Reading to Shenfield direct Elizabeth Line trains.

[stadler]

Have any direct Reading to Shenfield trains ever operated since the Elizabeth Line opened? Or are they ever likely to in the future?

Surely there must have been occasions when the Whitechapel to Abbey Wood branch was shut for engineering work but the Elizabeth Line Core and the Whitechapel to Shenfield branch were both open. I can not remember any such occassions but i would be surprised if it never happened. The branch will need engineering work from time to time. If it has happened then surely some of the Reading trains would divert to Shenfield instead.

I am just curious as you get Heathrow to Abbey Wood and Heathrow to Shenfield and Reading to Abbey Wood trains but for some reason never any Reading to Shenfield trains? Is there any particular obstacle to running such services?

 

[TFN]

The Abbey Wood branch has never been independently closed (other than disruption) for engineering works.

In terms of time, Heathrow/Reading to Abbey Wood and Shenfield to Paddington/Heathrow are perfect 60-90 min journeys.

The Shenfield to Heathrow are only 2tph and are very liable for alterations during late running/disruption. They terminate at Hayes or West Drayton often in the West and terminate at Gidea Park or run fast Stratford to Romford in the East.

Shenfield to Reading stretches the journey time to 2 hours per trip. I’m not sure it would be possible without more drivers, stock or pathing.

 

[Mgameing123]

The Abbey Wood branch has never been independently closed (other than disruption) for engineering works.

In terms of time, Heathrow/Reading to Abbey Wood and Shenfield to Paddington/Heathrow are perfect 60-90 min journeys.

The Shenfield to Heathrow are only 2tph and are very liable for alterations during late running/disruption. They terminate at Hayes or West Drayton often in the West and terminate at Gidea Park or run fast Stratford to Romford in the East.

Shenfield to Reading stretches the journey time to 2 hours per trip. I’m not sure it would be possible without more drivers, stock or pathing.

isn't there surely like that one train a day that exists for rolling stock reasons?

 

[JonathanH]

I am just curious as you get Heathrow to Abbey Wood and Heathrow to Shenfield and Reading to Abbey Wood trains but for some reason never any Reading to Shenfield trains? Is there any particular obstacle to running such services?

It wouldn't be wise from a timetabling perspective to link services on the Reading and Shenfield routes as it risks importing delays from the Western to the Eastern side of the network which is an undesirable happening.

As the other poster notes, the Heathrow to Shenfield services are the ones most liable to disruption.

isn't there surely like that one train a day that exists for rolling stock reasons?

No. Enough of the fleet gets back to Old Oak Common each night that there isn't a need for cross working between the branches.

 

[Taunton]

Having two overlapping services alternating through the Core works well, Reading/Heathrow to Abbey Wood, and Paddington to Shenfield. Each has one external main line section, and if one is disorganised the other can still provide at least half service in the Core, as they are scheduled alternately through there. I know that more recently some Shenfield trains have been extended to Heathrow, but as described above these tend to be far more likely disrupted that the other services.

Even if some Shenfields were extended to Reading, such passengers (and it's not many) would mostly still take the first train and change. If you look at the current Shenfield to Heathrow services the passengers who were on board at Stratford can be seen to have completely changed over by the time you leave Paddington.

 

[jonb]

As others have said, there hasn’t been a passenger service from Reading to Shenfield (or vice-versa) since the Elizabeth line fully opened. There were discussions about the possibility of a run to mark the end of MTR’s Concession in May 2025, but this didn’t go ahead in the end. There was a VSTP path a few months ago from Reading to Shenfield Carriage Sidings to balance units after disruption, but that’s about it!

In terms of the Anglia/Western interlinking services, these are indeed prone to alterations should an incident occur on either route. Far better to contain the impact to one train, than spread reactionary delay to other service groups which are running on time.

 

[Horizon22]

isn't there surely like that one train a day that exists for rolling stock reasons?

Nope.

The main depot is Old Oak Common which is essentially in the middle between both Shenfield and Reading.

I believe during disruption a train may have run Reading to Gidea Park sidings, but that has probably happened maybe once or twice, ever. Even in disruption, a train could get diverted towards GEML, but it would probably only go as far as maybe Ilford, Chadwell Heath or Gidea Park at a stretch. Bare in mind not every depot has full route knowledge (i.e Shenfield to Reading) either.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Sep 2025 ==

The Shenfield to Heathrow are only 2tph and are very liable for alterations during late running/disruption. They terminate at Hayes or West Drayton often in the West and terminate at Gidea Park or run fast Stratford to Romford in the East.

Shenfield to Reading stretches the journey time to 2 hours per trip. I’m not sure it would be possible without more drivers, stock or pathing.

As you say they are often disrupted, importing delay across as they have to finely slot into the central section.

This is (one of the) reason(s) that Thameslink service recovery is worse because of the significantly higher number of branches and imparting delays into the core.

 

[paulravuslante]

A train a drove from Shenfield to Paddington once ended up being taken over by another driver to do a trip to Reading. It was very last minute though and I didn’t know until the relief driver told me what was happening. Some passengers seemed confused at being told to leave the train but then on arrival at Paddington being told they could board again for stations west of Paddington. I can’t remember when this was precisely though.

 

[Horizon22]

A train a drove from Shenfield to Paddington once ended up being taken over by another driver to do a trip to Reading. It was very last minute though and I didn’t know until the relief driver told me what was happening. Some passengers seemed confused at being told to leave the train but then on arrival at Paddington being told they could board again for stations west of Paddington. I can’t remember when this was precisely though.

This will be a unit swap at Paddington:

1. Train from Abbey Wood to Reading gets taken out of service at Paddington.
2. Train goes empty to depot
3. Shenfield to Paddington service (and then booked empty to depot) arrives and becomes the continuation of the Reading train with a small delay.