The Western Arcade At London Bridge Station
These pictures show the Western Arcade at London Bridge station, which opened after Christmas.
The Arcade connects the spacious double concourse under the tracks of the National Rail station with the Underground station.
All it needs now, is for the shops to be occupied.
The Massive Bank Station Upgrade Is Running Behind Schedule And Over Budget
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in City AM.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The hefty upgrade work on Bank station is set to be completed later than planned, and over budget, according to new papers from Transport for London (TfL).
TfL said in its recent investment programme report that final costs for the revamp at Bank are set to be £642m, £19m higher than the £623m originally forecast. That covers a capacity boost and systems integration upgrade at the station.
Other facts can be gleaned from the article.
- Overall works will now finish in 2022 instead of the original date of late 2021.
- £322m has been spent so far.
- Opening of the new entrance to the Waterloo and City Line has been put back from January to March next year because of problems of obtaining fire doors with the correct specifications.
- Problems have been found with digging the 00 metres of new tunnels.;
At least though, the contractors seem to be keeping all the lines open, as they carry out this most complex of projects in the heart of the City of London.
Once the station is completed, it will be interesting to see how many billions of pounds worth of office space are built on top of the new Underground complex.
Successful Trial Means Tube On Track For 4G Coverage By 2019
The title of this post is the same as this article on Rail Technology Magazine. This is said.
The Tube network will see 4G connectivity arrive in 2019, TfL has confirmed, meaning mayor Sadiq Khan’s original ambitions will be able to go ahead.
The news comes following a successful trial of the technology on the Waterloo & City line, where 4G technology was tested in tunnels and stations along the line in the summer.
I wonder how long it will be before all trains, trams and buses have 4G connectivity.
In some ways, I think providing 4G connectivity outside stations, bus stops and other important places is more important.
Suppose you are stuck in an area with no signal and perhaps you have fallen over and seriously cut your leg and need help or just a lift home.
Wouldn’t it be so much better, if you could find somewhere, where you know you could summon assistance or a lift?
I have two questions.
- Will 4G connectivity be added to the Overground?
- Will 4G connectivity be switch on station-by-station and line-by-line or in one go in 2019?
In some posts about this, it is suggested that a driving force behind the connectivity, is that the emeergency services are moving to mobile phone technology. So if that is the case, then the answers to these questions must be in the affirmative!
Development Of Knightsbridge Station
Knightsbridge station is an important station on the Piccadilly Line.
It is unusual in that it is one of the few double-ended tube stations, with one entrance at Sloane Street by Harvey Nicholls and the other along the Brompton Road at Harrods.
I took these pictures on a Sunday morning as I walked around the station.
The existing building over the Sloane Street entrance is being redeveloped. Wikipedia gives these details.
The residential development of One Hyde Park opposite the station features an entrance to the station which is the diverted closed off exit. It re-opened in December 2010.
In 2017, a developer will refurbish the block above the station and close exits 3 and 4 that lead to Brompton Road and Sloane Street. When this work is complete, there will be a new entrance in Brompton Road, the two exits having been blocked permanently. The station will also feature Step Free Access available from a new entrance in Hooper’s Court, where the original station first opened, with lifts in the original lift shaft that will lead to the Piccadilly platforms.
This page on the TfL web site gives more details. This is said.
Knightsbridge Tube station will have step-free access in 2020, reached by a new entrance at Hooper’s Court.
Two new lifts will serve the Piccadilly line platforms, making the station step-free from street level to the trains.
A second new entrance will open at 15 Brompton Road in 2019, replacing the former entrance on the corner of Sloane Street and Brompton Road. The pavement on Brompton Road and Sloane Street will be widened, making more room for pedestrians.
Note that the new entrance at 15 Brompton Road will be about halfway between the corner and the LK Bennett store, which is at 39-41.
Conclusion
It looks as if Knightsbridge tube station will be very much improved.
But!
- Cutting the traffic through the area would help.
- I can’t say that I’m impressed with the new entrance to the station on the North side of Knightsbridge.
