An Innovative Use Of The School Holidays
In trying to find out what was going on at Whitechapel station because of Crossrail this weekend, I found this document entitled Crane and site related activity in Swanlea School on the Whitechapel Current Works page of the Crossrail web site. he document says this.
We will position a small crane at the western end of Swanlea Schools grounds and use the crane to lift material over the school perimeter wall and in to the Crossrail Essex Wharf, Durward Street site. Delivery vehicles will access Swanlea School between 08:00 and 22:00 on Mondays to Sundays during this time. In addition to this, the Crossrail site boundary area will extend into Swanlea School grounds during the school holiday period. We will use the area to carry out preparatory work including the creation of wooden frames for future concrete pours and steel reinforcement pre-fabrication.
This Google Map image shows the relationship between Swanlea School and the Whitechapel station site.
Swanlea School And Whitechapel Station
I would assume that Crossrail are paying an appropriate fee for the disruption to the school grounds.
Whitechapel station is a very congested site in a busy area of East London and Crossrail seem to have used every trick in the book, to avoid unnecessary pain and disruption to residents, visitors and passengers.
There are a lot of people worried about what will happen, if Crossrail 2 gets built through their area. They should take a trip to Whitechapel and have a look round to see how intricate heavy construction work should be done.
Transport for London Get The Cleaners, Painters And Engineers Ready For The Shenfield Metro
There is an article in the Brentwood Gazette, entitled Shenfield to London slow trains to get refresh before end of year, which illustrates how Transport for London aim to hit the ground running, when they take over the Shenfield Metro services in May this year.
1. The Class 315 trains will be refreshed. I took these pictures.
I think that TfL could spend billions on these trains and they wouldn’t be that much better, as in their current state, they do the job they were built for of moving people in and out of London, reliably and with enough comfort for those with seats. So fixing the seat covers, perhaps getting rid of the awful pink colour and asking Aggie and her ilk to give them a good clean, and they’ll last until the Class 345 trains arrive.
2. Staff will be on duty when trains are running.
3. The stations will be fully integrated into TfL’s information and brought up to their standards.
I wonder if their other big acquisition in May;the Lea Valley Line services will get the same treatment.
Before Crossrail – Iver
A Quaint Small Station With Bad Access – Rating 4/10
Iver was the last Crossrail station I visited and I didn’t save the best to last.
This is the Google Map of the station.
Iver station – Downloaded 6th July 2015
Iver could become part of the Heathrow Hub in the future, but for Crossrail it will need lifts and updated buildings.
Before Crossrail – The Wharncliffe Viaduct
Crossrail is a new railway from Reading in the West to Shenfield in the East.
But not everything is going to be brand new!
For example, the Grade 1 listed, Wharncliffe Viaduct, will be used to take the line over the River Brent, just as it has taken the Great Western Main Line since 1837.
Modifications are probably quite small as the current four lines are already electrified. Two of these will be used by Crossrail.
The viaduct ticks all the boxes on everybody’s lists.
- It was designed by IK Brunel
- It is Grade 1 Listed and is part of the submission to get the Great Western Railway declared a World Heritage Site.
- Pevsner said “Few viaducts have such architectural panache” about this viaduct.
- It is inhabited by a colony of bats.
- The electrification of the bridge was carried out in a sympathetic manner.
But above all, it would appear it is up to the job for which it is to be used.
You have to admit, that the Victorians knew how to build with brick!
Before Crossrail – Issues On The Reading Branch
The issues on the Western branch to Reading are broadly similar to those on the Shenfield Metro.
1. Disabled And Step Free Access
There are some good stations like Reading and Slough and some terrible ones like Hanwell.
One advantage in the West is that a lot of stations have plenty of space and are not cramped like say Manor Park.
2. Train Access
The platforms in the West are probably worse matches to the trains than those in the East.
But like the East, they seem to fairly straight.
3. Long Distance Trains
The Western branch has the same problem as the Shenfield Metro in that how does it interface in the best manner with the long distance trains.
But it does have the opportunity of connecting Heathrow to Wales and the West through Reading.
4. Buses And Onward Travel
These are probably worse than the East and might be more difficult to saolve as you’re often not talking to London or its boroughs.
I have a feeling that Transport for London may get all of the stations to use London’s very much proven system.
5. Freight
As in the East, there appeared to be a lot of freight on the line.
Before Crossrail – Langley
Not Much To Do Here! – Rating 6/10
Langley station is almost Crossrail-ready now and probably just needs lifts on the bridge and the usual cosmetics.
The bridge obviously needs reconstructing, but there is also a lot of potential in doing something positive with the station building and perhaps the small cafe.
