Picc Heathrow

[rmt4ever]

Mentioned this on another thread but thought it may be better here:

The Picc is a joke to Heathrow Central. Nobody takes the T4 train to get there as it's longer than waiting for the T5 train behind. For example off peak:

Train for T4 then T123 leaves Acton Town at xxx5, arrives T4 at xxx9- technically the end of that journey/trip. Then departs T4 starting the next trip to Cockfosters at xxx7 (8 min layover) arriving at Heathrow Central at xxx3.

So if you leave Acton on the 1415 for example you will get to Central at 1453.

Or, wait for the T5 train at 1421 and get to Central at 1446 !!

So why would anyone take the T4- Central train if they need terminals 1 or 3??? Effectively meaning the small terminal 4 gets a train to itself every ten minutes, whilst all the other terminals only have a train to share every ten minutes. It is ridiculous !

Views??

 

[IanD]

See my response to your post in the other thread:

Lots of people do. I would imagine it's to do with just getting on the first train that is going to Heathrow and then not wanting to change. Or not fully understanding the announcements/notices.

When I travel to Heathrow I will generally just jump on the first train at Finsbury Park if I'm not going to Terminal 5. Unless time is ridiculously tight for check in, an extra 8 minutes at the start of a what could be a 6+ hour journey isn't going to make that much difference to most people. If you're meeting people off a flight it makes even less difference as you'll probably have to hang around arrivals for longer than that anyway. My personal theory is that you're better off getting on the first train and staying on it - who knows what will happen to the next train?

On the one occasion that we did wait as the first train via T4 was heaving at Finsbury Park and a T5 train advertised as 1 minute behind, it was announced somewhere around Hammersmith that it was now going to 123 via 4. Very few people bailed for the following train and most people in my carriage at T4 stayed on until 123.

Also my experience is that the wait at T4 isn't always a full 8 minutes.

 

[edwin_m]

Maybe if a T4 comes first it's best to get the first train to Hounslow West and then lean out and look at the departures screen. If there's a T123 soon after then get ready to bale out at Hatton Cross.

 

[matt_world2004]

Because most people going to heathrow arent regular travellers and do not know how long it will take going via terminal 4

 

[Deerfold]

And of course in the other direction the trains should be nice and evenly spaced 5 minutes apart at T23 when people are more likely to just want to get home or to their hotel (rather than allowing time for any potential problems).

What would you do? Send 2/3 of the trains to T5?

 

[Mojo]

I'm not exactly sure what the OP proposes is a better option, couldn't exactly send more trains to T5 as the journey time is so much longer, and doing so would leave T4 with an unacceptable service.

 

[TheNewNo2]

I'm not exactly sure what the OP proposes is a better option, couldn't exactly send more trains to T5 as the journey time is so much longer, and doing so would leave T4 with an unacceptable service.

Perhaps they would like the T4 loop reversed.

 

[Ianno87]

Maybe if a T4 comes first it's best to get the first train to Hounslow West and then lean out and look at the departures screen. If there's a T123 soon after then get ready to bale out at Hatton Cross.

That's the strategy I employ.

 

[Ianno87]

Perhaps they would like the T4 loop reversed.

The advantage of the current clockwise loop (aside from the fact that it's the way it was built!) is that it's better for passenger loading at T123, giving a simple 5 minute headway to Central London with a consistent journey time. That doesn't matter so much in the Heathrow-bound direction as airport passengers boarding are spread across many Central London stations anyway.

Reverse the current situation and you've only got a 10 minute headway from T123, bunching passengers significantly more, and a complicated timetable to try and explain to incoming non-English speaking tourists getting their first taste of the tube.

 

[rmt4ever]

Redesign the whole lot so the loop trains can pass Central twice. So from London, to Central, then to T4 layover till time, then Central then to London

 

[Ianno87]

Redesign the whole lot so the loop trains can pass Central twice. So from London, to Central, then to T4 layover till time, then Central then to London

Not really worth it given how quiet (in total passenger numbers) T4 is compared to the other terminals. I'd wager that an expanded T4 LU station would not be buildable without some significant demolition of part of the current terminal. Plus you'd need more trains to cover the same service frequency.

 

[100andthirty]

Even if the signalling permitted it ( which it doesn't) the run time to T4 from T123 is about 5 mins so it wouldn't be possible to maintain a 10 minute frequency if trains went to T4 via T123 and reversed. Modern trains with a shorter run time, suitable signalling and a mode of operation that didn't require the driver to chsnge ends at T4 would all be required to enable running to T4 via T123

 

[edwin_m]

I suspect T4 will gradually fade into obscurity as Heathrow is much more interested in expanding westwards beyond T5. So probably not worth spending a lot of money on it in the meantime.