Line closures- Paddington LU overcrowding Sat 11/3/23

[Leisurefirst]

Just exited the Bakerloo at Paddington.
Is it really necessary to close the H&C west of Edgware Road AND the Elizabeth Line core on the same weekend?
Very unpleasant to start with along the subway once off the one working escalator and frankly chaotic in the ticket hall area, inward passengers being held back already through the barrier line.
If any idiot had kicked off there would have been injuries.
Gates at bottom of the stairs up to The Lawn also ⅔ closed to stop more coming down.
Crowds at the top, people barely making it off the escalator up.
So relieved didn't have elderly relative with me today.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Sure there is a good reason for it, but I am disappointed at the number of weekends the Elizabeth Line is only partially working. Londoners have waited ages for this new railway yet it seems it is still not complete.

 

[Leisurefirst]

Sure there is a good reason for it, but I am disappointed at the number of weekends the Elizabeth Line is only partially working. Londoners have waited ages for this new railway yet it seems it is still not complete.

I hope so!
Two displaced groups of passengers all squeezing through that subway was not fun.
Two PL games and rugby international on too.

 

[mikeb42]

The idea that it's reasonable to entirely close the Elizabeth line core for any non-emergency reason at all for an entire weekend given it's a massively expensive piece of essentially isolated infrastructure less than a year old, is preposterous. Having got that (which will no doubt be dismissed as a rant by apologists for this symptom that Britain is unwell) off my chest...

Putting the above aside, the information about this deplorable move is a shambles.

The "information" at https://tfl.gov.uk/tube-dlr-overground/status/#line-elizabeth about this requires some kind of debased boolean logic to actually deduce that the core is entirely shut. Especially given that the reasonable starting assumption is that this can't be true.

Reams of waffle (even worse than this post):

Elizabeth linePart closure
Reduced service

ELIZABETH LINE: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March, a reduced service operates between Paddington and Heathrow / Maidenhead. In addition, Elizabeth line trains will not serve Heathrow Terminal 5, please use Heathrow Express connections. Two trains per hour will serve West Drayton, Langley, Slough, Burnham and Maidenhead on Saturday and Sunday, and six trains per hour will serve Ealing Broadway, Southall and Hayes & Harlington on Saturday, four trains per hour on Sunday.

ELIZABETH LINE: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March, no service between Whitechapel and Shenfield. Replacement buses operate between Stratford / Newbury Park and Romford / Shenfield.
Replacement buses operate Service C: Stratford City Bus Station (for Stratford and Maryland) - Forest Gate (Romford Road) - Manor Park (Romford Road) - Ilford - Seven Kings - Goodmayes - Chadwell Heath (Wagney Road) - RomfordService D: Newbury Park (for Central line) - Chadwell Heath (Wagney Road) - Romford - Gidea Park - Harold Wood - Brentwood - Shenfield.

ELIZABETH LINE: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March, no service between Paddington and Abbey Wood.

... which only tells you that the core is completely shut via deduction given prior knowledge of the service pattern - and even then it's ambiguous.

Just for good measure, National Rail Enquiries says this:

Find details of current incidents | National Rail

A portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

Amended Elizabeth Line Services on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March.
Elizabeth line:

No trains will run between Stratford and Shenfield. Trains will run between London Paddington (lower level) and Stratford.

Replacement buses will run between Stratford and Romford (all stations except Maryland) and between Shenfield and Newbury Park London Underground station.

So, 0/10 for accuracy there then? I was only able to definitively-ish work out that I'd been basing my plans on the above wrong information from NRE by looking at Traksy and Realtimetrains and seeing no evidence of anything moving today. Sounds like my journey tomorrow planned with tight-ish timings on the understanding that the Elizabeth core would be working will be a nightmare. Just for a change.

How's any passenger without a knowledge of these public domain tools going to work out what's occurring?

 

[Starmill]

The idea that entirely closing the Elizabeth line core for any non-emergency reason at all for an entire weekend is reasonable when it's a massively expensive piece of essentially isolated infrastructure less than a year old, is preposterous. Having got that (which will no doubt be dismissed as a rant by apologists for this symptom that Britain is unwell) off my chest...

Putting the above aside, the information about this deplorable move is a shambles.

