please empty your brain below
Geoff Marshall discusses the dwell time issue with a senior Elizabeth Line driver in this video. The driver says that the issue (excluding Paddington) should have already been eliminated with the new timetable that has already come in. Hmmmm.

Dan | 07.12.22 - 7:08 a.m. | #

"This has supposedly improved circulation around the concourse and made it much easier for those alighting from trains to filter through to an exit."
This is the opposite of my limited experience where, on a Friday mid morning the concourse was heaving and the much clearer departures boards led to the crowd spreading across the whole concourse.

100andthirty | 07.12.22 - 7:15 a.m. | #

Two things about the Euston departure boards.

Firstly, why didn't they just replace the existing ones with the new ones? They were in a perfect position where they were before, visible from the concourse and the balcony, and with more screens, able to show more. With the two sets of boards showing duplicate information, there's likely more screens for less information (I admit, I have not counted). They are, alas, as you say, likely to change the old ones for a giant advertising board, as if we need more of that sort of thing.

Secondly, if they are anything like the ones at Victoria and Waterloo, they are far too bright and so difficult to read. The older ones are so much easier on the eye, show the info needed and nothing more (do they really need to be colour coded?) and much easier to read at a quick glance. Maybe just toning down the colour saturation and not using such a bright white might help if they insist on going this way (which I expect they are).

RG | 07.12.22 - 7:32 a.m. | #

Crossrail News, best read in the voice of Esther Pigeon, market researcher, employed by Sunshine Desserts.

JonF | 07.12.22 - 8:02 a.m. | #

Absolutely Jon F!

Tony Webster | 07.12.22 - 8:26 a.m. | #

manufactured and installed without any cost to TfL - probably, but I bet there was hours of TfL meetings discussing the design and locations before TfL gave its permission.

Dave C | 07.12.22 - 8:32 a.m. | #

RE: Pedestrians I sense that TfL were ready for that question! Hopefully it caused the questioner to think why they were asking!

Tom | 07.12.22 - 8:34 a.m. | #

IIRC, and it has been a while, Ealing Broadway to Paddington on national rail used to take about 8-10 minutes, so for this particular journey, Crossrail has slowed things down. Although the service is more frequent now, so I guess average total journey time will be decreased

Ian | 07.12.22 - 8:40 a.m. | #

On the Pedestrians News, I somehow wish that TfL had also pointed out that the pedestrian crossing lights at Trafalgar Square comprise way, way, way, way less than 2% of those in "the entire UK nation". Then thanked the bigoted caller for bringing this to their attention and announce that they will start a rollout of these lights across "the entire UK nation" and name them in his honour.

ST | 07.12.22 - 8:53 a.m. | #

I recall many years ago Euston and many other large stations used to have mechanical departure boards which made a loud clattering sound whenever the info on them changed..

Adrian | 07.12.22 - 8:57 a.m. | #

ST - The correspondent wasn’t talking about 2% of lights being gay and lesbian but 2% of the nation. Which is incorrect anyway as the ONS have it at 3.1% of the population identifying as LGB but only 93.6% identifying as straight/heterosexual so the LGB figure is likely higher than 3.1% anyway due to those who won’t admit it in the census and choose not to answer and those who decide to lie.

Jon | 07.12.22 - 9:04 a.m. | #

I was on a train from Hanwell to Liverpool Street yesterday (my first trip through the connection at Paddington) and had exactly the same experience. Maybe we were on the same train?

dg writes: no

Timbo | 07.12.22 - 9:12 a.m. | #

I travelled via Euston main line on Monday and I thought the concourse much easier to manoeuvre compared with using the replaced boards at the time I was travelling.
As far as the pedestrian item is concerned I think tfl as an inclusive organisation would not have spent much time discussing the issue so no money wasted there!!

