Elizabeth line "fasts"

[announcements]

Does anyone have definitive information about how the fasts work on the Elizabeth line? Is there a set pattern/frequency?

I have heard platform announcers reference "semi fast" so I assume these exist too? It so, what is the difference?

Is there any reason why they chose not to include this level of detail on the in-car line diagrams? Are they concerned it may complicate matters? I would have thought the pros of including it outweigh the cons.

 

[cactustwirly]

Does anyone have definitive information about how the fasts work on the Elizabeth line? Is there a set pattern/frequency?

I have heard platform announcers reference "semi fast" so I assume these exist too? It so, what is the difference?

Is there any reason why they chose not to include this level of detail on the in-car line diagrams? Are they concerned it may complicate matters? I would have thought the pros of including it outweigh the cons.

Maidenhead/Reading services skip Acton, West Ealing and Hanwell.

Some peak services are Fast Ealing to West Drayton

 

[Bigbru]

In the peak there are a few Abbey Wood to Reading services that also skip Southall, Hayes & Harlington, Iver, Langley and Taplow. But they are on top of the normal 4tph that go West to Maidenhead/Reading

 

[MaidaVale]

During the morning and evening peaks there are an extra 2tph to/from Reading that only call at Twyford, Maidenhead, Burnham, Slough, West Drayton and Ealing before resuming stopping all stations east of Paddington, totalling 6tph in the peak hours. All other Reading services also skip Hanwell, West Ealing and Acton Main Line (and sometimes Iver). They're peak only and aren't usually widely advertised as expresses.

Most Heathrow to Shenfield services also skip some stops, only calling at Hayes & Harlington, West Ealing and Ealing Broadway for most of the day. A handful of Heathrow-Shenfield services do call at Southall, Hanwell and Acton Main Line during the peak hours, but the majority pass straight through.

I don't believe it happens at all out east, as all trains I've checked stop everywhere. I suppose you could count the few Liverpool Street - Gidea Park short trips that depart from the mainline platforms as skipping Whitechapel although as it's a physically different route I wouldn't count it.

 

[announcements]

Thanks for your responses. It seems there is quite a lot happening and therefore could be difficult to depict on the in-car diagrams.

 

[Watershed]

Thanks for your responses. It seems there is quite a lot happening and therefore could be difficult to depict on the in-car diagrams.

It wouldn't be too difficult to mark the stations that are sometimes skipped in a different way. I'm not sure why that's not been done.

 

[VT 390]

Thanks for your responses. It seems there is quite a lot happening and therefore could be difficult to depict on the in-car diagrams.

I think it would be easy to have show the general pattern on the in carriage line diagrams.

They could just have 3 lines on the diagram, Line 1 Shenfield to Heathrow Terminal 5, Line 2 Abbey Wood to Heathrow Termninal 4, Line 3 Abbey Wood to Reading.
Line 1 would clearly identify the Paddington - Ealing Broadway - West Ealing - Hayes & Harlington skip stop pattern.
Line 2 would clearly identify the all stations services.
Line 3 would clearly identify the Paddington - Ealing Broadway - Southall - Hayes & Harlington skip stop pattern. They could then add a peak only fast dashed line (like on the Metropolitan line diagrams) between Ealing Broadway and West Drayton to show the peak limited stop services.
2 and 3 could also be shown as a single line Abbey Wood to Paddington and then split.
Limited service station calls could be added to each of the lines where required.
The only thing this would not show is that Iver and Taplow are only served by every other service off-peak and the unusual services such as Heathrow Terminal 4 to Shenfield (but this does not really matter in the same way the limited service Circle line to Baking is not shown).