The Anonymous Widower

Could High Speed Two Have An Underground Station In London?

The Achievement Of The Bank Station Upgrade

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the lines through Bank and Monument stations.

Note.

  1. All the pink lines are the lines of the London Underground.
  2. The line running alongside London Bridge is the Northern Line, which is deep under the Thames.
  3. The mauve lines are those with the slightly higher voltage of the UK National Rail network going into Cannon Street station.

In part of the Bank Station Upgrade, a new Southbound tunnel for the Northern Line was dug, so that the Northern Line platforms at Bank station could be farther apart.

This visualisation shows the station.

The project was an amazing demonstration of what is possible to be achieved in underground construction.

  • There is a moving walkway to move passengers between the Central and Northern Lines.
  • There are escalators and lifts everywhere.

It was also dug out from London’s helpful soils under scores of important buildings, many of which are listed.

These pictures give a flavour of the underground section of the completed upgrade.

These pictures show the buildings on top of the complex.

Note.

  1. There is no building of any great height above the station complex.
  2. There are a lot of quality buildings.
  3. During all the work underground, I didn’t see any reports of any problems with the buildings on top.
  4. In How Many Entrances And Exits Does A Station Need?, I counted that the complex now has twenty entries.

It is probably a project that could be repeated elsewhere.

Camden Town, Holborn and Bond Street/Oxford Circus are probably suitable cases for treatment.

Weston Williamson’s Plan For Manchester Piccadilly Station

In The Rival Plans For Piccadilly Station, That Architects Say Will ‘Save Millions’, I wrote about Weston Williamson’s plan for Manchester Piccadilly station.

This was their visualisation.

Note.

  1. In the visualisation, you are observing the station from the East.
  2. The existing railway lines into Piccadilly station are shown in red.
  3. Stockport and Manchester Airport are to the left, which is to the South.
  4. Note the dreaded Castlefield Corridor in red going off into the distance to Oxford Road and Deansgate stations.
  5. The new high speed lines are shown in blue.
  6. To the left they go to Manchester Airport and then on to London, Birmingham and the South, Warrington and Liverpool and Wigan, Preston, Blackpool, Barrow-in-Furness, the North and Scotland.
  7. To the right, they go to Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds, Hull and the North East, and Sheffield, Doncaster and the East.
  8. Between it looks like  a low-level High Speed station with at least four tracks and six platforms.
  9. The Manchester Metrolink is shown in yellow.

The potential for over-site development is immense. If the Station Square Tower was residential, the penthouses would be some of the most desirable places to live in the North.

Londoners Are The Tunnel Kings

Bring On The Robots

Could High Speed Two Have An Underground Station In London?

Look at this map from OpenRailwayMap.

Note.

  1. Euston station is in the North-West corner of the map.
  2. St. Pancras and King’s Cross stations can just be seen at the top of the map.
  3. All lines shown in red have 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
  4. All lines shown in pink are the London Overground.
  5. The double track electrified railway meandering across the map from West to East is the Elizabeth Line.
  6. The pink line going down the middle of the map is the Piccadilly Line.
  7. The pink line going down the left of the map is the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line.

There is a large square area to the South of Euston that doesn’t have any railways crossing it.

It is shown in this map from OpenRailwayMap.

Note.

  1. As before, red lines have 25 KVAC overhead electrification and pink lines are the Underground.
  2. The Western boundary of the area is the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line, which runs between Euston in the North and Tottenham Court Road in the South.
  3. The Eastern boundary of the area is the Piccadilly Line, which runs between King’s Cross in the North and Holborn in the South.
  4. The Northern boundary of the area is the sub-surface Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines, which runs between Warren Street in the West and King’s Cross in the East.
  5. The Northern and Victoria Lines also run East-West to the North of the sub-surface lines.
  6. The Southern boundary of the area is the Central and Elizabeth Lines, which run between Tottenham Court Road in the West and Holborn in the East.

It is a substantial area.

So could it be hollowed out to create a below-ground London terminal for High Speed Two?

I got a bus from Tottenham Court Road to Euston station and then walked to Holborn, taking these pictures.

Note.

  1. There are only two buildings in the area with more than about six floors; University College Hospital and Senate House.
  2. There a lot of green spaces.
  3. Bloomsbury Square does have a car park beneath it.

I wonder if a terminal station could be build under the area?

