Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Gunnersbury Overcrowding and the Sky Shuttle Bus | |
Posted by: | Richard Jennings | |
Date/Time: | 27/04/15 10:59:00 |
"A significant upgrade of the service once Crossrail is in place makes good sense." Is this on the assumption that Piccadilly trains will be less full because Crossrail will take up much of the Heathrow traffic? That might happen, though my understanding is that Crossrail won't serve Terminal 5, and will run every 15 minutes, compared to the Piccadilly which serves all terminals and runs every 5 minutes from T123. I doubt very much whether Piccadilly frequencies will be cut back after Crossrail starts, as the current 2½ minute service is under great pressure from increased demand generally. So the engineering and operational problem remains. In addition, the intention is to modify the existing Piccadilly trains to work with the new sub-surface signalling system on shared lines. That will mean taking out one or more trains from the fleet for modification over an extended period. Introducing a "significant upgrade" of the service in these circumstances looks unlikely, and I would be sceptical of any political decision taken as a pre-election stunt. |