Why lose all that expensively heated (or cooled) air every time the train stops at, say, Burnham or Goodmayes on a windy winters evening (or a hot summer afternoon) by opening 27 sets of doors when only five people want to get off and two get on?

These open trains can be like a wind tunnel. It is not peculiar to this country, an example are the S-Bahn trains in Munich which have passenger operated opening outside the central zone and auto-close the doors if nobody has passed through in the last 3 seconds.

Not all the world is like central London.

That is more or less how Thameslink operates doors in the core vs outer branches already

 

[Acton1991]

Doesn't it save passengers being blown about and getting rained on at surface-level stations when there is no need?

Totally understand the rationale, but stations such as say Stratford as well as in the west out to Ealing Broadway should really have all doors opening as per the core - they are still very busy stations and it could help passenger loading/unloading.

 

[JonathanH]

Totally understand the rationale, but stations such as say Stratford as well as in the west out to Ealing Broadway should really have all doors opening as per the core - they are still very busy stations and it could help passenger loading/unloading.

Neither Acton Main Line or Ealing Broadway need to be all doors open. Stratford may be.

Ealing Broadway is certainly busy but tends not to be very well distributed along the platform, particularly going west. Acton Main Line less busy, particularly at off peak times. Maybe there is a case for all doors open in the peaks but not otherwise.

 

[xerosis]

I've sat eastbound on the central and wondered if it'd be quicker to jump onto the EL at TCR to get to Liv St, what do we reckon?

 

[Watershed]

I've sat eastbound on the central and wondered if it'd be quicker to jump onto the EL at TCR to get to Liv St, what do we reckon?

Unlikely due to the length of the interchange and the fact that the EL is still only every 5 minutes.

Once Bond Street opens - which has a much shorter interchange, as it's where the connection was always intended to be made - the balance will tilt far more in favour of the EL.

 

[Kite159]

I've sat eastbound on the central and wondered if it'd be quicker to jump onto the EL at TCR to get to Liv St, what do we reckon?

I was thinking something similar last Saturday when heading to Liverpool Street from Waterloo. Would it be quicker using the Central Line from Tottenham Court Road or the Liz Line, the journey time saving from the shorter journey on the train being knocked back by the longer walk from the platforms at Liverpool Street Lizzy to the main concourse.

 

[Mojo]

Central line Tottenham Ct Rd to Liverpool St is 9¼ Minutes vs 5 Minutes on Crossrail. Given the fact you’re already on a Central line train, that 4¼ is easily wasted probably alone by the extra time taken to go to the XR platforms at TCR and the longer time taken to exit Liverpool St XR platforms, let alone wait for a train.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

Central line Tottenham Ct Rd to Liverpool St is 9¼ Minutes vs 5 Minutes on Crossrail. Given the fact you’re already on a Central line train, that 4¼ is easily wasted probably alone by the extra time taken to go to the XR platforms at TCR and the longer time taken to exit Liverpool St XR platforms, let alone wait for a train.

Agreed. Spot on.

 

[samuelmorris]

Quicker to use the Central line, yes. Likewise it's of course faster to use the tube from Farringdon to Liverpool Street as well. A better experience, however, that's more up for debate. The surface lines are easy to get to and more bearable to ride due to the larger and air-conditioned trains, but when it comes to a summer's day crushing onto a 92 stock vs a 345 that's double the size, I think I'd sooner walk the extra few minutes, personally.

 

[800001]

Did Finsbury Park to Windsor yesterday, using Thameslink to Farringdon, then Crossrail to Paddington.
Journey planner showed it as a valid route.
Ticket let me onto Crossrail at Farringdon.
At Paddington ticket wouldn’t work.
Barrier man asked where you going, I replied politely it states on ticket, he said it’s not valid.
I showed him journey itinerary. Kept saying but valid, not valid, not valid.
Another man walked over asked what issue was, showed him ticket and itinerary and he opened barriers and didnt say a word. Not impressed