  • I suspect if you went fifty metres down there could be plenty of space, that could be excavated.
  • Tunnels with moving walkway and escalators could link the station to the Central, Circle, Elizabeth, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan, Northern and Piccadilly Lines.
  • There would be space to have 400 metre long platforms.
  • As all trains would be electric, there would be no fume problems.
  • There could be lifts and escalators to the green spaces on the top.

I have a feeling that most of people living or working inside the North and South Circular Roads could get to the station by public transport with at most a single change.

April 21, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Could The Giant Station At Bank, Liverpool Street, Monument And Moorgate Be Considered A Superhub?

In Is The City Of London Moving Towards One Giant Station?, I showed how the four stations were being drawn together and developed as one large station that served the heart of the City of London.

London is also developing other large interchange stations that could claim because of their connectivity could be classed as London superhub stations.

  • Canary Wharf stations, which connect the Elizabeth and Jubilee Lines, and the Docklands Light Railway.
  • Old Oak Common station, which could bring together the Central, Chiltern and Elizabeth Lines, the London Overground and High Speed Two.
  • Stratford station, which connects the Central, Elizabeth and Jubilee Lines, the Docklands Light Railway, the London Overground, High Speed One and the Great Eastern Main Line.
  • Whitechapel station, which connects the Circle, District, Elizabeth and Hammersmith & City Lines, and the London Overground.

But what are the  characteristics of a superhub station?

A Lot Of Lines And Services

Obviously, it must have a lot of lines and services, so perhaps Clapham Junction station is the original superhub station.

All Lines Should Have Step-Free Access

This surely, goes without saying.

There Should Be Lots of Information

If the station is large it needs a lot of information and there’s probably the space to put it.

Helpful Staff

Should we have a fully-staffed kiosk at superhub stations, as there are at some main line stations?

Good Bus Connections

Bus connections at a superhub station must be comprehensive and probably connect to other superhubs.

There Should Be A Selection Of Shops For Travellers

I do my daily food and other shopping, as I travel around London. I’ll often use a station like Paddington with a good selection of shops.

Toilets

There are not enough public toilets in London.

Cash Machines

I know we’re using less cash, but a large station is a secure place to put a cash-machine.

Works Of Art

I also believe that railway stations are a secure place to put some of those large bronze sculptures and other works of art, that are currently locked away in the storerooms of galleries.

January 29, 2023 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How Many Entrances And Exits Does A Station Need?

I took a walk round the entrances of the combined Bank and Monument stations, this afternoon.

Note.

  1. There are a total of twenty entrances.
  2. Five are double entrances, with a pair of stairs leading to a single entrance tunnel.
  3. Only three are step-free entrances. Two are new; Bloomberg Building and Cannon Street, although the latter is yet to open.
  4. One entrance is currently closed.

This section of the tube map, that was clipped in January 2023, shows which connections at Bank and Monument are step-free.

Note.

  1. At Bank, only the Northern Line and the Docklands Light Railway are fully step-free.
  2. At Liverpool Street, only the Elizabeth Line is fully step-free.
  3. At Monument, nothing is shown step free
  4. At Moorgate, nothing is shown fully step free, although the Elizabeth Line is fully step-free, even if it is a bit tortuous.

Let’s hope some of the gaps are filled, when the Bank Station Upgrade is completed.

There is also no full step-free entrance to the Central Line at the Bank Junction.

January 27, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is The City Of London Moving Towards One Giant Station?

Bank and Monument Stations

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, there used to be an anomaly shown on Harry Beck’s iconic London  Tube Map, that stood out as a bit different.

It was between Bank and Monument stations and was marked as an Escalator Connection, which connected the Northern Line at Bank to the District and Circle Lines at Monument.

This link was opened in 1933 and has its own section in Wikipedia labeled Monument Link, 1933.

This link has been joined by more tunnels, lifts and escalators over the last eight decades.

  • In 1960, the Waterloo & City Line was connected to the main entrance of Bank station by two moving walkways.
  • In 1991, the Docklands Light Railway was extended to the complex, with escalators to both the Bank and Monument entrances to the station complex.
  • In November 2018, the new Bloomberg or Wallbrook entrance to the station opened, and I wrote about it in The Bank Station Walbrook Entrance Opened Today.

Bank and Monument stations have been developing as a pair of twin stations for eighty years.

The latest phase of the Bank Station Upgrade has added the following to the complex.

