Work Has Really Started At Hackney Wick Station
This article in the Hackney Gazette is entitled Hackney Wick Overground station and surrounding streets on track for £25m redesign.
This is said.
Work is underway on a £25 million scheme for east London’s new Hackney Wick Overground station complex with major improvements in the surrounding streets.
So I went along to take some pictures.
The article says that there will be a subway under the railway by the Spring and the station will by completed next January with new stairs and two lifts.
According to this article on Ian Visits, the tunnel will be built alongside and pushed under the railway. This was done successfully at the new Rochester station.
That certainly fits with what i saw!
Around The Hounslow Loop Line
The Hounslow Loop Line is a suburban railway in South-West London, that runs in a loop off the Waterloo to Reading Line.
Today, to get to know the line, I took a Hounslow train from Waterloo and after passing through Clapham Junction, Putney and Barnes stations, the train took to the Hounslow Loop Line calling at a succession of stations on both sides of the Thames.
We waited a minute or so at Hounslow station, before starting to return via Whitton and Twickenham stations.
When the train got to Richmond station, I changed to the North London Line to come home directly, whilst the train went back into Waterloo, by way of the Waterloo to Reading Line.
These pictures give a flavour of the Hounslow Loop Line.
It is a very tidy suburban line.
- Most platforms have been lengthened to take ten-car trains.
- Whitton station has been rebuilt as I wrote about in How To Spend Five Million Pounds.
- It has a triangular junction with the North London Line around Kew Bridge station.
- In the mid-2000s, the train frequency on the line was doubled from 2 trains per hour (tph) to four.
All of this work has led to a 162% increase in passengers between 2004-5 and 2007-8.
I wonder what is the limit of trains round the Hounslow Loop Line.
This is more proof if it were needed, that suburban lines need at least 4 tph to really bring in the passengers.
Transport for London’s Orbital Railway
In August 2014, I wrote Will The Gospel Oak To Barking Line Be Extended To Hounslow?, which was based on a Modern Railways report on the Mayor’s Transport Infrastructure Plan for 2050. This is said.
There may be a case for further orbital rail capacity, says the document – it shows an indicative, uncosted network to link Hounslow, Old Oak Common, Neasden, West Hampstead, Harringay, Walthamstow, Barking, Abbey Wood, Bexleyheath, Norwood Junction, Sutton and New Malden and back to Hounslow, with another route between Abbey Wood and New Malden via Lewisham, Peckham Rye and Wimbledon.
The proposed orbital railway passes takes a route from Hounslow to Wimbledon via the following stations.
- Whitton
- Twickenham
- Strawberry Hill
- Teddington
- Kingston
- New Malden
- Raynes Park
Nothing concrete has been said since about the railway, but the following is happening or planned.
- The Gospel Oak to Barking Line (GOBlin) is being electrified.
- New four-car Class 710 trains will go to the GOBlin and the Watford DC Line.
- More five-car Class 378 trains will be available to boost services on the North London Line.
All these should happen by the end of 2018.
Will More North London Line Trains Go To Richmond?
Currently the North London Line service from Richmond is 4 tph to and from Stratford.
It takes around an hour, which is ten minutes faster than going via Waterloo and taking the Jubilee Line.
The only possibly faster way would be when Old Oak Common station is opened and a change there would be made to Crossrail.
I estimate, that this could result in a timing of around 45 minutes or perhaps lightly less.
As Old Oak Common station, will also have connections to HS2, the West Coast Main Line ans other important routes, Richmond to Old Oak Common could become a very heavily used route.
4 tph would probably not be enough trains, especially as the current service to the East from Willesden Junction is 8 tph.
So I think it quite likely, that the frequency between Richmond and Old Oak Common stations would be eight tph.
The extra four trains, wouldn’t need to go all the way to Stratford, as there has been talk of alternative routes.
- Terminate at Old Oak Common.
- Terminate at somewhere convenient on the North London Line.
- Terminate at Barking via the Gospel Oak to Barking Line
- Go Along the Dudding Hill Line to Brent Cross Thameslink
The choice would be large.
But could Richmond handle the increased frequency of trains?
If the trains used the same route as now, there is probably a current limit of 4 tph, as the route is shared with the District Line from Gunnersbury station. Especially, as the District Line service will be increased!
So alternative ways of turning the trains is needed.
Trains could take the Houslow Loop Line after South Acton station and go through Hounslow, Whitton and perhaps terminate at Twickenham, where it should be possible to create a suitable bay platform.
