Crossrail - Through Running confirmed for November

[davews]

As an aside, have they already updated the onboard announcements ready for November? Got on at TCR yesterday and it said 'this is an Elizabeth line train to Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf'. Or has it always said that?

 

[Techniquest]

As an aside, have they already updated the onboard announcements ready for November? Got on at TCR yesterday and it said 'this is an Elizabeth line train to Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf'. Or has it always said that?

Pretty sure it was saying that on Day 2 of opening, and Paddington in place of Abbey Wood in said announcement when I did the full run that day.

Bring on the new bits I say, which I suspect is when I'll next be in London.

 

[345 050]

Not sure if this question needs another crossrail thread, but they are advertising that EL services will be starting earlier from Monday 5th September. From what I recall, you could frequently join EL from before 0630. So is anything operationally changing from 5th September, new WTT etc?

 

[JonathanH]

Not sure if this question needs another crossrail thread, but they are advertising that EL services will be starting earlier from Monday 5th September. From what I recall, you could frequently join EL from before 0630. So is anything operationally changing from 5th September, new WTT etc?

Presumably just the stations opening earlier - same timetable but trains now advertised rather than running empty.

 

[Bigbru]

Presumably just the stations opening earlier - same timetable but trains now advertised rather than running empty.

From Monday 5 September test trains that operate in the COS in the early morning will become advertised trains. The first trains (now advertised) Westbound will be the 0534 from Abbey Wood to Paddington and Eastbound, the 0544 Paddington to Abbey Wood. Four services will run empty from the East into the COS and become advertised services from Whitechapel to Paddington.

 

[tarq]

As an aside, have they already updated the onboard announcements ready for November? Got on at TCR yesterday and it said 'this is an Elizabeth line train to Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf'. Or has it always said that?

Did they definitely say Elizabeth line? All the times I have been on the EL, the announcement says “this is the train to Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf” no mention of Elizabeth line.

 

[Horizon22]

Yeah, by observing the interchange footbridges at Abbey Wood, it shows the case.

Of course, one of the reason why Bexley and Kent want an Crossrail extension is to want to get the frequency on North Kent Line be uplifted to support housing development.

Not even the footbridges. Many are going directly to Abbey Wood from other Southeastern lines by bus.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Sep 2022 ==

From Monday 5 September test trains that operate in the COS in the early morning will become advertised trains. The first trains (now advertised) Westbound will be the 0534 from Abbey Wood to Paddington and Eastbound, the 0544 Paddington to Abbey Wood. Four services will run empty from the East into the COS and become advertised services from Whitechapel to Paddington.

Yes this was reported in the other topic a week ago. Good news for those early shift workers!

 

[swt_passenger]

Yes this was reported in the other topic a week ago. Good news for those early shift workers!

And the TfL press release was also linked in post #20 of this thread. But I think the point about the trains already running unadvertised was missed by many people at the time.

 

[Bigbru]

And the TfL press release was also linked in post #20 of this thread. But I think the point about the trains already running unadvertised was missed by many people at the time.

Thanks. I posted it all as this was the first time I've seen that 4 services will come from the east and start advertised services at Whitechapel.

 

[Horizon22]

Thanks. I posted it all as this was the first time I've seen that 4 services will come from the east and start advertised services at Whitechapel.

Yes all the trains are currently doing this, just with a delayed passenger start up whilst things bedded in.

 

[345 050]

Did anyone venture to Whitechapel this morning? I didn't manage to get up at such an early hour.....

 

[306024]

Did anyone venture to Whitechapel this morning? I didn't manage to get up at such an early hour.....

Very wise. Not sure what you would hope to see, just four trains arriving without passengers already on board.

 

[ijmad]

Very wise. Not sure what you would hope to see, just four trains arriving without passengers already on board.

Do they turn off the saloon lights on 345s that aren't in passenger service?

 

[iphone76]

Do they turn off the saloon lights on 345s that aren't in passenger service?

It all depends on the driver. When you key on, the lights automatically come on. Personally, I switch them off again, whilst travelling into the tunnel from the depot and make a note to switch them on before releasing the doors at the first station.

Likewise tonight when I finish and travel through the tunnel empty, I'll keep the lights off.

 

[setdown]

I assume there’s testing of the “joined-up” railway today? Elizabeth line trains are running from platforms 1 and 2 at Ealing Broadway with a reduced service, but Elizabeth line trains are running through the normal platform 4 non-stop as well.

 

[otter11]

National rail is showing passenger trains from Acton Main Line to Abbey Wood today - presume this must be an error? It’s also stopping at Bond Street…!

If I was in London I’d be tempted to head out to Acton to see!

 

[Jimini]

Traksy would suggest that's the case. I can see a handful of trains from Stratford to West Ealing / Ilford to Paddington running at the moment. They're also showing up on the live departure boards at Stratford.

 

[JonathanH]

If I was in London I’d be tempted to head out to Acton to see!

I'm not there to check but suggest you would find the relevant platforms taped off.

 

[Benjwri]

I'm not there to check but suggest you would find the relevant platforms taped off.

Yeah Acton Main Line and, West Ealing and Hanwell are closed today, you wouldn't be able to get in the station.

 

[Acton1991]

Yeah Acton Main Line and, West Ealing and Hanwell are closed today, you wouldn't be able to get in the station.