  • A new and much large Southbound platform for the Northern Line.
  • A moving walking between the Northern Line at Monument station and the Central Line at Bank station.
  • Escalators between the Central Line and the Bank station end of the new moving walkway.
  • Escalators between the Northern Line and the Docklands Light Railway.

The upgrade will be completed by a new entrance to the station complex on Cannon Street.

This Google Map shows the area of the station.

Note.

  1. The main Bank station entrance the top of the map, by the Bank of England with multiple entrances to the station.
  2. The main Monument entrance in the South-East corner of the map.
  3. The Cannon Street entrance will be in the triangle formed by Abchurch Lane, Cannon Street and King William Street.
  4. The Wallbrook entrance is under the Wallbrook Building.

The station has spread over a wide area, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more entrances in the future.

Liverpool Street And Moorgate Stations

This Google Map shows Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations.

Note.

  1. The green space is Finsbury Circus Gardens.
  2. Moorgate station is to the West on the A501 or Moorgate.
  3. Liverpool Street station is to the East on the A10 or Bishopsgate.

There is now a tunnel between the two stations, as part of the double-ended Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line station.

The drawing from Crossrail shows a cross-section of the Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line station.

Note.

  1. Moorgate station is on the left.
  2. Liverpool Street station is on the right.
  3. In the middle looking like a giant juicer is the ventilation shaft in Finsbury Circus.
  4. The Crossrail tunnels, which consist of two running tunnels and a pedestrian walkway between them are at the deepest level.
  5. There are escalators and lifts all over the place.

If it’s raining it’s a good way between the two stations.

The Rail Lines At Liverpool Street And Moorgate Stations

These routes serve the two stations.

  • National Rail – Liverpool Street to Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk
  • National Rail – Moorgate to North London and Hertfordshire
  • Central Line – Liverpool Street
  • London Overground – Liverpool Street to North-East London and Hertfordshire
  • City, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines – Liverpool Street and Moorgate
  • Elizabeth Line – Liverpool Street and Moorgate
  • Northern Line – Moorgate

Note.

  1. The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines have separate stations and platforms in both Liverpool Street and Moorgate.
  2. The Elizabeth Line station at Liverpool Street is a double-ended station with entrances in both the original Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations.
  3. You can walk between Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations using the connecting tunnel of the Elizabeth Line station.
  4. Both Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations are well-served by buses.

These connections mean that if you arrive in either of Liverpool Street or Moorgate and need to leave from the other main station, you can catch a train on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines for one stop or walk through the Elizabeth Line tunnel or on the surface.

The Triangle Of Lines In The City Of London

The City of London effectively has three main Underground stations, that connect to all the important lines through the City.

  • Bank/Monument station connects to the Central, Circle, District and Northern Lines
  • Liverpool Street station connects to the Circle, Elizabeth, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern Lines.
  • Moorgate station connects to the Central, Circle, Elizabeth, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines.

All three stations have direct Underground connections.

  • Bank and Liverpool Street via Central Line.
  • Monument and Liverpool Street via Circle Line.
  • Bank and Moorgate via Northern Line.
  • Monument and Moorgate via Circle Line.
  • Liverpool Street and Moorgate via Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines.

Note.

  1. All interconnecting services are frequent.
  2. The Circle at six trains per hour (tph) is the least frequent
  3. The connections at Bank have much improved recently, due to the Bank Station Upgrade.

It is also possible to walk between the three stations.

In Where The City Of London Leads The Rest Will Follow!, I laid out the plans of the City of London to cut vehicles in the City, impose a 15 mph speed limit and improve cycling and walking routes.

If all goes to plan, then this will open up more routes between the three stations.

Conclusion

Bank, Liverpool Street, Monument and Moorgate will evolve into one large interconnected City of London station, that is served by the Central, Circle, Elizabeth, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern Lines.

The most important thing that must be done is improve the information.

At least though, the vast walls that have been created in the Bank Station Upgrade and the Elizabeth Line stations, will be up to the task of informing passengers, the routes they need to take.

The other important thing, is to provide step-free and wheelchair-friendly routes between, Bank, Liverpool Street, Monument and Moorgate, so that passengers with reduced mobility can safely get on their way.

After the current round of construction and upgrades, I don’t think any of the rail routes between the stations are step-free.

 

 

 

January 27, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments