Bank Station – 16th September 2022
On August 13th, I wrote What Goes Up Must Come Down, where I described the crane coming down over the new Bank station entrance on Cannon Street.
The triangular site, that lies between Cannon and King William Streets, has now been opened up for development, as these pictures show.
Note.
- I took the pictures from the top of a 141 bus, that was going to London Bridge station.
- It is going to be a large block on top of the station.
- Do the pictures indicate retail or further station entrances along King William Street?
- This development must help in the financing of the massive Bank Station Upgrade.
This is the last picture, shown to a larger scale.
On the end of the lowest level of the portable offices, you can just about make out a sign indicating a ladies toilet.
Is this the most inaccessible ladies toilet in London? Or even the world?
A Design Crime – Platform-To-Train Access On The Northern Line At Bank Station
These four pictures show the platform-to-train access on the Northern Line at Bank station.
Note.
- The first two pictures are the new Southbound platform.
- The last two pictures are the Northbound platform.
- The other pictures show the wide and level walkways between the two platforms.
The Southbound platform has level platform-to-train access, but the old Northbound platform does not!
That constitutes a design crime in my book.
HS2 Completes First Tunnel Cross Passages
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from High Speed Two.
This is the first paragraph.
As the tunnelling machines under the Chilterns approach the four-mile mark, HS2 completes the first of thirty-eight underground connections between the northbound and southbound tunnels.
This video from High Speed Two, shows the construction of the cross tunnels.
There appears to have been a resurgence of traditional tunneling methods, albeit it with the assistance of modern mechanised tools.
In London recently, these tunnels have been dug without the use of expensive tunnel boring machines.
- The running and station tunnels for the Bank Station Upgrade.
- The tunnel for the Paddington Bakerloo Line Link.
I suspect there will a lot more dug traditionally in the future.
Bank And Moorgate
The map from cartometro.com shows the plethora of lines at Moorgate and Bank stations.
Note.
- Moorgate station is served by the Circle, Elizabeth, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern and Northern City Lines.
- Bank station is served by the Central, Circle, District, Northern and Waterloo & City Lines.
- Bank station is also one terminus of the DLR.
I believe it would be possible to dig a long pedestrian tunnel with a travelator, between Moorgate and Bank stations under Moorgate, which connects the two stations.
City Thameslink Station And St. Paul’s
I discussed this in A Pedestrian Connection Between City Thameslink Station And St. Paul’s Tube Station.
What Goes Up Must Come Down
This morning, I went for a walk in the City, with the aim of looking at progress on the new Southern entrance to Bank station.
I took these pictures, where they were dismantling the main crane on the Bank station site.
Does this dismantling mean that the main work is coming to an end?
One of the guys, I spoke to said that the station would be finished by the end of the year.
I also took this picture from the Northernmost cross tunnel between the two Northern Line platforms.
Note the Way Out sign behind the hoarding, which also shows Central Line straight on. This looks like it could be the start of the travelator to the Central Line.
Bank Station Upgrade – 1st July 2022
I walked past the new Southern entrance to Bank station today and took these pictures.
Note.
- You can see the station name inscribed in the lintel over the station entrance.
- Electricians seemed to be busy in the station entrance.
- There doesn’t appear to be a start on oversite development yet.
But at least progress seems to be consistent with a delivery in the next few months.
Thoughts On London City Airport And The Elizabeth Line
One of the reasons for going to Woolwich today, which I wrote about in A Walk Around Woolwich – 15th June 2022, was to get a feel on what is the best way to go between London City and Heathrow airports.
There are three routes, where only a single change is needed.
- DLR – Change at Stratford – Elizabeth Line – Will be available later in 2022.
- DLR – Change at Woolwich Arsenal – Elizabeth Line
- DLR – Change at Poplar/Canary Wharf – Elizabeth Line – Will be improved.
Note.
- All are easy step-free interchanges, with the change at Stratford probably the easiest.
- The change at Woolwich is probably the longest walk.
All trains from London City Airport station, have a single change for Heathrow.
- Bank – Change at Poplar/Canary Wharf
- Stratford – Change at Stratford
- Woolwich Arsenal – Change at Woolwich Arsenal
It would appear that those not afraid of a moderate walk, should take the first train from London City Airport, if they want to go to Heathrow.
This table shows routes to common destinations from London City Airport.
- Bank – DLR
- Battersea Power Station – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Canary Wharf – DLR – Change at Poplar – DLR
- Clapham Junction – DLR – Change at Shadwell – East London Line
- Croydon – DLR – Change at Shadwell – East London Line
- Crystal Palace – DLR – Change at Shadwell – East London Line
- Euston – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Heathrow – DLR – Change at Custom House – Elizabeth Line
- King’s Cross – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Liverpool Street – DLR – Change at Bank – Central Line
- London Bridge – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Moorgate – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Paddington – DLR – Change at Custom House – Elizabeth Line
- St. Pancras – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Victoria – DLR – Change at Bank – District/Circle Line
- Waterloo – DLR – Change at Bank – Waterloo and City Line
Note.
- The interchange improvements at Bank station, will open up new routes to and from London City Airport.
- If the walking route from Poplar and Canary Wharf station is improved, this will be a valuable upgrade.
- The Elizabeth Line will run at frequencies of at least twelve trains per hour (tph) on all sections, so you won’t have to wait more than five minutes for a train.
With these upgrades London City Airport will be a more accessible airport.
Changing Trains At Canary Wharf Station – 13th June 2022
I took these pictures around the new Canary Wharf station on the Elizabeth Line.
Note.
- The station appears to follow, a very similar design to some of stations on the Jubilee Line.
- Changing to various lines at Canary Wharf would appear to be a bit of a walk, that is very much in line with say a connection between the Jubilee Line and the Docklands Light Railway.
- The connection to the Jubilee Line appears to be a tunnel under the offices.
- For West India Quay DLR station, you walk along the dock.
These are some of the routes that you would use from Canary Wharf.
- Bank – DLR
- Battersea Power Station – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Clapham Junction – Elizabeth Line – Change at Whitechapel – East London Line
- Croydon – Elizabeth Line – Change at Whitechapel – East London Line
- Crystal Palace – Elizabeth Line – Change at Whitechapel – East London Line
- Enfield – Elizabeth Line – Change at Liverpool Street – Enfield Town or Cheshunt Line
- Euston – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Heathrow Airport – Elizabeth Line
- King’s Cross – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Liverpool Street – Elizabeth Line
- London Bridge – Jubilee Line
- London City Airport – Jubilee Line – Change at Canning Town – DLR
- Marylebone – Elizabeth Line – Change at Paddington – Bakerloo Line
- Moorgate – Elizabeth Line
- Paddington – Elizabeth Line
- St. Pancras – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Victoria – DLR – Change at Bank – District/Circle Line
- Walthamstow – Elizabeth Line – Change at Liverpool Street – Chingford Line
- Waterloo – Jubilee Line
Note.
- The new escalator connection between the DLR and the Northern Line at Bank station will enable easier journeys to Euston, King’s Cross, St. Pancras and many other Northern Line stations.
- The excellent connection between the Elizabeth Line and the East London Line at Whitechapel station, will get a lot of use.
- The DLR features in several routes, including the important one to London City Airport.
In A Short Cruise At Greenwich, I said this about the DLR.
The Docklands Light Railway is often thought by Londoners, commuters and visitors as a bit of a Cinderella.
However, like Cinderella she works hard all day and provides reliable and efficient transport, where the only alternatives are buses, bicycles, taxis and Shank’s pony.
Just after the 2012 Olympics, I met a big cheese in Transport for London on a DLR train. He felt that the DLR had been the star in getting everybody to the games.
It must be one of the most successful light railways in the world!
And yet, no-one has ever thought to build another running on the same principles.
So why does it work so well?
This article on Intelligent Transport is entitled Celebrating 30 years Of The DLR, where this is said, under a heading of Customer Satisfaction.
One of the biggest successes of the DLR over the last 30 years has been its high levels of reliability, with over 99% of its trains departing on time.
The DLR has also had consistently good feedback and engagement with its customers, with high satisfaction ratings averaging at 89 out of 100.
Do these numbers mean that people trust Cinderella and will trust her to get through even in the most difficult of circumstances?
Conclusion
Canary Wharf station could develop into a very important interchange.
Bank Station – 16th May 2022
The new Northern Line platforms at Bank station are now open and I went this morning to have a quick look.
These are my thoughts.
The New Southbound Platform Is Wide
The new Southbound platform is wide and compares well with the wide platform at Angel station, that I wrote about in All Platforms Should Be Wide Like This.
This picture shows the Southbound platform at Angel., which dates from 1992.
And this the new Southbound platform at Bank.
Two similar designs, but thirty years apart.
Simple Decor
The two pictures also illustrate the simple decor used in the rebuilt station.
The New Southbound Platform Is A Sprayed Concrete Tunnel
These pictures show the far wall of the new Southbound platform.
It looks from my untrained eye to be lined with sprayed concrete. I learned more about the use of sprayed concrete in tunnels, when I visited TUCA in Ilford, during Open House in 2012, which I wrote about in Open House – TUCA.
The Existing Northbound Platform Is Narrow
The Northbound platform is effectively as before, but with large and small holes in the wall to access a wide parallel pedestrian tunnel behind the wall.
There is a lot of circulation space.
The Parallel Pedestrian Tunnel
The old Southbound platform has been turned into a parallel pedestrian tunnel separated from the Northbound platform, by a wall that has four small and eight larger pedestrian-sized holes through it.
These pictures show a selections of the holes in the wall.
In addition.
- The tunnel has escalators at the Southern end connecting to Monument station.
- The tunnel has stairs at the Northern end to the Central Line.
- Further connections will be added.
- It also has seats along its length. These will be mainly for Northbound passengers, waiting for trains, who can see the trains through the large holes.
It is an unusual layout and I’ve never seen anything like it before anywhere in London, the UK, Europe or the world.
Wot No More Marble?
The Northbound Northern Line used to have a platform with marble facings.
Some of marble is still there as these pictures show.
Note that the old rat-run to the DLR is still there between the platforms.
The Wide Cross Tunnels
The wide cross tunnels link the two sides of the station together and to the escalators and moving walkways in the middle of the station.
This visualisation shows the station.
Note.
- The only more-or-less completed bits are the two Northern Line tunnels and platforms and parallel pedestrian tunnel.
- The four cross tunnels can be picked out towards the far end of the station.
- Three of the cross tunnels can now be used by passengers.
- The moving walkway can be accessed from the two cross tunnels nearest to the Central Line.
- The escalators from the yet-to-open Cannon Street entrance appear to lead directly into a cross tunnel and a parallel tunnel to the moving walkway.
This station has definitely been designed for rabbits.
Level Access To The Trains
This picture shows the level access on the new Southbound platform.
And this shows the step-up into the train on the old Northbound platform.
I wonder, if the platform can be raised to make the Northbound as good as the Southbound.
There Is Still A Lot To Do
At present the only sections of the project that are completed and visible to passengers are the following.
- The new wide Southbound platform.
- The refurbished Northbound platform, which is a similar width to before.
- The wide passenger tunnel behind the Northbound platform, that was converted from the old Southbound tunnel.
- The four new cross tunnels between the two platforms. Some still need finishing and there are spaces, where escalators will slot in.
It would appear that at least the following need to be done.
- Open up the new Cannon Street entrance
- Add the escalators and lifts.
- Put in the moving walkways between the Northern and Central Lines.
But it looks that everything left to do is small compared to the tunnel work that needed the closure from January.
This page on the TfL web site gives these dates.
- 16 May 2022: New southbound platform and concourse open
- Autumn 2022: DLR escalator and Central line link open
- Late 2022: Bank station capacity upgrade works due to be completed. New station with step-free access opens on Cannon Street.
It looks to me, that the project management has been done well and after hitting the first milestone, they appear to be on track.
London Underground’s Northern Line Bank Branch To Reopen Next Monday
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.
These are the first two paragraphs.
The closed bank branch of the Northern line will reopen to passengers from Monday 16th May, TfL has confirmed.
The line has been closed since earlier this year to allow a new tunnel and platform at Bank tube station to be connected to the existing Northern line tunnels, work that could only be done by closing the tunnel to trains. When the line reopens, the new and much wider southbound Northern line platform and spacious new customer concourse at Bank station will open at the same time.
When, I found out, I was on a 21 bus to my home and I showed the other passengers Ian’s article.
All seemed pleased and I did get the impression, that one or two passengers were fed up with the closure.
I also think, that as Transport for London promised mid-May for the reopening, then they can’t get any closer than the 16th.
Note.
- The picture was taken just before closure on the 9th of January, which was a Sunday.
- TfL predict mid-May and then promise the 16th of May.
- I suspect that the public would even accept a few days late, as most reasonable people accept that odd things go wrong in complex projects.
- It’s also eight days before Crossrail opens, so hopefully, the Bank station Upgrade will be out of the way before Crossrail is opened.
Now that’s what I call good project management.
The New Track Layout At Bank And Moorgate Stations
This map from cartometro.com shows the new track layout through Bank And Moorgate.
Note.
- Crossrail is shown in purple.
- The Central Line is shown in red.
- The Circle, Hammersmith and City and the Metropolitan lines are shown in yellow and mauve.
- The Circle, District lines are shown in yellow and green stripes.
- The Northern Line is shown in black.
- The Northern City Line, that terminates at Moorgate is also shown in black.
The routes of the Northern Line are now clear from the map.
The Northbound Route Of The Northern Line
The Northbound trains pass through the following platforms.
- The Easternmost platform, which is numbered 4 at Bank station.
- The Western Northern Line platform, which is numbered 7 at Moorgate station.
This route of the Northbound tunnel will be identical before and after the works.
The Original Southbound Route Of The Northern Line
Until January this year, the Southbound trains passed through the following platforms.
- The Eastern Northern Line platform, which is numbered 8 at Moorgate station.
- The original Western Northern Line platform, which was numbered 3 at Bank station.
Note how the Northbound and Southbound tracks cross between the two stations.
The New Southbound Route Of The Northern Line
The new Southbound route is shown dotted on the map.
- The new Southbound platform is also shown dotted.
- The Northbound and Southbound tracks still cross between the two stations.
The tracks don’t return to standard left-hand running until South of Borough station.
After the line fully-reopens, some time in May this year, the Southbound trains will pass through the following platforms.
- The Eastern Northern Line platform, which is numbered 8 at Moorgate station.
- The new Western Northern Line platform at Bank station.
Effectively, the Southbound tunnel has been moved to the West to create more space in Bank station.
Conclusion
The design of the new tunnel appears simple, but I don’t think it was that easy to construct.
The Anonymous Widower 