At least the entrance by Harrods, is much more in keeping with the area.
A RAT Sighted At Acton Town Station
I was surprised to see an old train running through North Action station.
As it said on the side it was a Rail Adhesion Train, that I wrote about in Specialist Trains Lead The Charge Against Leaf Fall on The Piccadilly Line.
This article on Rail Engineer is entitled Leaf Fall On The London Underground and it gives more details on Rail Adhesion Trains and their use.
Upgrades For Northern And Jubilee Lines Have Been Brought To A Halt By Transport for London
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in City AM. This is the first paragraph.
Planned upgrades for the Northern and Jubilee Lines have been paused by Transport for London (TfL), though train drivers’ union Aslef says they will be cancelled entirely.
But is it such a disaster?
The Jubilee and othern Lines need more trains to increase the service frquencies. This is said in the article.
The Northern Line upgrade plan was to buy 17 additional trains so the Northern Line could run a 30 trains per hour service on all branches of the line, while the Jubilee Line would have had 10 new trains to operate a 36 trains per hour service.
So it looks like twenty-seven new trains are needed.
The Central Line Train Upgrade
This article on Railway-news.com is untitled London Underground’s Central Line Trains Set For Upgrade.
Currently, the Central Line‘s 1992 Stock have DC motors, which will be replaced by more efficient motors and a sophisticated control system.
The cost of the upgrade will be £112.1 million or about £1.3 million per train.
Transport for London are only making a reliability claim for the upgrade. Hopefully, if the trains are more reliable, then more can be in service. so can a higher frequency be run?
I also think in addition, the trains could possibly accelerate faster from stops, thus reducing the dwell times at stations and ultimately the journey times.
- Epping to West Ruislip currently takes ninety minutes with 38 stops.
- Ealing Broadway to Newbury Park takes sixty minutes with 24 stops.
- Northolt to Loughton takes sixty-seven minutes with 28 stops.
Saving just ten seconds on each stop will reduce journey times by several minutes.
I suspect that Transport for London will rearrange the timetable to increase the service frequency from the current twenty-four trains per hour (tph).
It will be interesting to see what frequency of trains and journey times are achieved, when all the Central Line trains have been updated.
The Victoria Line Upgrade Of 2016
In 2016, the Victoria Line track was upgraded at Walthamstow Central station, so that services could be increased to thirty six tph.
The Problem Of Ordering A Small Batch Of Unique Trains
This article on London Reconnections is entitled Third World Class Capacity: Cancelling Tube Upgrades.
The article talks about the problems of building small batches of unique trains and I would conclude they will be expensive, unless you could find some way of not buying them.
Could The Jubilee And Northern Line Trains And Stations Be Upgraded To Increase The Capacity And Avoid The Need For More Trains?
I’ve no idea, but I suspect that Transport for London have looked into the possibility.
The Jubilee Line
Currently, the Jubilee Line is worked by sixty-three 1996 Stock trains.
Wikipedia gives a good description of the Traction Control of the trains. This is the first sentence.
1995 and 1996 stocks have similar body shells but they use different AC traction control systems. The 1995 stock system is more modern, since the 1996 stock design specification was frozen in 1991.
This gives me the impression, that a more modern traction control system could improve the train performance, as electronics have moved on in the last twenty years.
The Northern Line
Currently, the Northern Line is worked by one hundred and six 1995 Stock trains.
Upgrading The Traction Control
I wonder if the most economic way is to update the traction control on both sets of trains with the same system.
If the upgrade needed new AC motors at the Central Line cost £1.3 million a train, would give total cost of around £220 million.
Upgrading The Stations
I suspect that Transport for London will upgrade the stations with Harrington Humps and other facilities to make train loading and unloading easier and less likely to delay the train.
I suspect that all the lessons learned in raising the Victoria Line to 36 tph will be applied.
Crossrail And The Jubilee Line
Crosrail appears to have been designed, so that it works in co-operation with London’s older Underground lines.
When considering Crossrail’s relationship with the Jubilee Line, the following must be taken into account.