Before Crossrail – The Proposed Schedule
Wikipedia has a schedule of proposed services. I have broken this down to get the figures for my catalogue of stations. Starting in the East, they can be summarised as follows.
Shenfield Branch
This will have 12 tph (trains per hour) in the peak and 6 tph in the off-peak, calling at all stations and going through the central tunnel to the West.
In addition, there will be other services going into Liverpool Street. Wikipedia is saying 10 tph in the peak and 5 tph in the off-peak. Some will be limited stop, but it does look like that all stations will get at least 6 tph in the off-peak and some will get around ten.
As this is a substantially better service than exists today, you must be extremely pleased if you own or have just bought a house along the branch.
Abbey Wood Branch
Like the Shenfield branch, this branch is scheduled to get 12 tph in the peak, but the off-peak level is not stated.
If the off-peak is the same as the Shenfield branch, then that figure must probably be added to the 10 tph services Abbey Wood enjoys at the moment into other London termini.
Central Section
24 tph in the peak will pass through the central tunnels, with plans for 14 tph to turn-back at Paddington.
The off-peak is not stated, but if the Shenfield branch figures are correct, then it could be something like 12 tph, with perhaps 7 tph to Paddington only.
As the Class 345 trains will be so much larger than the typical Underground train, this will be a tremendous increase in capacity across Central London.
Western Branch – Paddington to West Drayton
As West Drayton will be served by trains to all the Western termini and will also turnback a couple of trains per hour, it should get 10 tph in the peak going through the central tunnels. Wikipedia says it will get ten in the off-peak as well, so that probably means my figure of seven off-peak trains turning at Paddington is wrong.
There will also be other trains going direct to Paddington. 4 tph are currently proposed to be the Heathrow Express. I can’t see this high-priced service surviving long past Crossrail’s opening in its present form.
Heathrow Branch
Wikipedia says that 4 tph will go to Heathrow all day and hopefully all night, running all the way to Shenfield and Abbey Wood. But these services will not go to Terminal 5 and the expensive Heathrow Express will still be running.
I think that there’ll be some replanning here. I know this is old an article in the Daily Mail from 2012, but it shows that Boris Johnson and others, think that Crossrail should go to Terminal 5.
As Terminal 5 could be joined to Reading, it might be that some Crossrail services from Reading go via Heathrow.
Western Branch – Beyond West Drayton
It looks like 2 tph will go to each of Maidenhead and Reading, with an additional 2 tph going limited-stop from Reading to Paddington.
Before Crossrail – Acton Main Line
A Very Draughty Station – Rating 4/10
Acton Main Line station is not an attractive one and I certainly found it very draughty today.
This is a Google Map of the station.
Acton Main Line Station – Downloaded 7th July 2015
It is a station that will be rebuilt for Crossrail and their plans are comprehensive. They say this.
Crossrail is building a new Acton Main Line station just to the south of the existing building on the junction of Horn Lane and Friary Road with a location and orientation that creates a new station forecourt east of the station and a new space to the rear.
With four trains an hour under Crossrail, you won’t have to do what I did today and catch a bus to get away from the area.
I think Acton Main Line shows how areas around Crossrail stations will benefit.
Before Crossrail – Ealing Broadway
More Romford Than Stratford – Rating 5/10
Ealing Broadway station will be one of the more important stations on Crossrail, ranking with Stratford. Just as Stratford will be a major interchange with suburban rail, the Overground, the Underground, the DLR and buses in the East, Ealing Broadway will in a slightly lesser fashion perform a similar role in the West.
This is a Google Map of the station.
Ealing Broadway Station – Downloaded 7th July 2015
At the moment, the station is rather a jumble of connections, with none of the elegance of Stratford or Reading. It’s got a lot of the run-down feel of Romford or Ilford.
Ealing deserves better and this station has been through a major rethink in recent months. But will there be the right connectivity between Crossrail and the Underground?
Suppose you want to get between Wimbledon or Richmond and Heathrow. Transport for London, recommend getting a bus for the first and going to Paddington for the second.
So London gets a new fifteen billion pound railway and it doesn’t easily connect to where it is needed.
I would assume that if Ealing gets full step-free interchanging between all lines, some of this will be easier, but connecting to Richmond probably needs a new Crossrail station at Old Oak Common connecting to the North London Line. Wimbledon would hopefully be a change at Farringdon onto Thameslink.
Before Crossrail – West Ealing
An Untidy Smaller Station – Rating 3/10
West Ealing station is due a major refurbishment for Crossrail, with the details given here.
Crossrail also have their usual ambitious plans for outside the station. They say this.
Crossrail will relocate the station from its existing position on Drayton Green Road, which carries significant through-traffic, to Manor Road – a quieter side street.
This would seem sensible, as this would make the station entrance nearer to the shopping street.
The Anonymous Widower 