The Anonymous Widower

Platform Action At Willesden Junction Station

As I came back from Watford, I had a choice of going all the way to Euston or changing onto the North London Line at Willesden Junction.

In the end I chose to do the latter, as I needed the toilet and I know that Willesden has one of the few toilets on the Overground. As ever it was clean and welcoming.

I couldn’t hope noticing though that there seemed to be substantial work in progress on the platform faces on the line through the station.

Platform Action At Willesden Junction Station

Normally, the platform extension work for the five-car trains is much less than this. Checking on Wikipedia, this is said.

In October 2014 the DC line was closed temporarily between Wembley Central and Queens Park reportedly to allow platform 2 to be extended further west as a through platform.

Platform 2 is on the left in the picture.

So it would appear that the Overground/Bakerloo lines to the South are getting an extra platform. Looking at the Google Map view of the area shows the layout.

Note the three platforms for the Bakerloo and Watford DC Lines at the left and the two North London Line platforms at the right. Just above these is the double-track link to the West Coast Main Line.

Could it be that London Overground are just making sure that all the work they are doing to make the Overground ready for five-car trains, they are future proofing as much as they can? This section in Wikipedia talks of a reorganisation of the Bakerloo Line and the Overground DC Line to Watford, so with all the uncertainty and variability around Old Oak Common, this is probably a good approach.

I think the only certainty is that anybody using the Overground or Bakerloo Line through Willesden Junction in ten years time will find the station very different, with probably more connections and longer and more frequent trains.

November 3, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | London Overground, Old Oak Common Station, Willesden Junction Station