The TfL Journey Planner Knows Best
Yesterday, I went to see Ipswich at Bournemouth, who play within walking distance of Pokesdown station.
That area is served from Waterloo, and if there is a difficult station to get to from Dalston, it is Waterloo. In fact it’s difficult for anybody, who doesn’t start their journey on the Bakerloo line, Jubilee line or some parts of the Northern line. I usually use a bus or buses to get to the station, or bypass it totally and pick up the train from Clapham Junction, after getting there on the Overground.
But, yesterday, I thought, I’d see what the TfL journey Planner recommended.
It recommended taking the Overground from Dalston Junction to Canada Water station, and then using the Jubilee line to get across to Waterloo.
It seemed a bit of a roundabout way, but it does appear to be quickest.
Whilst waiting for my Overground train, I told a driver, waiting for his train to arrive, what the Journey Planner had recommended.
He was as surprised as I was!
One of the other things about the Overground/Jubilee route, is that it is step-free, at all stations.
Dalston Junction As An Interchange On The London Overground
Last night, I came back to Dalston Junction from Highbury and Islington, on an Overground train with a friend, who was going on to Anerley in the Deep South.
They needed a West Croydon train and were going to pick one up at Canada Water later on.
I’ve remarked about interchanges on the London Overground before in this post, but I’ve never investigated Dalson Junction, as I usually get on the Overground there, rather than chsnge trains.
I hadn’t realised that to get on a West Croydon train at Dalston Junction, you always go to Platform 3, which is alongside Platform 4, where the trains from Highbury and Islington arrive.
So it has been laid out to make things easy.
Trains going south, start at the following places.
West Croydon – Platform 3 at Dalston Junction
Crystal Palace – Platform 1 at Highbury and Islington
Clapham Junction – Platform 2 at Highbury and Islington
Roll On Crossrail
Yesterday was a day, when Crossrail would have been more than handy.
I went to Exeter to see an old friend and his wife and had booked myself out of Paddington on the 09:07 train.
From Hackney, getting to Paddington is not easy and I usually take the Metropolitan line to the western end of the station and walk in to the trains from the bridge. Since the new Underground station has been built, this is the easiest way to get a train for Wales and West.
Paddington station for me also presents a gluten-free breakfast problem, in that there is nowhere I would trust in the station. So I took a bus to Kings Cross station, where there is both Leon and Carluccio’s, who both do excellent gluten-free breakfasts. Yesterday, it was Leon’s turn and I left myself thirty seven minutes to get to Paddington, after finishing my egg, chorizo and beans.
But that was my downfall, as there was signalling problems on the Metropolitan line and the trains were very infrequent and crammed solid.
So I tried a taxi and the queue was hundreds long and there wasn’t a taxi in sight.
In the end I found a bus to take me up to Euston Square station, where after a wait, I got on a train to Paddington.
But I missed the train by about five minutes.
Normally, the journey takes ten minutes from Kings Cross to Paddington, but it had taken me forty-five. The Metropolitan line, which is normally one of the most reliable had let me down.
It’s on journeys like this, that Crossrail will really benefit people like me, who live in the eastern part of the capital.
I should have a choice of buses to various Crossrail stations, or I could even take the Overground to Whitechapel from Dalston Junction station, just up the road from my house.
Crossrail is going to change the east of London dramatically and not just the places, which have a station on the line.
East Croydon To Dalston Junction
It would appear that the cheapest way for me, to get to Brighton from where I live near Dalston Junction station in London, is to buy a ticket from East Croydon. I would get there using my Freedom Pass as the station is in Zone 5. Ideally, I’d want to buy a ticket that was valid on all services, but it seems that those that are valid on only First Capital Connect are cheaper. I found a Super Off Peak Return at £5.95.
Coming back from Brighton yesterday, I couldn’t get a fast train to London Bridge to where my return was valid, so I decided to change at East Croydon for Norwood Junction, where I could pick up the Overground for Dalston Junction.
