St. Pancras To Heathrow By Elizabeth Line
I ate breakfast in Le Pain Quotidien in St.Pancras station this morning and afterwards I took the Elizabeth Line to Heathrow.
I took Thameslink for one stop to Farringdon station and got a Elizabeth Line train direct to Terminal 2 and 3 at the Airport.
Note.
- The train I took was going to Gravesend. I suspect it was because of engineering work.
- An empty train passed through, whilst I waited. I’ve never seen that before on Thameslink in St. Pancras station.
- I travelled in the front of the Thameslink train for the one stop.
- The change at Farringdon station was very quick, as it was just down in the lift and the Heathrow train was waiting.
These are some notes on a fast change using the lifts between Southbound Thameslink and the Elizabeth Line at Farringdon station.
- Get the first lift of the two that arrives, if like me, you can use escalators.
- If it goes up, walk across the station at street level and get the two serial escalators down to the Elizabeth Line.
- If it goes down, take the lift to the Elizabeth Line.
If you can’t manage escalators, you have to wait for a lift going down.
I have some observations.
Meeting And Greeting At St. Pancras Station
From my position in Le Pain Quotidien, I was able to watch passengers leaving and arriving at the Eurostar terminal opposite.
There were quite a few people, who were meeting and greeting others.
In Effects Of The ULEZ In West London, I said this about meeting and greeting at Heathrow.
But as it now so easy to get to the Airport using the Elizabeth Line will more people use the new line to meet and greet and say goodbye to loved ones or business associates. Since the Elizabeth Line opened, I’ve met a couple of friends at Heathrow, who were passing through.
Will the Elizabeth Line increase the number of trips to the airport, by making meeting and greeting easier?
If it does, then it will put more pressure on the services to Heathrow Airport.
Seats In St. Pancras Thameslink Station
These pictures show some of the large number of seats in St. Pancras Thameslink Station.
Should there be more seats along the platform at stations on the Elizabeth Line, where passengers change trains?
My Train To The Airport Was Crowded
Ten in the morning on a Sunday, is not the time I’d expect to be busy, but I estimated it was about ninety percent full, judging by the few empty seats.
There Were Eight Trains Per Hour (tph) To And From Heathrow
From Real Time Trains, it looks like the following trains were running.
- Elizabeth Line – Abbey Wood and Terminal Four – 2 tph
- Elizabeth Line – Abbey Wood and Terminal Five – 2 tph
- Heathrow Express – Paddington and Terminal Five – 4 tph
My train to the Airport had been going to Terminal Four.
Is eight tph the maximum frequency, that can use the tunnel to the Airport?
Is The Elizabeth Line Diverting Passengers From Heathrow Express?
When I returned from the Airport, my Elizabeth Line train left about ten minutes after a Heathrow Express train.
- The Heathrow Express train wasn’t very full.
- The Elizabeth Line train was very full.
- Passengers got out at all stations.
- I got out at Tottenham Court Road.
It will be interesting to see the Heathrow Express passenger figures.
Which Is The Best Elizabeth Line Station For A Marks and Spencer?
Because their gluten-free food is so much better than other shops, this is important to me.
- There are larger stores at Ealing Broadway, Tottenham Court Road (West), Liverpool Street (West), Stratford and Ilford.
- There are food only stores at Heathrow, Paddington, Bond Street and Liverpool Street (East).
Today, I used the large store by the Western entrance at Tottenham Court Road station.
But, if you want to avoid walking, Stratford is probably the easiest.
Effects Of The ULEZ In West London
This page on the Transport for London web site is entitled ULEZ Expansion 2023.
This is the first paragraph.
To help clear London’s air and improve health, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is expanding across all London boroughs from 29 August 2023.
These are some points from the rest of the page.
- Poor air quality is impacting the health of Londoners, and it’s mainly caused by polluting vehicles.
- Air pollution even contributes to the premature death of thousands of Londoners every year.
- 9 out of 10 cars seen driving in outer London already meet the ULEZ emissions standards.
- If you drive anywhere within the ULEZ and your vehicle does not meet the emissions standards, you could face a daily charge of £12.50.
- Residents of the ULEZ are not exempt from the charge.
- Any money received from the scheme is reinvested into running and improving London’s transport network, such as expanding bus routes in outer London.
There is no reference to trucks or HGVs.
These are my thoughts.
Objections To The ULEZ
If you type ULEZ into Google and look at the News page, you get a lot of stories that don’t show the ULEZ in a good light.
Here are a few headlines.
- BBC – ULEZ: Labour MPs Seek Support For Non-Londoners
- BBC – Firms In Essex Could Close Due To ULEZ, Warns Business Leader
- Big Issue – London’s Ulez Plans Could Hit Disabled People, Charities And Small Businesses The Hardest
- Daily Mail – Sadiq Khan Claims That Nazis Have Infiltrated Anti-Ulez Protests
- Guardian – EU Motorist Fined Almost £11,000 After Falling Foul Of London Ulez Rule
- Guardian – London’s Mayor Faces High Court Challenge Over Ulez Expansion
- Kent Live – Anti-ULEZ Campaign Group Support Soars As Kent Drivers ‘Unfairly Targeted’
- LBC – No More Ulez? Sadiq Khan Considers Scrapping Controversial Scheme And Replacing It With ‘Pay-As-You-Drive’ System
- Slough Observer – Ulez Faces High Court Challenge
- Which? – Why It Could Cost £17.50 To Drop A Loved One At Heathrow This Summer
It looks like Sadiq Khan has fallen into a hole.