- The two lines have interchanges at Bond Street, Canary Wharf and Stratford stations.
- Crossrail has good connections to the Metropolitan and Baskerloo Lines, which in North-West London serve Jubilee Line territory.
Perhaps more importantly, there is a cross-platform interchange at Whitechapel between the two Eastern branches of Crossrail. This will give passengers an easy route between Sssex and Canary Wharf.
These features should divert passengers away from the Jubilee Line.
Will this make upgrading the Jubilee Line, less urgent?
London Bridge Station, Thameslink And The Jubilee Line
One of the problems with the Jubilee Line is that you have to walk miles to get to the platforms at some stations.
London Bridge and Waterloo stations are bad examples.
These two stations are now connected by a fourteen tph link across the South Bank, which goes from London Bridge to Charing Cross via Waterloo East.
I use the route regularly back from Waterloo, as I can get a 141 bus to my home at London Bridge station.
Next year, when Thameslink is fully open even more passengers will be able to avoid the Jubilee Line.
And then there’s West Hampstead Interchange!
If this station were to be created to link all the lines together at West Hampstead, it would also create a second connection between Thameslink and the Jubilee Line.
The Splitting Of The Northern Line
Once Camden Town and Bank stations have been upgraded in 2025, the Northern Line will become two separate lines, with cross-platform interchange at Camden Town and Kennington stations. This will enable thirty-six tph on both branches and allow trains to be used more efficiently.
I do wonder, if in the detailed design and planning of the station extension at Camden Town, has shown that the split can be performed earlier, thus efficient train usage can start earlier.
Thameslink And The Northern Line
My late wife used to live in Barnet until we were married.
From that area in the 1960s, you could either take the Northern Line from High Barnet station or the two tph local train into Kings Cross from Oakleigh Park or New Barnet stations.
The local rail service is now three tph to Moorgate. Not a great improvement in fifty years!
However, things are changing at New Barnet and Oakleigh Park stations.
- New trains and an uprated service into Moorgate.
- Thameslink will add a two tph service to Sevenoaks.
Will these developments take a small amount of pressure off the Northern Line?
The Provision Of Depot Space
One of the disadvantages of buying more trains, would be that the depots would need to be expanded, so they could be stored.
London is a crowded city, which is short of land.
So is this a problem?
Londoners
Londoners are World Champions at ducking and diving!
So don’t underestimate their abilities to find the quickest routes that take the pressure off the Jubilee and Northern Lines.
Replacing The Whole Jubilee And Northern Fleets
It is intended that new trains will be in service on the Piccadilly Line around 2022. Wikipedia says this about Siemens proposal for the trains.
Siemens has publicised an outline design, which would feature air-conditioning and would also have battery power enabling the train to run on to the next station if third and fourth rail power were lost. It would have a lower floor and 11% higher passenger capacity than the present tube stock. There would be a weight saving of 30 tonnes, and the trains would be 17% more energy-efficient with air-conditioning included, or 30% more energy-efficient without it.
By the end of the 2020s, the Jubilee and Northern Line trains will be over thirty years old, and by then the two lines will be in need of even more capacity.
Replacing the current trains with a London-proven new train would surely be a distinct possibility.
Conclusion
The more I look at whether the top-up order for new trains is needed, the more I’m convinced it isn’t!
Please Do Not Wait In The Green Lanes
These pictures show an experiment in Kings Cross St. Pancras tube station, on the Southbound Victoria Line platform, which aims to make boarding and unloading of trains faster.
The idea is you don’t wait on the green lines, which are reserved for those getting on and off the trains.
The pictures were taken at ten in the morning, so I’ll go back one day in the Peak, to see how it works at a busy time.
But I do think it could be a good idea and a bit like platform edge doors, without the expense of the doors.
Note how the train stops precisely as indicated by the green lines. But then the stopping position of the train is determined automatically and has been since the Victoria Lie opened in 1967.
London Over/Underground And New York Subway Compared
This article on Business Insider, is entitled I rode London’s famous Underground system for a week — and I saw why New York’s subway will never catch up.
