Lea Bridge Station – 8th July 2015
I took these pictures from a train going past the site of Lea Bridge station.
They’ve certainly put up a load of fences, but not much else.
The Site Of The Hall Farm Curve
I was travelling north on the Lea Valley Line and just before arrival at Tottenham Hale station, I took these pictures of the site of the Hall Farm Curve.
The Class 315 or 317 train in the last picture is a Chingford Branch train on its way to Hackney Downs and Liverpool Street stations.
This Google Map shows the Lea Valley Line from where the Chingford Branch crosses over the top to Lea Bridge station.
Hall Farm Curve And Lea Bridge Station
The scar of the old Hall Farm Curve connecting the two lines clearly shows.
Note the new Lea Bridge station will be built, where the Lea Valley Line crosses Lea Bridge Road.
Should London Take A Leaf Out Of Syriza’s Rule Book?
Tomorrow and Thursday in London, the Underground is on strike.
The strike is to try and get a greater increase in salary to work the new Night Tube, when it opens in September.
If I was Boris, I’d call a referendum with this question.
Do the residents and visitors to London want a night Underground service on Friday and Saturday?
I certainly do! But then the Unions want to rerun the 2015 General Election, where the electorate didn’t like the Labour Party.
Obviously, if it’s a No! vote, then the Mayor and Transport for London would drop the idea of the Night Tube.
Crossrail Station Index
My post on Custom House station got me asking the question – In how many Crossrail stations, will there be a central island platform with two platform faces or a shared area possibly with platform edge doors serving both lines, rather than two separate platforms with the tracks together in the middle?
Crossrail is effectively a two-track railway and only a few stations have more than two platforms that will be used by Crossrail trains.
This is an index of all Crossrail stations, with links to their page on the Crossrail web site and Wikipedia.
Note that at present not all stations, have their own page on the Crossrail web site.
Abbey Wood Station – An existing station with two new Crossrail platforms. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Acton Main Line – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Bond Street – A new two-platform station with possibly a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Brentwood – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Burnham – An existing two-platform station with an island platform. Crossrail Wikipedia
Canary Wharf – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Chadwell Heath – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Custom House – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Ealing Broadway Station – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Crossrail Wikipedia
Farringdon – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Forest Gate – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Gidea Park – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Goodmayes – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Hanwell – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Harold Wood – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Hayes and Harlington – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Crossrail Wikipedia
Ilford – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Iver – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Langley – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Crossrail Wikipedia
Liverpool Street – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Maidenhead – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Manor Park – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Maryland – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Old Oak Common – A new station to be designed and built after Crossrail is completed. Wikipedia
Paddington – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Reading – A large existing station, which has been future-proofed to act as a terminal for Crossrail. Wikipedia
Romford – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Seven Kings – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Shenfield – An existing station with three separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Slough – A large existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Southall – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Wikipedia
Stratford – A large existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Taplow – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Crossrail Wikipedia
Tottenham Court Road – A new two-platform station with possibly a shared area between them. Crossrail Wikipedia
Twyford – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
West Drayton – An existing station with two/three separate Crossrail platforms and bridge/subway transfer. Crossrail Wikipedia
West Ealing – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Wikipedia
Whitechapel – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Woolwich – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Custom House Station – 5th July 2015
Custom House station has been progressing and now even has some glass in the windows.
You can also see that the Crossrail trains will go either side of the central building. It now appears that this is the preferred way to design a new station.
At Custom House station it will mean that passengers arriving at the station from Excel or on the DLR, would appear to go to the same platform, which will have two faces; one for Central London and one for Kent.
When you consider that London Underground deep-level stations since the 1930s have been designed this way with a central platform, it puzzles me, why we have such uninspiring recent station designs like the Thameslink platforms at St. Pancras.
Where you have a two-track railway, the layout must be more affordable, as you only need one set of lifts/escalators/stairs and other services.
On the other hand, you need a bridge over the tracks or a subway beneath them, where the railway is on the surface. Obviously in some places the geography of the area, will make this easier. For example if a station is in a cutting or there is a road bridge.
