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Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
Dave Arquati wrote to uk.transport.london on Tue, 21 Jun 2005:
Surely if they want a really useful airport service they should extend the 3rd rail system from south of the river to heathrow too? They should do that anyway, yes. That's been mooted for ages though (known as Airtrack). Wish they would... but they've even taken off the dedicated T123 bus from Feltham and replaced it with I-forget-what that goes just to the Central Bus Terminal. Useful enough, but not as reliable as before. -- "Mrs Redboots" http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/ Website updated 23 May 2005 |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
"If you have to rely on London Underground to get you to the airport
everyday, this service will revolutionise the way you travel." Some revolution! I never understood the real point of services from paddington. Unless you live in or near the paddington area or routes leading into it then you've still got to crawl around on the circle line to get there and wait for the service to leave. Well, you could always use the Bakerloo... By the time you've done that you could probably be halfway to heathrow on the piccadilly line and have paid less than half the price. HEx is not supposed to be a substitute for the Piccadilly line. It is not competing with LU for traffic, hence the extortionate fares. It is supposed to compete with taxis; HEx to Paddington then taxi onward to destination in central London being both faster and cheaper than taking a taxi for the entire journey. Surely if they want a really useful airport service they should extend the 3rd rail system from south of the river to heathrow too? You seem to be assuming that providing a really useful service is one of the aims of the privatised rail industry. See also the threads on the London-Brighton bike ride, etc. |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
Roger R wrote:
"Richard J." wrote in message . uk... Heathrow Connect are still only running to Hayes tonight. In fact I've just e-mailed them about the total lack of any explanation, forecast or apology on their site. All they say is that "Heathrow Connect is currently only operating between London and Hayes & Harlington", despite claiming that "it's the best way to travel locally to and from Heathrow Airport". Make a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority on the grounds that what the advert says is not true. Is there any qualifier in the advert about the service being occational or the usual one about not operating any of the advertised services at all. There is no such qualifier on their website www.heathrowconnect.co.uk, just the blatant contradiction between their marketing blurb and the actual service info. I travelled to Hayes on one of their new Class 360s this morning. Although it was indicated as going to Hayes on station displays, the on-board announcements claimed it was going to Heathrow. Apparently there is no provision in the p.a. system for terminating anywhere but Heathrow. Amazingly there were no live announcements on the train about stopping short at Hayes, not even when we pulled into the bay platform there! According to the driver, the problem at Heathrow is that once they enter the stabling siding that they use at Terminal 4, the signal won't let them out again. So they are stuck with terminating at Hayes until BAA sort out the signal at Terminal 4, using their contractor Network Rail. They couldn't even manage the Hayes-Paddington service properly this afternoon, as the 16:41 was cancelled. Incidentally, as far as I could see (from another train), the connection from the Down Relief west of Hayes to the Heathrow branch is only to the Up Airport track, so presumably the Heathrow-bound Connect services use this track and switch to the Down Airport after the junction. By doing this, the Connect trains won't interfere with FGW's Up and Down Main. -- Richard J. (to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address) |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
Boltar wrote:
I never understood the real point of services from paddington. Unless you live in or near the paddington area or routes leading into it then you've still got to crawl around on the circle line to get there and wait for the service to leave. By the time you've done that you could probably be halfway to heathrow on the piccadilly line and have paid less than half the price. Surely if they want a really useful airport service they should extend the 3rd rail system from south of the river to heathrow too? If laden down with luggage (and possibly children), doing Jubilee- Bakerloo-Paddington then Heathrow Express is well worth the extra ten quid for speed and accessability over Jubilee-Picadilly. IMO. #Paul |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
Richard J. wrote:
Roger R wrote: "Richard J." wrote in message o.uk... Heathrow Connect are still only running to Hayes tonight. In fact I've just e-mailed them about the total lack of any explanation, forecast or apology on their site. All they say is that "Heathrow Connect is currently only operating between London and Hayes & Harlington", despite claiming that "it's the best way to travel locally to and from Heathrow Airport". Make a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority on the grounds that what the advert says is not true. Is there any qualifier in the advert about the service being occational or the usual one about not operating any of the advertised services at all. There is no such qualifier on their website www.heathrowconnect.co.uk, just the blatant contradiction between their marketing blurb and the actual service info. I travelled to Hayes on one of their new Class 360s this morning. Although it was indicated as going to Hayes on