But it’s not just events at Twickenham that need more capacity and North London Line services, so could we see services going in a loop via Hounslow, Whitton, Twickenham and Richmond?
This Google Map shows the line between Richmond and North Sheen stations.
Between Richmond and North Sheen Stations
Note.
- Richmond station is to the West.
- North Sheen station to the East.
- The North London Line turns North off the line through the two stations.
In some ways, North Sheen station is a bit of a mess and a real problem.
- It has a level crossing at one end.
- It has no disabled access.
- There is another three level crossings between Mortlake and Barnes stations, which are the next stations on the line towards London.
- The level crossings feature regularly in Google News with respect to accidents, failures and suicides.
It might be best, if North Sheen station was completely rebuilt and the level crossings are consigned to the dustbin of history.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the layout of lines at Richmond station.
Platforms And Lines At Richmond Station
I don’t think it would be too difficult to complete the loop, so that trains from the North London Line could turn without needing a terminal platform
It has a level crossing at one end.It has no disabled access.There is another three level crossings between Mortlake and Barnes stations, which are the next stations on the line towards London.
Improving Richmond To Waterloo
But the problems of the level crossings are still there!
These posts describe the line between Richmond and Barnes station.
- Is There A Worse Station Than This In London?, describes North Sheen station.
- Mortlake Station With A Level Crossing
- A Level Crossing In White Hart Lane, Barnes
- A Pair Of Level Crossings At Vine Road, Barnes
Currently, 8 tph run on the lines between Richmond and Waterloo via Clapham Junction stations.
In the other direction, the service is as follows.
- 2 tph to Reading
- 2 tph to Windsor and Eton Riverside.
- 2 tph to Waterloo via Hounslow and Brentford
- 2 tph to Waterloo via Kingston and Wimbledon.
Richmond will become an important station connecting lots of places to Old Oak Common.
Will 8 tph between Richmond and Waterloo be sufficient?
Heathrow Airtrack
Heathrow Airtrack was an attempt to create a link from Waterloo to Heathrow Airport.
Wikipedia says this about the proposal.
The scheme, estimated to cost around £673 million, was controversial mainly because of the projected impact on local road traffic due to the high number of level crossings on the route.
Trains would have been 2 tph calling at the following stations.
- Clapham Junction
- Richmond
- Twickenham
- Feltham
- Staines
Could another 2 tph be squeezed in through Richmond?
With difficulty and Automatic Train Operation, it might be a possibility.
But it also looks like the level crossings have already killed one project.
On the other hand, it does appear that if more capacity could be created between Richmond and Waterloo, other services would follow.
Rail Replacement Trains
I was alerted by this blog post from Utterlee, that was entitled LONDON OVERGROUND GOES OFF THE RAILS.
It describes how because of engineering works, London Overground were routing North London Line services between Camden Road and Willesden Junction stations by way of South Hampstead, Kilburn High Road and Queen’s Park stations.
These pictures show my journey.
Well it makes a change from the dreaded rail replacement bus.
The Route
I took the train from Stratford to Willesden Junction, via the following stations.
- Hackney Wick
- Homerton
- Hackney Central
- Dalston Kingsland
- Canonbury
- Highbury and Islington
- Caledonian Road and Barnsbury
- Maiden Lane – Closed
- Camden Road
- Primrose Hill – Closed
- South Hampstead
- Kilburn High Road
- Queen’s Park
- Kensal Green
The route took eight minutes longer.
I think this was explained by having to wait to slot in with the Bakerloo Line trains at Queen’s Park and the wait of a minute or so, which the power was changed between voltages.
The Class 378 Trains
The Class 378 Trains obviously fit the route, as they run on all of it on a daily basis.
The station display and onboard announcements were correct and the five-car train I rode, fitted all the stations between Camden Road and Willesden Junctions.
The Bay Platform 2 At Willesden Junction
I wrote about this platform in Platform Action Has Finished At Willesden Junction.
Wikipedia says this about the platform.
Normally only the first and last NLL trains of the day, which start or terminate here, use the bay platform, though it is used for empty stock transfers between the depot and the North London and Gospel Oak to Barking lines.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr, shows the lines.
The Bay Platform At Willesden Junction
It looks like the platform can accept trains from the South and East.
It certainly reversed the train efficiently for its return journey.
As it gives a totally step-free access between both Northbound and Southbound services on the Bakerloo and Watford DC Lines, I’m certain that this platform wasn’t built solely to handle empty stock movements, early and late trains, and rail replacement trains.,
If you look at the map, the station can act as a terminus and reverse trains from the following directions.
