17 Tube Stations That Face Chronic Overcrowding If Crossrail 2 Is Stopped
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in today’s Standard.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Hundreds of thousands more Londoners will suffer chronic overcrowding on the Tube if Crossrail 2 does not go ahead, it was claimed today.
Transport for London released a list of 17 Underground stations that could buckle under the strain of too many commuters within a few years.
It then lists the stations.
- Euston
- King’s Cross St. Pancras
- Liverpool Street
- London Bridge
- Victoria
- Waterloo
- Finsbury Park
- Stockwell
- Stratford
- Oxford Circus
- Highbury & Islington
- Clapham Common
- Clapham North
- Clapham South
- Holborn
- Warren Street
- Leicester Square
It then quotes Caroline Pidgeon, who obtained the list, as follows.
Overcrowding on the Underground is already a daily battle, with many passengers facing regular delays to simply get through barriers at stations.
Unless Crossrail 2 is built these delays will increasingly build up until drastic measures are necessary at 17 key Tube stations, not to mention Clapham Junction railway station.
“Planning ahead for Crossrail 2 is not an optional extra for London’s transport network but of vital importance to keep London moving.
She has certainly highlighted a serious problem.
Call For Crossrail 2
Two years ago to the day, I wrote a post called Call For Crossrail 2 in response to a letter in The Times, from a wide cross section of business leaders calling for a start to be made on the line.
In the post, I talked about improving various stations, just by building Crossrail 2, so in the following notes on the list of crowded stations, I will refer to this post several times in the following.
Euston
Euston tube station is a particular problem in that in the next decade or so, the following will or could happen.
- HS2 will arrive at the station.
- Euston main line station will be rebuilt.
- Crossrail 2 will pass under the station.
- A connection will be created to Euston Square station for the Circle and Metropolitan Lines.
- There might even be an extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Euston.
- Step-free access must be added for all platforms.
Hopefully, the rebuilding for whichever comes first of HS2 or Crossrail 2, will make provision for even the most fanciful of expansions.
One Transport for London engineer told me that one of the main reasons for building HS2 and terminating it at Euston, is to be able to sort out the dreadful Euston tube station.
Kings Cross St. Pancras
Kings Cross St. Pancras tube station had a pretty good makeover around the time of the 2012 London Olympics, but it does suffer congestion and travellers have to walk long distances.
The Wikipedia entry for Kings Cross St. Pancras tube station has a section for Crossrail 2. This is said.
Since 1991, a route for a potential Crossrail 2 has been safeguarded, including a connection at King’s Cross St Pancras and Euston, forming the station Euston King’s Cross St Pancras. The proposed scheme would offer a second rail link between King’s Cross and Victoria in addition to the Victoria line. The locations for any new stations on the route will depend on the loading gauge of the final scheme. In the 2007 safeguarded route, the next stations would be Tottenham Court Road and Angel.
There is also a proposal to reopen the closed York Road tube station. In the Wikipedia entry for York Road station under Proposed Reopening, this is said.
One of London’s largest redevelopment projects, King’s Cross Central, began construction in 2008 across the road from the station. Islington council and Transport for London commissioned a study in 2005 to consider the possible reopening of the station. At the same time, however, it was recognised that other transport priorities reduced the likelihood of such a project moving forward in the near future. The site would need extensive overhauls to bring the station up to modern day standards, at a cost estimated at £21 million in 2005. Local political groups have been keen to see the station reopened in order to reduce passenger congestion at King’s Cross St. Pancras and to encourage development in the surrounding community. The Islington Liberal Democrats advocated the reopening of the station in their 2006 local election manifesto, and at least one candidate for the Islington Conservative Party similarly campaigned for the station to be reopened. However, to date, the reopening proposal has not been taken forward.
I wonder if York Road tube station will ever be reopened.
Liverpool Street
The Liverpool Street station complex will be even bigger and busier after Crossrail opens.
The main difference will be that the current Shenfield Metro will now disappear into the ground at Stratford and go under Central London to Heathrow and Reading.
Crossrail 2 will effectively channel the Lea Valley services, that current go into Liverpool Street station under London to emerge in the Wimbledon area.
