A First Glimpse Of The Planned Hackney Central Station
London Overground are planning an upgrade of Hackney Central station, as I reported in The Redevelopment Of Hackney Central Station.
I went to Hackney Central Library to get a first glimpse of the design.
It’s certainly a big improvement on what’s there now. Some points.
- The station is to a modular design, so we’ll be seeing other similar stations.
- There is more space in the station, with the gate line turned through ninety degrees.
- The guys I met from Transport for London (TfL) were referring to the combined station as Hackney Interchange.
- TfL and Hackney Council are working together to get things right in the area.
- There is no entrance on the far side onto Graham Road, which is something I’d like to see.
- There may even be toilets.
- TfL are welcoming comments.
But TfL haven’t created the web site yet. I’ll point to it, when they do.
Improving Bus Connectivity
Like many in London, I don’t live on top of a Underground or mainline rail station. The nearest is Dalston Junction station on the Overground, which gives me good connections to mist the capital with one or more changes.
So I rely heavily on buses to get to and from stations like Angel, Highbury and Islington, Manor House and Moorgate for onward connections.
It is the same with Hackney Central and Hackney Downs stations, which could be united as Hackney Interchange.
The buses are rather chaotic around the two stations and if Hackney Council achieve their laudable aim of creating a proper public space between Hackney Central station, St. Augustine’s Tower and the Narrow Way, using the buses in the area will get more difficult.
Transport for London needs to take a good hard look at buses passing through the area of Mare Street and the proposed Hackney Interchange.
The Dalston Eastern Curve
The lack of an Eastern Curve at Dalston means that westbound passengers on the North London Line needing to go South from Dalston, must change at Canonbury.
I sometimes do this to get to Dalston Junction station, but I also take the 38 bus from Amhurst Road, after crossing the North London Line on the Hackney Central station footbridge.
In The Dalston Eastern Curve, I talked about the curve, but I don’t think it will be rebuilt in the next few years.
A Southern Entrance To Hackney Central Station
Because of its connections to the attractions at Stratford and Crossrail, I suspect that we’ll be seeing more passengers taking the North London Line to and from its Eastern terminus at Stratford station. Especially, when West Ham moves into the Olympic Stadium.
The proposed increase in size and facilities at Hackney Central will be very much needed, for all these passengers.
Many passengers though will need to go South from Hackney Central or along Graham Road, but will be frustrated in having to climb the footbridge to get out of the station on the wrong side of the line.
It is my view that a southern entrance to Hackney Central station would make travel easier for a great many travellers.
In an ideal world, a southern entrance would lead to a light-controlled crossing over Graham Road, to give easier access to the buses.
The Dalston Eastern Curve
In several posts like Improving The East London Line, An Opportunity For Dalston, Platforms 11 And 12 At Stratford and Missing Links On The Overground, I mention the Dalston Eastern Curve. Currently, the land is occupied by a community garden called unsurprisingly the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden.
The Google Map shows the area.
Dalston Eastern Curve
The line of the Dalston Eastern Curve is clearly shown, as it leaves the North London Line that goes across the map, and curves its way down to Dalston Junction station on Dalston Lane. The garden occupies the Southernmost section and has an entrance on the Lane.
These pictures show the area of the Curve.
If it were to be reinstated the big losers would be the car park of the Shopping Centre and the Garden.
A new reinstated Dalston Eastern rail curve would probably be covered, as is much of the Western Curve. After all, railway lines in tunnels or covered over can be used as building land for houses, offices, shopping centres or gardens.
The rebuilding plans for Dalston Shopping Centre,shown many months ago, showed an open-aired concept, rather than the dated layout it has today. It also appears that the landlord of the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden is the owner of the Shopping Centre.
So I suppose that what Transport for London and the Shopping Centre agree is needed, will be implemented.
Other trends and facts must also be taken into account.
- The walking route between the two Dalston stations is terrible.
- Car parking is increasingly non-profitable for Shopping Centres to provide.
- More people will use bicycles and public transport to get to Dalston.
- Four extra trains an hour, are already planned on the East London Line.
- The East London Line has a capacity of twenty-four trains an hour. TfL has stated these could be six cars after some platform extensions.
- The East London Line will be given better connectivity to South East London, possibly by extending from New Cross or creating interchanges at Brockley and Penge.
- The North London Line could have more passenger trains. Especially, if freight trains on the line can be reduced.