- From the East on the North London Line in the Bay Platform 2
- From the South on the Watford DC Line in the Bay Platform 2
- From the West on the North London Line in the Willesden Junction Turnout
- From the South on the West London Line in the Willesden Junction Turnout
Because of the crossover to the North of the station, trains can even be reversed coming from the North on the Watford DC Lines.
I can’t believe that Transport for London haven’t got a cunning plan for the use of this convenient platform.
The Class 172 Trains
As the pictures show, all of the Class 172 trains for the Gospel Oak to Barking Line were parked at Willesden Depot.
I know, they’ll be used again from February 2017, but surely there is something more productive they could do in the meantime.
The Class 710 Trains
The Class 710 trains ordered for the Gospel Oak to Barking Line are actually Class 710/2, with a dual voltage capability. This is probably sensible, as it would mean they could go past Gospel Oak to Richmond or Clapham Junction, which has been suggested and the stations are firmly in third-rail territory.
London Overground have also ordered six Class 710/2 trains for the Watford DC Line. Wikipedia says this about the use of Class 710 trains on the Watford DC Line.
The intention is that the five-car Class 378 trains currently used on the Watford route will be cascaded back to the North London and East London Lines to allow for strengthened services.
I suspect that London Overground want a fleet with a consistent capability of dual voltage on all the cross-London Lines.
But will four-car trains on the Watford DC Line be sufficient capacity for the line, which currently has five-car services?
It is probably worth noting that South Hampstead and Kilburn High Road stations have lower passenger levels than say Hackney Central or Dalston Kingsland stations, so perhaps, a three tph four-car service will be sufficient.
Incidentally, as Euston to Watford Junction takes fifty minutes,it would need six trains to run a three tph service all day.
So it looks to me, that the base service through Kilburn High Road and South Hampstead stations will be three four-car trains per hour all day.
Could Stratford To Willesden Junction Via South Hampstead Be Made Permanent?
Last week, when I passed through Willesden Junction station, I noticed a Class 378 train was waiting in the Bay Platform 2.
Perhaps it was an empty stock movement or were London Underground doing a bit of route training for drivers in preparation for the weekend’s Rail Replacement Train.
There are various factors that will affect Transport for London’s thinking.
- The Watford DC Line means that paths and platforms at Euston station must be reserved for third-rail electric trains.
- Watford Junction station will be getting a direct connection to
- Euston station will be rebuilt for HS2.
- Crossrail and Thameslink will be fully open in 2019.
- Camden Town tube station will be rebuilt and extended, possibly with a better link to Camden Road station.
- Old Oak Common station will be built, as part a major infrastructure development and transport hub.
- A future Old Oak Common station could have connections to Central Line, Chiltern Line, Crossrail, HS2, North London Line, West Coast Main Line and West London Line.
- The low passenger numbers at Kilburn High Road and South Hampstead stations.
- Highbury and Islington station must be on an early list for updating to improve its terrible access to the low-level Victoria Line and Great Northern Metro.
- Camden Council would like to reopen Maiden Lane station.
- Primrose Hill station could be rebuilt with a decent walking route to Chalk Farm tube station.
- Four-tracking of the North London Line between Camden Road and Highbury and Islington stations could be possible.
- West Hampstead Interchange could be created to link the North London Line, Chiltern Line and Underground services.
- There is a need for more freight and passenger services across London.
- Electrification and an increase in capacity for the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will change travel patterns.
- Plans exist to run passenger services on the Dudding Hill Line.
I feel that we could be seeing a reorganisation of services across North London and probably there will be no better time
Stopping the Watford DC Line service to Euston might be a good idea for the operation and reconstruction of the crowded London terminus, but it would deprive passengers from Kilburn High Road and South Hampstead of their direct service to Euston.
But is a three trains per hour (tph) service to Euston worth keeping, if stopping it, eases the situation at Euston?
Perhaps if the following interchanges were built or improved, then passengers might accept the closure of the direct service to Euston.
- Primrose Hill station and Chalk Farm tube station.
- Camden Road station and Camden Town tube station.
- Maiden Lane station for everything at Kings Cross.
- Highbury and Islington station for Victoria Line and Great Northern Metro.
I think in an ideal world, the least amount of disruption and uncertainty will be caused by improving one or more of the stations named above and then seeing how the pattern of passenger journeys develop.
Consider.
