Crossrail testing is up to 12 trains per hour
Crossrail have revealed that as expected train testing through the core between Paddington and Abbey Wood has increased to 12 trains per hour.
Trial running commenced in May 2021 with four trains per hour and will ramp up to 24.
After trial running comes trial operations when volunteers and TfL staff will travel on trains to test the system.
In recent days a number of stories about overall progress have been around. One is that Crossrail may open the overall network quicker the recent 2023 date.
This impacts the eastern branch to Shenfield and western section to Reading and Heathrow.
The first section due to open – Abbey Wood to Paddington – has not seen any speeding up, and in fact a new software update has pushed progress back as covered in recent days.
That doesn’t mean the first half of 2022 will be missed for the core section from Abbey Wood to Paddington – which is a very wide ranging target – but could mean it’s more the latter half of that period rather than the beginning.
February 2022 has been given as a likely date for Abbey Wood/Paddington.
The next stage has been revised with trains running from Reading and Heathrow to Abbey Wood. Then Shenfield to Paddington Low Level.