Martin Underwood wrote:
"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...
Martin Underwood wrote:
- Heathrow to Essex and Kent via Crossrail: I wonder if this will be the
death knell of the premium-rate Heathrow Express service?
Probably not. A new service is starting in December run jointly by BAA
and First; it is a stopping service running between Paddington, Ealing
Broadway, Southall, Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Central. It is this
service which Crossrail would take over.
There will be no ticket for Heathrow Connect from Paddington to
Heathrow; only for Paddington to intermediate stations (fares go to
First), and for those stations to Heathrow (fares go to BAA).
I have information on my website at:
http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/67
This fares structure will have to change if Crossrail runs these
services, but I imagine that BAA will still charge a (smaller) premium
for tickets to Heathrow.
And I bet Heathrow will be "conveniently" outside the outer-most Travelcard
zone.
London Underground would be upset about that! However I do foresee
ticket restrictions between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Central -
unless Seņor Livingstone stepped in. I believe he wants Travelcards to
be completely valid on Crossrail, and he has also expressed a desire to
congestion charge Heathrow (but by imposing a TfL parking levy rather
than charging vehicles for travelling within it).
I wonder how many people will use Heathrow to (for example) Southall
and then Thames Trains Southall to Paddington (and vice versa) to avoid
paying the premium. I certainly would.
I guess it depends how much the premium is! Note that the section from
Paddington to Hayes is under "control" of FGW Link, so Travelcards will
be valid on Heathrow Connect services as far as Hayes & Harlington
anyway; it all depends on what BAA charge for that short section into
Heathrow Central. They will probably have to bear in mind that some
airport workers may want to use this to commute to work.
What's the betting that TT are
"asked" to arrange that their connecting trains depart 1 minute before the
Heathrow Connect train arrives and vice versa, giving the longest journey
time possible?
Heathrow Connect is taking over paths from current FGW Link Paddington
to Slough stoppers (not sure what is happening to the Hayes-Slough
service!) - so there aren't really any connections to be made.
The BAA fare is ridiculously expensive and is just taking the
**** - they deserve to be undercut by Heathrow Connect.
Nice idea in theory - but BAA built the branch into their airport, and
are also running Heathrow Connect jointly with FGW Link - so they won't
want to undercut their own services too much!
It's a shame that GW
and TT services from the west can't introduce Southall or Hayes & Harlington
as an additional stop for connection to Heathrow: a cross-platform change at
a railway station would be much easier than having to lug your cases down
the steps at Reading and enduring the delays while the luggage is loaded
onto the coach and endure the slow journey out of Reading and along the M4
to Heathrow.
Also a good idea, and I think this is planned - almost certainly for FGW
Link services along the Thames Valley to Reading, not sure about other
services but quite possible (perhaps alternating stops at Slough with
stops at Ealing Broadway like MML alternate Luton and Luton Airport
Parkway).
However in my view, even that's not really good enough; I think that
electrification of the route to Reading and services from Reading to
Heathrow (perhaps fasts calling at Maidenhead and Slough, and stoppers
too) would do more to combat motorway congestion (on the M4) than any
other rail project, since those Thames Valley towns depend a lot on
Heathrow in their economies.
--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London