Dave B | 07.12.22 - 9:41 a.m. | #

Ian - when I moved away from Ealing in 2008 the trains to Paddington took 10 mins if stopping at Acton or 8 mins if non-stop. There were 8 tph then, compared with 10 now, so the increase in frequency is not huge. I expect the benefits mostly accrue to those travelling beyond Paddington, as that can be a long interchange from train to tube, especially at busy times or if you are on the wrong part of the arriving train.

Ealing leaver | 07.12.22 - 9:44 a.m. | #

While TfL didn't pay, somebody did. I wonder who it was.

dg writes: Siemens.

David | 07.12.22 - 9:54 a.m. | #

The placing of the new generation boards at Waterloo is worse than the previous ones in that it is now almost impossible as a commuter to come out of the main tube exit alongside platform 19 and walk to your train without stopping.

Windsor lines passengers have it even worse as they can't be guaranteed that their trains are leaving from the old Eurostar platforms so don't know if it's a turn right or a turn left job.

Matters would be made easier by a simple video display screen on the walls between the tube barriers and the escalators. Network Rail told me they were looking into that more than 10 years ago! Strangely its proved possible at other stations.

ap | 07.12.22 - 10:24 a.m. | #

Cue FOI request to Siemens by bigoted shareholder asking why they are wasting their dividends, and the cost, on minority signal lenses.

scrumpy | 07.12.22 - 10:30 a.m. | #

The colour coding of trains makes a lot of sense - Manchester Piccadilly P15 and P16 use this well to keep people in the waiting area, and only release them to the platforms at a sensible time, to prevent overcrowding there.

Dubious about the positioning though, and the reduced size.

Mikey C | 07.12.22 - 10:31 a.m. | #

Are those LGB pedestrian lights virtue signals?

Kim | 07.12.22 - 10:40 a.m. | #

Bring back the Solari boards!

Jordan D | 07.12.22 - 11:35 a.m. | #

I have no issues with the diversity lights on a diversity or cost front, especially if it annoys bigots.

But I have to admit that I'm surprised they've lasted as long as they have, unless the lights have been physically changed since I was last there.

That's because the lamps or lenses used in that generation of pedestrian signals were much brighter towards the middle than the edge - fine when your symbol is a man with a see through body, less so when it's a symbol which is black in the middle.

Therefore I'm surprised someone hasn't made a fuss about safety, although this is presumably mitigated by it only being on the green phase of the signal.

Concerned of Hertfordshire | 07.12.22 - 11:56 a.m. | #

One good thing about the new boards at Waterloo is that before the pklatform is announced they do at least tell you which zone the train will be in, so you don't have a mad dash to one end or the other of the station when its finally called.

Timbo | 07.12.22 - 11:59 a.m. | #

This has moved the start line for the Euston Sprint. This happens LNWR announce the platform of a 4 coach rush hour train a minute before it is due to depart leading to a spectacular wildebeest migration like stampede as we all rush to try and get on. The single start line has now split. Sharper elbows may be needed (or you can just chance it and wait down by platforms 8-11 and hope your train starts from there...)

Euston Sprinter | 07.12.22 - 12:01 p.m. | #

Here’s some comparative dwell time info from opening week in May:
(Reddit)

Richard DeDomenici | Homepage | 07.12.22 - 12:53 p.m. | #

I do hope you turn your critique of the intentions of FoI petitioners into a regular feature.

Michael T | 07.12.22 - 1:15 p.m. | #

Paddington pause - people have perhaps forgotten the time it took to change between National Rail and Underground before Crossrail opened.

Pedestrian News - the alphabet community pay taxes too.

Still Anon | 07.12.22 - 1:28 p.m. | #

As long as the Solari boards aren't Polari boards, or the FoI questioner will be furious

John Styles | 07.12.22 - 2:11 p.m. | #

The FoI questioner is not wrong is he - stupid, pointless virtue-signalling gesture. Good that TfL nominally spent no money on it, ignoring staff time, but you genuinely sound like a bad parody of yourself calling him names

barbicanman | 07.12.22 - 4:28 p.m. | #

I too hope that your critique of FoI petitioners - especially those with malign intentions - becomes a regular feature.
It could perhaps replace the takedown of the poor folk employed in marketing stuff, of which nothing has been heard for a while.