And he hasn’t stopped digging!
To make it worse, he has suggested a Pay-As-You-Drive System. I seem to remember, that a Dutch Prime Minister, who tried it, lost the next election.
But then Sadiq Khan likes tolls as the new Silvertown Tunnel and the Blackwall Tunnel will be tolled in a few years.
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport is one of the world’s busiest airports and 76,000 people work at the airport, with many more employed nearby.
The airport handled 61.6 million passengers in 2022, which is a few short of 170,000 per day.
If you consider that those that work at the airport do two trips per day and passengers generally do one, that means there are 322,000 trips per day to or from the airport.
But as it now so easy to get to the Airport using the Elizabeth Line will more people use the new line to meet and greet and say goodbye to loved ones or business associates. Since the Elizabeth Line opened, I’ve met a couple of friends at Heathrow, who were passing through.
I wonder, if that daily journey total of 322,000 could be nearer to 350,000 or even 400,000.
If the ULEZ charge makes some passengers and staff switch from their car to using a bus or train, this probably means that public transport to and from the airport, will need to be boosted by a substantial amount.
But improving public transport to Heathrow wouldn’t be easy.
- The Elizabeth Line seems to have put a big hole in the finances of Heathrow Express.
- How many more trains can be squeezed into the Heathrow Tunnel?
- The Western Rail Link to Heathrow would probably need to be built. But that seems to be in limbo.
- New trains for the Piccadilly Line are a few years away.
It might have been better to build a different scheme for Western access to Heathrow like the Heathrow Southern Railway.
I suspect that there will be a lot more passengers on the Elizabeth Line to and from Heathrow.
A ULEZ For Heathrow
This article on fleetworld, from four years ago, is entitled Heathrow To Introduce Charging ULEZ In 2022.
It hasn’t happened, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be implemented in the future.
If it did happen, there would be more passengers for the Elizabeth Line.
The Elizabeth Line
I have written three posts about how busy the Western section of the Elizabeth Line can get.
- Very Busy Lizzie
- Elizabeth Line: Commuters Say Service ‘Not What Was Promised’
- So Many Cases On A Train!
Is there sufficient capacity to accommodate all the ULEZ-dodgers on the trains to and from Heathrow?
To make matters worse, there is a large Asian population from the Indian sub-continent living along the Elizabeth Line between Ealing Broadway and Reading.
- They seem to be enthusiastic users of the line.
- Having ridden several times on crowded Indian trains, perhaps using trains is very much part of South Asian culture.
- I also suspect that a lot of Indian families have spread themselves along the line, just like my mother’s close family spread themselves along the 107 bus route.
In Very Busy Lizzie, I said this.
Reading needs four tph to Central London.
The ULEZ will make this even more essential.
The Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly Line may be getting new trains, but it is not a line that is blessed with lots of step-free stations.
The West London Orbital Railway
It does appear that the West London Orbital Railway may be more likely to be built, than a few months ago.
In Is There Progress On The West London Orbital Railway?, I wrote about a report, that consultants were being chosen.
This railway could ease pressure on the railways in West London.
Cutting Pollution In London From Trucks
London like all big cities has a lot of trucks.
As the average truck has a much larger engine than the average car, I would suspect it gives out more pollution.
One way to cut pollution from large vehicles would be to run them on hydrogen.
But unlike some cities in the UK, London has no hydrogen policy and filling stations to fill them up.
The Mayor could at least get a workable hydrogen policy.
Conclusion
I suspect the next Mayor of London will have to have a rethink on the ULEZ and implement a hydrogen policy.
Was Baldrick An Essex Man?
I have been looking at Network Rail’s page for Beaulieu Park station.
This is the heading.
Network Rail and Essex County Council are working together to develop proposals for the first railway station to be built on the Great Eastern main line for over 100 years.
These two paragraphs outline the project and where the finance is being obtained.
The new station is part of a wider regeneration of the Beaulieu Park estate in Chelmsford with new road infrastructure and up to 14,000 homes.
Essex County Council, in partnership with Chelmsford City Council, successfully secured £218m of funding from the Government’s Housing and Infrastructure (HIF) fund together with £34m contributions from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership and the developers of Beaulieu, Countryside and L&Q.
These features of Beaulieu Park station are listed on the page.
- Three platforms with a central loop line and new tracks to enable stopping services to call at the station while allowing fast trains to pass through unimpeded
- Step free access to all platforms via 2 lifts
- Accessible toilets, baby change facilities, waiting area and space for retail/catering
- Ticketing facilities, with ticket vending machines and a gate line
- Pedestrian and cycle access routes to the station
- 500 spaces for cycle parking and storage
- A bus interchange including bus stands for local services
- Pick up and drop off area with dedicated taxi bays
- Parking for over 700 cars, 5% of which to be designated Blue Badge bays, and motorcycle spaces, as well as dedicated parking for station staff, emergency services, and a dedicated space for service access.
