Between Walthamstow Central And Canning Town Stations On A 69 Bus
I have a feeling, that the 69 bus route, which currently runs between Walthamstow Central and Canning Town stations, could be usefully extended to become.
- A new route through the Silvertown tunnel.
- A formal connection between the Eastern ends of the Victoria and Jubilee Lines
- Part of Superloop
I took these pictures from the front of the top deck.
Note.
- I was sitting at the front of the bus on the right side of the top deck.
- Walthamstow Central station is served by the Victoria Line and the London Overground.
- The 69 bus runs every few minutes.
- Walthamstow Central station has a well-connected modern bus station.
- Leyton Midland Road station is on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.
- The Leyton Engineer appears to be a beautifully restored pub.
- The six-lane A12 East Cross Route is crossed on a bridge just before Leyton station.
- Leyton station is on the Central Line.
- Maryland station is on the Elizabeth Line.
- The Great Eastern Main Line and the Elizabeth Line are crossed on a bridge at Maryland station.
- The prominent church is St. John’s, Stratford.
- Plaistow station is on the Metropolitan Line.
- Canning Town station is on the Jubilee Line and is a hub for the Docklands Light Railway.
- Canning Town station is suffering a degree of refurbishment at the moment and is a bit of a nightmare on foot at the moment.
The 69 bus route connects eight railway stations and at least eight railway lines.
The roads are generally wide and there are more trees than in other parts of London.
Maryland Station Is Almost Ready For Crossrail
These pictures show the almost complete Maryland station.
Compare them with these from 2014 in Before Crossrail – Maryland.
A sow’s ear has been turned into a silk purse.
Freight At Maryland Station
I had to catch a train from that ruin in the East, Maryland, this afternoon. When I took pictures of all the stations before they are taken over by Crossrail, I gave Maryland a score of 2/10. As these pictures I took today, show of a freight train passing through, I think I was generous.
Sorting this dump out will need a real top quality architect with imagination. This Google Earth image shows the station and the roads around it.
Maryland Station
The following problems will challenge the design team.
1. The site is cramped and surrounded by busy roads.
2. The access to the station is along narrow pavements, even if they opened up the entrance on the South side.
3. The Crossrail platforms on the South side of the station are too short for the new trains and selective door opening will have to be used.
4. There would also appear to be few redeeming features in the current station. There isn’t any Victorian ironwork to preserve.
This is what is shown at present on the Crossrail web site.
Proposed Design
At least the number of trees has been increased!
I wish the architects the best of luck, but I sometimes feel that the only way to improve the station, would be to put a concrete raft over the whole area and build some tower blocks on top. At least they’d have good access to the rail system.
But then what do I know about architecture?
Before Crossrail – Maryland
Another Station That Needs Imagination And Lifts – Rating 2/10
Maryland is another ruin, but it is not as bad as Manor Park and it doesn’t have any redeeming feature like Forest Gate‘s kiosk.
In fact one of the best things that could happen to the three stations, is that a driverless Class 66 ran away with a heavy cargo of something like aggregate and careered through all the stations demolishing them completely.
What worries me about this station is that somebody was paid to design it and another was paid to build it, probably at great expense.
But look at this page to see Crossrail’s ideas about transforming the station.
The Anonymous Widower 