- Transport for London had a lot of staff on the platforms and in the stations on Sunday, who were explaining what was happening to the trains.
- There could be arguments to reopen Primrose Hill station with a walking route to Chalk Farm tube station, as it would surely give an alternative route to avoid Camden Town station during that station’s rebuilding.
- There are probably freight capacity reasons for four-tracking between Highbury and Islington and Camden Road stations.
I think we could see a package of improvements such as.
- Step-free connection between the Overground and the Victoria Line and Great Northern Metro at Highbury and Islington station, using the closed entrance on the other side of Holloway Road.
- Reopening of Primrose Hill station
- Improved voltage changeover at Primrose Hill station.
- Reopening of Maiden Lane station.
- Enabling works for four-tracking between Highbury and Islington and Camden Road stations.
Organised professionally, I suspect that it could all be done with the minimum of disruption to existing services.
Could The North London Line Be Four-Tracked Between Camden Road And Highbury And Islington Stations?
I ask myself this question every time, I take a train across from between Camden Road Highbury and Islington stations.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr explains why.
North London Line
Note the two extra tracks to the North of the North London Line, that have been closed. Some were closed in 1870, but the space looks from the train that there might be a possibility of reinstatement.
This Google Map shows the four-track section through the site of the former Maiden Lane station.
The Site Of Maiden Lane Station
Note.
- The four tracks of the North London Line at the top.
- The remains of the platforms at Maiden Lane station.
- The East Coast Main Line going down the right hand side pf the map.
- The Channel Tunnel Rail Link going across the bottom -right hand corner.
The single track in the space between the lines , which runs South-West to the North-East, is the North London Incline, which loops to the South of the North London Line and allows train to come down the East Coast Main Line and then go West along the North London Line.
I once took it in a sleeper between Edinburgh and Euston.
It was a journey that illustrates how all sorts of freight and passenger trains, get to use the North London Line.
Four tracks between Hackney and Willesden would certainly add to the capacity of the line and help get its unique mix of trains through this crowded part of London.
Consider.
- East of Camden Road station, there would need to be some reorganisation and new track.
- Highbury and Islington station would need reorganising.
- West of Camden Road station, as there is two routes to Willesden Junction, each of which has two tracks, there are four tracks already.
- New digital signalling will help.
Four tracks might not be created, but something will have to be done to create more capacity for freight trains from London Gateway and the Haven Ports to any part of the country West of London or the M1.
And of course, travellers will demand more passenger trains along the line.
Is Highbury and Islington Station The Key That Unlocks Everything?
Highbury and Islington station suffered a double whammy.
- On the 27th June 1944 it was hit by a V1 flying bomb.
- Much of the remains of the station was then demolished in the 1960s, to create an interchange for the Victoria Line.
Luckily the 1960s architects left the station building on the other side of Holloway Road more or less intact on the outside.
But things are happening at the station.
- The Northern City Line will become the Great Northern Metro with a minimum of twelve trains per hour (tph) between Moorgate and Alexandra Palace before splitting for Welwyn Garden City and the Hertford Loop Line.
- The Victoria Line will keep increasing the number of trains, it squeezes through the 1960s tunnels. One day, I wouldn’t be surprised to see 40 tph. Victoria is a generous lady!
- In Increased Frequencies On The East London Line, I wrote of up to 24 tph along the East London Line, with Automatic Train Control in the core section. This must surely bring more trains to Highbury and Islington.
- The North London Line will get extra trains cascaded from the Watford DC Line from 2018.
- The urban realm outside the station could be improved.
If all these trains and their passengers are going to be handled quickly and safely, then improvements must be made to the station.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines at the station.
Highbury And Islington Station
The access to the Overground Lines at the station is easy, but with two just escalators and long passageways the access to the four deep-level platforms is terrible. It’s even worse if you’re disabled or have problems, as there is no lift.
I’ve not seen a 3-D image of the station, but a station-man told me, that he feels that lifts and possibly another bank of escalators could be installed in the second entrance on the other side of Holloway Road.
He might be wrong, but something drastic needs to be done to improve connectivity between the Overground and the deep-level lines.
The only thing that might get the station out of trouble in this matter, is the cross-platform interchange between the Victoria Line and the Great Northern Metro. This will ease passengers speedily to and from Moorgate and its hopefully comprehensive double-ended Crossrail station shared with Liverpool Street.
At present, two of the four lines through Highbury and Islington are bay platforms.
- Platform 1 would probably be left as it is, as going through would probably be difficult.
