I don't know about you but I've ridden it every day it's been open.
Paddington
If you need to transfer from Purple Downstairs to Purple Upstairs, it's really clear which way to go until you reach the mainline station and then you're thrown in with all the other passengers. It doesn't help that platform 11 isn't in the same place as platforms 12 and 14, and once you get that far it's not easy to tell which train's leaving next and whether it's skipping any stations. Obviously there's no urgency to improve signage because this set-up is only temporary until the autumn, but if they can put sticky tape on the floor leading to Taxis, the Heathrow Express and the Hammersmith & City, an extra purple stripe wouldn't go amiss.
»»» The on-board display sometimes tells you what time it is, which is nice. But the message says "The current time is..." and it could just say "The time is..." because the word "current" is entirely superfluous. It must be the current time because there'd be no point telling us what the time used to be or was going to be. Even if you're a temporal pedant the use of the present tense in "The time is..." would be perfectly sufficient, but instead someone's insisted on an extra pointless word.
Bond Street
The one station that would actually have been geographically useful on Jubilee Weekend is still nowhere near ready. An Elizabethan opportunity wasted.
»»» At Underground stations there are usually roundels on the platforms AND on the walls beside the track to help you work out which station you've arrived at. On Crossrail they're only on the platforms because the lineside walls are blank, making it just a bit harder to know where you are. And in associated news...
Crossrail platforms are mostly advert-free but electronic display panels have been sited between certain sets of doors in the platform-edge wall. If you're sitting aboard the train these line up almost precisely with the windows as the train glides to a halt, especially alongside the nice forward-facing seats where the panel almost perfectly blocks the view. Expect to spend a minute staring at the back of a featureless advertising panel rather than being able to see what the name of the station is.
Tottenham Court Road
I really am going to write a post called The Evil Arrows of Tottenham Court Road. It's so easy to get to the escalators before the sheep.
»»» Yesterday morning the entire 'Next Train' system along the central section went down, so the displays above the doors were blank and staff had to make announcements based on expected times of arrival. Embarrassingly, just before each train arrived an automated announcement said "The train now approaching Platform A does not stop here", when obviously it did. And worse it continued "Please stand well clear of the edge of Platform A", when there was an ACTUAL GLASS WALL between the platform and the train and it was perfectly safe to stand as close as you liked.
Farringdon
The platforms are so long that if you sit in the rear carriage, it takes over 20 seconds between the train starting to accelerate and finally entering the tunnel at the far end.
»»» Further unnecessary messages: "This station is now served by the Elizabeth line"
Yes I know, I'm on the Elizabeth line platforms. I couldn't possibly be down here if it wasn't open, I've either made a deliberate choice to come down here or I've just arrived on one of the Elizabeth line trains. Admittedly there is a case for playing this message elsewhere in the station, somewhere upstairs, but for goodness' sake switch it off down here.
Liverpool Street
It's worth remembering that however many times something's been explained to the public, many of them still won't have noticed. Down on the eastbound platform an elderly couple approached a member of staff and asked "So how do we get to Stratford?" He explained that they needed to go up to the mainline station and their response was "Oh so they haven't linked it up yet?", because they hadn't twigged. Full marks to the member of staff for their clarity and patience, and wider ignorance means they're going to be doing a lot more of this.
»»» The stations are so large that they really don't feel busy at all. Maybe they're genuinely not.
Whitechapel
Every five minutes a few poor unfortunates alight at the non-escalator end of the platform, and after they've hiked off it goes back to being deathly quiet, with just a very bored member of staff sitting on the far benches by the emergency stairs and contemplating her life choices.
»»» Further unnecessary messages: "Customers should take extra care on the wet floors"
The floors are not wet, we're several metres underground, the rain cannot get in. Indeed nobody on this platform has been outside in the last three minutes, plus it's not actually raining and it hasn't rained in the last couple of hours. Sure the forecast is for showers but for goodness sake don't just play these messages for the sake of it.
Canary Wharf
The entire intermediate level at Canary Wharf feels like a wasted opportunity - no art, no 'wow', not even a tawdry coffee kiosk, just a drab expanse to be walked across. Admittedly you don't normally see roundels somewhere that's not a platform, but Tottenham Court Road has those too so it's not unique.
»»» I caught the Jubilee line afterwards and it was still absolutely packed.
Custom House
I went back to see if they've fixed the validator-free interchange problem and seemingly not. They're still broadcasting a message that says "To continue your journey on the Elizabeth line make sure you touch out at the main entrance of the DLR station", but they're playing it on the Crossrail platform and by the time you get there it's too late. When I initially arrived on the DLR platform, nothing at all. At the top of the escalators, nothing at all (not even the sign that was there last week). When I walked through the barriers, nothing at all (the member of staff standing alongside didn't blink, even as the display flashed up ENTER because I hadn't officially exited). It would help if the signs on the DLR platform directed passengers via the correct choice of exit - that's stairs rather than escalators - but the exit signs are electronic arrows and they're all switched off so they're no help either. Eleven days on and no solutions.
»»» Today's the only Sunday you can ride the central section for months to come, so best make the most of it.