Note.
- How many other parkway stations, other than Ebbsfleet International station have 700 parking spaces?
- The parking at Whittlesford Parkway can only hold 377 vehicles.
- How many other parkway stations have an overtaking loop for faster trains?
Beaulieu Park is not your average parkway station!
I have a few thoughts.
Which Of The Current Services Will Call?
The Network Rail page says this about services.
It will provide additional access to the railway with regular connections to the capital (only 40 minutes from London Liverpool Street station) and other destinations in the east of England. New tracks will enable stopping services to call at the station while allowing fast trains to pass through unimpeded.
Note.
- Trains between London and Hatfield Peverel station typically take under forty minutes.
- Two fast trains per hour (tph) between Liverpool Street and Norwich via Colchester, Ipswich and Stowmarket pass through.
- Only one of the fast trains stops at Chelmsford.
- Four stopping tph, one to each of Braintree, Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester Town and Ipswich pass through.
If all the stopping trains stopped, Beaulieu Park would have the following services.
- Braintree – 1 tph
- Chelmsford – 4 tph
- Clacton-on-Sea – 1 tph
- Colchester – 3 tph
- Colchester Town – 1 tph
- Hatfield Peverel – 1 tph
- Ingatestone – 2 tph
- Ipswich – 1 tph
- Kelvedon – 2 tph
- London Liverpool Street – 4 tph
- Marks Tey – 2 tph
- Romford – 1 tph
- Shenfield – 3 tph
- Stratford – 4 tph
- Witham – 4 tph
All trains are new Class 720 electric trains.
I also feel, that Network Rail could be being cunning.
Suppose, the Liverpool Street and Norwich express, that doesn’t stop at Chelmsford, stopped instead at Beaulieu Park.
- This would give an hourly express service between Beaulieu Park and Norwich, which stopped at Colchester, Manningtree, Ipswich, Stowmarket and Diss.
- It would also enable two tph between Beaulieu Park and Ipswich.
The 700 parking spaces at Beaulieu Park now start to make sense.
- Both Ipswich and Norwich stations are within walking distance of the town centres and the football grounds.
- Ipswich station has a shuttle bus service to the town centre and the hospital.
- Both stations have several local train services.
Beaulieu Park station appears to have been designed as a Park-and-Ride station for the Great Eastern Main Line and all its branches.
Services To And From Lowestoft
In Making Sense Of The New East Anglia Franchise, I looked in detail at Greater Anglia’s promises.
In a section, which is entitled London – Lowestoft – Yarmouth Services, I said this.
There are going to be four direct services between London and Lowestoft each day. This probably initially means two trains to London in the morning peak and two trains back in the evening one.
When, I first moved back to Suffolk in the 1970s, I regularly caught a diesel-hauled train from Wickham Market to London for the day.
This is all motherhood and apple pie for those in Lowestoft wanting to go to London, but I suspect it isn’t the easiest service for a train operator to schedule efficiently and make money.
Would a train operator really want to start a full train at Lowestoft at say six in the morning and then have it wait around all day in London before returning in the evening?
The service hasn’t started.
Services To And From Cambridge Or Peterborough
At some time in the last decade, one of the predecessors of Greater Anglia, used to run a service to Peterborough via Colchester and Ipswich, so that travellers in Essex could catch trains to the North.
Given too that Cambridge has an employment problem, if a service was run, it might attract passengers.
The Class 755 trains Could Serve Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Lowestoft, Newmarket, Peterborough And Yarmouth
Consider.
- A pair of Class 755 trains would leave Liverpool Street.
- They would use electric power to run to Ipswich.
- The trains would run in one of the paths of the current hourly Ipswich service.
- Like their all electric siblings; the Class 745 trains, they would probably run most of the journey at near 100 mph.
- At Ipswich the trains would split.
- One train would go to on to Lowestoft and Yarmouth and the other would go to Cambridge and Peterborough.
If passenger numbers felt it was a good idea, I’m certain, it could be timetabled.
The Chelmsford Avoiding Line
In Will The Chelmsford Avoiding Line Be Rebuilt?, I described the avoiding line, that used to be between the two tracks at Chelmsford station.
It probably saved a few minutes, by allowing fast expresses to pass stopping trains.
Effectively, a new avoiding line is being built at Beaulieu Park, a few miles from the original position at Chelmsford.
So will the fast expresses save a few minutes?
Could The Elizabeth Line Run To Beaulieu Park?
Consider
- The end sections of the Elizabeth Line seem to be busy, as I wrote in Very Busy Lizzie.
- The City of Chelmsford is between Shenfield and Beaulieu Park.
- Paddington and Reading is 35.9 miles.
- Liverpool Street and Hatfield Peverel is 35.9 miles.
So Beaulieu Park is actually closer to London than Reading.
Perhaps, at some time in a few years, passenger traffic between Beaulieu Park and Shenfield will be such, that the Elizabeth Line will be extended to Beaulieu Park.
The ideal service from Beaulieu Park would surely be two tph to Heathrow, as getting to Heathrow from East Anglia by train needs a change at Liverpool Street.
