London Banter - View Single Post - Piccadilly line extension to Terminal 5/Heathrow Express extension to T5

Alistair Bell · May 24th 04, 05:07 PM posted to uk.transport.london

(Boltar) wrote in message om...
"Piccadilly Pilot" wrote in message ...
So, another ****ing waste of existing infrastructure then? The
Jubilee's Green Park-Charing Cross (and tunnels almost as far as
Aldwych) and the Piccadilly's Holborn-Aldwych shuttle. Now the HEX
T123-T4. Why not make use of and expand existing
expensively-tunnelled infrastructure instead of mothballing it? This
country makes me maaaaad!!!!

A complete joke.

Forward you complaints to BAA. IIRC they, or someone else, chose to resite
T5 away from its original location which would have been served by the T4
loop.

WHy should that excuse a stupid decision taken by a TOC? There is no excuse
for closing T4. So alternate HEX trains would have alternate termini, BFD.
I'm sure passengers would cope as they're going to have to on the tube anyway.
Sorry , but the guy about is right , it is just more infrastructure being
binned for no good operational reason.

I must be missing something. How exactly is anyone going to get from
T123 to T4 then? Currently the official way to transfer is HEX -- and
in that direction you'd have to change at Hatton Cross to get the
tube. It's pretty much a guarantee that TWO changes of train to get
from Padd to T4 is a non-starter.

I'd have to guess that they decided splitting the trains would take
too long (probably right) and they'll run alternate trains to each
destination. I can't believe for a moment that they'll close T4 HEX,
and I also find it hard to believe that they'd switch it to a shuttle
from T123, for the simple reason that people travelling to Heathrow
often have a LOT of luggage, and a change of train just isn't
acceptable.

If I were Heathrow Express, I'd run the slow service to T123 only
until T5 opens, simply because the (idiotic) single line to T4 can't
cope with it -- but after T5 opens, split both the express and slow
services 50/50 between T4 and T5. As and when Crossrail happens,
that's probably all T5 (assuming the line to T5 is double-track)

[And, by the way, the TOC operating HEX is BAA anyway...]