Hayes & Harlington Station – 19th April 2019
These pictures show Hayes & Harlington station.
It will be an important station.
- There is still a lot of work to do for the station to look like the picture on the hoarding.
- There are a lot of residential development in the area, including the conversion of an old office block, where I once worked to flats.
- It will be a step-free interchange for local passengers from the West to Heathrow.
The station and the new bay platform are already fully operational.
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be usable.
It is planned that Hayes & Harlington station will have a train every six minutes.
Southall Station – 19th April 2019
These pictures show Southall station.
The station still needs the new footbridge to be installed and lifts from the station buildings to the platforms.
It appears that there will be a Crossrail train every six minutes all day in both directions.
The Missing Footbridge
This picture was taken on July 4th, 2016.
Note the footbridge across the station, that doesn’t appear in the pictures I took today.
This picture, that I took today, clearly shows blue barriers around places where the footbridge might be installed on the two island platforms.
Is it a replacement bridge over the station being installed, or is it just a footbridge connecting the platforms?
Or could it be for both purposes?
Preparing For The Brentford Branch
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the layout of lines at Southall station.
Note.
- The pair of lines at the top in blue are Crossrail
- The pair of lines in the middle are the fast lines.
- The single line going off to the East is the Brentford Branch Line, which has been proposed for reopening.
It would appear that the layout of the footbridge and the lifts would give good access to the Southernmost platform, which is connected to the Brentford Branch line.
So it looks like, that after the station has been refurbished and made step-free, connecting the Brentford Branch line would not be difficult.
As the Brentford Branch is only four miles long, a modern train like a Class 230, Class 710 or a Class 321 Hydrogen train, could do two round trips per hour between Southall and Brentford stations.
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be usable.
It is planned that Southall station will have a train every six minutes.
Hanwell Station – 19th April 2019
These pictures show Hanwell station.
Hanwell station will be unlike any other station on Crossrail.
- It is Grade II Listed.
- It doesn’t have a high passenger usage.
- Platforms will be too short for the Class 345 trains and selected door opening will be used.
- The stairs up to the platforms must be some of the most Victorian in any station.
- To complete the station, two lifts are to be installed on the Crossrail platforms.
I do wonder if it could become a tourist attraction for those interests in modern metros and Victorian architecture.
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be ready in all its Victorian splendour..
It is planned that Hanwell station will have a train every ten minutes.
Ealing Broadway Station – 19th April 2019
These pictures show Ealing Broadway station.
There’s still a lot of work to be done, to make the station, look like Crossrail’s image on the hoarding.
These are the proposed train frequencies at the station in the Off Peak, when Crossrail opens.
- Four trains per hour – Great Western Railway.
- Ten trains per hour – Crossrail.
- Six trains per hour – District Line
- Nine trains per hour – Central Line
There will be extra services in the Peak.
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be usable, if the architects have got the design right.
It is planned that Ealing Broadway station will have a Crossrail train every six minutes.
West Ealing Station – 16th April 2019
These pictures were taken at West Ealing station.
At last there appears to be some progress, with the footbridge now under construction.
The station certainly looks to be advanced enough, to fit in with Crossrail opening within a year, as I wrote about in Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening.
According to the Wikipedia entry for Crossrail, West EWaling station will have the following trains, when Crossrail opens.
- Two trains per hour (tph) between Reading and Abbey Wood
- Two tph between Maidenhead and Abbey Wood
- Four tph between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood.
- Two tph between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Abbey Wood.
What if you want to go to Shenfield?
If the Western section of Crossrail opens in December, would West Ealing station get the following service?
- Two tph between Reading and Paddington
- Two tph between Maidenhead and Paddington
- Four tph between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Paddington
- Two tph between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Paddington
That would surely be an excellent service!
If the frequency on the Greenford Branch could be doubled to four tph, there would also be an excellent interchange to the branch line.
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be usable.
It is planned that West Ealing station will have a Crossrail train every six minutes.
Acton Main Line Station – 16th April 2019
These pictures were taken at Acton Main Line station.
The station certainly looks to be advanced enough, to fit in with Crossrail opening within a year, as I wrote about in Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening.
According to the Wikipedia entry for Crossrail, Acton Main Line station will have four trains per hour (tph) between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood stations, when Crossrail opens.
If the Western section of Crossrail opens in December 2019, would Acton Main Line station get a service of four tph between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Paddington?
That would certainly meet the standard Transport for London/Merseyrail preferred frequency of at least four tph in a station!
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be usable.
It is planned that Acton Main Line station will have a train every fifteen minutes.
Are The Bakerloo Line Platforms At Paddington Ready For Step-Free Access And Crossrail?
I took these pictures on the Bakerloo Line platforms at Paddington station.
Note.
- The blue hoardings have gone.
- The decorations appear finished.