Effectively, Crossrail and Crossrail 2 major effect on Liverpool Street station are to free up capacity in both tracks and platforms, thuis allowing more longer distance services to use the station.
London Bridge
London Bridge station is being rebuilt and expanded, but little seems to be planned for London Bridge tube station to cope with more passengers.
In Call For Crossrail 2, I said this about Crossrail 2 and the Northern Line.
Crossrail 2 will have interchanges with the Northern Line at Angel, Kings Cross St. Pancras, Euston, Tottenham Court Road, Tooting Broadway and possibly Clapham Junction. So it looks like that Crossrail 2 will certainly make journeys easier for users of the Northern Line.
This should mean that travellers on the Northern Line will be able to avoid a congested London Bridge tube station.
Victoria
Victoria tube station is being extended and rebuilt, which should result in sufficient capacity for more than a few years.
In Call For Crossrail 2, I said this about Crossrail 2 and the Victoria Line.
Crossrail 2 will effectively by-pass the central part of the Victoria Line as the two lines connect at Tottenham Hale, Seven Sisters, Kings Cross, Euston and Victoria.
This should take some of the pressure from Victoria tube station.
Waterloo
Waterloo tube station is a very busy tube station, as it has to cope with all the passengers using Waterloo station.
Crossrail 2 will allow passengers to bypass Waterloo, when travelling to and from Central London.
However, three major improvements will be delivered this year.
- The old Eurostar platforms are being brought back into use.
- Extra capacity is being added to the Underground station.
- I also think that when they have completed the improvements at the Bank end of the Waterloo and City Line.
- Will improvements follow at the Waterloo end?
I think Waterloo shouldn’t be judged until the current round of work is completed.
Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park station is a station that suffered badly when the Victoria Line was tunnelled through in the 1960s.
Lifts are being installed, but extra services will be added.
- Thameslink will call regularly at the station.
- The services on the Northern City Line will become the Great Northern Metro with an increased frequency.
Crossrail 2 will provide relief for Finsbury Park, as it provides a by-pass for the Victoria Line.
But the station needs to have quite a bit of rebuilding.
Stockwell
Stockwell tube station is where the Victoria and Northern Lines meet South of Victoria.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines at Stockwell station.
I’m not sure how Crossrail 2 helps here, but I suspect Transport for London hope that the new line will divert passengers away from Stockwell.
Stratford
Stratford station is another station that will be partially bypassed by Crossrail 2.
I do think that after Crossrail opens, that changes will be made at Stratford station to perhaps move some Liverpool Street services to Stansted and Cambridge.
This would bring more services to some not very busy platforms.
In West Anglia Route Improvement – The High Meads Loop, I described how it might all work.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines in this area.
Trains from Cambridge and Stansted would arrive at Temple Mills East Junction and would go round the High Meads Loop dropping and picking up passengers in Platforms 11 and 12 bwfore returning North.
An extra platform could even be added to serve services in Stratford International station.
The tunnels under the platforms at Stratford station would probably need improvement, but who knows how Eastenders will duck and dive after Crossrail opens.
As an example, passengers from Shenfield to Canary Wharf will probably use the cross-platform change at Whitechapel station, rather than pick up the Jubilee Line or the DLR at Stratford.
Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus tube station has needed improvement for years.
Crossrail will give some relief, as there will be new additional entrances to Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street stations closer to Oxford Circus.
I did look at what might happen in What Will The Elizabeth Line Do For Oxford Street?.
I came to this conclusion about Crossrail 2 and Oxford Street.
Crossrail 2 has just one interchange in the Oxford Street area at Tottenham Court Road station.
I would be very surprised in that in the massive rebuilding of the current station for Crossrail, that provision hasn’t been made to connect to Crossrail 2.
There have been surface issues around the station concerned with Crossrail 2, but given good planning of the project, I feel that the building of Crossrail 2 would only effect the area in a similar way to the replacement of a major block on Oxford Street.
Crossrail 2 will have two major effects.
- It will bring large numbers of visitors to the Oxford Street area.
- Just as Crossrail and the Central Line will work as a high-capacity pair, it will work closely with the Victoria Line to relieve that line.