It is good read.
17 Tube Stations That Face Chronic Overcrowding If Crossrail 2 Is Stopped
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in today’s Standard.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Hundreds of thousands more Londoners will suffer chronic overcrowding on the Tube if Crossrail 2 does not go ahead, it was claimed today.
Transport for London released a list of 17 Underground stations that could buckle under the strain of too many commuters within a few years.
It then lists the stations.
- Euston
- King’s Cross St. Pancras
- Liverpool Street
- London Bridge
- Victoria
- Waterloo
- Finsbury Park
- Stockwell
- Stratford
- Oxford Circus
- Highbury & Islington
- Clapham Common
- Clapham North
- Clapham South
- Holborn
- Warren Street
- Leicester Square
It then quotes Caroline Pidgeon, who obtained the list, as follows.
Overcrowding on the Underground is already a daily battle, with many passengers facing regular delays to simply get through barriers at stations.
Unless Crossrail 2 is built these delays will increasingly build up until drastic measures are necessary at 17 key Tube stations, not to mention Clapham Junction railway station.
“Planning ahead for Crossrail 2 is not an optional extra for London’s transport network but of vital importance to keep London moving.
She has certainly highlighted a serious problem.
Call For Crossrail 2
Two years ago to the day, I wrote a post called Call For Crossrail 2 in response to a letter in The Times, from a wide cross section of business leaders calling for a start to be made on the line.
In the post, I talked about improving various stations, just by building Crossrail 2, so in the following notes on the list of crowded stations, I will refer to this post several times in the following.
Euston
Euston tube station is a particular problem in that in the next decade or so, the following will or could happen.
- HS2 will arrive at the station.
- Euston main line station will be rebuilt.
- Crossrail 2 will pass under the station.
- A connection will be created to Euston Square station for the Circle and Metropolitan Lines.
- There might even be an extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Euston.
- Step-free access must be added for all platforms.
Hopefully, the rebuilding for whichever comes first of HS2 or Crossrail 2, will make provision for even the most fanciful of expansions.
One Transport for London engineer told me that one of the main reasons for building HS2 and terminating it at Euston, is to be able to sort out the dreadful Euston tube station.
Kings Cross St. Pancras
Kings Cross St. Pancras tube station had a pretty good makeover around the time of the 2012 London Olympics, but it does suffer congestion and travellers have to walk long distances.
The Wikipedia entry for Kings Cross St. Pancras tube station has a section for Crossrail 2. This is said.
Since 1991, a route for a potential Crossrail 2 has been safeguarded, including a connection at King’s Cross St Pancras and Euston, forming the station Euston King’s Cross St Pancras. The proposed scheme would offer a second rail link between King’s Cross and Victoria in addition to the Victoria line. The locations for any new stations on the route will depend on the loading gauge of the final scheme. In the 2007 safeguarded route, the next stations would be Tottenham Court Road and Angel.
There is also a proposal to reopen the closed York Road tube station. In the Wikipedia entry for York Road station under Proposed Reopening, this is said.
One of London’s largest redevelopment projects, King’s Cross Central, began construction in 2008 across the road from the station. Islington council and Transport for London commissioned a study in 2005 to consider the possible reopening of the station. At the same time, however, it was recognised that other transport priorities reduced the likelihood of such a project moving forward in the near future. The site would need extensive overhauls to bring the station up to modern day standards, at a cost estimated at £21 million in 2005. Local political groups have been keen to see the station reopened in order to reduce passenger congestion at King’s Cross St. Pancras and to encourage development in the surrounding community. The Islington Liberal Democrats advocated the reopening of the station in their 2006 local election manifesto, and at least one candidate for the Islington Conservative Party similarly campaigned for the station to be reopened. However, to date, the reopening proposal has not been taken forward.
I wonder if York Road tube station will ever be reopened.
Liverpool Street
The Liverpool Street station complex will be even bigger and busier after Crossrail opens.
