De Beauvoir Square In Autumn
I took these pictures today, as I walked past De Beauvoir Square.
Even in autumn, it still has some flowers.
Hackney, which is not the richest of London boroughs, has a few squares like this, including Fassett Square, where if things had turned out differently, might have been where the BBC filmed East Enders. As it was, the set was modelled on that square.
Can We Extend Overground Connectivity In North London?
The East London Line has four termini in South London; New Cross, West Croydon, Crystal Palace and Clapham Junction, but only two in the North; Dalston Junction and Highbury and Islington.
In the North the Lea Valley Lines are being added to the system and although these lines meet the North London Line at the Hackney Downs/Central station complex, they are not intimately connected to the core route of the East London Line, as this would need a change of train at Canonbury.
So how could we improve the extend the connectivity?
Hackney Central/Downs
I regularly take the Overground from Stratford to my home. On a wet day, I would take a train to Canonbury from Stratford, walk across the platform to a southbound train and then go one stop to Dalston Junction, from where I would get a bus two stops to my home. On a sunny day, I might change at Hackney Central to a 38 bus or walk from Dalston Kingsland.
But I usually take the Canonbury route, as it has the least amount of walking and if I’ve got a heavy parcel, there is a lift at Dalston Junction.
The two Hackney stations are being connected by a covered high level walk and this would help those changing between the North London Line and Lea Valley and Cambridge services.
But two other things could be done, if the run-down area around the stations is redeveloped.
If you want to get a bus or walk to the Town Hall area, after alighting on the westbound platform at Hackney Central, you have to cross the tracks on a footbridge. An entrance needs to be provided on the south side of the station.
The connection to the buses are better than they were a few years ago, but Downs/Central should have easy access to stops for the high-frequency bus routes that pass through the area.
I have a feeling that they may have spent a lot of money on making the footbridge step-free with lifts and in a few years time, it will be rarely used, as other better routes are developed. A southern entrance would help in this respect.
Crossrail 2 will be the driving force here, as the planners have stated a preference for only having one station in Hackney, to save a billion pounds. Whether this station is Dalston Junction or Hackney Downs/Central doesn’t matter, provided that these two stations are connected by other means. There are already two routes; the North London Line and the high-frequency buses.
For this reason, the access to buses from Hackney Downs/Central must be made as easy as possible. But that doesn’t need to wait for Crossrail 2!
There is a superb opportunity here for a developer to create a real town centre at Hackney Central/Downs, of which everybody can be proud. The original station building is not used, but it is a building worthy of saving as are few other historic buildings in the area.
An Extra Terminal In The North
If the frequency on the core section of the East London Line is increased from 16 tph to 24 tph as is stated in TfL’s plans, there could be a need for another Northern terminus to supplement Dalston Junction and Highbury and Islington, where these trains could turn back.
An extra terminus might ease the overcrowding that is prevalent at Highbury and Islington.
In the original plans for the Overground, there was talk about some East London Line trains going as far as Willesden Junction and terminating there.
With plans for a new super station at Old Oak Common, that could be a possibility. But even New Cross to Old Oak Common would be a journey of about an hour, and there will be faster ways via Crossrail at Whitechapel.
So a terminus for the East London Line at Willesden Junction or Old Oak Common, would be more about inceasing the frequency of trains on the North London Line, by using some of the eight extra trains an hour on the East London Line to provide the extra trains.
There are two other possibilities for extra Northern terminals.
If the Dalston Eastern Curve were to be reopened, then trains could move easily between Hackney Downs/Central and Stratford and the East London Line.
This would mean that Stratford could be an additional terminal and also that some East London Line trains could have an interchange with the Lea Valley Lines.
There is also a curve at Canonbury that connects the North London Line to the East Coast Main Line. It used to be double track, but is only single track now! So could this be used to get to a new Northern terminus?
The Canonbury Curve To The East Coast Main Line
It all depends on the passenger flows, which of course TfL has at its fingertips.