The only drawback is that to work effectively on the Great Eastern Main Line, a sub-variant of the Class 345 trains will be needed with a 100 mph operating speed. I wrote about these trains in Extending The Elizabeth Line – High Speed Trains On The Elizabeth Line.
But they may have the advantage of being able to take the fast lines between Shenfield and Stratford.
Conclusion
Beaulieu Park may just look like any other station to serve a housing development.
But it’s a lot more than that!
- It’s a Park-and-Ride for the whole Great Eastern Main Line and London.
- It should speed up expresses between London and Colchester, Ipswich or Norwich.
- It should improve local connectivity.
- It could take a lot of traffic off the nearby A12.
- It could give the City of Chelmsford its own local metro.
- It could give Heathrow a direct link to much of Essex.
- How much carbon will be saved by passengers?
We need many more well thought out Park-and-Ride stations.
Riding The X140 Bus Between Heathrow Airport And Harrow Bus Station
I did this journey, which will be part of the Superloop, in better weather than yesterday, and was able to take these better pictures.
Note.
- The roads were much better than yesterday’s trip and were mostly two lanes each way, with large roundabouts at junctions.
- I suspect the bus was going at between 30 and 40 mph most of the way.
- There was still quite a lot of traffic.
- It is a distance of about 15 miles.
- The timetable says that buses run every 10-13 minutes.
- The X26 buses run between about six in the morning at midnight.
- There are twelve intermediate stops.
- Harrow-On-The-Hill station is next to Harrow Bus station.
- Heathrow Central connects to Heathrow Express, the Elizabeth and Piccadilly Lines.
- Hayes and Harlington connects to the Elizabeth Line and GWR’s local services.
- Northolt station connects to the Central Line.
- Northolt Park station connects to Chiltern.
- South Harrow station connects to the Piccadilly Line.
- Harrow-On-The-Hill connects to the Metropolitan Line and Chiltern
The journey took 49 minutes, which is only a minute longer than the timetable.
I have a few thoughts.
Passenger Numbers
These were my observations on my journey that started at about 11:30 on a dry day.
- Few got on at Heathrow Central, but I suspect we had just missed a bus.
- By Hayes & Harrington station, the bus was about a quarter full.
- At South Harrow station it must have been about three-quarters full.
- At Harrow bus station all the lower-deck seats were taken.
I would expect that the loading I saw fits with TfL’s expectations.
The Bus
The bus was one of the latest ADL battery-electric buses.
- It had a strong performance.
- It had wi-fi and phone charging.
- It was probably less than a year old.
- It was a lot better than yesterday’s bus!
At present not all buses on the route are battery-electric, as some are still older hybrids.
Travelling To Heathrow From The Northern Reaches Of The Metropolitan Line
Many people travel to and from Heathrow either for work or because they are flying.
- But it is not an easy journey from the Northern reaches of the Metropolitan Line.
- I believe the X26 bus could be a viable way to get to the airport for many.
- There would be a change at Harrow-on-the-Hill, but the station is at least step-free.
- It would avoid parking fees.
- Fares could be less than fuel costs.
The only big drawback, is that the X26 bus is not twenty-four hours.
More And More Frequent Buses Would Help
I believe that the Superloop should be a 24-hour service, as a lot of things go on at airports in the middle of the night.
I’ve just found out that there is an N140 bus that covers the route.
I also think, that as with the Overground, services should be at least four buses per hour.
West Croydon Bus Station – 28th March 2023
This morning I went to West Croydon Bus Station, to catch the X26 bus between West Croydon station and Heathrow Airport.
This was to investigate TfL’s Superloop.
I took these pictures of the bus station.
It was nice to see a well-designed bus station, that had been built to a high standard.
Could There Be An Elizabeth Line Extension To Grays?
This article on My London is entitled London Underground Tube Map: The Towns That Could Be Added To The Elizabeth Line As New Giant Loop Through London, Essex And Kent Is Proposed.
This paragraph described the proposal.
The proposal, which is part of its Vision 2050 local transport plan, would see the current Elizabeth line service from Romford take over the Overground branch to Emerson Park and Upminster, then join c2c services continuing via Chafford Hundred Lakeside to Tilbury. It would then head under a new tunnel beneath the Thames to Gravesend, connecting with the reintroduced Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International/Northfleet.
It’s certainly a bold idea and you can view the report to Thurrock Council here.
These are my thoughts.
The Frequency Of Trains
Currently, these services have a frequency of two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
- Romford and Upminster.
- Upminster and Tilbury Town.
It would seem sensible that this frequency is preserved, thus giving every station on the loop four tph to and from the Eastern End of the Central Tunnel at Whitechapel station. Two tph would go via Romford and Stratford and two tph would go via Ebbsfleet and Abbey Wood.
What Would Be The Western Terminal?
It would probably be the two busiest terminals in the West.
I suspect that these will be Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5
- Two tph would go between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5 via the loop.
- Two tph would go between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Heathrow Terminal4 via the loop.
- Two tph would go clockwise.
- Two tph would go anticlockwise.
I suspect the digital signalling can sort it out, just as it does the loop in Thameslink.
