please empty your brain below
It’s probably an indication of when I’ve been travelling (weekends and rush hour) but my experience of the Elizabeth line so far has been “busy, busy, busy”. At many of these stations the two trains from different directions arrive almost simultaneously and the surge of disgorged passengers fills even these roomy corridors.

Dan | 05.06.22 - 7:10 a.m. | #

Thanks TFL, we walked miles before becoming aware due to the terrible signage that to continue west beyond Paddington required a plod across to the other side of the station.

We were pleased to be able to jump on a Reading train about to leave, only to realise as the train missed out various stations that there were variations to the stopping pattern.

Add to that that in our four journeys there were malfunctioning doors not opening each time we got off, and NOT on the end coaches!

dg writes: The doors issue is 4 years old.

Brian | 05.06.22 - 8:02 a.m. | #

I have yet to ride on Crossrail, it is easier for me to get a train into Waterloo which takes less than half an hour. When the Paddington section gets linked to the Central section I may catch a bus to Heathrow and take a ride into town on the new line, a much longer journey. For me Crossrail has no advantages unless it means more room on existing services

John | 05.06.22 - 8:31 a.m. | #

Re. the time display: Even simpler would be to just have the time in maximum-sized digits, without any superfluous introduction. I don't think many would misinterpret what "12:05" means here.

Anonymous | 05.06.22 - 8:47 a.m. | #

"20:23" more problematic, however.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 05.06.22 - 8:48 a.m. | #

I must be missing it -- what would "20:23" be confused with? (A solution to any possible confusion could be to add seconds that tick up as well.)

Anonymous | 05.06.22 - 8:50 a.m. | #

Following last week's experimentation with *not* touching out from the DLR at Custom House (twice), I pushed the science by not touching *in* to the DLR when changing from C2C at Limehouse - but then touching out as normal at the final destination. In all three cases the software was fine and charged the correct fare.

Quizzical Eyebrow | Homepage | 05.06.22 - 8:57 a.m. | #

The set-up at Paddington isn't really temporary, and signs or a purple stripe singling out the Lizzie line would be misleading. Because of the faster GWR trains it will be better for many journeys (and much quicker to Reading in particular) to carry on changing unless you've got settled in a particularly comfy seat. Decent "First train to..." signs would be good though.

Andrew S | 05.06.22 - 9:12 a.m. | #

I've only been on the Liz line once. I'd like to use it more often, but sadly most of my cross London journeys are north south!

Mikey C | 05.06.22 - 9:32 a.m. | #

Contactless managed fine when I changed at Farringdon from Crossrail to the northbound Thameslink. My first visit to the purple line, and all very large and empty on Saturday afternoon. No one there to warn me to validate, but I touched out at my destination and was charged appropriately. I can see there could have been problems if I’d gone further, where the gateline validators have not arrived yet.

Andrew | 05.06.22 - 9:37 a.m. | #

Does anyone know if the out of station interchanges between other stations and the lizzy line are in place??

dg writes: Yes, they are.

I went to Woolwich arsenal DLR and the customer service rep wasn’t sure if I’d get charged twice for switching to the Woolwich Liszt luxe

Bruce Wayne | 05.06.22 - 9:44 a.m. | #

Canary Wharf looks like something that was built in Eastern Europe during the 1970s

Hadders | 05.06.22 - 10:01 a.m. | #

I also experienced and was puzzled by a middle door not opening at Paddington main line on a convex curve, the outer doors being further from the platform with larger gaps. Yet the underground is riddled with far worse curves and huge gaps - Central at Bank, Northern at Embankment, Bakerloo at Piccadilly Circus, Met at Baker Street etc etc. Some of these have adverse cambers necessitating a jump and a climb (or drop) negotiable only by the fittest. Yet all the respective doors open.

Strabismus | 05.06.22 - 10:21 a.m. | #

Current time: I seem to remember that electric clocks using AC frequency for timekeeping is (or was) a thing. Perhaps the engineer commissioning the sign was having a larf. Pedantry so cutting edge it Hertz.

jpmac | 05.06.22 - 10:26 a.m. | #

I do wonder why there are permanent staff on the platforms of stations managed by London Underground as London Overground don’t provide their own CSAs at Kew Gardens, Harrow & Wealdstone etc. The existing LU staff could be trained on whatever simple tasks they have to perform.