As per most Sundays

 

[43096]

TfL are saying the Elizabeth line central section (Paddington-Abbey Wood) will be running this coming Sunday, for obvious reasons.

 

[Horizon22]

National rail is showing passenger trains from Acton Main Line to Abbey Wood today - presume this must be an error? It’s also stopping at Bond Street…!

If I was in London I’d be tempted to head out to Acton to see!

It's testing of the system to make sure journey planners and CIS etc. are all accurate on the testing days (Sundays).

 

[subk2010]

Has the 1st "through service" train timetable been released now?

 

[Horizon22]

Has the 1st "through service" train timetable been released now?

It's been on Real Time Trains for several weeks.

From the west: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L72529/2022-11-06/detailed
From the east: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L73319/2022-11-06/detailed

 

[popeter45]

It's been on Real Time Trains for several weeks.

From the west: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L72529/2022-11-06/detailed
From the east: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L73319/2022-11-06/detailed

dont seem to stop at bond street
was opening bond street de-scoped from this?

 

[345 050]

dont seem to stop at bond street
was opening bond street de-scoped from this?

It looks like the plans are not quite fixed. Originally the first train from Paddington to Shenfield was going to be just after midnight, but these trains have been cancelled.

I suspect bond Street will be added back once it's open. Currently bond Street supposedly opening before 6 November.

 

[JonathanH]

It looks like the plans are not quite fixed. Originally the first train from Paddington to Shenfield was going to be just after midnight, but these trains have been cancelled.

I would have imagined it to always be unlikely that the first through train ran at the end of the previous day's service. Much better to start in the morning.

 

[Horizon22]

dont seem to stop at bond street
was opening bond street de-scoped from this?

Timetables are built for Bond St anyway so you’d see that “1/2 performance allowance” disappear.

 

[DC1989]

Have they released what the new in car map will look let yet? Or will it be the same as the original 'final' one?

The current one looks a mess

 

[Snow1964]

From TfL Elizabeth Line committee Board papers for this weeks meeting

3 Programme Update
3.1 On 23 August 2022, four months on from the opening of the Elizabeth line’s Central Operation Section (COS), Crossrail and TfL announced that the Elizabeth line would commence through-running services on the railway from Sunday 6 November 2022, with Sunday services also being introduced from this date.

3.2 This next stage of the transformational Elizabeth line, beginning in November 2022, will mean passengers benefit from a full seven-day service with trains running directly from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Abbey Wood, and from Shenfield in the East through to Paddington as the surface railways connect with the tunnels in the central section (known as Stage 5b minus).

3.3 At this point, train frequency will also increase significantly, with 22 trains per hour (tph) between Paddington and Whitechapel at peak times and 16 tph off-peak, up from the current 12 tph. Passengers will also benefit from shorter engineering
hours, meaning services will run in the COS until around 23:30 at night, rather than finishing at around 22:30 as they have done to date.

3.4 The brand-new Bond Street Elizabeth line station, offering step-free access and increased capacity at the heart of London's West End, is also set to provide another boost to London's recovery from the pandemic. This follows two critical targets (the start of staff familiarisation and completion of fire safety testing) being delivered by the team at the end of August 2022.

3.5 Passengers are already benefitting from earlier start times along the Elizabeth line. Since 5 September 2022, customers have been able to access services from around 05:30 – an hour earlier than when opened in May 2022.

3.6 ELR210 train software was installed over the weekend of 30/31 July 2022, successfully eliminating 18 out of 19 operational restrictions on signalling. Rollout of a further ELR211 update, to fix a bug in this iteration of the software, took place over a two-week period from the end of August 2022.

3.7 Preparation for ELR300 is also well underway, with plans for a rollout over the Christmas 2022 period. This update is intended to deliver auto-reverse functionality, critical to the final 24 tph configuration of the railway. However, there will be no further changes to the Elizabeth line timetable until May 2023. This is due to the proximity any December 2022 change would have had to the 6 November 2022, 5b minus-linked, timetable change.

3.8 While most passengers travelling on the Elizabeth line will see significant enhancements to service frequency, connectivity and journey times from November 2022, there are a few stations where the new timetable will entail a temporary impact on travel time.

3.9 Off-peak service frequencies at some western stations will increase, but at a loss of direct services from Iver to Taplow, Twyford and Reading, while some trains will have a timetable allowance to pause for up to seven minutes outside Paddington to regularise the service from the west through to the central section. Passengers travelling from stations between Canary Wharf and Abbey Wood will see wait times slightly increase with the Stage 5b minus timetable (from five minutes between services currently, to six minutes at peak and seven and a half off-peak) but will improve again once the railway is in its final configuration. Overall, as noted in the previous paragraph, there are significant benefits to customers from introducing this timetable change compared to the previous plan, which would not have provided a through service from the west into the central section until May 2023.

3.10 Timetable trial days remain key to the successful delivery of through running and high frequency services, with two trials taking place on Sundays in September 2022, and a further one on 23 October 2022. Trial days have been key to growing confidence in the infrastructure and will also help the control teams to practice their operational response to incidents – similar to during the trial operations which ran prior to the opening of the COS.

https://board.tfl.gov.uk/documents/g663/Public%20reports%20pack%20Thursday%2029-Sep-2022%2010.00%20Elizabeth%20Line%20Committee.pdf?T=10