The Connection At Romford To The Romford and Upminster Line
Consider.
- The Romford and Upminster Line is single-track.
- A well-signalled single-track railway can handle two tph in both directions in an hour.
- Trains take five minutes to go between Romford and Emerson Park stations.
- Trains between Romford and Upminster will use Platform 5 at Romford station.
- Trains between Upminster and Romford will use Platform 4 at Romford station.
This map from cartometro shows the track layout at Romford station.
Note.
- The orange lines are the Overground tracks of the Romford and Upminster Line, which connects to Platform 1 in Romford station.
- The black and purple lines are the Elizabeth Line, which go through Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford station.
- The black lines are the fast lines of the Great Eastern Main Line, which go through Platforms 2 and 3 at Romford station.
- There is no connection between the Elizabeth Line and the Romford and Upminster Line.
I believe it is possible to build a single-track flyover or dive-under that connects both Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford station to the Romford and Upminster Line.
A similar double track flyover was built to connect the Barking Riverside branch to the main lines through Barking.
- But this track layout would only need to be single-track.
- I also suspect that there may not be enough space to put in a full double-track flyover.
- It would avoid the inconvenience and danger of using flat junctions to cross the fast lines of the Great Eastern Main Line.
As it only takes five minutes to go between Romford and Emerson Park stations, there is plenty of time to fit two tph in both directions in an hour.
Platform Extension In Platform 1 At Romford Station
Platforms 4 and 5 at Romford regularly take nine-car Class 345 trains, but I think that Platform 1 should be lengthened, to provide a bay platform on the route to help out when the service needs to recover.
Platform Extension At Emerson Park Station
The platform at Emerson Park station will need to be lengthened to take nine-car Class 345 trains.
Some commentators claim, that the passing loop at the station needs to be rebuilt. But I suspect, this isn’t needed as the expanded layout at Romford station effectively creates a passing loop.
The Connection At Upminster Between The Romford and Upminster Line And The Upminster And Tilbury Town Line
Consider.
- Both lines are single-track.
- But there is a passing loop at Ockenden station.
- There are three tracks between West Thurrock junction and Grays.
- Trains take five minutes to go between Emerson Park and Upminster stations.
- Trains take ten minutes to go between Upminster and Chafford Hundred stations.
- Trains take four minutes to go between Chafford Hundred and Grays stations.
- Trains take thirteen minutes to go between Upminster station and West Thurrock junction.
This map from cartometro shows the track layout at Upminster station.
Note.
- The orange lines are the Overground tracks of the Romford and Upminster Line, which connects to Platform 6 in Upminster station.
- The green lines are the District Line tracks that handle the services that terminate at Upminster station.
- The black lines are the c2c tracks between Fenchurch Street and Southend Central stations go through Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station.
- The Upminster and Tilbury Town Line leaves Upminster station in a South-Easterly direction.
- The Upminster and Tilbury Town Line connects to Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station.
I believe it is possible to build a single-track flyover or dive-under that connects both Platforms 1 and 2 at Upminster station to the Romford and Upminster Line.
This would connect the following.
- The Romford and Upminster Line to the the Upminster and Tilbury Town Line.
- The Romford and Upminster Line to the the Fenchurch Street and Southend Central Line.
Upminster station would be a much improved interchange.
Two tph Between Tilbury Town and Romford Stations
Consider.
- The route is fully electrified.
- The route is a mixture of single and double-track.
- There is a passing loop at Ockendon station.
- The platform at Emerson Park and possibly others may need to be extended to take nine-car Class 345 trains.
I believe single-track flyovers or dive-unders at Romford and Upminster stations would enable two tph on the route.
The only downside I can see, is that passengers going between Fenchurch Street and Chafford Hundred or Ockendon stations would need to change at Grays or Upminster stations.
Alternatively, they could take the Elizabeth Line, which would have a 4 tph direct service between the Central Tunnel of the line and Chafford Hundred and Ockendon stations.
Under The Thames
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the lines on the North bank of the Thames.
Note.
- The orange line is the double-track Tilbury Loop Line between Fenchurch Street and Southend Central stations.
- Tilbury Town station is in the North-West corner of the map.
- There is a proposal for a Tilbury Fort station in the North-East corner of the map.
- The blue arrow at the bottom of the map indicates the former Tilbury Riverside station, which is next to the London International Cruise Terminal.
I believe the North portal of the tunnel under the river could be at the site of the former Tilbury Riverside station.
Would it be an idea to rebuild the station and connect it to the cruise terminal, so that passengers on the cruise ships would have excellent access to Central London, Ebbsfleet International station for High Speed One and Heathrow Airport?
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the lines on the South bank of the Thames.
Note.
- Tilbury Town station, the former Tilbury Riverside Riverside station and the Tilbury Loop Line are in the North-East corner of the map.
- Gravesend station is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The wide orange line going vaguely North-South at the Western side of the map is High Speed One going through Ebbsfleet International station.
- Connecting Gravesend and Ebbsfleet International stations is the North Kent Line.
I suspect it would be possible to bore a tunnel from Tilbury Riverside, that passed under Gravesend station and joined the North Kent Line to the West of the station.
How Would The River Crossing Connect To Gravesend Station?