- Waltham Forest Council has ambitions to have trains from Walthamstow Central and Chingford to Stratford by a reinstated Hall Farm Curve.
- Crossrail 2 or not, there will be massive developments up the Lea Valley, including housing and the Walthamstow Wetlands.
- Crossrail will connect to the East London Line at Whitechapel. What effects will this have on Dalston?
- Joining services back-to-back is always a good idea, as Thameslink showed years ago. It reduces the number of trains, staff and platforms needed to provide the service.
And then there is Crossrail 2, which once it is defined and started, will change everybody’s plans for Central Dalston.
I believe that the Dalston Eastern Curve will eventually be reinstated.
The main reason will be the need to have more Northern destinations for all of those trains going up and down the East London Line. A reinstated curve will allow services to go to and from Stratford and possibly if the Hall Farm curve was also to be reinstated as far as Walthamstow and Chingford.
So a series of short routes are converted into one long one, from Stratford or Chingford to say West Croydon, Orpington, Ebbsfleet or wherever!
It should be noted that at present Chingford/Walthamstow to South London is a difficult crowded journey on the Victoria Line to get a train going south from either St. Pancras or Victoria. A reinstated Hall Farm Curve would make things better by giving access at Stratford to the Jubilee Line and Crossrail in 2019.
Savvy passengers going from Stratford to South London destinations, change at Canonbury. But they would probably prefer a direct train via the Dalston Eastern Curve.
One thing that will happen, is that when the Shopping Centre is rebuilt, then space will be left to reinstate the Dalston Eastern Curve.
Beware The Tosser With A Digger!
This story from the Standard is entitled Digger cripples London Overground route after tearing down overhead wiring at level crossing.
This accident happened on a Sunday between Shepherd’s Bush and Willesden and it doesn’t appear anybody was hurt.
But it just illustrates how dangerous level crossing are.
Currently, several hours later,there is no service on the line.
Underneath And Above The Arches
London Fields station has improved in some ways with Overgroundisation since I wrote Before Overground – London Fields in September 2014.
It just shows what you can do with an army of cleaners and painters. And a touch of Overground Orange!
But there is still the problem of step-free access to solve.
This Google Map shows how difficult this could be.
London Fields Station
The site is cramped, with the platform and stairs for the Liverpool Street platform squeezed between the slow and fast lines.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Transport for London, put the addition of step-free access to this station at the very back of the queue.
Unless of course, they could persuade a developer to do something very imaginative and expensive, which they can market as having its own station and a large park with an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
A Wall Of Flats At West Hampstead Station
I stopped off at West Hampstead station to see anything was happening on the new station.
Nothing much yet!
This article on West Hampstead Life gives details of the new station.
I will reserve judgement on the flats until they’re finished. Especially, on a windy day!
Toronto Looks At The Overground
My Google Alert for Overground found this article from the Toronto Star entitled London’s other railway holds many lessons for Toronto, Mayor John Tory.
The Mayor had come to London to look at Crossrail and it seems that the Overground had impressed him.
But then the Overground, is only one of a family of local City networks in the UK, like those in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds and Liverpool, that have done the same as London and taken a run-down network, cleaned it up with bright stations, improved the trains, provided a frequent service and visible customer service, often linked with smart ticketing.
Living as I do on the Overground by Dalston Junction station, I know the concept works and it has only one serious problem – As more capacity is provided it quickly fills up. For example, I did one stop yesterday at eleven in the morning and all the seats were taken.
There is no doubt that quality sells!
Camden Town Station Capacity Upgrade
Camden Town station on the Northern Line of the London Underground is one of the most congested stations on the network.
It finally looks like something is happening to ease the problems as this consultation is now on the TfL website.
TfL’s first rebuilding plans are described in Wikipedia and they needed a lot of demolition. Wikipedia says this.
Apart from complaints about destruction of one of the ox-blood tiled station buildings, there is a significant controversy over the demolition of the buildings to the north. Complaints particularly centred on London Underground’s desire to replace the buildings with modern construction said to be out of place and out of scale with the remainder of Camden Town, together with complaints about the loss of the buildings and market themselves. This led to a public inquiry being held. In January 2004, consultants Arup published plans commissioned by Save Camden, a group of local market traders, for a remodelling that would preserve the majority of the threatened buildings, including the market. In 2005 Transport for London lost its appeal to the office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the scheme has been cancelled.
