Working Around The Victoria Line Closure
Today, I wanted to go to IKEA and a decent B & Q, so as both are close to Tottenham Hale station, it required a trip to that station or thereabouts.
The problem is that the Victoria Line is closed past Seven Sisters in August, so they can remove the bottleneck at Walthamstow Central that was part of the cheapskate design of the 1960s. Click here for the full story.
So I couldn’t take my usual route of an Undrground train to Tottenham Hale and a 192 bus.
I decided to go to IKEA first, which is just an easy trip all the way on a 341 bus from perhaps a hundred metres from my house. But as I got to the stop, the 341 whizzed past. Luckily it was followed by a 476 bus, which joins up with the 341 at Northumberland Park and hopefully because of the route it takes will get there first.
So I got the 476 and sat upstairs. I was watching to see if the 341 was behind us as we turned off Tottenham High Road and saw the 341 appear behind.
At the next stop I got off the bus to get the 341, only to see that bus go straight past. Luckily, I was able to get back on the 476, so in the end, I went all the way to Northumberland Park, a couple of stops short of IKEA. The bus information saif I’d haveto wait twenty minutes for a 341, so I walked over the level crossing to the Marigold Road stop for the 192. Again my luck was in, as a 192 had just turned up and they were changing drivers.
Coming back, I was carrying a full IKEA bag, and wanted to get to B & Q at Tottenham Hale for a couple of small bits, so I needed a 192 bus. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a gap in the service, but after about twenty minutes, I’d done my hopping and needed to get home.
So I walked back to Tottenham Hale station, hoping that there was a Hackney Downs train due.
Remarkably there was one in a couple of minutes and I just had time to climb over the bridge to catch it.
At Hackney Downs, the train dropped me on Platform 1, so I could either go down into Hackney Downs station and get a 56 or 38 bus, or use the new walkway to Hackney Central, from where I could get a more numerous 38 bus.
As it was a warm day and there was a lift in the walkway, I decided to take the newly-opened route.
I’m glad I did, as it turned out that due to the wire mesh at the top of the sides of the walkway, it was remarkably cool.
I’d surmised it would have been good in wet weather, but I’d never thought I’d be pleased to use it because of the heat.
According to one of the staff to whom I spoke, the walkway is staring to be increasingly well-used as passengers discover it.
I think that we’ll see this type of walkway in other places on the UK rail network.
One thing that helped this morning to get around the Victoria Line closure, which removes a bit chunk of my usual routes to Tottenham and Walthamstow, was London’s superb text message-based bus information system, which like any good system is designed to work on any device that can send and receive text messages.
And it does it all without using any dreaded app.
A Benefit Of The Hackney Downs/Central Link
I don’t pay for my public transport in London, as I have a Freedom Pass, but most people get charged. The cost is very often an important factor for passengers.
This article in The Wharf explains how for some passengers the new walkway at Hackney will save them money, by helping them to easily avoid Zone 1. The article says this.
Funded by Transport for London (TfL), it means passengers at Hackney Central can now easily access trains to north London or Liverpool Street from Hackney Downs, while those at Hackney Downs have fresh options to travel eastbound to Stratford.
Previously passengers had to travel into Zone 1, incurring a higher cost for their journey, or walk 600m.
The article also uses the phrase Hackney Overground interchange. I wonder how long it is before, TfL investigate a new name for the whole complex.
Perhaps it should be one station, as after all the walk between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central is probably about the same length, as some of the longer walks inside the Underground at stations like Bank, Green Park and Kings Cross St. Pancras.
It’s now step free, which can’t be said for some of the Underground treks.
The Hackney Downs/Central Link Is Now Open
The Hackney Downs/Central Link opened at 11:00 this morning.
I’d thought something was finally happening, as there was a group of suits with clipboards about when I had passed through earlier. So after my trip to Surrey, I popped back to get my supper at the Hackney Marks and Spencer. As the link was now open, I took these pictures.
I shall certainly use the walkway regularly, as I often come from Walthamstow or on one the other Lea Valley Lines and either need to go West on the North London Line or like today, get some food at Marks. The walkway will of course be dry in the rain and some might feel safer at night!
I suspect that London Overground might get some ticketing issues with this link.
Take a little old lady with a Freedom Pass, who lives near the current Hackney Downs entrance to what is now a large double-station complex, who perhaps wants to go to the shops on Mare Street in the rain. Being as she’s from Hackney, she would be streetwise and would therefore use her Freedom Pass to work the barrier at the Hackney Downs entrance and then climb up the stairs to Platform 1. She’d then walk down the platform and take the walkway to Central, where she would exit into Mare Street using her Freedom Pass. In other words, she would have done the long walk substantially out of the rain, at no cost to herself.
So what do Transport for London do with someone, who uses an Oyster or contactless card to do the same trip? Will they be charged?
An engineer on Crossrail, who has walked some of the enormous stations, said to me, that in the rain, some of Crossrail stations are so comprehensive, she would use them to keep out of the rain. So we could have the same problem here?