- There are a set of locked fire-doors in the centre of the platforms. Where do they lead?
- The signs by the doors, have big white spaces, which cry out for graffiti or direction signs.
It all fits with Crossrail opening within a year as I wrote about in Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening.
Many of the extra passengers will head for the Underground, so complete their journeys. So opening Crossrail to Reading with a step-free connection to the Bakerloo Line makes sense.
Crossrail Service To Reading On Track For December Opening
The title of this post is the same as this article on New Civil Engineer.
In Will Crossrail Open To Reading in 2019?, I analysed this possibility, after it was raised in the January 2019 Edition of Modern Railways.
I decided it would be a good idea, with the major benefit of making Paddington a station without any trains running on diesel.
Isleworth Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Isleworth station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
It is a double track station on a viaduct with the platforms on either side.
Currently, services are four trains per hour (tph) in both directions. The trains, that I rode to and from the station were ten cars.
If the West London Orbital Railway should be created, then this would add another four tph in both directions.
With the extra services, step-free access could be important, as the West London Orbital Railway will link this station to both Crossrail and High Speed Two.
Installing The Lifts
Space is tight and Isleworth station is one without ticket barriers.
It should be possible to install Subway-to-Platform lifts, but if they can’t be fitted, then as the station doesn’t have barriers, outside lifts might be a solution.
The Shape Of Things To Come
Yesterday, I needed to go between Moorgate and Tottenham Hale stations.
It was just before the evening Peak and I took the escalators down to the Northern City Line platforms, where a new Class 717 train was waiting.
The increased capacity meant I got a seat and I took the train three stops to Highbury & Islington station.
It was then just a walk through a very short tunnel to the Victoria Line and a train to Tottenham Hale.
It was so much more relaxed than squeezing into a crowded and very elderly Class 313 train.
After the timetable change in May, there will be eight trains per hour (tph), as there is now, but given the number of trains in the new fleet and signalling improvements in the pipeline, I feel that this frequency will be increased.
It should also be noted that in the Peak there are twelve tph, which in the future could be used all day.
But in the interim, trains with extra capacity will be very welcome.
From An Ugly Ducking To A Swan
These developments are either underway or planned for the next few years.
- Improved signalling on the Northern City Line.
- Full step-free interchange at Finsbury Park between Moorgate services and Thameslink, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines.
- Higher frequencies on Thameslink and the Piccadilly Line through Finsbury Park
- Full step-free access to the Northern City and Victoria Lines at Highbury & Islington station.
- Full step-free access at Old Street station.
- Hopefully, Essex Road station will be cleaned.
- Crossrail will finally arrive at Moorgate station.
North London’s ugly ducking, which has caused passengers, British Rail and London Underground, so much trouble, will finally have turned into a swan.
I always wonder if the City of London’s transport planners, wish that the Victorians had built the planned extension to a new Lothbury station, close to Bank.
What Will Be The Ultimate Frequency?
Currently the frequency between Alexandra Palace and Moorgate stations in the Peak is twelve tph.
Compare this with the following frequencies.
- Crossrail will be initially 24 tph.
- The East London Line is planned to go to 20 tph
- The Piccadilly Line is currently at 24 tph between Arnos Grove and Acton Town stations in the Peak.
- Thameslink will soon be at 24 tph
- The Victoria Line is currently at 36 tph.
I don’t think it unreasonable that a frequency of at least sixteen and possibly twenty tph between Alexandra Palace and Moorgate stations is achievable.
- Digital signalling and Automatic Train Control will be possible.
- If Dear Old Vicky can turn 36 tph at Brixton and Walthamstow Central stations, with two platforms, then surely 20 tph at Moorgate is possible, once there is better access for passengers to the platforms.
- Alexandra Palace to Moorgate is a double-track railway, that is almost exclusively used by Moorgate services.
- 16-20 tph would make the cross-platform interchange with the Victoria Line at Highbury & Islington station very efficient.
- There are two branches North of Alexandra Palace station. I’m sure each could handle 8-10 tph.
- The Hertford Loop Branch has three terminal stations; Gordon Hill, Hertford North and Stevenage stations.
- The East Coast Main Line has two terminal platforms at Welwyn Garden City station.
I could see the following frequencies.
- Moorgate and Gordon Hill – four tph
- Moorgate and Hertford North – four tph
- Moorgate and Stevenage – four tph
- Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City – four to eight tph
It will be a very high-capacity Metro into Moorgate. There could be a need for a few more trains.
But with increased speed.
Should The Northern City Line Be Shown On The Tube Map?
Increasingly, passengers will use the high-frequency Southern section of the Northern City Line between Alexandra Palace and Moorgate stations, as a new tube line.
So like Thameslink, the arguments will start as to whether this line should be on the Tube Map.
If Crossrail is to be shown, it is my view that nThameslink and the Northern City Line should be shown too!
The Anonymous Widower 