Before Crossrail – West Drayton
This Will Be A Charming Station – Rating 6/10
West Drayton has definitely seen better days, but as the pictures show, creating a new station from a collection of pretty good buildings is well under way.
Crossrail’s plans for outside the station look impressive and link the station to the Grand Union Canal. This is said.
The urban realm proposals aim to achieve a high-quality gateway experience by creating a new canal-side pocket park next to the station with tree planting, public seating and steps down to the water’s edge.
At present the station has no lifts, but I would assume the current building works will include these.
I shall be looking forward to going back to an updated West Drayton, as I suspect it will be something of which to be proud.
In fact, my persona of a few years ago will be jealous, after the number of hours I’ve spent on terrible rural stations like Dullingham and Bury St. Edmunds.
Before Crossrail – Maidenhead
Another Station Almost Ready For Crossrail – Rating 7/10
According to Wikipedia, Maidenhead needs some updating for Crossrail.
The station will undergo significant modification, including the replacement of the existing passenger waiting facilities, a new ticket hall, lifts, a new platform for Marlow branch line services, the introduction of overhead line equipment and the construction of new stabling and turnback facilities to the west of the station.
The expensive lifts have already been installed into the subway.
The statue is of Sir Nicholas Winton and it is good to see a statue of the man. It is also good that it is displayed in such a public place, which is probably almost safe from metal thieves. I have long believed that more works of art should be placed on stations, as you’d generally need a train and a large crane to steal them. This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
Maidenhead Station – Downloaded 6th July
Note the Marlow Branch Line
Before Crossrail – Twyford
The Station Is Ready For Crossrail – Rating 9/10
Twyford is a well-equipped station, that only needs to be given the signage and information for Crossrail.
Obviously, work will have to be done to track and signalling, and probably to make sure the platform edges match the Class 345 trains.
This Google Map was downloaded on the 6th July, 2015
Twyford Station – Downloaded 6th July 2015
If all stations were as well-equipped as Twyford, we would all be getting around easier and quicker.
Before Crossrail – Reading
A Magnificient Station In Most People’s Opinion – Rating 9/10
Reading ranks with some of the best stations in Europe and probably the wider world. There are pictures in this post entitled Is it Architecture, Engineering Or Art?, which show how spectacular the station is.
Wikipedia says this about adding Crossrail to the station.
Crossrail could also be accommodated at the new station with little work beyond electrification, as new sidings have been planned to the west of the station.
So it looks like adding Crossrail to Reading isn’t a difficult problem, if Wikipedia is correct.
Logically, I feel strongly that Crossrail should go to Reading, as Reading is a large city that has twice the population of the original terminus of Maidenhead.
Reading station also has fifteen platforms, and can probably be configured so that passengers arriving on Crossrail could walk across the platform to get their train to Wales and the West Country, with other passengers doing the reverse in the other direction.
If they do provide this sort of change at Reading, I might well go to and from the West by changing at Reading rather than Paddington, as it will be as easy to get to Reading as Paddington, if I take Crossrail from Whitechapel. But at Paddington, I’ll have to get from the Crossrail station deep under Paddington to the main line platforms.
If Reading does have a problem, about its integration into Crossrail, it’s that it’ll put the other terminals into the shade. By any scale Shenfield looks small and outdated against the beauty, size and passenger-friendliness of Reading.
Before Crossrail – Issues On The Shenfield Metro
Now that I’ve visited all of the stations on the Shenfield Metro, that will be taken over by Crossrail, I can list a few of the issues.
1. Disabled And Step Free Access
The stations generally suffer because when they were originally designed disabled people and those pushing prams and carrying heavy cases didn’t travel by trains.
Some like Stratford, Shenfield, Brentwood and Chadwell Heath are now fully accessible, but even they would have been designed differently in the last few years.
I’m not disabled, but I do have access problems in that I don’t bounce around like I used to. I would like to see more high quality handrails on stairs, such as you get at Stratford.
But if all the stations are upgraded to the level of Chadwell Heath, I suspect that most will find the access to the platforms acceptable.
2. Train Access
The current Class 315 trains don’t line up with the platforms well. But in a few years time, when the new Class 345 trains arrive, I suspect that the platform edges will be adjusted to be level with the trains.
One thing that will help in getting this level step-across access from platform to train, is that all of the station platforms between Stratford and Shenfield seem to be pretty straight.
3. Norwich In Ninety
This project has nothing directly to do with Crossrail directly.
But the Great Eastern Main Line is a busy rail route for travellers to Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and all the other connected towns and cities.
So how should these trains interface with Crossrail?
If I want to go to Ipswich now, as I do regularly for the football, I usually take a bus followed by either a walk or an Underground train to get to Liverpool Street. My actual route usually depends on which bus arrives first and the weather.
