towerman
My status is now now widower
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Post by towerman on Feb 27, 2015 13:50:22 GMT
When it opens I would imagine it will take a lot of custom from Picadilly Line & Heathrow Express.Will there be a scaling down of these services?
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Post by snoggle on Feb 27, 2015 14:41:53 GMT
When it opens I would imagine it will take a lot of custom from Picadilly Line & Heathrow Express.Will there be a scaling down of these services? Unlikely that there will be service reductions. Heathrow Express have running rights until 2023 in order to pay back the cost of constructing the link into Heathrow. They will want to ensure they keep running and getting revenue in. I recognise Crossrail's through service will be attractive but I expect HEX to have a strategy in place by 2019 to keep the money coming in. At present Crossrail will not serve Terminal 5 without passengers changing trains at T123 HEX station. Politicians are already demanding that Crossrail does reach T5 but that may prove difficult to achieve as BAA have no incentive or obligation to allow direct Crossrail trains to T5. Crossrail will also have to charge a premium fare into Heathrow (as HR Connect does) - again income to BAA in the form of access charges to pay back the cost of the Heathrow tunnel. As the Picc will still be much cheaper and within the Travelcard scheme I doubt it will lose many passengers. It remains to be seen what ticketing changes will be made to allow Crossrail to reach Heathrow over BAA infrastructure and meet the Mayor's commitment that Oyster and PAYG will be available on all Crossrail services. I expect there will be 4 years of ongoing political wrangling over how Crossrail will serve Heathrow. |
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DWS
every second count's
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Post by DWS on Feb 27, 2015 16:04:38 GMT
BAA was sold to Ferrovial a Spanish company in 2006 it was turned into a private company.
The airport is now run by Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd.
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Post by superteacher on Feb 28, 2015 11:56:05 GMT
Although it is slower, the Picc is the line which directly serves the main London hotel areas. Many people would sacrifice a shorter journey for an easier one.
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Chris M
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Post by Chris M on Feb 28, 2015 15:47:31 GMT
Despite being significantly slower, I know several people at the east end of the Central Line will change at Mile and and Barons Court to get to Heathrow with luggage rather than negotiate the stairs and escalators at Holborn.
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Post by spsmiler on Feb 28, 2015 16:14:55 GMT
Despite being significantly slower, I know several people at the east end of the Central Line will change at Mile and and Barons Court to get to Heathrow with luggage rather than negotiate the stairs and escalators at Holborn. I've done that, although especially in the winter Hammersmith might be a better place to change rather than Barons Court. Crossrail will incorporate the Heathrow Connect service, leaving a small fleet of five trains available for redeployment elsewhere. Both HeX and HeC trains have something which whilst commonplace on aircraft is (as far as I know) not done anywhere else on our rail network. The have floor level marker lights pointing to the nearest emergency exit. So, will Crossrail trains need to have this as well? Could it be that BAA actually require this feature as a condition for allowing Crossrail trains to use to its tunnels? I recall how Railtrack insisted on the HeX trains having yellow fronts, this being something that BAA did not want but in the end reluctantly agreed to - because they realised that otherwise their trains would not be allowed on the mainline railway system. So, might BAA decide to return the favour with respect of emergency exit floor lights? Simon |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2015 9:45:27 GMT
The elephant in the room is the eye watering high fares for Heathrow Express to use what us just another commuter service! When I visit San Francisco I cn get the BART from the airport to the City center and just pay a normal fare so why is it in the UK transport cost Re so ridiculously high?
I live to the west of Heahrow and even the west link is built I will still use taxi as it will be cheaper and far move convent without the risk of a Network Rail signal failures of the almost weekly suicude causing me to miss my flight!
On paper CrossRail to the airport sounds good however, there are a of vested interests and hurdles to overcome first!
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Post by Colin D on Mar 1, 2015 15:39:09 GMT
Despite being significantly slower, I know several people at the east end of the Central Line will change at Mile and and Barons Court to get to Heathrow with luggage rather than negotiate the stairs and escalators at Holborn. After one trip back I made the mistake of changing at Holborn, never again. The walk from the Picc to the Central was horrendous especially with luggage. I now use the route that Chris M states only I change at Hammersmith. Nice easy cross platform changes make any time difference well worth it. |
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Post by malcolmffc on Mar 3, 2015 7:06:19 GMT
The elephant in the room is the eye watering high fares for Heathrow Express to use what us just another commuter service! When I visit San Francisco I cn get the BART from the airport to the City center and just pay a normal fare so why is it in the UK transport cost Re so ridiculously high? I live to the west of Heahrow and even the west link is built I will still use taxi as it will be cheaper and far move convent without the risk of a Network Rail signal failures of the almost weekly suicude causing me to miss my flight! On paper CrossRail to the airport sounds good however, there are a of vested interests and hurdles to overcome first! Like it or not, the Heathrow link is a private railway that was (mostly) constructed with the airport's own money and they have the right to charge what they want if someone wants to run trains over it until they get their investment paid back in 2023. Of course, one option would be for the Government to buy out Heathrow Express and the 4 remaining years of the contract, which I suspect is something the DfT are looking at. |
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Post by snoggle on Mar 3, 2015 10:38:58 GMT
The elephant in the room is the eye watering high fares for Heathrow Express to use what us just another commuter service! When I visit San Francisco I cn get the BART from the airport to the City center and just pay a normal fare so why is it in the UK transport cost Re so ridiculously high? I live to the west of Heahrow and even the west link is built I will still use taxi as it will be cheaper and far move convent without the risk of a Network Rail signal failures of the almost weekly suicude causing me to miss my flight! On paper CrossRail to the airport sounds good however, there are a of vested interests and hurdles to overcome first! Like it or not, the Heathrow link is a private railway that was (mostly) constructed with the airport's own money and they have the right to charge what they want if someone wants to run trains over it until they get their investment paid back in 2023. Of course, one option would be for the Government to buy out Heathrow Express and the 4 remaining years of the contract, which I suspect is something the DfT are looking at. I doubt the DfT will want to throw money at HAL given they walked away from their funding contribution to Crossrail leaving the rest of us to find tens of millions of pounds of funding. I also can't see TfL or the Mayor wanting to throw public money at HAL either. Far easier to wait until 2023 and see what transpires in terms of HEX and whether people vote with their feet and use Crossrail because of a slower but through service to the West End, City and Canary Wharf. Interesting times ahead but the risk largely sits with HAL / HEX in terms of a future service and what people pay for it. |
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