- However Platform 2 looks like it could accept through sevices, or serve as a terminus from services from either direction.
So will Highbury and Islington station be the key that unlocks everything?
It’ll certainly give passengers from stations like Camden Road, interesting travel options.
Possible New Routes
If you look at the combined North and East London Line system, that runs in a curve around North East London, it has termini; both in use and possible all along its length.
- At the Eastern and Southern ends you have Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace, New Cross, Stratford and West Croydon.
- Walthamstow and Chingford can be reached from Hackney Wick and Stratford.
- At the Northern end you have Watford Junction.
- At the Western ends you have Clapham Junction and Richmond.
- In the middle you have Highbury and Islington and Willesden Junction stations, that could probably turn trains from either direction.
It looks to me, that Transport for London have several options and all the statistics to create cross-London routes that passengers would use.
Could Passenger Services Be Run On The Canonbury Curve?
The Canonbury Curve is described like this in the Wikipedia entry for Canonbury station.
To the west of the station is the Canonbury curve, a freight-only connection through the Canonbury tunnel to the East Coast Main Line at Finsbury Park.
The curve is an electrified single-track.
This picture shows where the curve joins and leaves the North London Line.
The Canonbury Curve To The East Coast Main Line
I don’t know how much traffic uses the line, but I think it is only a few freight trains.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the track layout of the Canonbury Curve.
The Canonbury Curve
Note that it only has a connection to the North London Line, which is the more Northerly of the two pairs of lines. The East London Line is the other pair of lines and only carries third-rail electric services to Dalston Junction and on to the South.
In order for trains to go between Finsbury Park and the East London Line, there would need to some changes to Canonbury West Junction.
This Google Map shows Canonbury West Junction in detail.
Canonbury West Junction
The elliptical-shaped tower is an evacuation and vent shaft for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
There does seem to be space between the lines and I suspect that it would be possible to modify Canonbury West Junction.
The line is also visible as it passes by Drayton Park station to the South of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
Drayton Park Station
The line is the single track line to the right of the platform roof of the station. This image doesn’t show a true picture, as the line is at a higher level than the Northern City Line.
I think it is true to say, that there is quite a bit of space around Drayton Park station.
When the line gets to Finsbury Park station, the track seems to be extremely complicated, but I’m sure that it is possible to run a passenger train between Canonbury and Finsbury Park stations, as freight trains already make the journey.
A Second Thameslink Route Between Finsbury Park And East Croydon
I feel that a train service could be run between Finsbury Park and East Croydon stations via the Canonbury Curve and the East London Line.
It would require the appropriate political and commercial wills. Some track modifications would be needed.
In the next few sections, I will describe the various issues that will effect, whether such a service is created.
Objectives Of The Route
As a passenger from the East, I see the major objective is to link all those, who travel to and from London’s Eastern boroughs, like Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, with a better North-South railway.
But Govia Thameslink Railway, London Overground and Sadiq Khan may see things differently.
The East London Line may terminate in a decent purpose-built terminal at Highbury and Islington station, with these connections.
- North London Line to the West.
- Northern City services to the North.
- Victoria Line services to the West End and four major stations.
- Victoria Line to Waltham Forest.
But the termini in the South mean there is often a second change to get where you actually want to go.
- Many passengers want to go to East Croydon station rather than West Croydon station.
- There is no direct link to Thameslink, with all the extra destinations that would bring.
- Getting to London Bridge, Gatwick Airport, Kent and the South Coast is not easy.
I’m not the only one who is unhappy, as there has been a petition to the London Assembley to get Thameslink to call at Norwood Junction.
I think a lot of the problems were caused by the following.
- The East London Line was designed after Thameslink.
- Thameslink designers thought the East London Line was a short route from Whitechapel to New Cross and New Cross Gate.
- Thameslink is a National Rail project, whereas the East London Line is promoted by Transport for London.
On the other hand, East London does particularly well with two branches of Crossrail, so the connection to the East London Line at Whitechapel, will truly be a Jewel In The East.
Extending the East London Line to Finsbury Park in the North would give the following improvements.
- Links to the Piccadilly and Victoria Lines
- Links to Great Northern services to Hertford North, Welwyn Garden City, Letchworth Garden City and Cambridge
- Links to Thameslink services to Peterborough and Cambridge.
Connecting to East Croydon in the South would also be valuable.
- Links to Outer London suburban services to places like Epsom, Caterham and Oxted.
- Links to Thameslink services going to Gatwick Airport, Brighton and the South Coast.
- Links to London Tramlink across South London.
