The Quality Of The Ride On The Lizzie Line
This morning I went from Moorgate station to Paddington station on the Lizzie Line.
I was in a virtually empty car and I could gauge a good estimate of ride quality.
In my opinion, the gold standard in the UK for some time has been the British Rail Mark 3 coach.
- But Mark 3 coaches don’t always run on modern slab track, which must give a smoother ride.
- Each track under London also has its own tunnel, so there is no buffeting, when you pass a train going in the opposite direction.
- Acceleration is also very smooth, due to the high proportion of powered axles.
I am getting very close to naming the Class 345 train, as the new gold standard.
Moorgate Station – 1st July 2022
I took these pictures at Moorgate station today.
The new entrance to the station, appears to be almost complete.
- 101 Moorgate, which is the building in front of the station, needs to be built.
- The area between the buildings needs to be landscaped.
This image from JRA Architects shows the space between 11 Moorgate and the new station entrance.
This image is from the South, whereas my pictures were taken from the North.
101 Moorgate is the white and ruby building on the right.
From Moorgate To Imperial Wharf – 30th June 2022
I wanted to see the new entrance at Imperial Wharf station today, so after a full English breakfast on Moorgate, I took the Lizzie Line, Central and West London Lines across London.
I took this route.
- Lizzie Line – Moorgate to Tottenham Court Road
- Central Line – Tottenham Court Road To Shepherds Bush
- West London Line – Shepherds Bush To Imperial Wharf
I took these pictures along the route.
Note.
- The change at Tottenham Court Road station involves going up to the ticket hall and down again.
- The change at Shepherds Bush involves crossing the road between the Central Line and Overground station.
- The last few pictures show the new entrance at Imperial Wharf, which is for Northbound trains only.
When Bond Street station opens on the Lizzie Line, it should be easier to change there for the Central Line.
The Plans For A Connection Between The Lizzie And West London Lines?
This map from cartometro.com shows, where the Lizzie and West London Lines cross in the area of Old Oak Common.
Note.
- The Overground is shown in orange and splits into the North and West London Lines South of Willesden Junction station.
- The Lizzie Line is shown in purple and black, as it goes across the map, as at this point it shares tracks with the Great Western Main Line.
This map shows how High Speed Two will change the lines.
Note.
- Hythe Road station on the West London Line, which will have a walking route to High Speed Two and the Lizzie Line.
- Old Oak Common Lane station on the North London Line, which will have a walking route to High Speed Two and the Lizzie Line.
- The Dudding Hill Line, which is shown as an orange double-line and could be part of the West London Orbital passing North-South to the West of Old Oak Common Lane station.
- The Acton-Northolt Line, which is shown in blue and could give Chiltern Railways extra platforms at Old Oak Common with a walking route to High Speed Two and the Lizzie Line.
Wikipedia says that the status of the two Overground stations according to Transport for London is as follows.
Subject to funding being secured and further public consultation, we would seek permission to build and operate the proposals via a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO). Funding remains a significant constraint in delivering these proposals. We are currently seeking to establish a package of funding that could enable the stations to be delivered by 2026 alongside the new HS2 and Elizabeth line station.
I suspect that with our current South London Mayor, we will see little progress on these connectivity schemes at Old Oak Common station, as with the possible exception of Hythe Road station, there’s little in it for South London.
Conclusion
Hythe Road station would certainly have made my journey easier yesterday.
Hopefully, though, if I do the journey again in the next year or so, Bond Street station will be open on the Lizzie Line and I’ll change to the Central Line there.
Gantry Removal At Moorgate Station – 18th June 2022
I took these pictures last night, as I came through Moorgate station.
It finally looks like the new entrance to Moorgate station is in the final phase.
The frontage of the building above seems complete and obvious to be installed include two escalators at the Southern end and Elizabeth Line signage.
It now looks like a new block will go up in front of the station. I would have preferred a nice square, with the bus stops alongside and a light-controlled crossing to the other side!
But then money is more important!
101 Moorgate
101 Moorgate is the new building between the new entrance to Moorgate station and Moorgate itself.
This page on the JRA Architects web site is entitled 101 Moorgate Crossrail Oversite Development, London EC2 and has a series of images of the finished development.
This image from JRA Architects shows the space between 101 Moorgate and the new station entrance.
101 Moorgate is the white and ruby building on the right.
In this image, there appears to be a gap between 101 Moorgate and the original Moorgate tube station entrance.
This image shows the Moorgate frontage of 101 Moorgate from the other side of the street.
The gap between the new and old looks substantial and will provide a high capacity route to the Elizabeth Line station entrance.
Elizabeth Line To Northern Line At Moorgate Station
In Elizabeth Line – Moorgate Station – 27th May 2022, I took the recommended step-free route at Moorgate station between the Northern Line and the new entrance to the station.
It is a rather underwhelming and long route and this was my conclusion.
The rat-up-the-drainpipe route is acceptable to me, but I don’t feel the step-free route via the long tunnel will be acceptable for all those, who need to use it.
It’s just too long to walk for many!
Perhaps the addition of seats for a rest would help.