This leads me to the conclusion, that the wider Oxford Street area needs to be and will be pedestrianised.
In some ways preparation for the pedestrianisation has already started by reorganising the buses.
Oxford Circus tube station is also high on Transport for London’s improvement list.
This map from carto.metro,free.fr shows the lines through the station.
I suspect that if developers were interested in rebuilding any of the buildings on the South side of Oxford Street or perhaps even around the BBC to the North, that there could be arm-twisting and deal-making to sneak new entrances into Oxford Circus tube station.
Highbury & Islington
Highbury & Islington station, is one of my local ones and it is getting some much-needed improvement.
- The Northern City Line will be getting frequent new Class 717 trains to create the Great Northern Metro.
- Highbury Corner will be remodelled to improve pedestrian access to the station.
- Bus and taxi access is being improved..
But nothing has been announced about improving the chronic access to the two deep-level lines at the station.
Speaking to staff at the station, they feel that a solution is possible, using the second entrance on the other side of the road.
In some ways the Great Northern Metro with its cross-platform interchange with the Victoria Line could be the saviour of this station, as it gives direct access to the City and to Crossrail at Moorgate station.
One of London’s forgotten lines could be riding to the rescue.
Clapham Common
Clapham Common tube station is one of my least favourite. This picture shows why.
It’s downright dangerous now, so when the Northern Line frequency is increased will the station cope?
Clapham North
Clapham North tube station is another dangerous island platform.
But at least the station has escalators.
In A Journey Round The Clapham Stations, a post I wrote in December 2015, I said this.
Having seen Clapham North and Clapham Common stations today, I do wonder if a diversion could be dug as at Angel, Bank and London Bridge, to create safe new stations. This new tunnel could surely be part of the works to add step-free access to one or both stations and connect the tunnels to Clapham High Street station.
What with the Northern Line Extension to Battersea, the rebuilding of Bank and Camden Town stations and all the resignalling of the past few years, the Northern Line could at last be fulfilling its potential.
This could go a long way to sorting the problem of the Clapham stations.
Clapham South
Clapham South tube station is not as bad as the other two Clapham stations discussed earlier.
Crossrail 2 may reduce the level of overcrowding on the Northern Line trains through the three Clapham stations, as passengers could change at Balham or Tooting Broadway stations to and from the new high-capacity line.
However, nothing short of some serious building work will solve the island platform problems at Clapham Common and Clapham North stations.
Holborn
Holborn tube station is very busy, but is one that could benefit from Crossrail, due to that line’s relationship with the Cerntral Line.
Crossrail 2 will certainly benefit the station, as it will relieve the pressure on the Piccadilly Line.
But Transport for London have published plans to add a second entrance and full step-free access. This is a 3-Dview of the plans.
Note the second entrance will be in Procter Street.
The only problem is that it could be 2021 before a decision is made.
However as a Piccadilly Line station, Holborn will benefit from the New Tube For London, before the upgrade.
Warren Street
Warren Street tube station is another Central London station on the Victoria Line, that could benefit from Crossrail 2’s duplication of the Victoria Line.
Leicester Square
Leicester Square tube station is just one stop on the Northern Line from the major new interchange of Tottenham Court Road station, which will be served by both Crossrail and Crossrail 2.
The station has needed more capacity since I first used it in the 1950s.
It needs step-free access.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines around Leicester Square station.
There is quite a tight knot of stations, of which only Tottenham Court Road has both escalators and lifts, although Goodge Street and Covent Garden have lifts only.
Leicester Square is an unusual station in that both the Northern and Piccadilly Lines are accessed by short passages and a short staircase from a fair-sized lobby at the bottom of a long set of escalators.
Clapham Junction
Clapham Junction station is the only non-Underground station in the seventeen stations named, where overcrowding could become chronic if Crossrail 2 is not built.
It is the busiest station by number of trains in Europe, so it must be difficult to keep on top of increasing numbers of passengers.
In the Wikipedia entry for the station under Future Proposals, this is said.
In 2007 the alignment of one of the two variants of Crossrail 2, that via the station rather than Putney and Wimbledon, was safeguarded. The Department for Transport and Transport for London continue to discuss proposal for a Clapham Junction Northern Line extension and its London Underground alignment has been legally reserved through Battersea Park, and would connect Clapham Junction to the London Underground for the first time.