So this has led to the current plan, where TfL are proposing a second entrance on Buck Street. They say this in the consultation.
A possible site for a new station entrance would be on Buck Street, between Camden High Street and Kentish Town Road. It would lead to three new escalators and two lifts. Below ground there would be more space to change between trains. This would in turn enable future capacity benefits on the Northern line.
The most significant point is the capacity upgrade on the line, which involves splitting the Northern Line into two.
- The Edgware Branch would take the Charing Cross route to Kennington before continuing to Battersea and eventually Clapham Junction.
- The High Barnet Branch would take the Bank route to Kennington and then go to Morden.
The only thing stopping this is the current mess that is Camden Town.
I would assume that this upgrade would include an easy walk-across for passengers changing between the two new lines at Camden Town.
On the surface, it would appear that little will be done, except to build the new station entrance on the site of a closed school. This map shows the position of the new entrance.
New Entrance To Camden Town Station
It would be ideally placed for the hoards of visitors going to and from Camden Lock and the various markets.
It is also worth looking at the layout of lines in the area.
Camden Town And Camden Road Stations
Note how Camden Road station is actually quite close to the northern end of the platforms at Camden Town station.
So would it be possible to create a better link between the two stations?
I would certainly feel that when the Northern Line is split and extended to Battersea, many people would use the interchange. I certainly would, as getting to places like Charing Cross or Waterloo is one of those journeys you don’t start from Hackney.
future.
In Transport for London’s London Infrastructure Plan for 2050, this is said.
This will allow, for example, higher frequency services out of terminals such as Victoria to South London centres such as Croydon and the development of major interchange hubs that act in a similar way to Clapham Junction in the South West. e.g. Camden Interchange between Camden Road and Camden Town stations.
So obviously, TfL are thinking along these lines.
The two stations are an official out-of-station interchange.
A Google Map also shows Buck Street and the North London Line.
Buck Street To Camden Road
Buck Street is the curved road in the bottom left corner of the map, just above the white building which is Camden Market. On the North side of the street is Hawley Infant and Nursery School, which will become the site of the second entrance to Camden Town station.
The North London Line runs across the top of the map with Camden Road station at the right. It is worthwhile noting the fork in the line.
- The southern arm is a freight-only line, that leads to the disused Primrose Hill station and the Watford DC Line.
- The northern arm is the North London Line to Willesden Junction.
At one time it was proposed that changes be made here, as detailed in Wikipedia, but nothing seems to be planned at the moment.
The only thing the proposal shows is that TfL have been thinking hard about this area.
But I do think that London’s universe-class tunnellers could create an escalator connection between the two stations, if that was decided how the interchange was to be created.
There could also be other simpler ways to create better walking routes between Camden Road station and Buck Street. I will have to check, but I don’t think it is possible to walk along the tow-path of the Regent’s Canal.
Later I took a train to Camden Road station and then walked by a roundabout route to Camden Town station.
Do I have any conclusions and questions?
- The current walking route between the two stations is crowded and possibly dangerous. It also involves crossing two roads at lights.
- Because there is now steps down from Camden Road to the Regent’s Canal Tow Path, there is already a walking route between Camden Road station and Camden Lock, which does not mean any roads have to be crossed. Some improvements to the surface and perhaps guard and hand rails would need to be made to bring it up to a safe standard.
- It might be possible to install lifts, at Camden Road, Kentish Town Road and Camden Lock to make the tow path fully-accessible to all.
- Until Camden Town station is extended and improved, it could be sign-posted as an alternative route to Camden Lock.
- As you approach Camden Lock, where the railway runs along the Regent’s Canal, what plans are there for development in the area?
- The Regent’s Canal Tow Path, would also enable a walking route between Camden Road station and the new Buck Street Entrance to Camden Town station.
- It would appear that the Hawley Infant and Nursery School is not a bad place for a second entrance to Camden Town station, as it is well placed for the attractions between Camden Town and Camden Lock.
- The Buck Street site is probably big enough to create a second entrance, which has a capacity substantially greater than the current station. The consultation talks of three new escalators and two lifts, but capacity is often determined by the space at the bottom of the lifts/escalators, which I’m sure would be more than adequate.
- The area round Camden Town station is more than incredibly busy.
- There are bus stops everywhere and they could do with being reorganised. As an example, getting a bus to London Zoo is not very easy.
- There are quite a few low-grade buildings in the area, that few would miss.
