On 12 Oct, 12:00, Londoncityslicker
wrote:
On 10 Oct, 07:55, Mwmbwls wrote:

On Oct 6, 5:39 pm, Boltar wrote:

When crossrail starts with Hex vanish? I can't see any reason for its
continued existence but what would happen to the franchise holders?
Will they get a "cut" in crossrail or will the next (or current?)
contract expire the day corssrail is due to expire?

B2003

According to last nights Evening Standard Ken is going to have an
"intense conversation with BAA about this" No doubt his ability to
impose a new congestion zone around Heathrow could concentrate BAA's
mind wonderfully.

Do we know if a journey on Crossrail from heathrow is going to be
cheaper than HEX?

No decisions about fares will have been taken yet, given that
Crossrail won't open until at least 2018. Bear in mind that the branch
off the Great Western mainline to Heathrow is owned by BAA and isn't a
part of the 'National Rail network', so BAA might have to be placated.

Nonetheless the question of fares is a good one.

The Mayor has already said he will hold "vigorous" talks with BAA
about the future of HEx, so I'd imagine those talks will cover fares
and whether there should continue to be a premium-priced Express
service to/from Heathrow.


I bet that they will charge a premium to travel on Crossrail and I
cant see Ken allowing Crossrail to be used on a normal zonal
Travelcard. (1-6 for Heathrow)

I'd consider it highly likely that, apart from Heathrow, Crossrail
will adopt the same zonal fares system as for the Underground.

When it comes to Crossrail's fares to/from Heathrow then a premium
fare might be charged. Two reasons immediately spring to mind...

(1) BAA requiring this to be the case, given that they own the
Heathrow branch (see above)
(2) TfL wanting to even out demand between Crossrail and the
Piccadilly line.

The second point might well be key - if there was no price
differential then many passengers might simply switch to Crossrail,
which might end up too busy whilst the Piccadilly line went
underutilised.

Charging more for Crossrail would balance out passenger load somewhat.

All that said I can't imagine that TfL would be keen on having a
premium fare priced at the level of HEx.

Much work regarding passenger forecasts and other research, as well as
negotiating between TfL and BAA, lies ahead.


Most travellers will chose Crossrail to travel from Heathrow as their
ultimate destination in all likelyhood is not Paddington.

So i see the possbility HEX being gradually phased out as demand
dwindles.

It's hard to predict what will happen. Bear in mind that Crossrail is
a stopping service and will call at six stations between Paddington
and Heathrow (that's one more station than the existing Heathrow
Connect stopping service between Paddington and Heathrow).

There's also a certain prestige about having an Express service that
whisks people into central London, even if Paddington is on the edge
of central London.

Whether, though, there would remain a market for HEx after Crossrail
begins is hard to say. Arguably, it's really BAA's decision as they
would appear to have a pretty solid long-term track access contract
with Network Rail for HEx (a service which they own and operate
through a subsidiary company).

Operationally, it might make it easier for Crossrail if HEx wasn't
also operating in the Heathrow tunnels.

We shall see what happens.