Government and Network Rail funding for in the early 2010s of £50 million of improvements was granted. This comprised an upgrade to the main interchange: new entrances and more retail.
Surely something needs to be done, if Crossrail 2 is not built.
My proposals would include.
- Developing the West London Line services.
- Extending the Northern Line from Battersea Power Station station.
- Improving the frequency of trains into Waterloo.
- Make the station subway step-free.
There may be a need for more platforms, but the London Overground found this difficult.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the platforms in the station.
Simple it isn’t!
Conclusions
It surprised me how many of these stations will need substantial building work to cure the overcrowding.
Note.
- Every Victoria Line station between Oxford Circus and Finsbury Park is on the list.
- Four Northern Line stations between Stockwell to Clapham South is on the list.
- I think this shows how the designers of the Northern and Victoria Lines didn’t expect the traffic the lines now handle.
But overall, I think it shows how when you design a station, you don’t cut corners.
I also think to blame all these problems on the uncertainty about Crossrail 2, is probably a bit strong.
Consider.
- Liverpool Street will probably have enough capacity when Crossrail opens, especially as the station will incorporate Moorgate and be substantially step-free.
- The new London Bridge effectively adds high-frequency rail lines to Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Charing Cross and St. Pancras and when Thameslink and Southeastern are fully developed, the station will cope.
- Victoria shouldn’t be judged until the current upgrade is complete.
- Waterloo shouldn’t be judged until the current upgrade is complete.
- Finsbury Park shouldn’t be judged until the current upgrade is complete.
- Stratford will probably have enough capacity when Crossrail opens, especially as the station is substantially step-free.
- Oxford Circus should see improvement when Crossrail opens, especially as there’ll be new step-free entrances to Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, that will be closer to Oxford Circus, than the current stations.
- Highbury & Islington should see marginal improvement, when the Northern City Line is updated.
However, nothing short of substantial construction will sort Euston, Clapham Common, Clapham North, Holborn, Leicester Square and Clapham Junction.
Simon Jenkins Questions Southern HS2 Terminal
Simon Jenkins in the Standard has a piece today entitled It’s Not Too Late To Make HS2 Somehow Work For London, by proposing even at this late stage the Southern terminal of HS2 be moved from Euston station to Old Oak Common station.
He makes these points against choosing Euston.
- HS2 has never had many friends among politicians, railway buffs or think-tanks.
- Serious questions must be asked about HS2’s most costly and controversial feature, the line’s route into Euston from its last stop at Old Oak Common in west London.
- Euston is London’s worst station, with the worst connections.
- The new Euston will need a costly new tunnel under Primrose Hill, incidentally wiping out hundreds of houses.
- It will claim seven of Virgin’s platforms at Euston, thus reducing station capacity.
- For some time, smart money in HS2 circles has been on the line stopping at Old Oak Common, at least “temporarily”
- Successive plans for a new station have been submitted to Camden council and then withdrawn.
- Either way, choosing Euston will mean a decade of chaos.
Against these points he says this in favour of Old Oak Common station.
Meanwhile, a terminus at Old Oak Common is plausible. The old Great Western Railway depot and marshalling yard has become London’s largest regeneration area since Canary Wharf. Its acres of tracks include lines to Paddington, Euston and Heathrow, as well as stations on Crossrail and the Central and Bakerloo lines. The site is near the North Circular and the M40, and is within spitting distance of the M1 and M4. Passengers on HS2 heading for the City would find it more convenient to join Crossrail at Old Oak Common, rather than trundle their bags down crammed access tunnels at Euston.
He makes strong arguments and personally, I would not be against what he says, as getting to Old Oak Common station will be easy for me on the North London Line.
But once Crossrail 2 is built, then Euston will be just two stops away from an enlarged Dalston station at the end of my road.
Conclusion
I can’t lose on house prices!
Extending The Docklands Light Railway West From Bank Station
Two possible routes have been proposed foe extending the Docklands Light Railway to the West
Whether either is worth developing, I don’t know.
But consider.