The change wasn’t difficult at Norwood Junction, but it did entail a walk through the subway to get from Platform 3, where my connection arrived at Platform 1 for the Overground. The Overground trains run on the slow line and actually pull in between Platform 1 and Platform 2, which is a walk over from where the faster trains stop on Platform 3. Would it not be an idea, to open the doors on both sides of Overground trains, so that there would be direct access between the trains on Platform 1/2 and 3?
Norwood Junction station is being upgraded for Thameslink. This is from Wikipedia.
The project includes the lengthening of platforms, station remodelling, new railway infrastructure (e.g. viaducts) and additional rolling stock. When implemented, First Capital Connect services will call at Norwood Junction.
I hope cross platform interchange from slow to fast services is also included. it would mean that someone in a wheelchair or with limited movement could get on the Overground at a fully-accessible station like Haggerston, and then go across the platform at Norwood Junction to get on a train for Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
I went back to Norwood Junction and found that we have the bizarre situation, where passengers going South can do a cross platform interchange for East Croydon, but those coming North have to go down into the subway and up again.
A member of staff told me it was for security reasons.
Hampstead Heath Station Gets Upgraded
Upgraded might be to soft a word for the work going on at Hampstead Heath station. Demolition and rebuilding might be better.
Lifts are being installed, a new ticket office is being constructed and the platforms are being lengthened to take the five-car Class 378 trains, when they arrive after the end of this year.
Sadly, not everybody would appear to be happy, according to this article in the Ham and High. But then, when the station is finished, it will be a lot better for access than most of the stations on the Victoria line, which handle a lot more passengers.
I think too, we often forget what happens in reality. Yesterday coming back from IKEA, I needed to get on the Overground at West Croydon for Dalston Junction. I had an awkward bag with me and I ended up on the wrong platform at West Croydon by my mistake. To get across, I needed to go up a ramp and down two sets of stairs. So I was asked if I needed help and I said that I didn’t! In the end a member of staff escorted me down the steps to the train.
So provided they are trained and helpful, surely one part of a disabled access strategy, is extra staff on the station. After all, one group who need assistance in unfamiliar surroundings are those who are blind or partially-sighted. I’m no expert, but surely a trained human guide is the best solution to their problems in these circumstances.
How To Do Interchanges
The London Overground wasn’t built to a generous budget and in some places it shows.
But not here in the two interchanges between the East and North London lines at Canonbury and Highbury and Islington stations.
The wide central platform handles a lot of the transfers with a simple walk across and then if you need to use the footbridge, there are lifts to avoid the stairs.
At Highbury and Islington, there is also a second footbridge,
Both stations have a coffee stall on the central platforms, which also have seats and shelters.
Note too how the freight train is some way from passengers due to the wide platform. This can’t be said of all stations on the Overground.
It just shows how a tight budget and good design often produce something that works well. If money had been no object, the stations would have had escalators, but these don’t allow for disabled and buggy access, which of course the stair/lift combination does.
The Nightmare That Is Croydon
I went to IKEA at Croydon, as I needed to get some drawers and seat cushions, which weren’t in stock at Edmonton. The easiest way to get there is to take the Overground to West Croydon and then get the Tramlink to Ampere Way.
The Nightmare That Is Croydon
This picture sums it all up. There was no signposting to the westbound tram stops and in the end, I had to cross the road in a long subway, take an eastbound tram and then walk across to a westbound one.
It really needs a good sort-out and it not up to the usual standard that Londoners expect.
They could also make it a lot more pedestrian friendly crossing thev road at West Croydon station and getting to and from the tram at IKEA.
They could start by putting up some proper signs to direct people who want to go west from West Croydon. It would probably at the moment mean going via East Croydon, but then hopefully signs would stop people from getting lost, like I did!
At least two pedestrian crossings with lights also need to be installed. or does Croydon have a policy of discouraging pedestrians. After all they do make bit of a mess to the motor, if you hit one hard.