If Transport for London charges, are we discriminating against those who pay for their transport?
Surely, if you come out of the same station complex within the time it takes to walk from one end to the other, you shouldn’t be charged!
What do you get charged now, if you enter a station through the barriers and then you realise you perhaps didn’t pick up your paper or coffee before you did and you return through the barriers virtually immediately?
Remember that if there’s a walking short-cut, Londoners and especially East Enders will find it!
It Looks Like The Hackney Downs/Central Link Is Ready To Open
I took these pictures at Hackney Downs and Hackney Central stations today,
I don’t think it will be long before when I come back from Walthamstow, I can arrive at Downs station, walk through the link to go out on the street at Central station station to get a 38 bus home. The advantage of this route, as opposed to getting a 56 bus by Downs station, will be that I can do some food shopping if necessary in the Hackney Marks and Spencer.
I can’t help feeling that passengers will press for links between the other platforms and lifts to the platforms from the subway at Hackney Downs station.
The reopening of Lea Bridge station and the possible reopening of the Hall Farm Curve are both developments that could affect any future work at Downs and Central stations. This Google Map shows the layout of the two stations.
Hackney Downs/Central Link
Downs station is at the top and Central station is at the right.
You can actually see some sections of the new link in place, so the image must have been taken recently. The large oval object at the left (west) of the image is the ventilation and evacuation shaft for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which is easily seen from trains on the North London Line. It is connected by a concrete roadway to Graham Road.
Note how it is possible to walk inside the railway land to Graham Road. I believe it would be possible to create a southern entrance for the two stations, by the two bridges, that would give access to the westbound platform at Central station and possibly perhaps using a lift to Platform 4 at Downs station. These pictures show the area of Graham Road, where the two bridges cross.
This is an enlarged Google Map of Graham Road, the two bridges and the two access roads.
An Enlarged Map
In order from the west, the features are.
- The Ventilation and Evacuation Shaft for the CTRL
- The Access Road to the CTRL shaft
- The two-track Curve that connects the Lea Valley Line to the North London Line.
- The four-track Lea Valley Line
- The Network Rail Access Road
The footbridge at Central station is shown at the far right.
As the pictures and the map show there is an embankment, so to get to a possible southern entrance, there might need to be some serious engineering.
On the other hand their is already a light-controlled crossing on Graham Road by the bridges.
The only problem of putting a second link on the southern side of the tracks, is that signalling cables and equipment may get in the way. This necessitated a big redesign of the link, that is now being created. This page on the contractor’s web site, which describes the current link, says this.
An earlier proposal had to be abandoned because it would interfere with Network Rail signalling equipment. The latest plan avoids this problem by building the interchange on the northern side of the track.
So this probably partly explains, why the new walkway is not a small structure.
I also heard in the evening that the link will open next week, possibly on Tuesday.
In the nearly five years, I’ve lived in Hackney, the development of the area around the two Hackney stations has been extensive and it is showing no sign of slowing down.
The London Borough of Hackney is now one of the more desireble boroughs in which to live.
The Downs End Of The Hackney Downs/Central Link
It isn’t as easy to see the Hackney Downs end of the Hackney Downs/Central Link, which is shown from the Hackney Central end in this post. However, I was able to take these pictures.
Some of them were actually taken from a pretty dirty Abellio Greater Anglia Class 315 train. Hopefully, when these trains are taken over by London Overground, they’ll be a lot cleaner. To get an idea of how complicated the pedestrian link will be, look at this Google Earth image of the North Eastern angle between the North-South Lea Valley Lines through Hackney Downs station and the East West North London Line through Hackney Central station.
Hackney Downs And Central Stations
Note that in the South-Western corner of this map is the Graham Road Ventilation Shaft for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
To further investigate I walked from Hackney Downs station parallel to the railway, before turning under the newly-reconstructed rail bridge on Marcon Place (Click here for a construction video!) and then walking round Spurstowe Road. This enlarged image shows where I walked better.
Enlarged Image
For information, the platforms at Hackney Downs station are numbered 4, 3, 2 and 1 from West to East (left to right).
These are the pictures I took as I walked.
I don’t think massive is an appropriate word for this walkway high in the sky. It certainly couldn’t be described as flimsy!
These pictures sort out a lot of questions, but they still don’t show how you walk from the top of the stairs and lift into Hackney Downs station.
This plan that I clipped from this page on the Dalstonist web site, appears to show that there will be a gap made in the wall behind Platform 1 to access the walkway.
Hackney Link Plan
TfL obviously have the figures and know the details of the various passenger interchanges between the two stations, but I can’t help feeling that at least one direct interchange other than between Platform 1 at Downs and Platform 2 at Central may well be necessary.
I would assume that there are plans for adding lifts between the platforms and the subway at Hackney Downs, but that will still mean a step-free walk from Platform 2, 3 or 4 at Hackney Downs to Platform 1 at Hackney Central will be four lift journeys.