- The Thameslink Programme will improve access between London Bridge and Charing Cross stations, which could take pressure off the Jubilee Line.
- The Thameslink Programme will improve Southeastern services into Cannon Street and Charing Cross stations.
- Charing Cross station has a couple of spare platforms, that some would like to re-use.
- Euston and St. Pancras stations have bad access to Canary Wharf and South East London.
- The Bakerloo Line Extension has been given the green light.
- Crossrail connects Canary Wharf to Bond Strreet, Heathrow, Liverpool Street and Paddington.
But the big issue, is what happens about Crossrail 2.
I feel that the more likely extension to the West is to go from Bank to Euston via City Thameslink and Holborn and/or Tottenham Court Road stations and finish by going on to St. Pancras.
It could link HS2 at Euston and European services at St. Pancras to the following.
- Thameslink at City Thameslink station.
- Crossrail at Tottenham Court Road station.
- Bank and Canary Wharf stations.
It would also provide a decent link between the long distance services at Euston, Kings Cross and St. Pancras.
These factors would also influence the design of the DLR Extension.
- The DLR has all the agility of a mountain coat to climb hills and turn sharply, so it might be possible to squeeze it through places impossible for a Crossrail or an Underground line.
- 3D-design techniques are getting better every year.
- Tunnel boring machines are getting more accurate.
- Escalators are getting longer.
So could we see the extension going from Bank to City Thameslink as a traditional extension and then going in a long double-track loop via some or all of the following stations.
- Holborn
- Tottenham Court Road
- Oxford Circus
- Regents Park
- Euston
- St. Pancras
- Covent Garden
It would all depend on where they could squeeze the tracks through.
- Stations could be island platforms between the tracks.
- Platform edge doors could be fitted.
- Escalators and lifts could link the platforms to existing station.
There’s no reason why the line should be designed traditionally for the DLR.
HS2 Euston Hub May Not Be Viable, LBC Discovers
This is title of this article on the LBC web site. This is the first paragraph.
The time saved by travelling on HS2 could be wasted waiting for a tube at Euston, a the Deputy Mayor of London for Transport has told LBC.
I don’t know whether the statement will prove correct, but I’ve always thought that Crossrail 2, should be built before HS2..
In Call For Crossrail 2, I said this.
HS2 is currently planned to terminate at Euston station, although I think that could be changed by a more innovative solution. But whatever happens to the London end of HS2, it needs to be simply connected into the knitting of the Underground, so terminating somewhere in the area between Kings Crossand Euston, is probably a certainty.
Every recent design for Crossrail 2 shows it serving the three important London stations of Kings Cross, St. Pancras and Euston. It also links these stations to Victoria and Clapham Junction.
Have you ever tried to use the Victoria Line between Euston and Victoria with a heavy case or a baby in a buggy? It’s bad enough at normal times and impossible in the rush hour.
So when HS2 starts squeezing more passengers through the congested Euston Underground station, it will be a disaster.
I believe that the only way to connect HS2 into London is to build Crossrail 2 first.
But what do politicians know about building things, except messes and debts?
An Interloper At Euston
I took these pictures as I came through Euston on Saturday night, as I returned from Blackburn.
The engine is an immaculate Class 86 locomotive, which was built in the 1960s.
According to Wikipedia, Freightliner still have ten upwards of the locomotives in service and I recently saw two working together on a long intermodal freight service through Dalston Kingsland station.
They may have been bog-standard electric locomotives in their day, but surely if they can be restored and kept running, they are probably a lot more affotdable for main line use by charters, than anything else.
I would assume that E3137 had been hauling a charter into Euston. Long may it continue to do this.
I’m All For More Of This!
This article from Global Rail News is entitled Toronto park plan for downtown railway.
The article describes how Toronto wants to purchase the air rights over a 21-acre railway through the City Centre and put a park on the top.
There are certainly places in the UK, where this approach can be used to create parts, housing or commercial buildings over the railway.
Especially in Londom, where land is so expensive.
Look at this Google Map of the rail lines into Liverpool Street as they pass Shoreditch High Street station on the East London Line.
Lines Through Shoreditch
Surely, a better use could be found for the space above this railway. I estimate this space must be about ten hectares and if properly developed could contain lots of buildings and a green walkway connecting Shoreditch High Street station to Liverpool Street station.
