Proposal to increase off-peak Crossrail frequencies
With around 18 months until Crossrail services are due to begin between Paddington and Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf and Woolwich, plans are revealed to increase off-peak frequencies as shown in the latest TfL board papers.
As can be seen, this is an increase of four trains an hour in the core and two towards each eastern branch, giving a rise from eight to ten an hour to Abbey Wood and the same on the other branch to Shenfield (which opens later in 2019).
Eight an hour did seem a little low. That’s the same level of off-peak service that Abbey Wood and Woolwich Arsenal receive off-peak from Southeastern now – people would expect a shiny new £15 billion line to better that.
To achieve this aim four additional trains will need to be ordered.
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For comparison, the capacity of a crossrail train: 1500 passengers;
For a 12 car 465, just over 1000.
Will all the Crossrail trains be the same length? Of course the Networker trains are seldom ever 12 cars.
I was debating with someone today whether the peak time London bound trains will have available seats when they pull into Woolwich or will they fill up at Abbey Wood (just as the DLR gets full at Woolwich A in the morning).
They will all be 9 carriages initially in 2018. The platforms are built to take 11 eventually. Most seats will be tube like with some facing each other. I think many if not all will be taken by the time it leaves Woolwich within about 5 years. One thing that may stop people changing from SE trains when coming from Kent (if going to the City) is that SE trains should be faster when London Bridge rebuild is complete. Add in the non platform interchange time at Abbey Wood (walking over a tall bridge as minimal escalators I believe and then waiting to depart) would negate much time advantage and maybe lessen chances of a seat. Plus, many prefer sitting so they can look out which Crossrail will not provide many seats to do so.