In message , at 18:49:40 on Fri, 15 Nov
2013, Mizter T remarked:
when Crossrail is up and running the
Heathrow Express business model will be a dead duck

Only if Crossrail goes non-stop to Heathrow from Paddington, and accepts
Travelcards/Oyster.

Otherwise it's just as lame as Heathrow Connect today for international
travellers.

Regarding your non-stop point - not at all. Even if Crossrail stops at
all six stations between Paddington and Heathrow it'll still be easier
to just stay on board (coming from points east) compared to changing at
Padd for a fast HEx train.

Only if your journey starts in the Crossrail corridor.

If you are a foreign businessman or tourist and have arrived at Heathrow
then the only sane choice based on experience of similar scenarios
worldwide is to get the Airport Express to wherever it goes, and take
your chances onward from there. After all, it's only supposed to be a
taxi-replacement, not an alternative for any other form of public
transport.

Re fares - that's yet to be revealed (or indeed finalised), and
hopefully journeys to Heathrow will be treated the same as if it was
any other zone 6 station. But I dare say that even if a small premium
was payable, that wouldn't be a significant deterrence to a fair number
of travellers as it could be easily be collected by Oyster / smartcard
/ contactless payment card. (Wouldn't be seamless for those on paper
Travelcards though.)

But not those "never been to London, have no idea what the fares
structure is" travellers the Express is targeted at.
--
Roland Perry