Kim | 05.06.22 - 10:38 a.m. | #

With the current line in three sections, 5-minute intervals between trains, Bond Street closed and VERY long connections at some stations, I’ve yet to find any time savings on my regular journeys. Perhaps in the autum

Bakerloon | 05.06.22 - 10:44 a.m. | #

At Liverpool Street mainline station, I made the mistake of thinking that Network Rail had dedicated two screens on its huge departure boards to the Crossrail because they were edged in purple. It turns out the purple is reserved for special notices, with screens on the left edged in red (for east) and those on the right edged in blue (for west) – and they've been like this for years.

me again again again | 05.06.22 - 10:57 a.m. | #

I wonder if the crush on the Jubilee Line will ease once the Elizabeth Line link from Stratford goes straight through to the central section.

Philip | 05.06.22 - 11:02 a.m. | #

I managed Windsor to Mile End on Thursday in 45 mins changing at Slough, Paddington and Liverpool Street.

Kim | 05.06.22 - 11:04 a.m. | #

Other 'fun fact' - whether there are bins or not at platform level depends on whether the station is managed by MTR EL or London Underground.
Seems very odd that you can find bins at some, but not all stations!

James Scantlebury | 05.06.22 - 12:05 p.m. | #

Admittedly, I've not been travelling at peak times yet, but my experience has been a bit confusing - the stations are quiet, the platforms exceptionally so, which makes the trains seem surprisingly busy when you get on them. Perhaps everyone is getting onto the same carriages.

Generation X | 05.06.22 - 12:15 p.m. | #

Ah. Tried it for the first time yesterday just for the experience, and encountered those incorrect “not stopping train” announcements. But it was a good opportunity to exchange a raised eyebrow and shared smile with another passenger, and I’m always up for those. (And then I fell asleep on the train, so… thumbs up, I guess?)

MightyMouse | 05.06.22 - 12:30 p.m. | #

If heading north-east from the central core, to Stratford as your destination, I wonder if it is ever faster to stay on to Whitechapel, and change there and at Mile End?

Oliver O'Brien | 05.06.22 - 12:39 p.m. | #

We changed to the mainline station at Paddington on Saturday. The main indicator board on the concourse showed an Elizabeth line train leaving in 3 minutes from platform 12. We just made it despite our age. We were travelling only to West Drayton but we would probably go all the way to Reading on Elizabeth line as it will save us at least £9 return each trip with our Freedom Passes.

JohnC | 05.06.22 - 1:49 p.m. | #

Oliver - I think it probably would be as for people having to travel from canary to stratford and then Liverpool street and visa versa to get to canary wharf i can see this making a big difference as well as people coming form paddington to Canary. That will take a load off in my opnion.

I used to working in Reading when i lived east which was a mission as the cirle was too unreliable back then so district, jubilee or central then bakerloo then paddington , then reading every day (then a 20 min walk. No wonder i was knackered when i got to work

Bruce Wayne | 05.06.22 - 3:07 p.m. | #

Another quirk of that vast mezzanine at Canary Wharf is that the lifts to platform level are carried in two central shafts, where if you find yourself on the non-door side in that enormous concourse it isn't at all obvious where the lifts have been hidden as those shafts just look like enormous pillars. Signage is, again, found wanting; and never mind that the cost of designing access from both sides would have been trifling.

Michael T | 05.06.22 - 3:17 p.m. | #

The Thameslink connection with Farringdon is a very nice. Suddenly I can get an entirely aircon trip into town, and the change between lines is really quick too. Will definitely be my preferred airport route as well when it's all linked up. Now if only there were more than two Thameslinks an hour on the Sutton loop.

MK | 06.06.22 - 1:07 a.m. | #

Regarding the display of time on the in-carriage displays, it is worth comparing them to the (actually newer and very similar) class 710s on the Overground which I do it better.

Dan | 06.06.22 - 6:11 a.m. | #

The incline lift at the Liverpool Street ticket hall was already out of service yesterday. That would be a very long wheel round to Moorgate for anyone who didn't know about it in advance.

martin | 06.06.22 - 7:16 a.m. | #

Went to TCR on Wednesday, and I was amazed how quiet it was - not in terms of numbers of people, although it wasn't packed by any stretch of the imagination; but rather how little sound there was. Eery. I wondered if the stations walls have some sort of acoustic dampening effect.

Brad | 06.06.22 - 10:55 a.m. | #

Having travelled on the Liz Line several times now, I'm puzzled how TfL know which route I take (Central H&C among others) as I touch in/out at common gatelines where Liz and other Lines both serve.

Does TfL measure elapsed time, allowing for long traipses between gatelines and platforms? May not be a good guide as some classic tube routes entry to exit may still be quicker than Liz's Luvly Trains.

Joel | 06.06.22 - 2:19 p.m. | #

At least the time display is not sponsored like some sources of time over the years (maybe a lost advertisement opportunity, TfL needs all the pennies it can get)

MilesT | 05.07.22 - 11:02 a.m. | #











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