- How was planning permission for the Sainsbury’s supermarket obtained?
- Incidentally, the store was built in 1988, so it must be coming up for refurbishment soon.
But looking at the North London Line as it passes over Camden Gardens and along the canal, it struck me that something dramatic and modern, but that still fitted in with the surroundings could be created that connected the high viaduct of the North London Line to the ground below and then by escalators and/or lifts to the Northern Line tunnels. I then looked at the Google Map of the area from Camden Road station to Camden Gardens.
To The West Of Camden Road Station
Note the disused twin-track rail loop around Camden Road station to the north side of the station. There is also a smaller space on the south side that leads almost to Camden Gardens.
Surely, an imaginative architect could use these resources to extend the station to the area of the gardens, from where some means of descending and ascending would be provided. Large lifts or escalators fully enclosed in glass would be something I’ve seen elsewhere and they would contrast well with the bricks of the viaduct.
With my project management hat on, I also believe that TfL have chosen a design, that will be easy to build.
- Phase 1 – Build the second entrance with its lifts and escalators as almost a second station connected to the existing platforms. There is another station on the Underground that is effectively two stations – Knightsbridge, because of Harrods.
- Phase 2 – Open the second entrance and prove that it can handle all the passengers who want to use the station.
- Phase 3 – Close and refurbish the existing station.
The link to Camden Road station would probably be incorporated into Phase 1.
I don’t know anything about the safety arrangements of stations, but surely a twin station’s duplication must make it simpler.
There is a chance to create an iconic Camden Interchange station, that truly reflects the unconventional nature of Camden Town.
Increased Frequencies On The East London Line
This article from the South London Press is entitled More Trains For The London Overground. The article says Transport for London (TfL) wants to make two service improvements are on the East London Line.
- From 2018, there will be an extra two trains per hour (tph) between Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace.
- From 2019, there will be four additional trains between Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction, making the frequency 8 tph.
I found the source of the report on TfL’s web site. This is a handy summary from the Appendix.
LO Improvements
It looks like the pattern of extra trains is as follows.
- From 2018, there will be an extra two trains per hour (tph) between Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace.
- From 2019, there will be an extra 2 tph between Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction, making the frequency 6 tph.
Currently both these services go to Highbury and Islington.
It’s interesting that these increased services are starting in 2018-2019! This times them to start just as Crossrail and Thameslink are opening, which probably means that TfL are expecting that a lot of Crossrail passengers will change to and from the East London Line at Whitechapel. As I will, no doubt!
Buried in TfL’s Transport Plan for 2050 says are possible plans on improving the service on the East London Line.
- Better late night and overnight services on the Overground.
- Automatic Train Operation on the core of the line from Dalston Junction to Surrey Quays to increase service frequency from 16 tph to possibly as high as 24 tph.
- Six car trains on the Overground.
At the moment the East London Line has 16 four-car trains an hour in the core route, so 24 six-car trains will mean an increase of capacity of 2.25.
The announced service improvements will mean that 20 tph will be passing Whitechapel and Canada Water.
So will we see other services started to bring the line up to the 24 tph capacity?
This would give London three almost-new 24 tph lines crossing the city; Crossrail, Thameslink and the East London Line, in an H-shape.
TfL don’t sem to be planning it yet!
The increase in frequency from Dalston Junction to Clapham Junction station is very welcome to me, as I often take a train to Clapham Junction to go south to Brighton, Gatwick or other places.
Increasing the frequency to Clapham Junction may also be needed, as extra stations and other changes are added to this branch of the East London Line.
- New Bermondsey station will be opened to take advantage of the six services per hour between Dalston Junction and Clapham Junction.
- Clapham Junction might be served by the Northern Line Extension some time in the early 2020s.
- Clapham Junction may well be served with other services to take the pressure off Victoria and Waterloo. It always strikes me as a station, that since its latest improvements could handle more services.
- Camberwell station, which has been promised for some time, could finally be under way, to connect the East London Line to Thameslink at Loughborough Junction station. A design based on the split-level principles of Smethwick Galton Bridge station may solve the connection problem.
The only difficulty of this frequency could be that there might need to be upgrades at Clapham Junction to turnback more trains.
Increasing the frequency to Crystal Palace station will be of less use to me, as I’ve rarely used that service.
If it linked to Tramlink, I might use it more, but that extension to Tramlink was dropped by Boris and there seems to be no enthusiasm on anybody’s part to build it.
