The Anonymous Widower

Did Plans For Crossrail Ever Include A Station At Holborn?

I have only one North-South bus route, where I live.

The 141 bus connects Palmers Green and London Bridge station.

• The 141 bus was the replacement for the 641 trolley bus, which was the main link between Wood Green, Turnpike Lane and Harringay, and the City of London, when I was a child.
• The vehicles are up to ten years old Wrightbus diesel hybrids.
• The route suffers badly from overcrowding as it connects, Bank and Moorgate stations in the City of London, with the outer reaches of the Piccadilly Line.

The overcrowding on the 141 bus route has got worse in the last couple of years because of the following.

• The rebuilding of London Bridge station brought more passengers to the 141 bus route.
• The opening of the new London Bridge bus station at London Bridge station has improved access to the buses at London Bridge station.
• The improvement of the connection of the buses to the Docklands Light Railway, Central Line and Northern Line at Bank station.
• The opening of the Battersea branch of the Northern Line, which brings more passengers to Bank station.
• The opening of the new Cannon Street entrance to Bank Underground station.
• The opening of the Elizabeth Line through Moorgate station.
• Recently, a new walking route between Moorgate and Liverpool Street was opened, which will bring more passengers to the buses on Moorgate.
• The rebuilding of Old Street station brought more passengers to the 141 bus route.

So what was the response of the Mayor and Transport for London, to all this increase of passenger numbers?

The 21 bus, which shadowed the 141 route, and doubled the number of buses through where I live, was moved to serve Holloway.

It was a big crime against mathematics and the wishes of our long-serving Labour MP; Meg Hillier.

So to handle many more passengers between London Bridge station and Newington Green through the City of London, the number of buses was halved.

I believe that the overcrowding will get worse because of the improvements, that Transport for London have planned.

• The Piccadilly Line will be getting new air-conditioned trains within a couple of years and these will inevitably attract more passengers to the line.
• On the other hand the air-conditioning may persuade passengers to use the Piccadilly Line more than they do now. Instead of changing to the 141 bus at Manor House station, passengers could change at Finsbury Park, King’s Cross St. Pancras or Holborn stations for other routes to the City of London.
• The third line to receive the new air-conditioned trains will probably be the Central Line, which would create another East-West air-conditioned line and bring more passengers to Bank station.
• The Central Line could give some relief for the buses through Bank, if an extra station was built on the Central Line to interchange with Shoreditch High Street station on the East London Line of the London Overground.
• The fourth line to receive the new air-conditioned trains will probably be the Waterloo and City Line, which would create another air-conditioned line and bring more passengers to Bank station.
• It is likely, that more services will be added to the Elizabeth Line, which will bring more passengers to Moorgate station.
• It is likely, that more services will be added to the Northern City Line, which will bring more passengers to Moorgate station.
• The Mayor is also planning to pedestrianise Oxford Street, which may fill up the Central Line with extra passengers.

It looks to me, that there will be a need for a large increase of bus capacity through the City of London on a North-South axis.

On the other hand, the City of London  have stated that they will pedestrianise many of their streets.

So what can be done to avoid gridlock in the City of London?

Develop The Northern City Line At Moorgate

I use this route regularly to and from Moorgate station.

• It already has new Class 717 air-conditioned trains.
• The route is already  digitally signalled in conjunction with the East Coast Digital Programme.
• It has two platforms at Moorgate station.
• Highbury & Islington station has interchanges with the Victoria Line and the North and East London Lines of the London Overground.
• Finsbury Park station has interchanges with the Victoria Line and National Rail services.
• Bowes Park station has an out of station interchange with Bounds Green station on the Piccadilly Line.
• Step-free access needs improving.
• The Victorians had plans to extend the line to Lothbury near Bank station.

If the Northern City Line could handle more passengers, would passengers get to all parts of the City of London by changing at Finsbury Park and walking from Moorgate or Old Street stations?

I regularly go between my house and Moorgate, by taking a bus to Essex Road station and using the Northern City Line.

I believe that with improvements on the Northern City Line, the line could be turned into a very valuable part of London’s rail infrastructure.

Connect The Central Line And The East London Line At Shoreditch High Street Station

I wrote about this proposal in Will Shoreditch High Street Be Connected To The Central Line?

The Elizabeth Line needed to be completed before this could be started.

Build The Western Extension Of The Docklands Light Railway

I wrote about this proposal in The Bank Station Upgrade And The Western Extension Of The DLR.

Rebuild Holborn Station

The interchange between Piccadilly and Central Line at Holborn station is difficult to say the least.

Holborn station is being extended with a new entrance. As with Euston, I suspect it has been designed with a feasible place for DLR platforms to be added.

This document on the TfL web site, gives more details of what is proposed at Holborn station.

I extracted this visualisation of the proposed station.

This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines in the through and around the station.

.Note, the Elizabeth Line, which is shown by dotted lines passes to the North of the station.

Conclusion

Not all these improvements need to be done, but each would improve transport in the City of London.

June 4, 2025 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Bank Station, Bank Station Cannon Street Entrance, Bank Station Upgrade, Battersea Power Station Station, Bounds Green Station, Bowes Park Station, Buses, Central Line, City of London, Docklands Light Railway, East Coast Digital Programme, East London Line, Elizabeth Line, Essex Road Station, Finsbury Park Station, Great Northern, Highbury And Islington Station, Holborn Station, Liverpool Street Station, London Bridge Station, London Bus 141, London Bus 21, London Mayor, London Overground, Mathematics, Moorgate Station, Newington Green, North London Line, Northern City Line, Northern City Line Extension To Bank Station, Northern Line, Old Street Station, Out Of Station Interchange, Oxford Street, Oxford Street Pedestrianisation, Palmers Green, Pedestrianisation, Piccadilly Line, Shoreditch High Street Station, Transport for London, Waterloo And City Line, Wood Green | Leave a comment