This connectivity at the North and South termini will not only make it better for those living in East London, but visitors and commuters needing to go to the area will find their journey much improved.
Now is the time to properly link Thameslkink and the East London Line to the benefit of users of both systems!
It could be the third line in London’s Crossrail/Thameslink network.
Advantages For Myself
I wouldn’t be being totally honest, if I didn’t point out my personal advantages of a Finsbury Park to East Croydon service.
I live within walking distance of Dalston Junction station and I would get single-change access to places like Brighton, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport and Peterborough.
But then so would the hundreds of thousands of people, who or work live near stations between Canonbury and Norwood Junction on the East London Line.
Thameslink, The Northern City Line And The Canonbury Curve
Thameslink, the Northern City Line to Moorgate and the line through the Canonbury Curve all come together at Finsbury Park station.
There would be opportunities to create a cross- and same-platform interchange between all three services.
I do think that the Northern City Line will because of its important link to Crossrail at Moorgate grow into a high-capacity link between Crossrail, the City of London and Canary Wharf at its Southern end and Finsbury Park, North London and Hertfordshire at its Northern end.
Added together Thameslink and the Moorgate trains could create a 12 tph service up the East Coast Main Line, as far as Welwyn Garden City.
My thoughts on this line are laid out in A North London Metro.
How Many Trains Would Be Needed To Run A Service Between Finsbury Park And East Croydon?
As things stand the current Class 717 trains, that have been ordered for the Northern City Line, couldn’t work the route, as the route is only able to accept five-car trains, but it could probably be run by the following.
- Five-car versions of the Class 717 trains.
- London Overground’s Class 378 trains
- Appropriate versions of the new Class 710 trains.
Current timings on the various sections are.
- Finsbury Park to Highbury and Islington – 4 minutes – Great Northern
- Highbury and Islington to New Cross Gate – 26 minutes – London Overground
- New Cross Gate to East Croydon – 22 minutes – Southern
So this would give a timing of 52 minutes, which could probably be beaten by a direct modern train, that could change current collection on the fly and took the Canonbury Curve short cut.
Any time around fifty minutes, would mean that a train could do the round trip in two hours and that eight trains being needed to run a 4 tph service.
The Design Of An Ideal Terminus
The branches of the East London Line at Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace, Dalston Junction, Highbury and Islington and New Cross end in their own dedicated bay platforms. At West Croydon, a reversing siding is used, as I wrote about in The Bay Platform And The Reversing Siding At West Croydon.
As rarely do any operational problems surface, I feel that a single platform or reversing siding would be sufficient for a route, that is not much longer than Highbury and Islington to West Croydon.
Passengers would also require.
- Decent step-free interchange between services.
- Lots of useful connecting trains and buses.
- Shops, kiosks and cafes.
- An attraction like a market, museum, shopping centre or an entertainment venue.
Perhaps even a place to sit in the sun, like the park at Crystal Palace or Dalston Square at Dalston Junction.
Looking at this, what idiot thought about using the dreadfully dreary and totally useless West Croydon?
An interesting concept is that the last two or three stations are used as a joint terminus, to give passengers more choice of onward routes, either by foot or by train, tram or bus.
You have Cannon Street, which is the actual terminus, but all services will also stop at London Bridge, when Thameslink is complete.
Other pairs include.
- Liverpool Street and Stratford
- Charing Cross, Waterloo East and London Bridge
- Edinburgh Waverley and Edinburgh Haymarket
- Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International
- Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road.
- Highbury and Islington and Dalston Junction
Some have been purposely designed that way, whilst others have just happened.
In the case of choosing the two termini for the Finsbury Park to East Croydon route, they must be within a time that allows the train operator to to use a sensible operating policy to run trains.
It looks like, that if the trip time is fifty minutes or less, that is ideal, as the round trip can be two hours. But even if it’s a few minutes longer, you just add another train into the fleet and work on a two hours fifteen minutes cycle say.
The Northern Terminus
In this example, I have used Finsbury Park station as a Northern Terminus, but I think that as long as Finsbury Park is served by the route, a station to the North could be used instead.
A few thoughts.
- Using Drayton Park could mean an extra change for passengers.
- Crossrail 2 could be coming to New Southgate and/or Alexandra Palace in the future
- A terminus North of where the Hertford Loop Line joins the East Coast Main Line might be confusing and/or annoying for passengers.
- There needs to be space for an elegant solution to the step-free change of train.
I think there are two main possibilities; Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace.
In some ways, