Could there be an Elizabeth line bus relief service?

[Hbbz9392]

Moderator note: Split from

Passenger trapped in Elizabeth line door

I'm assuming the fence is there because platform 2 will frequently have non-stop GWR trains running through at line speed, so it's mitigating that risk. It's not an uncommon setup. And moving the fence towards the fast lines to create more space on platform 3 will make platform 2 too narrow for...

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Would running bus services at peak times which follow the Elizabeth Line’s route above ground and maybe with a few extra “coverage” stops decrease the chances of a second similar incident happening at least till the no sensitive edge and narrow platforms problem get solved?

The stations are not adequate for their purpose from my understanding, so people should be diverted from it at peak hours to at least take some weight off.

 

[Benjwri]

Would running bus services at peak times which follow the Elizabeth Line’s route above ground and maybe with a few extra “coverage” stops decrease the chances of a second similar incident happening at least till the no sensitive edge and narrow platforms problem get solved? The stations are not adequate for their purpose from my understanding, so people should be diverted from it at peak hours to at least take some weight off.

No one is going to take a bus that takes many multiples of the time that the train takes.

 

[Hbbz9392]

No one is going to take a bus that takes many multiples of the time that the train takes.

Here trains hasn’t ingrained into people’s minds as much as buses with the exception of white-collars (due to a lot of different factors) so when a metro line is constructed, it often requires force to make people use the metro and not the bus, and the buses don’t have their own lanes.

 

[Benjwri]

Here trains hasn’t ingrained into people’s minds as much as buses with the exception of white-collars (due to a lot of different factors) so when a metro line is constructed, it often requires force to make people use the metro and not the bus

Where do you mean by here? You aren’t going to persuade commuters, which are the majority of people at peak times, to switch to the bus given the London traffic which will cause the journey to be unbelievably slow.

When new lines open you do have to ‘persuade’, as you put it, people because they are engrained in their habits. How are you going to do that towards the bus when it is likely to offer practically no benefits to the average user.

People getting trapped in the doors isn’t a simple factor of overcrowding anyways. The majority of the times I’ve seen it happen, including the most serious, it is people running for the train and thinking they can stop them closing with their hand. In this case yes crowing was a factor with the ‘churn’ on the platform obscuring view, but trains will always be fairly busy, a bus will not change that.

 

[Horizon22]

Would running bus services at peak times which follow the Elizabeth Line’s route above ground and maybe with a few extra “coverage” stops decrease the chances of a second similar incident happening at least till the no sensitive edge and narrow platforms problem get solved? The stations are not adequate for their purpose from my understanding, so people should be diverted from it at peak hours to at least take some weight off.

Why would someone get on the bus? And change additionally if they’re already on the train from Central London? Would you?

Some of these issues are here to stay and just need proper risk management and mitigation. What you suggest is akin to trying to crack a nut with a pneumatic jackhammer.

 

[Hbbz9392]

Why would someone get on the bus? And change additionally if they’re already on the train from Central London? Would you?

Some of these issues are here to stay and just need proper risk management and mitigation. What you suggest is akin to trying to crack a nut with a pneumatic jackhammer.

Won’t there be people coming from elsewhere? Like people from over the ground? Some surveying can be done to find out from where people come to the Elizabeth Line without transferring from Central London and buses can be placed strategically at rush-hour to at least divert people. Like placing a Elizabeth Line bus in front of a business centre with a lot of Elizabeth Line-using businessmen

 

[SynthD]

There is no such thing as strategically placing vehicles on the road in rush hour.

You can look at the bus route changes made shortly before the line opened, as they were based on feeding local demand to the local station.

 

[Horizon22]

Won’t there be people coming from elsewhere? Like people from over the ground? Some surveying can be done to find out from where people come to the Elizabeth Line without transferring from Central London and buses can be placed strategically at rush-hour to at least divert people. Like placing a Elizabeth Line bus in front of a business centre with a lot of Elizabeth Line-using businessmen

What do you mean "elsewhere"? Considering there's only one stop before Ealing Broadway from Central London (Acton Main Line), no not really.

Divert people to where? What benefit would this have over the regular London bus network? What do you mean by a "business centre". Why would someone elect to pick a slower bus - and there are already routes such as the 207 or SL8 which servce similar stops - especially if they are "businessmen" who often particularly want express connections. The bus would be particularly impacted by congestion the closer to Zone 1 it is.