The "information" at https://tfl.gov.uk/tube-dlr-overground/status/#line-elizabeth about this requires some kind of debased boolean logic to actually deduce that the core is entirely shut. Especially given that the reasonable starting assumption is that this can't be true.

Reams of waffle (even worse than this post):

Isn't the work because the project isn't actually complete yet? Once it is, there won't be full weekend closures for the purpose of planned works, save maybe the odd one per year. Should the line opening have been further delayed while this work is done?

 

[Snow1964]

Isn't the work because the project isn't actually complete yet? Once it is, there won't be full weekend closures for the purpose of planned works, save maybe the odd one per year. Should the line opening have been further delayed while this work is done?

Interesting question, is it better to shut it for say 50 days in first year, or delay opening 50 days then have no closures for the first few months.

Based on the chaos described by the Op, with alternative being unclear communication that Elizabeth line would also be partially shut, tends to suggest delay until ready argument.

If a new supermarket opened in your town, wouldn't expect it to have random number of closed days in first few months, because they didn't finish it, but opened it anyway. Peoples expectation of a new railway would be same.

 

[mikeb42]

It's already a massively heavily used and singularly important piece of London's transport infrastructure.

Given that it's closed for 5+ hours 365 days a year, what on earth do they need to still do to it that really can't be done in a more sensible way? The reported consequences speak for themselves.

It smacks of the same cavalier attitude that now prevails when it comes to constantly closing motorways overnight and for whole weekends - a rare event until recent years. Now if someone needs to change the proverbial lightbulb, it's a full closure rather than a more proportionate response with a proper risk-reward decision. All the costs externalised onto other people seem to have been omitted as they don't fall on the lightbulb fettling organisation.

My reaction to this EL core closure is probably coloured by the shambolic information and the surely wrong-headed choice to do this at a time that coincides with other geographically coupled highly consequential closures and major events.

In the cold light of day it may truly be necessary as part of finally finishing the thing, but the planning looks like a mess.

 

[stuu]

It's already a massively heavily used and singularly important piece of London's transport infrastructure.

Given that it's closed for 5+ hours 365 days a year, what on earth do they need to still do to it that really can't be done in a more sensible way? The reported consequences speak for themselves.

It's because it was opened without being entirely finished, the weekend closures are to test the autoreverse system at Paddington and elsewhere in order to run the final timetable. So the question is, would it have been better to keep the line closed for months longer, or have a few weekend closures once the system was ready to test?

It smacks of the same cavalier attitude that now prevails when it comes to constantly closing motorways overnight and for whole weekends - a rare event until recent years. Now if someone needs to change the proverbial lightbulb, it's a full closure rather than a more proportionate response with a proper risk-reward decision. All the costs externalised onto other people seem to have been omitted as they don't fall on the lightbulb fettling organisation.

Weekend and overnight closures happen as the alternative is closures during weekday days, which causes much more disruption. Also, the willingness to let people risk their lives at work has diminished thankfully, so different working practices have to be put into place

 

[Leisurefirst]

The idea that it's reasonable to entirely close the Elizabeth line core for any non-emergency reason at all for an entire weekend given it's a massively expensive piece of essentially isolated infrastructure less than a year old, is preposterous. Having got that (which will no doubt be dismissed as a rant by apologists for this symptom that Britain is unwell) off my chest...

Putting the above aside, the information about this deplorable move is a shambles.

The "information" at https://tfl.gov.uk/tube-dlr-overground/status/#line-elizabeth about this requires some kind of debased boolean logic to actually deduce that the core is entirely shut. Especially given that the reasonable starting assumption is that this can't be true.

Reams of waffle (even worse than this post):



... which only tells you that the core is completely shut via deduction given prior knowledge of the service pattern - and even then it's ambiguous.

Just for good measure, National Rail Enquiries says this:

Find details of current incidents | National Rail

A portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

So, 0/10 for accuracy there then? I was only able to definitively-ish work out that I'd been basing my plans on the above wrong information from NRE by looking at Traksy and Realtimetrains and seeing no evidence of anything moving today. Sounds like my journey tomorrow planned with tight-ish timings on the understanding that the Elizabeth core would be working will be a nightmare. Just for a change.

How's any passenger without a knowledge of these public domain tools going to work out what's occurring?