Frank F | 07.12.22 - 5:18 p.m. | #

I hope the advent of the new Euston destionation boards will lead to stating the platform of departure a bit more promptly. It's tricky with a cycle, as you can't just jump in through any old door as the train is on the point of leaving - and the cycle space is generally at the far end of the train. If you speak nicely to the right person, they may tell you before it goes on the board, but it's a hit and miss affair.

cau1khead | 07.12.22 - 5:23 p.m. | #

How much "taxpayer's" money has the bigot wasted by entering a FoI request that someone had to attend to?

piemmepi | 07.12.22 - 5:33 p.m. | #

Polari boards - Bona!

I wonder whether the dwell time has been set to support passengers who are benefitting from accessibility principles that have been a core of new line delivery/station improvements. And for operational contingency to keep trains on time.

MilesT | 07.12.22 - 5:37 p.m. | #

Never mind all that, what about cul de sacs in Mitcham? Less trains, more London Borough of Merton please.

Arlu | 07.12.22 - 6:19 p.m. | #

If the crossrail trains spend all day going back and forth on the same track but take longer in one direction than the other, I can’t quite figure out how that works.

Kev | 07.12.22 - 7:48 p.m. | #

I must admit to having in my 70-odd years, never caught a train from Euston. But, as a passenger do I need to know which train is an Avanti and which is an LNWR? And how do I (or any non-Londoner) tell the difference between a long-distance train and a short(?) distance one? And for f's sake what is Overground? It's a train going to a destination so why are they (apparently) separated out on the display? The fact that it is (or isn't) branded as Overground seems quite irrelevant.

Alpine | 07.12.22 - 8:03 p.m. | #

...it can matter a lot if you have a ticket valid only for one flavour of train operator but you mistakenly board a train run by a different operator. If you encounter a ticket inspector you may find that you'll have to buy a non-discounted single fare (or even face a penalty fare) because you're considered to be travelling without a valid ticket.

The Overground is a suburban surface network run by Transport for London.

Gerry | 07.12.22 - 8:28 p.m. | #

They might as well cut Edinburgh Wav down to just Edinburgh - the only other plausible destination in that city is always known as just Haymarket

James | 07.12.22 - 9:58 p.m. | #

Thank you for your advice regarding our new departure boards at Euston, particularly to those of you who haven't seen them (or indeed been to the station).

Network Rail | 07.12.22 - 11:56 p.m. | #

According to annual ONS data on sexual orientation, in London in 2020:
* just under 90% of people identified as heterosexual or straight
* 2.9% as gay or lesbian
* 1.7% as bisexual
* 0.8% as other
* 5.2% don't know or refused to say.
So this "stunt" represents perhaps one person in twenty, possibly one person in ten, in London.

And there are around 6,000 sets of traffic lights in London.

Andrew | 08.12.22 - 1:19 p.m. | #

I unexpectedly found myself in Euston, Wednesday morning after the Watford Met line was suspended. One of the marvellous new display boards was blank (infant mortality?).

Used the Liz line from Paddington to Farringdon - most impressive with no dwell periods.

Nick K | 09.12.22 - 4:48 p.m. | #

Bring back the red WAIT and white CROSS NOW. So much more civilised than the US WALK, DONT WALK.

Kim | 11.12.22 - 10:02 p.m. | #

I used the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow to Ilford and it did the slowing down from Ealing Broadway coming into Paddington and then a long dwell time. Did feel annoying given the rest of the journey is quick. Still with two suitcases, one train and no long interchange all the way west to east is pretty handy

JH | 17.12.22 - 3:18 a.m. | #











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