We must also take note of passenger behaviour in using cross-city railways.
When Crossrail opens in 2019, all parameters will change, as many who want to use the East London Line to get on the Underground at Highbury and Islington, might get on Crossrail at Whitechapel instead. This passenger will probably go to Oxford Street, by walking to Dalston Junction, before taking the East London Line to Whitechapel for Crossrail. The alternative of taking a bus to Highbury and Islington and then getting the Victoria line, means I have to use a station I avoid as much as possible, due to the excessive walking involved to get to the trains.
The Eastern Curve At Dalston Junction
This seems an easy option to improve connectivity, as it would allow trains to pass easily between Stratford and Hackney Downs/Central and the East London Line. But there are two problems.
It might be a difficult sell to the Dalstonistas and the shopping centre at Dalston Kingsland is being redeveloped, although the Eastern Curve is safeguarded.
It would seem though, that in the next couple of years, there is a chance to make a good fist of sorting out the shops and stations at Dalston.
Tying In The Lea Valley Lines
There has been little or no speculation about how the London Overground will link the Lea Valley Lines to their current lines. London Overground has said that it will deep clean the trains and stations and that new trains are on the way.
They have also got at least three out of station interchanges between the new lines and the current system.
- Walthamstow Central to Walthamstow Queens Road.
- Hackney Downs to Hackney Central, although the way that is going, it will probably become a single station.
- Seven Sisters to South Tottenham
There are also a couple of junctions where useful connectivity already exists.
There is a rail line called the High Meads Loop that goes between the Lee Valley Lines and the North London Line, virtually straight under the old Olympic Village. This is the North London Line End just after Hackney Wick station.
High Meads Loop At Stratford Joins North London Line
And this is the other end on the Lea Valley Line, between Stratford and Tottenham Hale
High Meads Loop At Stratford Joins Lea Valley Line
Incidentally, I don’t think there is a station under all those dwellings.
There is also another junction that links the Lea Valley Line to the Gospel Oak to Barking Line to the East of South Tottenham station.
Perhaps the most interesting proposal though, is to reinstate the Hall Farm Curve in conjunction with the reopening of Lea Bridge station. I travel to Walthamstow Central regularly and the curent timetable of the GreaterAnglia service is a bit threadbare to say the least. So if this curve is reopened, will we see trains linking Walthamstow to Stratford and even to and along the North London Line by way of the link I showed in the pictures to my local station at Dalston.
If the Eastern Curve at Dalston Junction was to be reinstated, then some of those extra trains through the core section of the East London Line could go to Walthamstow and Chingford.
Summing Up
The more I look at the East London Line, the basic concept of a high frequency line through Marc Brunel’s Thames Tunnel, fanning out to several destinations on both sides of the river, was a stroke of genius, which was probably dreamed up in the time-honoured manner of so many other good ideas on the back of serviettes, beer mats or fag packets in a real ale hostelry somewhere.
Who can predict with any certainty what the Overground will look like in 2020, let alone the 2050 target of Transport for London?
The only certainty is that Transport for London will have created another iconic brand to go with Underground and Routemaster.
It could also be argued that London’s three new cross-London lines;Thameslink, Crossrail and East London, are all following a similar design of a central tunnelled core, with a collection of branches at each end.
Certainly the current Thameslink and East London Line have shown that the concept works and if they perform in the next few years, this can only mean that further lines in London and further afield follow a similar pattern. Crossrail is adding more branches and termini and the basic design for the proposed Crossrail 2 appears to have been designed by the use of a photocopier.
Service From Hackney
A week or so ago, I ran out of Visitor Parking Vouchers. Normally, I go over to the Council Offices in Hackney, as I’ve tried to buy them on-line a couple of times and I’ve not been successful.
So this time, last Friday, I filled in the form in the book of vouchers and posted it off with a cheque.
I was just about getting worried this morning about what had happened, especially as the cheque hadn’t been cleared.
Then the vouchers were hand delivered to my house at about nine o’clock in a hand-written envelope.
