London Banter - View Single Post

Paul Scott · May 5th 08, 09:51 AM posted to uk.transport.london

"Richard J." wrote in message
m...
wrote:
I am puzzled as to why, when on a train for Heathrow, passengers are
advised to "get of and change" at Hounslow West station if they are on
a T5 train and want T4, and like wise if on a T4 train and want T5.
Why not ask them to change trains at Hatton Cross station?
This is nearer to Heathrow and has the advantage that in the event of
a failure on the tube service, there are many buses available at that
station for the airport terminals.

Yes, it's daft. The PA system on the trains is set up to give an
announcement soon after leaving Hounslow West. This gives passengers
plenty of time to understand whether they need to change at Hatton Cross,
and if so to gather their bags on arrival there and make a prompt exit
from the train. By making the announcement from the platform at Hounslow
West, passengers are presented with an instant and unexpected requirement
to change there, which is not a friendly thing to do and is liable to lead
to longer dwell times at Hounslow West. The platform staff think it's
daft too, but they've been told to make the announcements apparently.

Perhaps what they could have done was switched the running lines lh/rh on
the surface somewhere so that all trains could run to T123 first, and then
use the T4 loop the other way round, or go to T5.

Paul S