Sainsburys Put Their Money On Crossrail
With the exception of the Tesco Extra at Goodmayes, the large Waitrose at West Ealing and the large Sainsburys at Whitechapel, Crossrail stations aren’t generally very close to large superstores, although at least nine are near to big shopping streets or centres.
As all stations and trains will be step-free, I’m surprised that we aren’t seeing more large supermarkets built close to stations.
But according to this article in the South London Press, Sainsburys have now opened a superstore by the Crossrail terminus at Abbey Wood.
Opening large supermarkets may be out of fashion, but I don’t think that the Abbey Wood Sainsburys will be the last on the line.
Abbey Wood Explained
In my post on Crossrail at Abbey Wood Station, I expressed some puzzlement on how it will all be arranged. I said this.
It’s still not totally clear to me, where the tracks and platforms will go in Abbey Wood station. But so long as Crossrail and its contractors know, who cares?
So I’m pleased to read a full explanation in this article in Rail Engineer. They say this about the layout at Abbey Wood station.
Under Crossrail, the two existing platforms will both be rebuilt as island platforms by having a track each installed on the ‘back side’ of them. The northerly island, currently the Down platform to Kent, will be the Crossrail terminus while the current Up platform will become the one for the North Kent line.
In this picture that I took from a footbridge to the East of the station, North is to the left.
So Crossrail will be the two lines on the left and the North Kent Line will be on the right.
It isn’t perfect, as it means there is no cross-platform interchange between the two lines.
If you read the article in Rail Engineer, all will be explained.
Crossrail Works At Abbey Wood Station
After taking the pictures from the Eynsham Road Bridge, I walked back to Abbey Road station taking pictures as I walked and crossed the line on a rusty footbridge.
As the pictures show, there’s not much left of the original station. On the other hand, the contractors seem to be doing a good job of rebuilding a station, which is still being fully used by passengers.
It’s still not totally clear to me, where the tracks and platforms will go in Abbey Wood station. But so long as Crossrail and its contractors know, who cares?
Crossrail Works From Eynsham Drive Bridge, Abbey Wood
Just to the East of Abbey Wood station a bridge carries Eynsham Drive over the North Kent Line and the new Crossrail tracks. This Google Earth image shows the area.
Eynsham Drive To Abbey Wood Station
I took these pictures of and from the road bridge.
The Crossrail tracks are the ones with no third conductor rail and they are on the North side.
Walking To The Eynsham Drive Bridge At Abbey Wood
My walk yesterday to take the pictures of Crossrail at Eynsham Drive and Abbey Wood station started at Plumstead station, where I crossed the High Street and then found the end of the Ridgeway, which is on top of the Southern Outfall Sewer. I took these pictures as I walked to Harrow Manor Way, that led into Abbey Wood, where I turned off into Eynsham Drive..
It is mostly, a typical estuarial industrial landscape with a quantity of uninspiring housing, although the space between the Ridgeway and the rail lines is going to be transformed, as Crossrail sidings are being built here.
You can understand why Stanley Kubrick shot Clockwork Orange in the area.
Track Laying At Abbey Wood
The Crossrail contractors have started laying the track between Abbey Wood station and the Plumstead portal.
The first picture was taken from the bridge at Abbey Wood station looking towards Plumstead shows the kink in the North Kent Line, as it shifts to the right.
It would appear that the new Abbey Wood station has two island platforms, with the one on the Southern side serving the existing North Kent Line and the other on the Northern side giving two platforms for Crossrail. So it looks like the current platforms 1 and 2, will become 2 and 3.
Correct me, if I’ve got this wrong!
It will be an interesting site to watch in the next few years.
Crossrail Build A Temporary Station
Crossrail don’t seem to do rubbish, as these pictures of the temporary station at Abbey Wood show.
It will probably be better without the rain and when they have finished the lifts. But how many times have you seen lifts in a temporary building. I’ve only seen them once befire and that was at the site of Crossrail’s Custom House station.
Before Crossrail – Abbey Wood
I was at Abbey Wood station today and took these pictures.
Note the terrible stairs down from the bus stop. Certainly this is a station that shows all the worst design features of the corporate British Rail non-architecture.
If you look at the design for the new Crossrail station, you can see the new footbridge in the images.
So could this footbridge be one of the first pieces of Crossrail infrastructure that passengers will use?
Abbey Wood To Get a Striking Station
Abbey Wood station in South East London is one of the termini of Crossrail. The drawings and concept have now been released and don’t look boring.
The best place to see the concept is here on the Fereday Pollard web site.
The Anonymous Widower 