I wrote about the rat-up-the-drainpipe route to the surface, in Up From The Depths At Moorgate Station and in my view, if you can manage an escalator it is a better route between the Northern and Elizabeth Lines. Once at the surface, there are lifts and stairs to the new entrance, where there are escalators and a lift to the Elizabeth Line.
This morning, I was coming the other way, as I’d just off an Elizabeth Line train from Canary Wharf. These pictures show my route to the Northern Line.
Note.
- The signing at the start of the route, which is shown in the first picture is dreadful.
- I suspect, it leads to some of those in wheel-chairs ending up at the main escalators to Moorgate.
- The main route to the Northern Line includes a double set of stairs, but there is a by-pass lift.
- The connecting tunnel is overly long.
- At the end of the tunnel, there is a choice of a lift or long stairs.
- At least the tunnel is fully air-conditioned.
I took the lift and then used the escalator to the Northern City Line opposite.
Step-Free Access To The Northern City Line
It hasn’t been added.
Conclusion
Routes between the Northern and Elizabeth Lines at Moorgate need to be improved.
Moorgate Station’s Facade At The New Entrance – 17th June 2022
These pictures show, the new facade of the Moorgate station’s new entrance.
This entrance is in addition to the original entrance on Moorgate and it has stairs and lifts to the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines and a giant escalator and a lift to the Elizabeth Line.
It does look as though, the construction of the offices on top of the entrance is coming to a completion. Two escalators will be fitted in the space guarded by the green hoarding to give access to the offices and the walkways, that will lead to the Barbican.
Dalston Junction To Moorgate Via The Elizabeth Line
This morning to get my breakfast at Leon on Moorgate, I took the longer route via Dalston Junction and Whitechapel stations using the East London and Elizabeth Lines.
Note.
- I travelled in the last coach of the Overground train from Dalston Junction station.
- I travelled towards the front of the Elizabeth Line train from Whitechapel station.
- There are lifts between Overground and the Elizabeth Line at Whitechapel station.
- All the escalators have traffic lights.
- Using stairs and escalator, the change at Whitechapel station took around two minutes.
The total journey time was just over 25 minutes.
Does The Paddington Bakerloo Line Link Make The Bakerloo Line A NW-SE Cross-Branch Of The Elizabeth Line?
The Elizabeth Line has these major North-South cross-branches.
- Jubilee Line at Bond Street station.
- Charing Cross Branch of the Northern Line at Tottenham Court Road station.
- Thameslink at Farringdon station.
- Bank Branch of the Northern Line at Moorgate station.
- East London Line of the Overground at Whitechapel station.
With the opening of the Paddington Bakerloo Line Link, another North-South cross-branch of the Elizabeth Line has been added.
It could be argued that London has a new NW-SE high frequency link between Harrow & Wealdstone and Abbey Wood stations.
- Bakerloo Line – Harrow & Wealdstone and Paddington
- Paddington Bakerloo Line Link – 165 metre level step-free walk
- Elizabeth Line – Paddington and Abbey Wood via Whitechapel and Canary Wharf
The journey would appear to take 73 minutes from the National Rail journey planner, which allows fifteen minutes for the change at Paddington.
Elizabeth Line – Moorgate Station – 27th May 2022
I took these pictures as I walked between the Northern Line and the Moorgate entrance to the Liverpool Street station on the Elizabeth Line.
Note.
- There is a lift and stairs at the Northern Line end.
- I would estimate that the tunnel is about two hundred metres long.
- There are resting bars at intervals.
- There are two help points along the tunnel.
- There are two lifts to get to the Elizabeth Line ticket hall, at the other end.
I was able to walk it today, but when my damaged knee is playing up, I will not use this route.
However, the rat-up-the-drainpipe route to the surface, that I described in Up From The Depths At Moorgate Station is still available.
But this route is not wheel-chair and buggy friendly.
In this route, a single escalator is taken from the Northern Line platforms to the National Rail platforms, from where there is a double escalator to the ticket hall level.
Conclusion
The rat-up-the-drainpipe route is acceptable to me, but I don’t feel the step-free route via the long tunnel will be acceptable for all those, who need to use it.
It’s just too long to walk for many!
Perhaps the addition of seats for a rest would help.
Elizabeth Line – Riding The Underground Roller Coaster At Liverpool Street Station – 24th May 2022
In London’s First Underground Roller Coaster, I published this cross-section of the double-ended Liverpool Street station, which I have christened an underground roller-coaster.
Note.
- Moorgate station is on the left.
- Liverpool Street station is on the right.
- In the middle looking like a giant juicer is the ventilation shaft in Finsbury Circus.
- The Crossrail tunnels, which consist of two running tunnels and a pedestrian walkway between them are at the deepest level.
- There are escalators and lifts all over the place.
Today, I walked between Liverpool Street and Moorgate.
As I walked I took these pictures.
Note.
- It is two down escalators and two up escalators from end to end.
- The passageway is wide, with cross passageways linking to the platforms.
- It is all step-free.
- I used a down inclined lift.
I feel it was probably easier than a walk on the surface.
But as it was raining, I didn’t get wet.
The Anonymous Widower 