On Mar 20, 4:25*pm, Anna Noyd-Dryver wrote:
77002 wrote:
On Mar 17, 9:58 pm, Robert Cox wrote:
On 2012-03-16 12:01:18 +0000, 77002 said:

On Mar 16, 7:49 am, furnessvale wrote:
On Thursday, March 15, 2012 10:53:04 AM UTC, Mizter T wrote:
Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards under
central London.
So, it's finally really happening.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and mouth shut. *How many false starts
did the Channel Tunnel have that actually involved tunnelling underway?

Several of the Crossrail stations have been under construction for
some time. *The ramps down to the portals at Paddington are
substantial.

Moreover, IIRC, the cost of Crossrail has reduced slightly.

Partially by planning to build trains that have few seats and no toilets.

IIRC Correctly it relates to depressed construction costs. *Of course
it is early days yet. *There may be cost overruns.

It is bad enough having 313s on the Coastway. *Why would anyone want
to run trains from Reading to Shenfield sans half baths is beyond me.
This is the cost of involving TfL I suppose. *Why cannot Crossrail be
run in a similar manner to Thameslink?

Moreover it is madness terminating so many Crossrail trains at
Paddington.

I guess it's too late now, but taking over the H&C to Hammersmith seemed
(to me) an obvious solution for 'what to do with' all those Padd
terminators. I presume Crossrail trains are longer than H&C trains; maybe
so much so that it would create more problems than it would solve.

I hate the idea of turning so many Crossrail trains back at
Paddington. Unfortunately, if the platforms on the Hammersmith branch
were lengthened for Crossrail, some neighboring stations would become
a continuous platform. Moreover, the depot for both the H&C and
Circle is in Hammersmith.

Other than that, it is great idea. Better yet, put back the junction
at Hammersmith and run Crossrail thru to Ealing Broadway and Rayners
Lane. We simplify the Circle, and District Lines, and allow more
Piccadilly Line trains to serve Heathrow in one fell swoop. :-)

A better solution may be to run as far as Old Oak, the next to the
Central Line, finally taking over the Central Line to Ealing
Broadway. More Central Line trains would turn back at Shepherds Bush,
thus freeing capacity and simplifying operations.

Tring has also been considered as a Crossrail destination.

Would there be any mileage in having a second, 'longer distance' variety of
stock for Crossrail and running some of the Padd terminators to Oxford?
2tph express and two tph all stops, replacing the current fGW service?
Again I guess that the complications (not least the 'wrong kind of stock'
turning up to form a service) outweigh any potential benefits...

A single type of Rolling stock will keep the price down. It also
simplifies operations and maintenance.

Whether the idiots at TfL have chosen the right rolling stock is
another question. Why would any sane railway run trains from Reading
to Shenfield, sans half-bathrooms?

Anna Noyd-Dryver
(preparing to be shot down in flames)

Not by me.