The platform or platforms on the Elizabeth Line Loop would have to be underground, as there is not much space at Gravesend station as these pictures show.
Note.
- Gravesend has SouthEastern HighSpeed services to St. Pancras International station and North-East Kent.
- The route to Gravesend has been safeguarded for the Elizabeth Line.
- The railway under the Thames could replace the Tilbury and Gravesend Ferry.
There also could be operational advantages in not terminating Elizabeth Line services at Gravesend.
Abbey Wood And Gravesend
In Elizabeth Line To Ebbsfleet Extension Could Cost £3.2 Billion, I looked at the Transport for the South East proposal for extending the Elizabeth Line to Kent.
This image from the Abbeywood2Ebbsfleet consultation, shows the proposal.
Note, that there doesn’t appear to be too much new infrastructure, except for a proper connection between Northfleet and Ebbsfleet stations. References on the Internet, say that the similar-sized Luton DART connection at Luton Airport, cost around £225 million, but we now know it was well upwards of that.
The TfSE proposal says that trains would terminate as follows.
- Abbey Wood – 4 tph
- Northfleet – 4 tph
- Gravesend – 4 tph
As space is limited at Gravesend and there is money for extending a railway service to a new Hoo station, I feel that proposing a two tph service to Hoo station would be a prudent action to take.
This would leave a handy two tph to take the loop back to Central London.
Could A Large Parkway Station Be Built Between Romford and Tilbury Riverside Stations?
Ebbsfleet International station, which is to the South-East of London, has 5,000 parking spaces and is the only large Park-and-Ride site around the capital.
Could another large Park-and-Ride site be opened on the Elizabeth Line North of the Thames?
One place could be at Chafford Hundred station and the nearby Lakeside Shopping Centre.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The M25 runs North-South up the Western side of the map.
- Chafford Hundred station is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The shopping centre is next to the station.
Last time I went, Lakeside was looking tired.
Timings To And From Whitechapel
These are estimated timings to and from Whitechapel.
- Romford – 26 mins – 81 mins
- Emerson Park – 31 mins – 76 mins
- Upminster – 35 mins – 72 mins
- Ockendon – 41 mins – 66 mins
- Chafford Hundred – 45 mins – 62 mins
- Grays – 49 mins – 58 mins
- Tilbury Town – 52 mins – 55 mins
- Tilbury Riverside – 58 mins – 49 mins
- Gravesend – 62 mins – 45 mins
- Northfleet – 65 mins – 42 mins
- Swanscombe – 68 mins – 39 mins
- Greenhithe for Bluewater – 71 mins – 36 mins
- Stone Crossing – 73 mins – 34 mins
- Dartford – 81 mins – 26 mins
- Slade Green – 86 mins – 21 mins
- Erith – 88 mins – 19 mins
- Belvedere – 89 mins – 18 mins
- Abbey Wood – 92 mins – 15 mins
Note.
- The times between Tilbury Town and Gravesend are my best estimates.
- All other times are taken from current services.
- The first time is the time to Whitechapel via Romford.
- The second time is the time to Whitechapel via Abbey Wood.
It does appear that the best times from all stations are under an hour.
Very Busy Lizzie
Yesterday, I took the Elizabeth Line, back from Reading to Moorgate.
- When, I got on at Reading, there were perhaps fifty empty seats and I was able to have three seats to myself.
- But by Slough, It was standing room only!
- It cleared a bit at Paddington, but by Moorgate there were only a few seats left.
Currently, there are two trains per hour (tph) between Abbey Wood and Reading stations.
As other passengers said it’s always busy, I suspect that Transport for London need to tweak the signalling, so that four tph run to Reading.
This section called Planned Service in the Wikipedia entry for the Elizabeth Line says this.
In May 2023, it is planned to allow trains to run from both eastern branches to west of Paddington. This will allow both more flexible, and higher frequency, services: 24 tph peak, 20 tph off-peak, and direct services between Shenfield and Heathrow. In the longer term, when Old Oak Common opens, all trains will serve Old Oak Common, with those not serving the Reading or Heathrow branches reversing there.
The service changes for May 2023 were confirmed in February 2023. The peak timetable will increase to 24 trains per hour. Off-peak service level will remain at 16 trains per hour, with two Shenfield–Paddington trains extended to Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 and two Abbey Wood–Terminal 5 trains switching to Terminal 4.
This will give an Off Peak schedule as follows.
- Reading and Abbey Wood – 2 tph
- Maidenhead and Abbey Wood – 2 tph
- Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood – 4 tph
- Heathrow Terminal 5 and Abbey Wood – 0 tph
- Heathrow Terminal 5 and Shenfield – 2 tph
- Paddington and Shenfield – 6 tph
I don’t believe it is good enough.
- There is no direct Heathrow Terminal 5 and Abbey Wood service.
- Reading needs four tph to Central London.
- See Elizabeth Line: Commuters Say Service ‘Not What Was Promised’
- See So Many Cases On A Train!
I suspect passenger congestion and reaction will force a rethink by the Mayor and Transport for London.
Elizabeth Line Sees 100 million Journeys Since May 2022
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These two paragraphs outline the figures.
