Rail buffs treated to special ride on new Crossrail line

EXPENSIVE tickets, packed carriages and long delays mean train journeys can be a source of frustration for many travellers. 

But a man from Henley has been given the “privilege” of a cab ride on the yet-to-be-opened part of the Elizabeth Line.

Neil Gunnell, 64, of Blandy Road, became one of the first people to ride an Elizabeth Line train into the open air at Paddington, something the public won’t be able to do until November.

The Elizabeth Line, which was opened in May, currently allows passengers to travel from Reading to Paddington on the overground, before having to change to the underground to travel into central London.

But from November, passengers will not have to disembark the train on their way into central London and will instead stay on down into the tunnel at Paddington.

Neil, who has lived in Henley for 30 years and runs the train passenger support group Henley Trains, was joined for the journey by his friend and fellow member Chris Stallworthy, from Bix.

The pair were initially promised a cab ride in 2019 after meeting a Transport for London representative but the coronavirus pandemic meant this was delayed.

Then a fortnight ago Neil and Chris rode the train out of the tunnel to the turnaround point just outside Paddington, where they took photographs and discussed the train operation before standing behind the driver for the full journey through to Abbey Wood.

Neil said: “It was certainly a privilege to see this perspective and to ride on parts of the line not yet open to the public.

“It was one of the most interesting journeys from a railway operations perspective. Not many of us get to see a driver’s eye view on the regular railway lines and especially not at the peak of current technology. The trains are so automated that the driver only has to do two things — close the doors and press a start button.

“Even if the driver is taken ill, the train will automoatically continue to the next stop.”

Neil has always been interested in transport but it was buses that first captured his attention when he was a child.

Growing up in Brighton, he would watch the buses that ran past his primary school.

Later in life, he worked for British Airways for 26 years, where his interest shifted to planes.

Neil worked on the flight planning systems for BA, helping to organise when planes took off.

He said: “The skies are like busy motorways and if a plane misses its slot, it often cannot take off for another half hour.

“Trains are the same. You think trains just arrive and depart but a lot more things go on. Things go wrong if trains are not in the right place or running on time.”

Neil turned his interest to trains in 2006 when he started to commute to London for a new job as a business change consultant.

He said: “When I started commuting, it became swiftly apparent that commuters were facing disruption on a regular basis and when a commute is perhaps a two-hour journey from door to door, we can all do without that.

“Although we had some through- trains to London back then, it was fairly normal for evening through-trains to give up at Twyford when they were running late and their ‘window’ to get on and off the branch line disappeared.

“Actually, the through-train was overtaken by another so it was of limited benefit. The trains were not evenly spaced through the rush hour either.”

Neil formed Henley Trains in 2015 to help travellers and to develop a relationship with rail staff. Members have helped at Twyford station in times of disruption, greeted people at Henley station during the royal regatta and alerted commuters to disruption using Twitter.

Neil believes the changes to the Elizabeth Line will benefit many travellers.

He said: “This won’t change things much for rush-hour passengers as they often change at Paddington anyway.

“Instead it will benefit families and shoppers and allow them to easily get into central London. I have two grown-up children now but I remember how difficult it was to traipse through stations with young kids. Now people can access the museums and shops far more easily.”