The main difference will be that the current Shenfield Metro will now disappear into the ground at Stratford and go under Central London to Heathrow and Reading.
Crossrail 2 will effectively channel the Lea Valley services, that current go into Liverpool Street station under London to emerge in the Wimbledon area.
Effectively, Crossrail and Crossrail 2 major effect on Liverpool Street station are to free up capacity in both tracks and platforms, thuis allowing more longer distance services to use the station.
London Bridge
London Bridge station is being rebuilt and expanded, but little seems to be planned for London Bridge tube station to cope with more passengers.
In Call For Crossrail 2, I said this about Crossrail 2 and the Northern Line.
Crossrail 2 will have interchanges with the Northern Line at Angel, Kings Cross St. Pancras, Euston, Tottenham Court Road, Tooting Broadway and possibly Clapham Junction. So it looks like that Crossrail 2 will certainly make journeys easier for users of the Northern Line.
This should mean that travellers on the Northern Line will be able to avoid a congested London Bridge tube station.
Victoria
Victoria tube station is being extended and rebuilt, which should result in sufficient capacity for more than a few years.
In Call For Crossrail 2, I said this about Crossrail 2 and the Victoria Line.
Crossrail 2 will effectively by-pass the central part of the Victoria Line as the two lines connect at Tottenham Hale, Seven Sisters, Kings Cross, Euston and Victoria.
This should take some of the pressure from Victoria tube station.
Waterloo
Waterloo tube station is a very busy tube station, as it has to cope with all the passengers using Waterloo station.
Crossrail 2 will allow passengers to bypass Waterloo, when travelling to and from Central London.
However, three major improvements will be delivered this year.
- The old Eurostar platforms are being brought back into use.
- Extra capacity is being added to the Underground station.
- I also think that when they have completed the improvements at the Bank end of the Waterloo and City Line.
- Will improvements follow at the Waterloo end?
I think Waterloo shouldn’t be judged until the current round of work is completed.
Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park station is a station that suffered badly when the Victoria Line was tunnelled through in the 1960s.
Lifts are being installed, but extra services will be added.
- Thameslink will call regularly at the station.
- The services on the Northern City Line will become the Great Northern Metro with an increased frequency.
Crossrail 2 will provide relief for Finsbury Park, as it provides a by-pass for the Victoria Line.
But the station needs to have quite a bit of rebuilding.
Stockwell
Stockwell tube station is where the Victoria and Northern Lines meet South of Victoria.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines at Stockwell station.
I’m not sure how Crossrail 2 helps here, but I suspect Transport for London hope that the new line will divert passengers away from Stockwell.
Stratford
Stratford station is another station that will be partially bypassed by Crossrail 2.
I do think that after Crossrail opens, that changes will be made at Stratford station to perhaps move some Liverpool Street services to Stansted and Cambridge.
This would bring more services to some not very busy platforms.
In West Anglia Route Improvement – The High Meads Loop, I described how it might all work.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines in this area.
Trains from Cambridge and Stansted would arrive at Temple Mills East Junction and would go round the High Meads Loop dropping and picking up passengers in Platforms 11 and 12 bwfore returning North.
An extra platform could even be added to serve services in Stratford International station.
The tunnels under the platforms at Stratford station would probably need improvement, but who knows how Eastenders will duck and dive after Crossrail opens.
As an example, passengers from Shenfield to Canary Wharf will probably use the cross-platform change at Whitechapel station, rather than pick up the Jubilee Line or the DLR at Stratford.
Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus tube station has needed improvement for years.
Crossrail will give some relief, as there will be new additional entrances to Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street stations closer to Oxford Circus.
I did look at what might happen in What Will The Elizabeth Line Do For Oxford Street?.
I came to this conclusion about Crossrail 2 and Oxford Street.
Crossrail 2 has just one interchange in the Oxford Street area at Tottenham Court Road station.
I would be very surprised in that in the massive rebuilding of the current station for Crossrail, that provision hasn’t been made to connect to Crossrail 2.
