Kentish Town Station – 24th December 2024
Kentish Town station reopened today after the fitting of two new escalators.
It appears that only the two escalators have been replaced and the station has been redecorated.
The Guy With The Hat
Note in the pictures(18-24) going down the escalator, I was following a guy in a checked shirt and a wide-brimmed hat.
When a train was entering the station below he was having difficulty because of the updraft keeping hold of the hat.
Does This Station Need A Lift?
This article on the BBC is entitled Kentish Town Tube Station Reopens After 18 Months.
Nothing is said about why the eighteen months wasn’t used to fit a lift to make the station fully step-free.
There have been two Mayor’s Questions about putting in lifts at Kentish Town station and both answers were similar. This was the first answer.
TfL has carried out a high-level investigation into installing lifts at Kentish Town. It has indicated that the scheme would involve digging new tunnels and installing a new lift shaft in a very constrained worksite adjacent to the main road and busy operational railways. Due to the complexity of this project and therefore high estimated cost, in the region of £40m, Kentish Town is not being considered as part of the £200m five-year programme.
This Google Map shows Kentish Town station.
Note the footbridge over the station leading over the National Rail station to the Underground station marked by the red logo.
In any scheme to make all of Kentish Town station step-free, this bridge would surely be made step-free or replaced by perhaps a tunnel under the railway.
Costs would be very high, even with a very expensive development on top, which was making a contribution.
Unless an architectural genius comes up with a better scheme, I think what has just been installed, will be the best that can be provided.
Camden Council will probably find it better to send disabled taxis.
Kentish Town Station – 30th April 2023
This article on the BBC is entitled Kentish Town Tube Station Set To Close For Year.
This is the sub-heading.
Kentish Town Tube station is set to close for up to a year while its 26-year-old escalators are replaced.
Other works will also be performed during the closure.
- The ticket office will be removed.
- The ticket barriers will be realigned.
- New paintworks, flooring, wall tiling, and new signage will also be fitted.
These pictures show the current state of Kentish Town station.
Note.
- The Victorian frontage of the station could do with a refurbishment.
- The platforms need to be restored to be the same standard as the clock.
- The escalators don’t look as bad as the article says, but new ones will give them forty years.
- Information around the gate-line for both the Underground and Thameslink, is not to the standards this passenger expects.
- The stairs connecting the London Underground station to the Thameslink bridge could be improved.
- The Thameslink information is good.
- The bridge needs lifts.
There is even a side-gate to access the Thameslink platforms, if the main entrance is closed.
Are More Trains Needed?
For a Sunday morning, both stations were surprisingly busy.
But there were only two Thameslink trains per hour (tph) between Luton and Rainham.
On all days except Sunday, the four tph Sutton Loop Line is usually running, but on Sunday it appears it’s only the Luton and Rainham service.
I suspect the Sunday service will be boosted for the duration of the closure.
Could The Side Gate Be Used Permanently?
The side-gate to the Thameslink platforms will have to be used during the station closure.
But could some arrangement be designed, so that it could be used all of the time?
Conclusion
With an unlimited budget, there’s a lot that could be done at this station.
Step-Free Access At Kentish Town Station
On a web page recently, I saw a suggestion about how to add step-free access to Kentish Town station.
The suggestion was that it was too difficult to add it to the Underground station, but why not add it to the Thameslink station?
This Google Map shows the station.
Note the pedestrian bridge across the tracks with steps going down to the platforms.
Adding a lift to each platform would give full step-free access to Thameslink and would give an alternative step-free route to these step-free stations in Central and South London.
- Kings Cross St. Pancras
- Farringdon
- Blackfriars for the South Bank
- London Bridge
- Elephant & Castle
- Denmark Hill
- Herne Hill
- Mitcham Eastfield
- Wimbledon
- Sutton
The step-free access would be much easier to install, than on the Northern Line platforms.
Bean About Town
I liked this name when I saw it on a coffee stall outside Kentish Town station.
I also noted that the stall was selling the mandarin and chocolate chip gluten-free cake.
I’d have had some, but I had just had breakfast.
When I’m in the area I’ll check them out properly.
Thoughts On Kentish Town Station
Kentish Town station is not step-free, as these pictures show.
This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
Note the four platforms and two extra tracks on the Southern side.
But I do believe it is a station with potential.
An All-Electric Railway
In perhaps 2022 or a couple of years later, when the new bi-mode trains are delivered, between Kentish Town and St. Pancras stations will be an all-electric railway.
The Station Is In A Cutting
The station is in a cutting and given the price of land in the area and the demand for housing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the whole station roofed over at some time in the future.
This couldn’t be done until the railway was all-electric.
Step-Free Access To National Rail Platforms
If the station was covered by development, I’m sure it would be possible to provide step-free access between the surface and the National Rail platforms.
Step-Free Access To Underground Platforms
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines at Kentish Town station.
Note how the Northern Line is at almost right angles to the Midland Main Line.
Providing step-free access might be easier from the area to the North of the current Undegrround station, which could be within any new development.
Some of the new techniques used on Crossrail might make a connection possible.
Kentish Town And West Hampstead Thameslink Stations
The next station to the North of Kentish Town is West Hampstead Thameslink.
Both stations have six tracks, but only four platforms.
It would probably be very advantageous if there were six tracks on the Midland Main Line along this very busy railway.
But this is impossible as the tunnels that lie between the two stations only have a total of four tracks.
I suspect that Network Rail’s engineers sometimes muse about what might have been, if the Victorians had built the extra tracks.
- Thameslink services could have their own separate tracks.
- Express services could be roaring through at 200 kph.
- The West London Orbital Railway could terminate at Kentish Town station.
But short of rebuilding the Midland Main Line between the two station and digging a lot of extra tunnels, these are impossible ideas.
The Anonymous Widower 