And what about the waste of space that is Euston station?
Euston Station And The Approach Lines
Hopefully adding HS2 to the station will improve things.
Crossrail 2 Will Be Threaded Through This
The map from carto.metro.free.fr, shows all the lines around Kings Cross station.
Lines Around Kings Cross
It certainly isn’t the easiest place to connect Crossrail 2, which will call at Angel, King’s Cross St. Pancras and Euston stations into the system. From a map in this document, it would appear that Crossrail 2 runs across to the north of the Victoria and Northern Lines.
Thank Heaven for 3-D computer design systems!
HS2 Does The Right Thing At Leeds
I don’t like the concept of most of the HS2 stations.
Euston, isn’t too bad, as the HS2 platforms are alongside those for the main station and I suspect that when and if I see it in reality, I will be able to arrive in the station on perhaps a London Midland train from Bletchley or Tring and just walk across to the HS2 platforms.
At some of our better interchange stations like Reading, to change trains, you go up escalators to a wide overbridge and then walk across to the escalator for the platform of your departing train. The design also allows seats and cafes in a totally non-claustrophobic environment. I have a feeling that the new London Bridge will raise the bar of this type of station even higher!
To my mind the designs for HS2 station at Birmingham is absolute rubbish and truly terrible. Birmingham is developing a local train, tram and bus network centred on New Street station, so instead of HS2 arriving into this hub, it arrives at a separate station some distance away and many passengers will have to get a tram to connect to their ongoing service.
As HS2 will run very large trains, imagine say a thousand Chelsea fans arriving on HS2 to go to a match at Villa Park and needing to get a train from New Street. You save masses of time by using HS2 and then waste it queuing for a tram.
But if HS2 arrived directly into New Street, a lot of the problems would be solved with a short walk.
In Birmingham there is no space in New Street itself, but why shouldn’t HS2 arrive in an underground station beneath New Street? Or in my preferred solution, in a giant double-ended station stretching right under the City Centre.
As they’ve got a redundant piece of Grade 1 Listed railway memorabilia, they’ll use that instead. The heritage lobby should crawl back into its hole!
But at Leeds, HS2 have put forward a new proposal, where HS2 meets the existing station in a giant version of the way trams met the train at Nottingham.
This is the only picture I can find of the proposal. It’s in an article in Global Rail News.
HS2 At Leeds Station
Passengers arriving in Leeds would just walk to the front of the train and then they’d be over the platforms of the existing Leeds station. If that is too difficult, then I’m sure we’ll see a few travalators.
It is a much better layout than that proposed for Birmingham.
Interchange between HS2 and local services must be a short walk, assisted by lifts, escalators or travalators as required.
The LaMiLo Project
Few have heard of the LaMiLo Project, which is an EU funded project to reduce truck traffic and the consequent air pollution in cities.
I hadn’t until half-an-hour ago, although I knew there were experiments going on at Euston.
This page on the London Councils web site, gives more details about the pilot project in London.
In this pilot a freight train was brought into Euston station in the middle of the night and pallets of goods were unloaded on to smaller trucks for onward delivery in Central London.
This is said on the London Councils web site about the pilot.
The pilot has provided outstanding results; it has seen 50,000 items delivered to over 250 councils building, leading to a 46% reduction in the number of vehicle trips and a 45% reduction in kilometres travelled.
It sounds like an idea worth pursuing. Although Nigel Farage would object to the EU involvement.
Walking Between St. Pancras And Euston Stations
In 2011, I wrote Getting Between Kings Cross/St. Pancras and Euston about how I walked between the stations.
This route has now been formalised with green signs.
I think when they finish the roadworks, it’ll be a good route. This is cut and modified from my original post.
So how would I make it better, so that in effect we had one super station for the north?
- Perhaps, it should be marked on the ground, as a Kings Cross/St. Pancras to Euston walking route.
- You might even provide some eco-friendly transport along the route, like an electric shuttle bus or bicycle rickshaws.
- A couple of suitably placed Boris bike stations would help too.
- Shops and cafes should be developed along the road. There are some already.
I was right that this would happen.