This!
I like to think I'm above way average on the public transport savvyometer but I initially thought it was just the Abbey Wood branch closed.
Doubly unhelpfully, on the EL platforms at Paddington at the beginning of the week I thought the EL core was open today after all having read the information poster from the top.
It was only after a wait for the train noticed this info was for FEBRUARY (because of the 28 day month the weekend dates are the same in March) and this weekend 11/12 MARCH was at the bottom!

 

[mikeb42]

It's because it was opened without being entirely finished, the weekend closures are to test the autoreverse system at Paddington and elsewhere in order to run the final timetable. So the question is, would it have been better to keep the line closed for months longer, or have a few weekend closures once the system was ready to test?

Weekend and overnight closures happen as the alternative is closures during weekday days, which causes much more disruption. Also, the willingness to let people risk their lives at work has diminished thankfully, so different working practices have to be put into place

What extant infrastructure is so complex that it can't realistically be tested 5 hours at a time? It's not like they've got to relay 1000m of track or repair a tunnel collapse.

Risk aversion has got out of hand, or more accurately become selective and irrational with the cumulative cost of lost life of all the collateral (i.e. large numbers of people being continually sent on lengthy wild goose chases) seemingly completely neglected. Only one side of the ledger is being calculated. However, this is firmly off-topic.

 

[Horizon22]

Isn't the work because the project isn't actually complete yet? Once it is, there won't be full weekend closures for the purpose of planned works, save maybe the odd one per year. Should the line opening have been further delayed while this work is done?

Yes the project won't be fully complete until May '23 (likely). Lots of testing - including auto-reverse - and software updates to signalling, train and track.

Note the Elizabeth line also has to sync with certain NR closures (multiple weekends for Stratford - Shenfield), and they don't also align with the LU modes although they don't have a spotless record. For instance I've regularly seen supplementary (i.e next best alternative) lines simultatenously closed at the same time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Mar 2023 ==

Given that it's closed for 5+ hours 365 days a year, what on earth do they need to still do to it that really can't be done in a more sensible way? The reported consequences speak for themselves.

No, otherwise that would be done. I don't understand comments such as these; do you really think TfL would shut a revenue-producing service down for a weekend without analysing the options and seeing no other alternative?

 

[mikeb42]

Just exited the Bakerloo at Paddington.

Very unpleasant to start with along the subway once off the one working escalator and frankly chaotic in the ticket hall area, inward passengers being held back already through the barrier line.
If any idiot had kicked off there would have been injuries.
Gates at bottom of the stairs up to The Lawn also ⅔ closed to stop more coming down.
Crowds at the top, people barely making it off the escalator up.

Are the entrances to Paddington Elizabeth station and the passageways from there under the mainline station to the Bakerloo closed off? If so, why? The capacity of the main escalators to the Bakerloo is concerningly limited at the best of times, never mind in this situation.

Would it not be pragmatic to make use of the much more modern and capacious access via the Elizabeth station in a situation of inevitable severe crowding, with controlled access probably easier to manage with all the modern gates, corridors and escalators via that route?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Mar 2023 ==

No, otherwise that would be done. I don't understand comments such as these; do you really think TfL would shut a revenue-producing service down for a weekend without analysing the options and seeing no other alternative?

Absolutely I do, yes. How much revenue will be lost? Most of the journeys will be made anyway - slowly and unpleasantly. Particularly as the info (online at least) about the closure is either vague, misleading or flat out wrong. National Rail's info is just categorically wrong - see above. Where did they get "Trains will run between London Paddington (lower level) and Stratford" from? It's like that was the plan and it was decided/realised at the last minute that this wasn't happening for some reason.

Meanwhile, this approach could well be the most cost effective from TFL's point of view - with all the monetary and non costs being externalised onto... everyone else. Given how cash strapped they are, it might even be the right thing to do on balance, for that reason.

 

[Horizon22]

Absolutely I do, yes. How much revenue will be lost? Most of the journeys will be made anyway - slowly and unpleasantly. Particularly as the info (online at least) about the closure is either vague, misleading or flat out wrong. National Rail's info is just categorically wrong - see above. Where did they get "Trains will run between London Paddington (lower level) and Stratford" from? It's like that was the plan and it was decided/realised at the last minute that this wasn't happening for some reason.

No idea, sounds like a carbon copy of last weekend.