There doesn’t seem to be any plans to route some westbound trains past West Croydon station, but then it does seem to me, that it’s now too late, as logically, this should have been done, when the initial lines were laid down.
Could We Create A Second Entrance To The Overground At Highbury And Islington Station?
Highbury and Islington station is not one of my favourites.
It has only two escalators to get to the deep-level platforms for the Victoria line and the Northern City line. At least we have now got two fully working examples, but a much needed third escalator can’t be fitted in the empty position, as there is not enough circulation space at the bottom.
It’s all because it was a typical 1960s Jerry-built station like several on the Victoria line.
One of the problems is that although since the Overground was opened at Highbury and Islington, there is more space on the concourse, at certain times, like an evening match at The Emirates, every passageway and the space in front of the station, gets seriously overloaded.
Although the Overground was built to a price, they did save money by using good design, rather than just leaving something out, as they did on the Victoria line.
For this reason, although they could have reinstated the Eastern Curve at Dalston Junction, to enable trains to go directly between Stratford and the East London line, they chose not to, but instead made Canonbury station, into a good, easy and efficient interchange. Especially, if you were coming from Stratford and going south to or through Dalston Junction! I regularly if I’m coming home from Stratford, change at Canonbury to a southbound train and go to the first stop; Dalston Junction, from where I take one of the numerous buses home. It sounds complicated, but if I have a heavy parcel, there is only one set of steps, which can be bypassed by a lift.
To facilitate train changing at Highbury and Islington station, they also built a second footbridge over the tracks, at the western end of the platforms. This footbridge is also designed to serve an emergency exit from the station.
This footbridge and its associated emergency exit, opens on to the road alongside the station;Highbury Station Road. So could this exit be expanded into a full entrance and exit to the station? I took a walk around the station to see it all from the outside.
The residential developments around the north side of the station, probably wouldn’t take too kindly, to large numbers of people and especially football fans passing down their road. But it is only a short walk up Highbury Station Road on the south side to the wide expanses of Liverpool Road, which is in fact, an area poorly served by buses.
So a second entrance is probably feasible and it might give benefits to those, who live in the area to the west of the station. As Liverpool Road leads to the Emirates Stadium, a second entrance might help with congestion on the Holloway Road on match days.
Admittedly, a second entrance here would really only serve the Overground, but bear in mind that over the next couple of years, the capacity of trains on that set of lines, will be increased by twenty-five percent. This will put more pressure on Highbury and Islington station, which is a terminus of the Overground and the main northern interchange to the Underground.
I suspect too, that more football supporters will be using the Overground to get to the stadium. Remember that football fans have different travel patterns to say commuters and usually have a window of an hour or so before the match, when they can turn up. So they’ll see the extra capacity on the Overground and perhaps take a few minutes longer to get to the stadium in comfort, rather than crammed into an Underground train.
A second entrance would have certainly helped on Saturday, with all the chaos in the Balls Pond Road. If of course, the Overground had been running.
The Damage To The Overground
Judging by these pictures I took, the train crash on the 15th caused quite a bit of damage.
You do wonder what would have happened if the container had fallen into the park below during the day. Luckily the wall held it on the track. But it did happen at three in the morning.
Let’s hope this accident is not a foretaste of the future, when a lot more freight trains from London Gateway will be using the North London Line.
There doesn’t seem to be any news about when the line will reopen.
Full Function Ticketing On The Overground
As I came up the stairs at Dalston Junction station, this morning, I thought the ticket machines at the station had been updated for ticket collection.
Full Function Ticketing On The Overground
So after I’d bought my ticket to return from Sheffield on Saturday on-line, I visited the station and picked it up. Not only does the updated machine deliver on-line tickets, but you can buy a ticket to any station in the country.
A similar machine is in operation at Dalston Kingsland station, but not at Highbury and Islington station.
This development will make some of the journeys I do a lot easier, as I now have a convenient place to pick up on-line tickets.
Often big improvements can be made to travel, by doing small improvements all over the place. I suspect, this was just a software change.
The Anonymous Widower 