The Anonymous Widower

Could St. Pancras Thameslink Station Have Had An Island Platform?

St. Pancras Thameslink station is in a big box under the western side of St. Pancras station.

St. Pancras Thameslink Station

The picture shows the inside of the station with the two tracks running between wide platforms and the access by escalators at the side of the platforms. The escalators are joined by a bridge which has further escalators to the main station concourse.

Although step free it is not the nicest of interchanges.

Consider.

1. Arriving Eurostar passengers must walk a hundred metres or so, then descend two escalators or lifts to get to a Thameslink platform.
2. Departing Eurostar passengers at least have a shorter walk after they ascend to the concourse.
3. Does the very independent Tante Dominique from Lille know whether she needs to go North or South on Thameslink to get to her nephew’s station of Sutton? This will get worse when the full Thameslink opens in 2018, as it will serve another 100 stations.
4. Linking to the South Eastern High Speed and East Midlands services, involves a further ascent from or descent to the main concourse.
5. To get to Kings Cross or the Underground, you have to walk across in one of two subways, which have steps and escalators at the St. Pancras end.
6. The subteranean link from the Victoria Line to Thameslink must be the longest in London.

As the rebuilding of St. Pancras was only started a few years ago, it is a tragic case of old outdated thinking, getting in the way of modern design rules.

If you look at the design of the Crossrail station at Canary Wharf, you’ll see that the two rail lines are separated by a large island platform with escalators in the centre of that platform.

One picture in the link is a cross section of the station, which clearly shows the train lines and the stack of escalator connected floors above.

It would seem to me that St. Pancras Thameslink could have been created as a long island platform, with one set of escalators at the current location leading directly to the concourse.

The station would of course need to have platform edge doors, but London has had these for years on the Jubilee Line. As from 2018, Thameslink will be a totally Class 700 railway, the fitting of the doors could surely have waited until after the new trains had arrived. Remember that there are many busy stations in London, that work well without platform edge doors.

The central island layout gives several advantages.

1. Several sets of escalators could be installed, as they will be at for instance at Canary Wharf. One could be at the Euston Road end and could speed passengers to and from that road, buses and the Metropolitan Line. Another could be in the centre to link directly to Eurostar and others might link across to the subways to Kings Cross.
2. Passengers changing direction would just walk across the platform.
3. It would be possible to add coffee stalls, toilets and other customer facilities as needs demanded.
4. The biggest advantage would probably be the improvement in the passenger environment, by separating passengers and trains. So a rather draughty unwelcoming station would have been light and airy and much more customer-friendly.

In my view a wonderful opportunity has been missed to create the best station in the world.

All we’ve got is a second rate interchange, that means a lot of up and down, and walking down endless subterranean passageways.

St. Pancras is very much a fur coat and no knickers station!

Show on top and draughty and lacking at the bottom!

August 13, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Canary Wharf Station, St. Pancras Station, Thameslink