TfL already has a lot of data on passenger flows.

 

[30907]

Here trains hasn’t ingrained into people’s minds as much as buses with the exception of white-collars (due to a lot of different factors) so when a metro line is constructed, it often requires force to make people use the metro and not the bus, and the buses don’t have their own lanes.

In London the reverse: people need persuading to use bus where rail is an alternative. In smaller cities (where is your example, please?) it's more balanced.

 

[Hbbz9392]

In London the reverse: people need persuading to use bus where rail is an alternative. In smaller cities (where is your example, please?) it's more balanced.

istanbul. whilst the railway in the european side is not very extensive, the anatolian side has two arterial metro lines which when combined meets a lot of the demand. though the people are more interested in taking the bus because encouraging to do transfers to metro has been handled very poorly by both the people and İETT (bus company) and transferring takes extra money

european side is even worse thanks to the botched Alibeyköy entegration project where people are forced to take detours to reach their destination

 

[Farigiraf]

Frankly quite shocking that just 3 years after opening there are already proposals like this. Goes to show that by the time major rail projects are done, usage already grows to the point that the additional capacity is swiftly eaten up. Maybe it's already time to utilise that additional 2-3 carriages of space added to the Liz line core station platforms? Presumably it's too late to alter the order for 10 extra 345s.

 

[Horizon22]

Frankly quite shocking that just 3 years after opening there are already proposals like this.

This isn't a remotely realistic proposal. It stems from a RAIB investigation, and is a rather kneejerk proposal to the issues surrounding Ealing Broadway's platform-train interface.

 

[Farigiraf]

This isn't a remotely realistic proposal. It stems from a RAIB investigation, and is a rather kneejerk proposal to the issues surrounding Ealing Broadway's platform-train interface.

Regardless of its feasibility, the fact that people are coming up with ways to fix capacity issues on the Elizabeth line already is quite eye opening.

 

[Horizon22]

Regardless of its feasibility, the fact that people are coming up with ways to fix capacity issues on the Elizabeth line already is quite eye opening.

It's not really though. It's morphed from how to improve a capacity challenge at Ealing Broadway station specifically.

 

[redreni]

At peak times, queues to get on the Elizabeth Line would have to be 45 minutes or more before I would even dream of taking a replacement bus, based purely on travel time and disregarding any innate preference I may have for one mode over another.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Mar 2026 ==

Regardless of its feasibility, the fact that people are coming up with ways to fix capacity issues on the Elizabeth line already is quite eye opening.

Yes, and I do wish people who engage in debate about ways of cheaping out on other projects would pay attention to the fact the Elizabeth Line was largely delivered to the original specs yet still has capacity issues only a few years after opening. And where compromises were made to save money (or to get developers to contribute funds in the case of Woolwich), they've been a disaster. Woolwich station needed two entrances like the other deep level stations, and it needed a safe way across the A206 to reach the town centre. It got one entrance and no sensible link to the town centre - not because it only needed one entrance, but because developers wanted to develop the land where the eastern entrance should be. And now the experience of getting from train to street at Woolwich Elizabeth Line at peak times is slow, sometimes rather unpleasant and somewhat dangerous.

 

[dosxuk]

istanbul. whilst the railway in the european side is not very extensive, the anatolian side has two arterial metro lines which when combined meets a lot of the demand. though the people are more interested in taking the bus because encouraging to do transfers to metro has been handled very poorly by both the people and İETT (bus company) and transferring takes extra money

european side is even worse thanks to the botched Alibeyköy entegration project where people are forced to take detours to reach their destination

In London, if there's a train option, basically everyone will take it over using the bus. Buses are slow, indirect and uncomfortable.

As an example, right now, a journey from Canary Wharf to Ealing Broadway will take 36 minutes by train. By bus it's 2h40. Nobody is going to choose the bus, regardless of how good the branding on the outside is.

 

[cle]

In London, if there's a train option, basically everyone will take it over using the bus. Buses are slow, indirect and uncomfortable.

As an example, right now, a journey from Canary Wharf to Ealing Broadway will take 36 minutes by train. By bus it's 2h40. Nobody is going to choose the bus, regardless of how good the branding on the outside is.

The train can actually be 26-28 mins as standard. Under 30 mins from fairly deep west London to the Docklands is really unbeatable. I can't see buses playing any role here other than railheading at the likes of Ealing itseflf (the E network) - Woolwich, etc.