Back in May the Elizabeth line officially opened, but with a limited service and operating as three separate lines. On SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022 through trains will begin to operate from Reading through central London to Abbey Wood. This event celebrates this stage.
We Geocachers like trains. We'll meet on Station Hill close to the Three Guineas pub (former station entrance and ticket hall when the CO was a kid!). This is a public area and not within the station hub.
There's no requirement to buy a ticket to attend this event... however, if you intend to travel on the line or any other rail service then it is your responsibility to purchase a suitable ticket or obtain a permit to travel.
After the event, the CO and some cachers hope to take the Purple Train all the way to Abbey Wood. You'll be most welcome to join the ongoing party, subject to tickets as mentioned above. Our train leaves platform 14 at 12:24 with an 85 minute journey to Abbey Wood.
For information, an adult Reading to London all-zones off-peak Travelcard (which includes services to ABW) is around £28 (or £18.45 with a typical 1/3 off railcard such as a Network or Senior railcard.
Also, Reading is not within the London Oyster zone but you can travel contactless between RDG and London. An off-peak return ticket between Reading and West Drayton with a suitable rail card is around £9. Please do your own homework. tfl.gov.uk and nationalrail.co.uk are useful resources.
If you haven't had a go at it yet, there's an Elizabeth line Adventure Lab in London, all locations of which are at street level without crossing the gateline, so it's theoretically possible to do without taking any journey on a new purple train; however, that won't be quite as fun!
PS - Please do come wearing something PURPLE !
To see the Ad Lab - go to Ad Lab page
About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found at the SideTracked Website
CAVEAT - Train Strikes - we'll keep you posted if there's something which affects the day.
#purpletrain