On 2011-02-28 20:15:23 +0000, Paul said:

On Feb 28, 7:14*pm, Ken Wheatley wrote:

I see to have a vague memory of real efforts being made to discourage
LS - TH only travel (and vv) when the service first started, presumably
to maintain the nice, tidy state of the empty class 322s then in use.
Now I suspect the only reason the restriction exists is because it
always has, unless it's because of ORCATS rules (yes, I know it's all a
single operator at the moment) or a BAA subsidy requirement.- Hide
quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

In the early days of the Stansted Express, it was meant to be just an
airport service, and it ran non stop from Tottenham Hale to the
airport. Then people in places such as Harlow Town and Bishops
Stortford began demanding services to the airport, so some of the
services were stopped at those stations. So now you have airport
passengers mixing with commuters. If you have ever been on a Friday
afternoon departure from Liverpool Street, especially one which is
shortened to four carriages only, you know what a pain this can be,
with luggage blocking doorways, gangways and seats.

The original service was 2 tph, with one of them calling at Stortford.
As the trains were only single units the Stortford stops were omitted
during the peaks. There was also one stopper per hour Broxbourne -
Stratford - Stansted Airport which catered for the BS/Harlow to
Stansted traffic.

They didn't always advertise southbound Stansted Express services at
Tottenham Hale. So you could have a situation where the departure
board said the next train was in 20 minutes time, whereas locals in
the know would know that there would be one in two minutes.

I remember one occasion when the 07:55 to Liverpool Street (ex
Cambridge) was cancelled. The next train was the 07:59 Stansted
Express which was officially set down only. An announcement was made
to the effect that anyone who boarded the train would be charged a £10
penalty fare. Cue the air turning blue with plenty of four letter
words, plus lots of suggestions as to where they could stick the
Penalty Fare notices.

They wouldn't even try now.