I do wonder if Transport for London have other plans for Crystal Palace in their mind.
Look at this Google Map showing Crystal Palace, Penge West and Penge East stations.
Crystal Palace And Penge
Crystal Palace is a fully modernised and accessible station with lifts, a cafe and lots of platforms, so it makes an ideal terminus for trains on the East London Line.
Penge West is not the best appointed of stations and I suspect if a much better alternative was provided nearby, no-one would miss the station.
Penge East is on the Victoria to Orpington Line and needs upgrading for step-free access. But it has the problem of a Listed footbridge, that should be burnt. I wrote about it in An Exploration At Penge.
Buried in TfL’s Plan for 2050, is the one-word; Penge, as a possible new station. The line through Penge East passes under both the Brighton Main Line and the branch to Crystal Palace, in an area of railway land.
After looking at Smethwick Galton Bridge station or as I called it, Birmingham’s Four-Poster station, I do feel that a good architect could design a station, that solved the challenging problem of the difference in height and created a fully-accessible interchange. This station could have a lot going for it, as services passing through the station would include.
- 4 tph between Victoria and Orpington on the Victoria to Orpington Line
- 6 tph between Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace and 4 tph between Dalston Junction and West Croydon on the East London Line.
- A selection of the East London Line services would go to Highbury and Islington.
- 2 tph between London Bridge and Caterham on the Brighton Main Line.
- Services between Bedford/St. Albans/St. Pancras and Beckenham Junction on the Victoria to Orpington Line
It would increase connectivity greatly all over East London, both North and South of the river.
I suspect too, that the station would open up the brownfield land around the railway for property development.
I think there is a strong case to watch that area of Penge!
Could Another Overground Platform Be Squeezed In At Clapham Junction Station?
Clapham Junction station has two Overground platforms, 1 and 2, at the Northern side of the station.
This Google Map shows the platforms at the station.
Clapham Junction Platforms 1 and 2
Platforms 1 and 2 are continuous at the top, with one on the left. Note that Class 378 trains are in both platforms.
These pictures show Platforms 1 and 2 and the space behind.
I don’t know whether another platform could be fitted in, but I suspect, if London Overground needed another one, then with some reconstruction and movement of the various cabins and boxes, then one could be built.
Will The London Overground Aventras Have Energy Storage?
When I wrote Is Liverpool Planning To Invade Manchester By Train?, I enclosed a clip from the October 2015 Edition of Modern Railways about energy storage on the proposed new Liverpool trains.
Merseytravel has indicated that it will be seeking ‘innovative proposals’ from manufacturers, with considerable emphasis being placed on the overall cost of operating the fleet rather than just the basic cost of the trains themselves. Options such as regenerative braking and onboard systems to store energy under braking to be used for acceleration will attract particular interest. The independently-powered EMU (IPEMU or battery train) concept evaluated earlier this year on a modified Class 379 in East Anglia ,might see an application here.
So if energy storage is good for Scousers, surely it would be good for Cockneys! I could add Brummies, Geordies, Mancunians, Bristolians, Glaswegians, Hullensians and lots of others too!
I feel that using the new trains in IPEMU-mode would be a better way to run electric passenger trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking and Dudding Hill Lines, as all the inept disruption of putting up the catenary could be performed in a more relaxed manner.
But are there any other advantages, other than the energy saving and flexibility, if the trains have energy storage or an IPEMU capability?
- This morning, the wires are down on the London Overground at Hampstead, so trains are stopped. An IPEMU could possibly get through to provide a limited service.
- At times, lines are closed for work on the electrification and Rail Replacement Buses have to be used. Would an IPEMU be able to provide a service in some cases, by perhaps using another track? Obviously, safety for the workforce would have to be ensured, but Network Rail is improving its working methods all the time.
- London has two different electrification systems; overhead and third rail. Would an IPEMU allow extra services to be developed, which bridge the two systems?
- Would an IPEMU give advantages in the design, construction and operation of depots, by needing less electrification, as trains could move under their own own power.
- Suppose a terminal station like Chingford needs to be rebuilt or a new station needs to be built, would it cost less to design and build a station, if the station had no electrification?
Even if the current order for Aventra trains for the London Overground isn’t delivered with energy storage and an IPEMU capability, I believe it will become the standard for it to be installed on trains in the near future.
The Anonymous Widower 