Originally Posted by
Fairdealfrank
With all the changes going on, western access to LHR, crossrail, Great Western electrification, etc., it is likely that the franchises will need to be altered. Who knows if there will even be a Heathrow express in its present form.
Well HAL are absolutely determined it will continue in pretty much its present form, notwithstanding that it will become an irrelevant nonsense once Crossrail starts. HAL marked up huge costs against the construction of HEx, including some dubiously allocated to it, and is still looking for their excessive rate of return on this that the Spanish seem to want.
One of the many stupidities is that there will be far more Crossrail trains through Central London than will be going down the western arms of the system, so many of them will be turning round at Paddington. Meanwhile HEx will be starting from Paddington, to run out to Heathrow duplicating what Crossrail does at n (where n is quite a large number) times the fare. It will never be worth changing trains at Paddington between Crossrail and HEx, as the time taken changing to platforms at the opposite side of the station, buying fresh tickets, waiting for the next departure, and the inconvenience if with baggage/children/etc, will more than absorb the time spent waiting for the next through Crossrail.