If I look at my own use of the walkway, it will be in probably in changing between a train going East to one going North or the reverse. Both could need three lift journeys, although I generally can easily manage the foot bridge at Hackney Central.
However, mine and the usage of many others of the interchange would be improved or minimised, if Transport for London develop the Lea Valley Lines and other transport links in East London as many expect they will.
1. Higher frequencies from Hackney Downs to Chingford, Cheshunt and Enfield Town, which are currently four, two and two trains per hour respectively.
2. More trains between Stratford and Cheshunt via the new Lea Bridge station.
3. A reinstated Hall Farm Curve allowing trains to run from Chingford and Walthamstow to Stratford for Crossrail and all Stratford’s other services. Walthamstow to Stratford could go from a 43 minute journey to one of just twelve.
4. We’ve already had notice of a blockade on the Victoria Line this summer to enable track work, that will increase frequency to 36 trains per hour.
I also have a few questions that I would like to see answered.
1. There is a curve under the former Olympic Village that enables trains to go between the North London Line the Lea Valley Lines. Are there any future plans for this curve?
2. Many passengers using the trains to and from Hackney arrive at the complex by bus. As the area around the stations is developed, will we see a much better bus interchange?
3. My personal favourite addition to the Hackney station complex would be to see a second entrance at Hackney Central direct into the westbound Platform 1, which for many journeys would avoid the need to cross between the two platforms at Hackney Central. Are there any plans to improve this access?
I suspect a lot more will be revealed in a few months.
The Hackney Downs/Central Link Is Not Small
These pictures show the progress on the pedestrian link between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central stations.
It certainly isn’t small, but once complete it will be a weatherproof way of getting between the two stations.
It should also be remembered that Hackney Downs station is not very step-free and I suspect that this walkway will only be the start of integrating these two stations to create a Hackney or Hackney Junction station. The new Tube Map for the end of May, shows the two stations connected.
Hackney On The New Tube Map
I hope the ingenious individual who drew the new map, didn’t suffer too much mental anguish. Or did they go to Finchley Central station for divine inspiration?
The new link between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central stations, illustrates how far steel design and construction has improved, if you compare the pictures in this post with one taken in 1928 of the original link, which was demolished in 1944, when Hackney Central station was closed.
When I see terrible stations built in the last few years, like these in Kassel, with precipitous stairs and no lifts, I do wonder how architects and engineers manage to get it so bad. Perhaps they should fire the accountants and the politicians! After all, this bridge at Hackney from probably over a hundred years ago connects to both platforms at Hackney Central with a covered stairway and although it has no lifts, would probably have been considered state of the art in its time.
Work On The Hackney/Downs/Central Link Has Started
The long-awaited pedestrian link between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central stations seems to be arriving on the eastbound Platform 2 at Central.
That could be a bit surprising, as I thought it was arriving on the westbound Platform 1.
This page on London Reconnections has this diagram.
Hackney Downs Central Link
Note that the link goes to Platform 1, whereas it now goes to Platform 2.
I can’t find anything on the usual web sites, but this page on the contractor; Spencer Rail’s web site, says this.
An earlier proposal had to be abandoned because it would interfere with Network Rail signalling equipment. The latest plan avoids this problem by building the interchange on the northern side of the track.
I think for some passengers this will be better. It will probably only make a difference to me, if I’m coming from my son’s in Walthamstow and need to pick up some supper in Marks and Spencer.
On the other hand the link may connect the stations in the dry, but some transfers will mean going up and down the stairs at Hackney Downs, which is a station that is in desperate need of lifts.
Progress On The Hackney Downs/Central Link
November 27 – There’s now a white van parked by where the link is to go.
December 2 – Orange army and materials everywhere
Is Work Starting On The Hackney Downs/Central Link?
I took this picture today.
Is Work Starting On The Hackney Downs/Central Link?
It looks like something is finally happening to build the pedestrian link between the two stations.
It should all become clear in the coming weeks.
Hackney Goes Back To The Future
I’ve posted about rebuilding the footbridge connection between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central stations before.
TfL have decided to replace it after seventy years and Hackney Council has approved the proposal as reported here. It seems to be positively received.
Hackney Central ward cllr Vincent Stops welcomed the news. He said: “It is quite exciting that this proposal remakes an historic connection between Hackney Central and Hackney Downs stations that was lost in 1944. It will greatly benefit Hackney residents and those visiting Hackney Central town centre. Now permission has been obtained I am determined that Marcon and Aspland Estate benefits both in terms of the re-provision of play facilities and that the green wall and tree cover really improves the outlook of residents and reduces train noise, a long standing issue for the estate.”
I wonder how long it is before TfL decides that the two stations are one and renames them to either Hackney or Hackney Junction.
I suspect that the renaming will get more objections than the five who objected to the footbridge. One was objecting that it might mean to a loss of car parking spaces.
The Anonymous Widower 