More than 100 million journeys have been made on the Elizabeth line in its first eight months.
Since opening in May 2022, about 600,000 trips have been made every day across the line, which links Reading and Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood, Transport for London (TfL) said.
Note.
-
- There have been complaints, which I wrote about in Elizabeth Line: Commuters Say Service ‘Not What Was Promised’.
- I also tend to avoid trains to and from Heathrow, as I wrote about in So Many Cases On A Train!
But how do you know a train has come from Heathrow? Only because it’s full of cases.
Extending The Elizabeth Line – Connection To Southeastern High Speed One Services
The Two Stratford Stations
In this post, Stratford station is the station handling Greater Anglia and London Overground, Underground and Docklands Light Railway services, with Stratford International station handles High Speed services.
The Elizabeth Line And The Great Western Railway Services
One of the most important stations on the Elizabeth Line is Paddington, where it connects to the London terminus of the Great Western Railway.
I would expect that quite a few passengers going to the West and Wales on the Great Western Railway, will be transported to Paddington by the Elizabeth Line.
The Elizabeth Line And Greater Anglia Services
Another of the important stations on the Elizabeth Line is Liverpool Street, where the station is the London terminus of the Greater Anglia.
I would expect that quite a few passengers going to East Anglia on the Greater Anglia, will be transported to Liverpool Street by the Elizabeth Line.
Southeastern High Speed One Services
Southeastern runs some High Speed services on High Speed One to provide Kent with an improved service to London.
Current services are
- London St Pancras International to Ramsgate via Faversham.
- London St Pancras International to Ramsgate via Dover Priory.
- London St Pancras International to Margate via Canterbury West.
Note
- All trains are one train per hour (tph).
- All trains stop at Stratford International and Ebbsfleet International.
- All trains are run by 140 mph Class 395 trains.
There has also been talk of running a fourth service to Hastings and Eastbourne via Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International.
St. Pancras Station
All of these trains terminate in three platforms; 11 to 13 at St. Pancras International station.
St. Pancras is not the ideal terminal for the Southeastern High Speed services.
- St. Pancras is not on the Elizabeth Line.
- St.Pancras doesn’t have good connections to Heathrow.
- All connections to the Underground are a long walk.
- Eurostar services are a longer walk.
- East Midland services are also a longer route, with stairs and escalators for good measure.
St. Pancras station was designed by a committee, as a museum to Victorian architecture, rather than as a working station.
Ebbsfleet International Station Must Be The Largest Parkway Station In The UK
It holds nearly five thousand cars and it is served by Southeastern High Speed Services.
Thanet Parkway Station Will Open This Year
Thanet Parkway station is under construction.
- It will have nearly three hundred parking spaces.
- It will be served by Southeastern High Speed Services.
- It should open in May 2023.
This station will need a good connection to London.
Could An Interchange Between The Elizabeth Line And Southeastern High Speed Services Be Provided At Stratford?
Such an alternative interchange would be popular with passengers.
- The Elizabeth Line from Stratford currently serves the West End, the Northern section of the City of London, East London, Liverpool Street, Paddington and the West End directly.
- The Elizabeth Line from Stratford currently serves Canary Wharf, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Euston, Heathrow, King’s Cross. Reading, St. Pancras and Victoria with a change at Whitechapel.
- The Central Line, which shares platforms with the Elizabeth Line serves Bank and the West End directly.
- The Overground is easily accessed for travel across North London to Richmond.
- The Jubilee Line is easily accessed for travel to London Bridge, Waterloo and Westminster.
It would be connected to two large parkway stations and lots of parking all over Kent.
I believe that Stratford must be promoted as an alternative terminus for Southeastern High Speed Services.
Today, I walked both ways between two Stratford stations.
These pictures show the route I took between Stratford and Stratford International stations, through the Eastfield Shopping Centre.
Note.
- I went through the Shopping Centre.
- I passed Marks & Spencer’s large food hall, excellent toilets and a Food Court.
- By the Food Court is an exit that leads to an entrance to Stratford International station.
- The walk took about 10 minutes.
- It was vaguely level.
- Lifts by-passed the escalators.
- One thing that makes the journey to London easier, is to travel in the Eastern end of the train, as the lifts and escalators at Stratford International station, are at that end.
It does need some better signage, but they were doing a bit of refurbishment, so that may already be underway.
It could be a very high quality interchange and it is already better than St. Pancras.
Coming back I took the longer route outside the Shopping Centre.
Note.
- I just turned left out of the entrance, walked along the road and turned right past the bus station.
- If the weather had been colder or wetter, I’d have gone back via the Shopping Centre.
- The walk took about 12 minutes.
I think normally, I’d go back through the Shopping Centre, as there’s a Marks and Spencer Food Hall on the route and it’s slightly quicker and often warmer.
Could Stratford Station Be A London Superhub Station?
When you consider the stations connected to Stratford in London, East Anglia and Kent, it has an excellent collection.
- Airports – Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Southend and Stansted
- Cities – Cambridge, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and Southend-on-Sea
- London Main and Terminal Stations – Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Clapham Junction, Euston, Farringdon, King’s Cross, London Bridge, Liverpool Street, Marylebone, Moorgate, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo
- Major Areas – Canary Wharf, City of London, Hampstead, Olympic Park and West End
- Ports – Dover, Felixstowe, Folkestone and Harwich
You can even get a train to Slough, with a change at Whitechapel.