At Custom House a large proportion of passengers will arrive at First Floor level either from Excel or after taking a short escalator up from the DLR, so there will only need to be access from the street up to the First Floor circulation area, from where I took these pictures. At present the DLR uses steps and a lift. I’m sure the completed station will use an elegant solution with probably escalators instead of stairs.
A Circular Walk From Royal Oak Station
When I wrote about my last visit to Royal Oak and the Westbourne Park Footbridge in October last year, I said this.
It will be fascinating to go back here, to see the area, as the railway and its infrastructure progresses.
So this morning, I went back and took these pictures, to see if they could add to what I saw yesterday.
Things have moved on apace.
1. Royal Oak station is no longer the rusting ruin it was last year and all of the glass is now clear and immaculate.
2. Crossrail has also dropped the height of the blue security fence, which means tall people can get good pictures of the Crossrail site from the platform of Royal Oak station.
3. It is now clear that the arches support the slip road up to the Westway and that they may have once supported an old railway line.
4. I was pleased to see the lith-style information displayed in a poster. It must help with putting information in places, which are too small or not suitable for a full size lith. It all goes to show how good, Legible London is.
According to Wikipedia, it is now the world’s largest pedestrian wayfinding project. So if Ipswich can have one, why can’t any number of important capital and tourist cities.
5. Crossrail’s Royal Oak Portal is now clearly visible from the Westbourne Park Footbridge and the pictures show what a tight squeeze the double-track railway is between the Westway and the Metropolitan Line.
6. I don’t think it will be long before they start laying track, as this will make it easier to get men and materials in and out of the tunnels.
7. I have read that between the portal and the existing bus garage, the area will be used to store trains and also turn back those running to Paddington. The bus garage extension is being built over the sidings.
Crossrail is certainly coming together in Westbourne Park, where it squeezes between the Westway and the Great Western Main Line.
Crossrail’s Royal Oak Portal
Unlike the Crossrail tunnel portals at Abbey Wood and Stratford, the portal at Royal Oak is rather hidden away under the Westway, with no suitable vantage point to see the site. This Google Map shows the tunnel portal from Royal Oak station to the footbridge at Westbourne Park, where I took these pictures.
Royal Oak Tunnel Portal
It shows the cramped nature of the site, which is just 21m. wide. This is an enlarged image of the ramp leading down to the start of the tunnel under London.
An Enlarged View
The only pictures I can find on the web with a proper explanation are in this article on the London Reconnections web site. In that article a picture is labelled as the remains of the arches and they are shown under the Westway and facing South. They are probably the arches in these pictures I took from the train.
I am not sure, but it looks like the arches support the access ramp that lead up to the Westway. But they are not shown in this architectural drawing from Acanthus, which shows the area around the Ventilation shaft they have designed for Crossrail.
Crossrail Ventilation Shaft By Acanthus
This Google Map shows the current access with relation to the two bridges and Royal Oak station.
Access To The Westway
Note the long pipes, which I assume are either covering conveyors that remove the spoil for the tunnels or are to there to pump fresh air into the tunnels.
The station has recently been renovated, but once Crossrail is complete to the North of the station, are we going to see a comprehensive redevelopment of the area.
All will be revealed in time.
Extending Westbourne Park Bus Garage
I have noticed this structure grow over the last few months and have wandered what it is.
It now looks like it might be the extension to the bus parking area talked about in this article on Tower Transit in Wikipedia. This is said.
A new 180m bus parking area is to be built on a raised platform over railway lines as part of the Crossrail project.
This Google Map shows the garage squeezed under the Westway.
Westbourne Park Bus Garage
I think the Google Map was taken some time ago, as all that appears visible is probably the foundations furthest away from the bus garage.
It’s probably a sensible use for the site, where no-one would probably want to live sandwiched between the Westway and the Great Western Main Line.
It’s also a very good way of using the air space over the railway to effectively create new land.
Southall Station – 4th July 2015
These pictures were taken at Southall station.
Ealing Council has also given planning permission for the new station and also for West Ealing station as is reported in this article on rail.co.uk.
White Rails On The Great Western Main Line
On my trip today to see take pictures at West Ealing and Southall stations, I was also looking for the white rails,I spoke about in this article.
These pictures are just a few of many.
The Anonymous Widower 