Westfield Gets Its Own Overground Station
Shepherd’s Bush, Kensington Olympia, West Brompton and Imperial Wharf stations are the four stations on the West London Line of the Overground, that also served by services between Clapham Junction and Milton Keynes.
Shepherds Bush station has just been updated with longer platforms and a second entrance.
As the pictures show, the new new entrance is by the Westfield shopping centre and there is a light-controlled crossing across the road.
It will be interesting to see how customers take to the new entrance. I go to Westfield occasionally and it is usually because I’m coming back from somewhere in West London and need to buy some food or have lunch. As the centre has a Waitrose and a Carluccio’s in the corner near the station, I would probably use the new entrance to get a train home, as it would be a shorter walk. I doubt I’d use the Overground to go to Westfield, as going by the Central Line is quicker. But for those south of Shepherd’s Bush, it would probably be the exit of choice.
The main reason for the station upgrade would appear to have been a need to accommodate the longer trains on the Milton Keynes services, but I do think that we might see new entrances created at the other end of other Overground stations. I’ve felt for a long time, that Highbury and Islington station could benefit from a second entrance.
I also wonder, if this updating is part of a bigger plan to make more use of the West London Line.
The current Milton Keynes service terminates at its southern end at Clapham Junction, but it used to go through to South Croydon. In fact in November 2014, I used the link to go from Wembley Central to East Croydon. From Clapham Junction, the route was by Wandsworth Common, Balham, Streatham Common, Norbury, Thornton Heath and Selhurst, I would assume the service has been cut back because of Thameslink work, but I do feel that quite a few people could have been inconvenienced by this. I have a friend, who lives in South London, who uses the West London Line to get to matches at Wembley. So he might not be amused by this cutback.
As Clapham Junction is such an important station in South London, perhaps if there was a better connection to Willesden Junction, then the service might find quite a few passengers come out of the woodwork.
If Crossrail builds the threatened station at Old Oak Common, to link to HS2, the current service will be totally inadequate for the demand I’d expect. This is a map of the favoured option at Old Oak Common.
Option C Proposal At Old Oak Common
One of the problems is the number of freight trains that currently use the West London Line. But surely with a good sorting out and after electrification is complete in the area, their level can be reduced.
Would This Be The Easiest Station To Build In The UK?
Provision was made for Surrey Canal Road station when Phase 2 of the East London Line Extension was built a few years ago.
The pictures show that the work to create a new station wouldn’t be too great. They have decided to rename it to New Bermondsey station. The new station is close to Millwall FC as this Google Earth image shows.
Millwall FC And New Bermondsey Station
The station is in the bottom right-hand corner of the image, where the railway crosses Surrey Canal Road and construction could start this year.
Similar But Different!
London and Paris are rival cities and their two transport networks share some of the same characteristics.
But there are differences. The Paris metro was designed as a whole and was deliberately built with close stations, in a grid that covered the centre of the city. For political reasons, it was also built mainly in the city centre. This gives it various strengths and weaknesses that are different to London’s.
As a regular visitor to Paris, I’ve only ever used a bus once, whereas in the centre of London, I use them all the time. Is this because the Metro covers the centre in a denser manner than the London Underground does or is it because London’s buses have an unequalled bus information and mapping system.
In recent years, London has been building Crossrail and Thameslink, which are its version of the Paris RER and London has also developed a collection of run-down railways into the vaguely-circular London Overground. One of the aims of this railway, was to avoid going into the centre and out again, when you needed to go around the city.
So now Paris is developing the similarly laid-out Grand Paris Express, with similar aims. The layout is shown in this map.
Grand Paris Express
But there are differences. Whereas London has used full-size trains on existing railways with stations about two minutes apart, Paris is using smaller Metro sized trains calling at frequent stations and new tunnels and tracks will be constructed.
It’s a case of you pays your money and you makes your choice!
I think the only certainty, is that Paris’s ring Metro, will cost a lot more to build than it did to build London’s ring Overground. This article on Property Investor Europe says that the Grand Paris Express will cost ten billion more than the original estimate of twenty billion euro. That’s twice as much as London’s Crossrail!
The construction will also be a lot more disruptive, as new tunnels, stations and lines are built.
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.
They Still Haven’t Unwrapped It!
The first fifth coach in the Class 378 Overground trains still has the wrapping on.
It’s now nearly four months since it was delivered, so perhaps it’s time the wrapping was taken off.
Should An Overground Station Be Built At Hythe Road?
Some weeks ago Transport for London (TfL) launched a consultation on transport links and stations in the Old Oak Common area of West London.
A report in the Kilburn Times has said that the public have said that they’d prefer Option C of the TfL consultation, which involves two new Overground stations.
1. Old Oak Common on the North London Line, which would link to Crossrail and HS2.
2. Hythe Road on the West London Line.
This TfL map shows their locations.
Option C Proposal At Old Oak Common
And this is a Google Earth image.
West London Line At Hythe Road
As TfL are saying that service frequencies on the West London Line will be four trains per hour, which is the same as that of trains to Heathrow on Crossrail, it strikes me that these two new stations will greatly ease access to Heathrow from South London and beyond.
From where I live in Dalston, the two station idea has the benefit that if I want to get on Crossrail to go to Reading or Heathrow, it is just a single change at either of the two stations, depending on where my westbound North London Line train is going. Old Oak Common would appear to be a shorter walk however.
But surely, if you are doing a big development as at Old Oak Common, you need as many connections as you can reasonably afford.
Walking Between Walthamstow Central And Queens Road Stations
Walthamstow Central and Walthamstow Queens Road stations are not far apart and are considered to be an out-of-station interchange. This means that if you touch out in one station and then walk to the other to continue your journey, you only get charged for one journey.
It used to be tortuous to walk between the two stations, but in recent months a link called Ray Dudley Way has opened.
It does make the walk easier, but it is still not properly signed.
Note too, that it would appear that the eastern entrance to Walthamstow Central has been closed.
Looking Through A Five Car Class 378 Train
I finally got a picture this morning of the view through a five car Class 378 train.
Looking Through A Five Car Class 378 Train
There’s certainly a lot of London Overground’s signature colour.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
If Transport for London had known that the Overground would be such a success, I suspect they’d have ordered five car trains and the lengthened the platforms before the line opened.
At least though Bombardier designed the trains so they could be broken in half and extra carriages could be inserted in the middle.
I wonder if in a few years time, we’ll see another lengthening of trains and platforms. Some documents from TfL say that six cars is a possibility.
Work Starts On The Bridge At Highbury Corner
I walked past Highbury and Islington station this morning and it appears that work is starting on replacing the bridge.
The crossing has been moved away from the station, but the old Post Office hasn’t been demolished yet.
The Five Car Class 378 Trains Are Showing Themselves
I described my first sighting of a five car Class 378 in this post in December 2014. Since then, I have had the odd trip in one, but over the last few days they have become more numerous.
The pictures show the brighter upholstery in the new carriages.
Today, I sat in one and the helpful announcer said that I was in Car 5 of 5. In fact, the carriage was in its normal position of four.
The Anonymous Widower 