Yesterday I received an email from Howard Smith, Director of Operations, TfL Rail. It said...
From Sunday 13 December, TfL Rail services to Heathrow will no longer stop at Acton Main Line. Customers travelling to Heathrow from this station should take a train to Hayes & Harlington and change there for a train to Heathrow.
I was surprised to receive it because I haven't been to Acton Main Line station since February, but the TfL targeted email service is a peculiar beast.
If you consult the new set of TfL Rail timetables you'll see Howard is correct. At present four trains an hour run between Paddington and Heathrow but from Saturday two are being cut back to Hayes & Harlington and these are the only two which stop at Acton Main Line.
It would have been more relevant if Howard had emailed me about the improved off-peak service on TfL Rail's eastern section. Currently only six trains an hour run between Liverpool Street and Shenfield during the day but from next week this goes up to eight. A similar increase will occur on weekday evenings and all day on Saturdays. Even better the Sunday afternoon frequency is shooting up from four trains an hour to eight. It's great to see the service stepping up in advance of Crossrail opening.
Speaking of which, TfL released an FoI request a couple of weeks ago revealing the intended frequencies of Crossrail services. What's more they've issued frequencies for various stages of the project, from disjoint TfL Rail sections to full-on purple nirvana.
Here are the intended numbers of off-peak trains per hour when Crossrail eventually opens.
Pa
LS
6
Sh
Re
2
12
4
6←
→12
He
AW
Core service, twelve trains an hour between Paddington and Abbey Wood. Completely separate out west, two trains an hour from Paddington to Reading and four to Heathrow Terminal 4. Completely separate out east, six trains an hour between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. I find this last number strange because, as we saw earlier, frequencies between Liverpool Street and Shenfield are going up to 8 on Saturday, but let's trust the FoI.
A particularly interesting snippet of information is that on Day One only the central section will be branded the Elizabeth line. The section west of Paddington and the line out to Shenfield will still be "marketed as TfL Rail". It makes sense, it'll stop passengers thinking trains run all the way through and it'll encourage them to change in the right place. But I bet it isn't what people are expecting, and won't it look interesting on the map?
A few months later, when the Shenfield branch is finally connected to the central section, the intended number of off-peak trains per hour increases.
Pa
LS
Re
2
?
Sh
4
6←
→?
16
He
AW
Nothing changes on the disconnected section out west. Elsewhere we're missing an important number because the service frequency between Shenfield and Paddington is still "to be confirmed". But we are told there'll be 16 trains an hour between Abbey Wood and Paddington off-peak, rising to a massive 24 at peak times. I reckon 16 and 24 sound implausibly high, given that the Abbey Wood trains will have to slot inbetween the Shenfield trains, so maybe don't trust the FoI on this completely.
The final stage involves connecting up the entire line through Paddington, probably some time in 2023. Here are the intended number of off-peak trains per hour once the project is complete.
Pa
LS
Re
4
10
Sh
6
10←
→20
10
He
AW
10 trains an hour will leave Shenfield and 10 will leave Abbey Wood, merging to provide 20 trains an hour through central London. One train every 3 minutes is a good off-peak service. Half of those 20 trains will terminate at Paddington and the other 10 will continue west through Ealing Broadway with 6 going to Heathrow and 4 heading for Berkshire. Of the six Heathrow trains, four are for Terminal 4 and two for Terminal 5. Of the four Berkshire trains, two will terminate at Maidenhead and only two will reach Reading. This is Crossrail's final off-peak state.
It'll be even better at peak times.
Pa
LS
4
Re
6
12
Sh
6
12←
→24
12
He
AW
Services on the two eastern branches are increased to one every five minutes, which means 24 trains an hour through central London. Additional trains will also run to/from Maidenhead and Reading, some "in the peak direction only". Finally 4 trains an hour will run overground between Liverpool Street and Gidea Park to improve capacity out east.
The service pattern will be simple at peak times, with all trains from Shenfield terminating at Paddington and all trains from Abbey Wood passing through to destinations out west. But it'll be a lot more complicated at off-peak times (for which read 'more convenient'), with Shenfield and Abbey Wood trains heading to Heathrow and Berkshire.
Remember that all this remains subject to change. Indeed when I last brought you a "here's what the service pattern is going to be" post back in 2016 the plans looked rather different.
But if you're down on the Crossrail platforms at Tottenham Court Road on a Saturday afternoon in 2024, expect the next train indicators to look something like this.