 

[334033]

This!
I like to think I'm above way average on the public transport savvyometer but I initially thought it was just the Abbey Wood branch closed.
Doubly unhelpfully, on the EL platforms at Paddington at the beginning of the week I thought the EL core was open today after all having read the information poster from the top.
It was only after a wait for the train noticed this info was for FEBRUARY (because of the 28 day month the weekend dates are the same in March) and this weekend 11/12 MARCH was at the bottom!

I find this so annoying. Why can't they just say the line is closed between 'Paddington and Abbey Wood/Shenfield' instead of what they put instead? At that point everyone knows for definite that the entire line east of Paddington is closed.

 

[Mojo]

The "information" at https://tfl.gov.uk/tube-dlr-overground/status/#line-elizabeth about this requires some kind of debased boolean logic to actually deduce that the core is entirely shut. Especially given that the reasonable starting assumption is that this can't be true.

It isn’t even correct!

The TfL website all weekend has said Elizabeth line trains are not serving Terminal 5 yet have been running halfhourly both Saturday and today (Sunday).

I tried to tell TfL this but they just kept repeating back to me that they aren’t serving T5, and that it would be looked in to. I even said that the TfL Go app, as well as NRE Live departure boards are showing halfhourly services.

 

[Taunton]

do you really think TfL would shut a revenue-producing service down for a weekend without analysing the options and seeing no other alternative?

I think we do. I also seriously doubt it would have been allowed like this in Peter Hendy's time.

The statement on the TfL website linked above means everyone has to wade through all the trivia about frequency changes on the GWML section to get to the significant bit at the bottom that the whole of the core across London is closed all weekend. Does TfL not have anyone who is a technical author who understands how to present information?

 

[Starmill]

Interesting question, is it better to shut it for say 50 days in first year, or delay opening 50 days then have no closures for the first few months.

Based on the chaos described by the Op, with alternative being unclear communication that Elizabeth line would also be partially shut, tends to suggest delay until ready argument.

If a new supermarket opened in your town, wouldn't expect it to have random number of closed days in first few months, because they didn't finish it, but opened it anyway. Peoples expectation of a new railway would be same.

It would have been far, far more delay than the period of time work has taken though. Perhaps a further year or so, in order to get all of the staff and equipment required available and on site, and to line up work that has to be done during access to Network Rail's lines, which has been very extensive during phase 5.

The supermarket operator would overwhelmingly favour opening to get revenues flowing and then having a few days closure down the line for snagging, even if that worsened slightly the customer experience, rather than not open at all and then sit with assets not being used. Indeed this is common in all sectors really.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2023 ==

I find this so annoying. Why can't they just say the line is closed between 'Paddington and Abbey Wood/Shenfield' instead of what they put instead? At that point everyone knows for definite that the entire line east of Paddington is closed.

The information as it is being presented seems very poor indeed. It is confusing and difficult to parse, and it appears that some details are inaccurate or missing.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2023 ==

It smacks of the same cavalier attitude that now prevails when it comes to constantly closing motorways overnight and for whole weekends - a rare event until recent years. Now if someone needs to change the proverbial lightbulb, it's a full closure rather than a more proportionate response with a proper risk-reward decision. All the costs externalised onto other people seem to have been omitted as they don't fall on the lightbulb fettling organisation.

Well, it's something which everyone plays a part in. In years gone by these costs were borne less by the general public and more by the people doing the work. People frequently died or suffered serious injury while doing manual work, but the work was less disruptive. Are you really saying you think these costs borne by the workers of the maintenance to motorways and railways are worthwhile in order to save the inconvenience to your journey? Because society as a whole has very clearly coalesced around the idea that nobody should be putting their life or limb in danger while they're at work, with only a very small number of exceptions related to the emergency services only, and even then these are not clear obligations on those individuals and their employers still exercise a legal duty to keep their staff safe.

People whinging about health and safety culture aren't usually those affected by the risks.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2023 ==

No idea, sounds like a carbon copy of last weekend.

I think that the real issue underlying this is the quality of the information and communication is simply not good enough. That should be possible to fix at minimal cost.

 

[mikeb42]

The information as it is being presented seems very poor indeed. It is confusing and difficult to parse, and it appears that some details are inaccurate or missing.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2023 ==

In the cold light of day, this is the real problem. If work as fundamental as upgrading the signalling software is occurring then it is clearly an onerous task to test this to safety-critical standards. So it does, once in a blue moon, constitute a reasonable explanation for prolonged closure. The planning and information around it appears to be a comprehensive fail on this occasion.