station displays, the on-board announcements claimed it was going to Heathrow. Apparently there is no provision in the p.a. system for terminating anywhere but Heathrow. Amazingly there were no live announcements on the train about stopping short at Hayes, not even when we pulled into the bay platform there! According to the driver, the problem at Heathrow is that once they enter the stabling siding that they use at Terminal 4, the signal won't let them out again. So they are stuck with terminating at Hayes until BAA sort out the signal at Terminal 4, using their contractor Network Rail. They couldn't even manage the Hayes-Paddington service properly this afternoon, as the 16:41 was cancelled. Incidentally, as far as I could see (from another train), the connection from the Down Relief west of Hayes to the Heathrow branch is only to the Up Airport track, so presumably the Heathrow-bound Connect services use this track and switch to the Down Airport after the junction. By doing this, the Connect trains won't interfere with FGW's Up and Down Main. So far Heathrow Connect seems a bit rubbish. Didn't they do some trial runs into T4 before they started running the service officially? -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
"1577+2260" wrote So there are two options for down trains: * remain on the relief lines at Hayes, and use the Up Airport flyover. This involves running on the UA line between Airport Junction (11m14c) and Heathrow Tunnel Junction (12m27c), i.e. blocking the line (with its 4tph HEx and 2tph HC coming the other way) for over a mile. * cross to the down main at Southall East, in the process taking a stopping path on the down main and blocking the up main when crossing over. AIUI the first one is the one that is to be used. Although it's better than the crossing move and stopping on the fast lines, it still seems quite a potential constraint - 6tph up vs 2tph down over that mile is asking for trouble once things are running out of course. The June MR confirms your understanding, and gives some details of how Airport Junction would be modified for Crossrail. Basically, the Up Airport flyover would become the Down Crossrail, and a new Up Airport flyover would be built right across to the north of the layout, with a ramp down for Up Crossrail trains, and a flyover back to the middle of the layout for Up Heathrow Express. Hayes & Harlington would be rebuilt, with the Up Relief platform becoming an island, with Up Crossrail Airport trains using the outer face. As well as the bidirectional working of part of the Up Airport line, Up Heathrow Connect trains will, when they're allowed back to the Airport, have to cross the Down Relief on the flat. Peter |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
thoss wrote:
In article , If laden down with luggage (and possibly children), doing Jubilee- Bakerloo-Paddington then Heathrow Express is well worth the extra ten quid for speed and accessability over Jubilee-Picadilly. IMO. If laden down with luggage (and possibly children), the fewer changes the better, surely. Changes which involve carrying heavy luggage up stairs may be worth avoiding, even if it means 2 step-free changes instead. But from the Jubilee Line, a change at Westminster to the District and at Barons Court or Hammersmith to the Piccadilly (both step-free) would be better than Jubilee-Piccadilly at Green Park. -- Richard J. (to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address) |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
I'm a bit confused by what's been happening as reported on this thread.
Can someone more knowledgeable than me clarify, please? As I understand it, Heathrow connect started with the summer timetable, running to Heathrow. Owing to problems, timekeeping left a lot to be desired. OK so far. As from some date (unknown to me) the service was truncated at Hayes whilst signalling problems are sorted out at Heathrow. The problem is that the signal will not let trains out of the headshunt. This is where I get confused. How could the service have run at all, however badly, if this was the problem? Is it that the service hasn't yet *actually* run to Heathrow? Is the problem something else, such as an exceptionally long setting/release time allowing *a* service but not the planned one? Awkward Slough IECC staff? Anytheng else? Help! Thanks, PhilD -- |
Heathrow Connect - can't connect !!
PhilD wrote:
I'm a bit confused by what's been happening as reported on this thread. Can someone more knowledgeable than me clarify, please? As I understand it, Heathrow connect started with the summer timetable, running to Heathrow. It started on Sunday 12 June. The Evening Standard claimed (on 16 June) that the official launch was on Thursday 16 June. Owing to problems, timekeeping left a lot to be desired. OK so far. As from some date (unknown to me) the service was truncated at Hayes whilst signalling problems are sorted out at Heathrow. The problem is that the signal will not let trains out of the headshunt. This is where I get confused. How could the service have run at all, however badly, if this was the problem? Is it that the service hasn't yet *actually* run to Heathrow? Is the problem something else, such as an exceptionally long setting/release time allowing *a* service but not the planned one? Awkward Slough IECC staff? Anytheng else? God knows. I've just phoned the number given on the HC website for "up to the minute information". The person who answered couldn't say what the problem was, or when the service to Heathrow might start/resume. She wasn't even sure what company she worked for. And of course, they haven't replied to the e-mail I sent on Monday. The registrant of the www.heathrowconnect.co.uk site is BAA plc. -- Richard J. (to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address) |
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