For better or worse I'm a bit of a of a travel-nerd when it comes to my beloved AML, that is to say, I follow the discussion on some well informed blogs (https://www.londonreconnections.com/ and https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/ and occasionally others.) It seems the need for more trains at AML is known at TfL - hence the extra 2 in the morning. (Hanwell has a similar issue but is more complicated.) However fixing it - more trains - is complicated. The recent order for 10 more trains helps but the real problem is the timetable and the number of slots and timing. There needs to be safe gaps between trains, there are choke points and there needs to be platforms at the destination. (I'm even more nerdy here as I once worked on rail time tabling). To cut a long story short, this is unlikely to be fixed until the Heathrow Express is terminated. This would free up slots and platforms in the timetable which could be used for extra AML trains. But we can't just magic Heathrow Express away, it has a complicated history and Heathrow actually own the track. But, since the Lizzie opened numbers are down and there is a question as to its cashflow and future. The date to watch is 2028 when the current GWR-Heathrow contract expires. That might be the time the service dies, especially if Heathrow ever gets trains from Reading or Staines. By 2028 the new trains will have arrived and the timetable will be changing (or have changed) for Old Oak. 4 years away but that is nothing in Crossrail terms; it opened  14 years after parliament voted for it, 30 years after the first parliamentary bill and 80 from the original proposals to opening.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
ePetition for more service at Acton Main Line	21/08/24 11:29:00	Felix Le Corre
Re:ePetition for more service at Acton Main Line	22/08/24 18:15:00	Allan Kelly
Re:Re:ePetition for more service at Acton Main Line	24/08/24 07:17:00	Felix Le Corre

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