But for me, after Crossrail opens, it might be easier to go to either Whitechapel or Farringdon and get Crossrail to either Stratford or Shenfield to pick up the train to Ipswich. It all depends on how the trains align with Crossrail.
This all shows how Crossrail might solve a few problems, but it will give passengers the problem of finding the quickest and most convenient route.
One thing though that the upgraded route will do, is substantially cut the time it takes to between East Anglia and Heathrow. Incidentally, for Gatwick, they’ll go via Cambridge, which will have a direct link.
4.Buses
One of the strengths of London’s public transport system is the buses, which move six million passengers every weekday.
But at none of the stations on the Shenfield Metro, except for Stratford, was there a proper bus interchange. I suspect too, that Stratford is the only station on that line where Transport for London plays a substantial part in the management of the station.
Perhaps the most interesting comparison is to compare Shenfield‘s bus arrangement with those at the much smaller Chingford, which has a sizeable and well-designed bus station, for half the passengers Shenfield handles.
If you read this document about Crossrail’s plans for Shenfield, you’ll see that they aren’t too happy about bus arrangements at the station and are proposing solutions.
5. Onward Travel Information
At most stations with the exception of Stratford, the onward travel information is poor and minimal and very much gives the impression it was designed in Norwich by Abellio Greater Anglia. It is certainly not to the standard you get in the average Underground or Overground station. At one station, luckily there was a bus stop outside with a shelter and spider and local walking maps.
All stations except for Brentwood and Shenfield have bus spider maps on-line.
Hopefully, this will all improve, when Crossrail takes over the management of the stations.
6. Freight
What surprised me at Forest Gate was that a freight train trundled through. I suppose once the line is fully open, then freight trains will get out of the way.
But it does go to show, that we should have sorted out the freight some years ago, before London Gateway was built.
Before Crossrail – The Overground At Stratford
Stratford is the terminus of the North London Line of the Overground. These pictures show the platforms that service the Overground and the Lea Valley Line services that terminate at Stratford.
At least the two Overground platforms are long enough to take six car trains, but if services increase will there may be a need for one or more platforms for Overground services.
It would appear though, that the two Lea Valley Lines platforms, on one of which the Class 315 is waiting in the pictures, are not heavily used. And in addition, there is an immense triangular space, which I’m sure for which Network Rail et al. have big plans.
There is actually more potential in the area than appears obvious from these pictures.
Lea Bridge station and possibly the Hall Farm Curve are being reopened, which will link Stratford to Walthamstow and Chingford.
So will this mean services coming along the North London Line and going through Stratford to Chingford. My explorations at Chingford showed it to be a spacious well-connected station with three accessible platforms.
With an Overground spreading out fr0m Stratford, this would mean a lot of changing between the lines, as although they are a few platforms apart, there are lifts for those who need them.
There is going to be a lot of creative arithmetic in this area as London Overground find more and more ways to squeeze gallons out of pint pots.
Before Crossrail – Maryland
Another Station That Needs Imagination And Lifts – Rating 2/10
Maryland is another ruin, but it is not as bad as Manor Park and it doesn’t have any redeeming feature like Forest Gate‘s kiosk.
In fact one of the best things that could happen to the three stations, is that a driverless Class 66 ran away with a heavy cargo of something like aggregate and careered through all the stations demolishing them completely.
What worries me about this station is that somebody was paid to design it and another was paid to build it, probably at great expense.
But look at this page to see Crossrail’s ideas about transforming the station.
Before Crossrail – Forest Gate
Another Dreadful Station, But With A Lovely Kiosk! – Rating 3/10
Forest Gate is better than Manor Park, if only for the charming kiosk in front of the station.
If I were a young architect, which I’m not on either counts, I would love the challenge of turning this sow’s ear into a silk purse.
Crossrtail have published some of their ideas for the station.
Before Crossrail – Manor Park
A Ruin With Serious Issues – Rating 1/10
Manor Park is very unusual architecturally. I do wonder if the Luftwaffe tried to demolish the station.
Perhaps the builders just ran out of money and couldn’t afford to put in windows.
I can imagine the words of Crossrail’s architect, when he saw this station. According to Wikipedia, in their section on Future Development they say this.
The platforms will not be lengthened so selective door operation will be used instead, allowing the freight loop to remain in use. Due to the narrow platforms, and the layout of the station, fitting lifts for disabled access would be difficult and expensive, requiring the walkways to be rebuilt and closing the station for several months.
If there was a Carbuncle Cup For Ruins, then this station would be up there with the worst.
Perhaps though Crossrail’s architect is a supreme optimist.
Look at this artists’s impression of what is a proposal for the future on Crossrail’s web site.
Before Crossrail – Ilford
A Station That Needs Work – Rating 4/10
Ilford has a modernised entrance building, but some of the stairs are difficult.
Money certainly needs to be spent on this station that serves quite an important town centre.
The Anonymous Widower 