"David Walters" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 May 2017 08:58:21 -0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/crossrail-hits-buffers-at-heathrow-jwrcctt60?shareToken=703895969b67292fe9096b3e8da8e f44

Extracts:

The airport’s owners — a consortium of mostly foreign investment funds —
want to recoup its past spending on the private train line with an
“investment recovery charge” of £570 for every train that uses the track,
plus extra fees of about £107 per train.

Transport chiefs and the rail watchdog argue there is no justification
for
such a historic charge, and fear it could mean higher ticket prices. The
Department for Transport reckons the extra charges would cost Crossrail
£42m a year.

A High Court judge is expected to rule imminently on the row after
Heathrow
challenged the watchdog’s decision to reject the charges. Under
contingency
plans drawn up by Transport for London, Crossrail trains could terminate
a
few miles short of the airport, with passengers forced to transfer onto
other trains at a suburban station. The trains would then head back to
central London, dodging the £700 fees.

There is apparently an agreement:
https://your.heathrow.com/elizabeth-...sted-services/

"Heathrow, Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport
have agreed a commitment to boost integrated rail connectivity to the
airport, including the addition of two new Elizabeth Line trains per
hour serving Terminal 5 from December 2019."

Including Oyster payment for Heathrow Express

"From May 2018, new ticket readers will be installed at Heathrow, meaning
passengers using Heathrow Express and TfL Rail between Paddington and
Heathrow will be able to use pay as you go Oyster or a contactless
device."

So how's the premium fare on HEx going to work then?

How will the Oyster machine know that the user is intending to travel on HEx
and not on Crossrail?

I suppose that it could be enforced at the other end, but then what will the
default fare be for people who don't tap out? And that will, of course,
delay passengers alighting from HEx at Padd as they queue to tap out. Which
will somewhat negate much of the convenience that the higher fare is paying
for.

There could be different machines for each train, but that will cause
confusions - I suspect most people would rather the convenience of Oyster
weren't available to HEx passengers if the result is that pax who travel on
Crossrail risk getting charged a premium fare for tapping on the wrong
machine.

I'm wondering if they really mean that oyster will be accepted for travel on
HEx.

tim