There have been surface issues around the station concerned with Crossrail 2, but given good planning of the project, I feel that the building of Crossrail 2 would only effect the area in a similar way to the replacement of a major block on Oxford Street.
Crossrail 2 will have two major effects.
- It will bring large numbers of visitors to the Oxford Street area.
- Just as Crossrail and the Central Line will work as a high-capacity pair, it will work closely with the Victoria Line to relieve that line.
This leads me to the conclusion, that the wider Oxford Street area needs to be and will be pedestrianised.
In some ways preparation for the pedestrianisation has already started by reorganising the buses.
Oxford Circus tube station is also high on Transport for London’s improvement list.
This map from carto.metro,free.fr shows the lines through the station.
I suspect that if developers were interested in rebuilding any of the buildings on the South side of Oxford Street or perhaps even around the BBC to the North, that there could be arm-twisting and deal-making to sneak new entrances into Oxford Circus tube station.
Highbury & Islington
Highbury & Islington station, is one of my local ones and it is getting some much-needed improvement.
- The Northern City Line will be getting frequent new Class 717 trains to create the Great Northern Metro.
- Highbury Corner will be remodelled to improve pedestrian access to the station.
- Bus and taxi access is being improved..
But nothing has been announced about improving the chronic access to the two deep-level lines at the station.
Speaking to staff at the station, they feel that a solution is possible, using the second entrance on the other side of the road.
In some ways the Great Northern Metro with its cross-platform interchange with the Victoria Line could be the saviour of this station, as it gives direct access to the City and to Crossrail at Moorgate station.
One of London’s forgotten lines could be riding to the rescue.
Clapham Common
Clapham Common tube station is one of my least favourite. This picture shows why.
It’s downright dangerous now, so when the Northern Line frequency is increased will the station cope?
Clapham North
Clapham North tube station is another dangerous island platform.
But at least the station has escalators.
In A Journey Round The Clapham Stations, a post I wrote in December 2015, I said this.
Having seen Clapham North and Clapham Common stations today, I do wonder if a diversion could be dug as at Angel, Bank and London Bridge, to create safe new stations. This new tunnel could surely be part of the works to add step-free access to one or both stations and connect the tunnels to Clapham High Street station.
What with the Northern Line Extension to Battersea, the rebuilding of Bank and Camden Town stations and all the resignalling of the past few years, the Northern Line could at last be fulfilling its potential.
This could go a long way to sorting the problem of the Clapham stations.
Clapham South
Clapham South tube station is not as bad as the other two Clapham stations discussed earlier.
Crossrail 2 may reduce the level of overcrowding on the Northern Line trains through the three Clapham stations, as passengers could change at Balham or Tooting Broadway stations to and from the new high-capacity line.
However, nothing short of some serious building work will solve the island platform problems at Clapham Common and Clapham North stations.
Holborn
Holborn tube station is very busy, but is one that could benefit from Crossrail, due to that line’s relationship with the Cerntral Line.
Crossrail 2 will certainly benefit the station, as it will relieve the pressure on the Piccadilly Line.
But Transport for London have published plans to add a second entrance and full step-free access. This is a 3-Dview of the plans.
Note the second entrance will be in Procter Street.
The only problem is that it could be 2021 before a decision is made.
However as a Piccadilly Line station, Holborn will benefit from the New Tube For London, before the upgrade.
Warren Street
Warren Street tube station is another Central London station on the Victoria Line, that could benefit from Crossrail 2’s duplication of the Victoria Line.
Leicester Square
Leicester Square tube station is just one stop on the Northern Line from the major new interchange of Tottenham Court Road station, which will be served by both Crossrail and Crossrail 2.
The station has needed more capacity since I first used it in the 1950s.
It needs step-free access.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines around Leicester Square station.
There is quite a tight knot of stations, of which only Tottenham Court Road has both escalators and lifts, although Goodge Street and Covent Garden have lifts only.
Leicester Square is an unusual station in that both the Northern and Piccadilly Lines are accessed by short passages and a short staircase from a fair-sized lobby at the bottom of a long set of escalators.