So all’s well that ends well!
Should Hackney Send Missionaries To Yorkshire?
One of my Google alerts has found two reports today about New Routemasters being considered for Yorkshire; one in the Huddersfield Examiner and another in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
I live on London bus route 38, which is one the most intense bus services in London, that links Hackney to Victoria via the West End, using a squadron of New Routemasters.
And we love them! So much so, that when we have a choice, as say a bus on a parallel route has arrived together with a 38, we all get on the 38.
I’ve never heard a complaint about these buses, whilst on-board and they are becoming very much part of life in Hackney. They are faster, as they load quickly, everybody seems to be polite and you are certainly more likely to strike up a conversation with a fellow passenger.
So why should only London get the benefits of this superb updating of a humble method of public transport?
Londoners and especially those that live in parts of London, where the routes go, should broadcast their enthusiasm to the rest of the UK and the wider world!
I’m Disappointed With My City
London is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, if not the most multi-cultural city.
And I live in one of the most multi-cultural boroughs in London; Hackney.
So you’d think that there would be a big screen somewhere to watch the World Cup.
But I can’t find a public one anywhere in London.
For the last World Cup in 2010, Hackney had a festival with a big screen close to me in Gillette Square. It’s reported here on the Hackney web site.
I’m very disappointed with my city.
Come In Number 38, Your Time Has Come!
I saw several New Buses for London or Routemasters today, as I travelled the other way on a 38 to and through Hackney.
But they weren’t the remnants of the original Hackney Eight, but pristine ones, just off the boat from Northern Ireland.
Coming back from the Angel, I got one of the new buses and the driver said with a big beaming smile on his face, that from Monday all buses on the 38 will be New Routemasters.
So now visitors to the capital and those that live here for that matter, will be able to take their partner, boyfriend or girlfriend to romantic Clapton Pond, as I surmised here.
On a serious note, If you were thinking of opening a cafe, then Clapton Pond surely is the place!
Also if I was Hackney’s Tourism Officer, I’d be making sure everything was ready.
Rumour also has it too, that a well known estate agent has jacked up the prices of all properties near to a 38 bus stop by two percent.
Not Everything Goes Up!
I’ve just got my new Council Tax bill. There is no change for Hackney and the London charge has actually fallen by -1.3%, which means my total bill comes down by 0.3%.
Not much, but all contributions are respected.
Life On A 38 Bus
The 38 Bus in London, is probably the route that I use most. I even used its sister the N38 to get to Victoria for the Gatwick Express in the middle of the night. Yesterday, I used the route twice, once to go to the Angel and the other to go to a lecture near the Royal Academy in Piccadilly. But then the Upwestbound stop is just round the corner from my house.
But I haven’t done what a Timeout journalist has and spent twenty-four hours running up and down the route from the romantic Clapton Pond to crowded Victoria. His article is here. This is a typical paragraph.
But there’s more to the London bus than keeping costs down. It’s fascinating about seeing the city from the top deck. Ever bother looking at the buildings above the shops? I’m not talking about nosing into offices and flats (though you wouldn’t believe how many people walk around naked with the curtains open) – it’s the centuries-old architecture pocked with the scars of history, with Victorian inscriptions and scraps of pre-war adverts. Glimpses of London’s former lives.
The 38 may not be one of the glamour routes, that have got a full compliment of New Buses for London, but as a working lifeline for connecting the people of Hackney to the jobs, shops and attractions of the West End, it is invaluable.
Bob Crow Looks After The East End
The Tube Strike today, is a pain to many Londoners. But I’ve just been to Canary Wharf and back and things didn’t seem that crowded.
I even changed at Shadwell, which is Bob Crow‘s birthplace, from the Overground to the DLR, with no hassle whatsoever. So perhaps he’s making sure the strike doesn’t affect his part of London very much!
But then, Hackney doesn’t have any Underground lines. And probably never will, as the powers that be, think if you give the plebs in Hackney one, they’ll only want another!
The Anonymous Widower 