I would think it already is a London Superhub Station.
Extending The Elizabeth Line – Serving South-East London
The Inadequacies Of Abbey Wood Station
Abbey Wood station is the Elizabeth Line’s main terminus in South-East London.
The architecture is impressive, as the pictures taken before the station was finished show.
But other things are less than impressive.
- There is no station parking.
- Central London rail terminals served by Elizabeth Line services are only Liverpool Street/Moorgate and Paddington.
- Central London rail terminals served by National Rail services are Cannon Street, London Bridge, King’s Cross and St. Pancras.
In my view, Abbey Wood is a lost cause, as a commuter station, unless substantial parking is built at the station.
Parking At Stations In West Kent
This list shows the number of car parking spaces at stations in West Kent and South East London.
- Barnehurst – 162 *
- Belvedere – None *
- Bexleyheath – 83 *
- Chatham – 276 *
- Dartford – 186 *
- Ebbsfleet International – 4945 #
- Erith – None *
- Eynsford – 15
- Farningham Road – None
- Gillingham – 152 *
- Gravesend – 94 *
- Greenhithe – 8 *
- Longfield – 88
- Meopham – 167
- Northfleet – None *
- Plumstead – None *
- Rochester – None *
- St. Mary Cray – 31
- Slade Green – 25
- Sole Street – 61
- Stone Crossing – None *
- Strood – 112 *
- Swanley – 106
- Swanscombe – None *
- Welling – 117
Note.
- An asterisk (*) indicates direct trains to and from Abbey Wood station for the Elizabeth Line.
- An hash(#) indicates direct trains to and from Stratford International for the Elizabeth Line.
These figures are according to the National Rail web site.
It looks like unless you can walk to your nearest station and that has an easy connection to Abbey Wood, you’re probably better off going to Ebbsfleet and parking there.
Travelling Between Ebbsfleet International And The Elizabeth Line At Stratford International
Consider.
- Southeastern’s Highspeed service between Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International has a frequency of three trains per hour (tph)
- It takes less than twelve minutes between the two stations.
- It takes ten minutes to walk between Stratford International and Stratford Station for the Elizabeth Line and Greater Anglia services.
- There are eight Elizabeth Line tph to Paddington, calling at all stations. For Heathrow change at Whitechapel station.
Note.
- From these points, it should be possible to estimate the time you should park at Ebbsfleet to get to an event in London or East Anglia, if you live in Kent and are parking at Ebbsfleet International.
- I think four tph between Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International would make the route more attractive.
- If you’re going to Norwich or Ipswich be careful, as only one of the two tph stop at Stratford.
I catch the 12:30 from Liverpool Street for matches at Ipswich on Saturdays. This is the 12:38 from Stratford, so I suspect if you parked at parked at Ebbsfleet before 12:00, you’d make it.
Who’d have thought, that when they built the massive car parks at Ebbsfleet international, that they would be a Park-and-Ride for football at Ipswich. And Norwich too!
Changing Trains At Stratford
This map from Cartometro shows the two Stratford stations.
Note.
- The Elizabeth Line is shown in purple.
- The Central Line is shown in red.
- The Jubilee Line is shown in silver.
- The Overground is shown in orange.
- Lifts and escalators take passengers to and from the surface from between platforms 2 and 3 at Stratford International station.
Two pedestrian tunnels connect all the platforms in Stratford station.
- Elizabeth Line trains use platforms 5 and 8.
- Central Line trains use platforms 3, 3a and 6.
- Great Eastern Main Line trains use platforms 9, 9a and 10.
- Overground trains use platforms 1 and 2.
All platforms have lifts.
I suspect, that when you get to know the Stratford complex well, it’s easier than it looks.
But it does need better signage.
Full Step-Free Route Between Ebbsfleet And Heathrow Central
I have just used Transport for London’s Journey Planner, as if I was in a wheelchair and need full step-free access to go from Ebbsfleet to Heathrow Central.
This was the route.
- Southeastern to Stratford International station – 10 mins
- Walk to Stratford station – 21 mins
- Jubilee Line to Bond Street – 24 mins
- Bond Street to Heathrow Central – 32 mins
Note.
- The times are slower than say myself.
- I think it is possible to pick up the Elizabeth Line at Stratford.
But the route is certainly possible in a wheel-chair.
The Penge Interchange
This map from Cartometro shows where the East London Line of the London Overground and the Chatham Main Line between Victoria and Chatham cross in Penge.
Note.
- The East London Line runs North-South through Sydenham and Penge West stations.
- The Chatham Main Line runs through Penge East station.
There is a plan by Transport for London to create a Penge Interchange station on railway land, where the two lines cross.
- The station could replace Penge West and Penge East stations.
- It would be fully step-free.
- Interchange would be allowed between the East London Line and the Chatham Main Line.
This would increase connectivity for those travelling to and from South-East London and West Kent.
I brlieve that this one interchange could help level-up a large area of South-East London.
The Anonymous Widower 