Clapham Junction
Clapham Junction station is the only non-Underground station in the seventeen stations named, where overcrowding could become chronic if Crossrail 2 is not built.
It is the busiest station by number of trains in Europe, so it must be difficult to keep on top of increasing numbers of passengers.
In the Wikipedia entry for the station under Future Proposals, this is said.
In 2007 the alignment of one of the two variants of Crossrail 2, that via the station rather than Putney and Wimbledon, was safeguarded. The Department for Transport and Transport for London continue to discuss proposal for a Clapham Junction Northern Line extension and its London Underground alignment has been legally reserved through Battersea Park, and would connect Clapham Junction to the London Underground for the first time.
Government and Network Rail funding for in the early 2010s of £50 million of improvements was granted. This comprised an upgrade to the main interchange: new entrances and more retail.
Surely something needs to be done, if Crossrail 2 is not built.
My proposals would include.
- Developing the West London Line services.
- Extending the Northern Line from Battersea Power Station station.
- Improving the frequency of trains into Waterloo.
- Make the station subway step-free.
There may be a need for more platforms, but the London Overground found this difficult.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the platforms in the station.
Simple it isn’t!
Conclusions
It surprised me how many of these stations will need substantial building work to cure the overcrowding.
Note.
- Every Victoria Line station between Oxford Circus and Finsbury Park is on the list.
- Four Northern Line stations between Stockwell to Clapham South is on the list.
- I think this shows how the designers of the Northern and Victoria Lines didn’t expect the traffic the lines now handle.
But overall, I think it shows how when you design a station, you don’t cut corners.
I also think to blame all these problems on the uncertainty about Crossrail 2, is probably a bit strong.
Consider.
- Liverpool Street will probably have enough capacity when Crossrail opens, especially as the station will incorporate Moorgate and be substantially step-free.
- The new London Bridge effectively adds high-frequency rail lines to Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Charing Cross and St. Pancras and when Thameslink and Southeastern are fully developed, the station will cope.
- Victoria shouldn’t be judged until the current upgrade is complete.
- Waterloo shouldn’t be judged until the current upgrade is complete.
- Finsbury Park shouldn’t be judged until the current upgrade is complete.
- Stratford will probably have enough capacity when Crossrail opens, especially as the station is substantially step-free.
- Oxford Circus should see improvement when Crossrail opens, especially as there’ll be new step-free entrances to Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, that will be closer to Oxford Circus, than the current stations.
- Highbury & Islington should see marginal improvement, when the Northern City Line is updated.
However, nothing short of substantial construction will sort Euston, Clapham Common, Clapham North, Holborn, Leicester Square and Clapham Junction.
Will London Build Any More New Tube Lines?
In this post, by Tube, I mean one of London’s narrow-bore Underground lines like the Bakerloo, Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines.
Tube Lines And Crossrail
Yesterday, I rode a Jubilee Line train and after The 10:35 From Liverpool Street To Shenfield, it struck me as a cramped experience.
As I got up to leave from one of the areas of the train with metro-style seating along the train sides, I tripped all over everybody else’s feet.
Compare this to the Class 345 train on Crossrail.
You could seat basketball players either side and they’d have difficulty playing footsie, given the width of the train.
Note too the space under the seats for their kit.
And then there is the air-conditioning, which of course the Tube lines don’t have.
So what is the point of building new narrow-bore Tube lines under London? Especially, as I doubt the cost of a line is much less than the wider-bore Crossrail on a per kilometre basis.
Build extensions to existing Tube lines, by all means, as these probably have a better economic case.
The Bakerloo Line Extension
This is a portion of London’s famous Tube Map.
The Bakerloo Line Extension runs between the following stations.
- |Elephant and Castle
- Burgess Park
- Old Kent Road
- New Cross Gate
- Lewisham
It is a simple scheme to put new transport infrastructure into South-East London.
Conclusion
I doubt, we’ll see a complete new Underground line in London, built to the narrower-bore of the Tube.
The Anonymous Widower 