Note that National Rail Enquiries is still saying this at the time of writing (13:00 12/3):

Start date 11/03/2023
End date 12/03/2023

Elizabeth line:

No trains will run between Stratford and Shenfield. Trains will run between London Paddington (lower level) and Stratford.

So we have a situation where the H&C is closed west of Paddington, the EL core is closed, the Thameslink core is closed, Liverpool Street is closed, Stratford barely has any services to anywhere except for the Central Line (I bet that's fun...) - all at the same time. How is that a sensible idea? Meanwhile, the information is misleading or wrong.

Are you really saying you think these costs borne by the workers of the maintenance to motorways and railways are worthwhile in order to save the inconvenience to your journey? Because society as a whole has very clearly coalesced around the idea that nobody should be putting their life or limb in danger while they're at work, with only a very small number of exceptions related to the emergency services only, and even then these are not clear obligations on those individuals and their employers still exercise a legal duty to keep their staff safe.

People whinging about health and safety culture aren't usually those affected by the risks.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2023 ==

No, because "inconvenience to your journey" is a deliberate misrepresentation designed to dismissively reframe the issue and deter rational inquiry into whether what is actually happening brings benefits which truly justify the large costs (in the broadest sense) imposed. The idea that nobody is or can be exposing themselves to risk to life and limb in work is irrational. All of us are, always in various ways which are often chronic rather than acute. The question is: How much risk, what will it cost to do anything about it, and what are the unintended consequences in terms of externalising risk onto someone else?

Much is made, quite rightly given the evidence, of Britain's productivity issues. The trivial assumption that a lot of this is down to lazy or inept workers largely doesn't withstand scrutiny. Creating so much friction and inefficiency with excessive precautions which may often bring little, zero, or negative net benefit is a burgeoning issue and part of the explanation.

This is all wildly off topic though.

What we can agree on is that, if all this disruption really is truly essential, getting information clear and correct is more vital than ever so we can try to work around it.

I will shut up now as my journey today has just had to be reorganised away from the railway and towards a long road journey. Just one example of the tradeoff: More risk (7-10x?) to the life and limb of myself and others but removes the much increased risk of missing the last train out of London that's become apparent upon discovery of this latest information fail.

 

[Starmill]

No, because "inconvenience to your journey" is a deliberate misrepresentation designed to dismissively reframe the issue and deter rational inquiry into whether what is actually happening brings benefits which truly justify the large costs (in the broadest sense) imposed.

No it isn't. The original complaint is one of inconvenience to a journey. I'm setting that into context, of course people should delve into that rationally.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2023 ==

The idea that nobody is or can be exposing themselves to risk to life and limb in work is irrational.

No it isn't. I'm not going to agree to take on increased risks (over the general background of modern Western life) to my life or limbs for the purposes of a job, no way, no matter what. I bet that you wouldn't do so either. Only a tiny number of people would be willing to, and those people are specialists with huge amounts of mitigation in place. They also have a strong case to demand very high pay for accepting the unusual level of risk in order to get vital jobs done, such as putting out fires.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2023 ==

Creating so much friction and inefficiency with excessive precautions which may often bring little, zero, or negative net benefit is a burgeoning issue and part of the explanation.

If you think that the precautions of closing the railway or motorway are "excessive" you get out there yourself and try working in or above live lines and roads before committing other people to doing something which has been all but outlawed on safety grounds, after workers have been killed or injured in such circumstances.

 

[Mikey C]

Poor wording I agree.

It would be like saying that the Thameslink was part closed, and giving a long list of the services running, within which you have to work out that the core between STP and London Bridge is actually shut!

 

[Horizon22]

I think we do. I also seriously doubt it would have been allowed like this in Peter Hendy's time.

The statement on the TfL website linked above means everyone has to wade through all the trivia about frequency changes on the GWML section to get to the significant bit at the bottom that the whole of the core across London is closed all weekend. Does TfL not have anyone who is a technical author who understands how to present information?

Again ridiculously cynical I think, but you are entitled to your opinions.

The way the website presents is not easy for multiple statuses; look at what the Overground presents when they have multiple closures. That's because there are "segments" of line and for the Elizabeth line this is generally Whitechapel/Stratford - Shenfield; Paddington - Abbey Wood; Paddington - Heathrow/Reading. It's also there on the map graphically, although not ideal.

