In message , at
16:43:59 on Fri, 2 Jun 2006, Richard J.
remarked:
I asked LU why Travelcards weren't valid on HEx and HC for these two
weekends in June. The answer, according to them, is that because of
Network Rail engineering work, there are only two tracks available into
Paddington on these weekends, which means that HEx services with be
"unreliable" (LU's word) and subject to extended intervals.

I took the HEx one Saturday in February, and they had engineering work
on the line then as well. It took half an hour instead of the advertised
23 mins (from T4), although it felt much slower than that.

HEx weren't prepared to take the risk of a service suspension while
they had lots of additional LU passengers on their trains. There would
be "huge cost" in rescheduling either the LU or NR engineering work.

A shame they decided to do both the same weekend
--
Roland Perry