On Mon, 1 Jun 2015 11:04:16 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message
-septem
ber.org, at 09:31:35 on Mon, 1 Jun 2015, Recliner
remarked:
Roland Perry wrote:
In message
-septem
ber.org, at 08:38:30 on Mon, 1 Jun 2015, Recliner
remarked:

In effect, what you're really suggesting is the abandonment of HEX and its
premium pricing, with both T4 and T5 having normal 4tph Crossrail services?

No, the premium pricing will arise from non-stopping between the airport
and Paddington (all trains then to go through the core).

But how will it access the Crossrail tunnels from the main lines, without a
flat crossing?

Perhaps we need to ask Network Rail (ie look at the RUS mentioned in an
earlier posting of mine).

There certainly won't be a grade-separated route from the GW main
lines to the Crossrail tunnels in 2018.

So, I can't see any way for trains from T5 to access the Crossrail
tunnels without:

- using the slower relief lines from Airport Junction, or having a
flat crossing on the approach to Paddington (which will lose capacity
and time)

- using the same trains as Crossrail, presumably 345s, for
compatibility with the ATO, common performance and the door spacing.

That's Crossrail, not HEx. I suppose you could brand all the Crossrail
services to Heathrow as something like "Crossrail Heathrow Express" to
justify the higher price for airport link, but the travel experience
from T4 and T5 to Canary Wharf would be exactly the same, and the
price would also have to be the same (but noticeably more than from a
station like Hayes & Harlington).