I would suggest however that any outright closures should be first and then followed, by reduced services would be a better representation.

 

[Snow1964]

Poor wording I agree.

It would be like saying that the Thameslink was part closed, and giving a long list of the services running, within which you have to work out that the core between STP and London Bridge is actually shut!

Yes, best practice would be to put fully closed part first in list.
Not sure why TfL don't do this.

 

[Taunton]

Again ridiculously cynical I think, but you are entitled to your opinions.

I don't believe it is "ridiculously cynical". Anyone who has been involved in major projects will know that considerable efforts have to be made to stop the project team wanting to organise things for their own convenience/minimum cost, and not have any regard for the users, customers, or other external factors. It is up to an overall management level, NOT the management of the project, to take this overall view.

In major road works this issue is known as a "contractor-led programme", ie the works programme has been devised by the contractor, with their own convenience first. Overall managers who just go along unthinkingly with what the contractor proposes, because that is easy, are known as having "contractor capture". When a whole project is outsourced it is easy from the top level to think you now don't need this detailed management knowledge of how to challenge or reject things. But it is needed. And I gave an example of someone who had it.

 

[Horizon22]

I don't believe it is "ridiculously cynical". Anyone who has been involved in major projects will know that considerable efforts have to be made to stop the project team wanting to organise things for their own convenience/minimum cost, and not have any regard for the users, customers, or other external factors. It is up to an overall management level, NOT the management of the project, to take this overall view.

In major road works this issue is known as a "contractor-led programme", ie the works programme has been devised by the contractor, with their own convenience first. Overall managers who just go along unthinkingly with what the contractor proposes, because that is easy, are known as having "contractor capture". When a whole project is outsourced it is easy from the top level to think you now don't need this detailed management knowledge of how to challenge or reject things. But it is needed. And I gave an example of someone who had it.

Even if in the long-term this is beneficial to the customers / passengers?

Anyway I think this is all a tad off-topic from the original issue of overcrowding.

 

[Taunton]

Anyway I think this is all a tad off-topic from the original issue of overcrowding.

The overcrowding arises in significant part because the EL has (much as anticipated) become the No 1 routing across London for all sorts of journeys. I have noticed how the usage by those I know, and the overall loadings, seems to still be going up by the week as people get used to better arrangements. Canary Wharf to Wembley Park recently. Jubilee Line changing cross-platform at Finchley Road? No, I've found it's quicker now to take the EL and change at Farringdon.

TfL just can't have the mindset to say "oh, it's not running this weekend", and expect all the rest of their network to just handle it without reinforcement. The Jubilee ought to have been reinforced for this, but of course they have gone the other way recently with multiple trains out of action, probably seen as not a great issue because the EL now takes the load ...

 

[Mikey C]

Yes, best practice would be to put fully closed part first in list.
Not sure why TfL don't do this.

And highlight the more important part, the core. The really impressive and massively expensive new railway, that has transformed London travel even for those who don't live in Romford or Maidenhead!

 

[miklcct]

The overcrowding arises in significant part because the EL has (much as anticipated) become the No 1 routing across London for all sorts of journeys. I have noticed how the usage by those I know, and the overall loadings, seems to still be going up by the week as people get used to better arrangements. Canary Wharf to Wembley Park recently. Jubilee Line changing cross-platform at Finchley Road? No, I've found it's quicker now to take the EL and change at Farringdon.

That's true. I have been using the Elizabeth line a lot once my Oyster card is capped.

For example, Cricklewood to Stratford is much faster changing at Farringdon compared to the slog on the Overground.

Jubilee is fast but it is also circuitous, being an U-shaped line in inner London, and the only remaining East-West fast link is Elizabeth line.

 

[TFN]

The Elizabeth Line core will be closed for all 4 days over Easter btw. That'll be fun times indeed.

 

[Horizon22]

The Elizabeth Line core will be closed for all 4 days over Easter btw. That'll be fun times indeed.

Final signalling & engineering upgrade in advance of the May timetable change.

 

[Mikey C]

The Elizabeth Line core will be closed for all 4 days over Easter btw. That'll be fun times indeed.

Humph (thinking that I'll be probably using Paddington that weekend)