"Chris" wrote...
Plenty of *uninformed* comment too, to boot - why doesn't everyone
READ the CrossRail website contents, and if you're that interested,
ensure that you attend one of Network Rail / CrossRail exhibitions???
And if you're NOT that interested (fair enough), refrain from posting
in CrossRail threads? - because we could do with cutting down on the
spread of inaccurate info.

I wouldn't worry unduly; much of the content of every thread in every
'news'group is speculation, and few would expect much solid 'fact'.

And reliance on official handouts is not really a viable solution; I've been
to Crossrail exhibitions where they were unable to answer a single question
with any authority - and until recently, the web site was denying even the
possibility of reaching Reading.

As one of the few in this group who has always argued that Reading was not
only logical, but inevitable, I'm equally confident that more wise decisions
will erupt over the ten years before the line opens (8? don't make me
laugh!).

Reading is logical because of the interchange facilities, as well as the
ability to fill up the train with Reading-bound travellers as the London
leavers thin out (and vice versa); something Maidenhead simply couldn't
offer.

But the main attraction of Reading is (and always was) the interchange
opportunities. And to take full advantage of them, I'm happy to speculate
that stopping patterns won't be the simple 'all stations' that has been
claimed and rarely questioned.

The Metropolitan line has demonstrated for decades that LU have no
difficulty understanding mixing stoppers with semi-fasts, and the Crossrail
tunnels will (easily) accomodate some fasts or semifasts from Reading, even
a few non-stoppers in the peaks, relieving FGW's problem of the
trains-formerly-known-as-Intercity being assimilated by Reading-London
commuters.

I'm sure others with imagination can foresee many other possibilities; wires
to Oxford becoming viable is just one dream for the decade after Crossrail
opens.

There's an interesting side debate on the future of all the DMUs being no
longer required, especially when DaFT is still planning to order more new
ones, just as electrification is being taken seriously all round.

Just don't get sidetracked by the 'Heathro Hub'; more of a successor to
Jethro Tull than a policy, at this stage.
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."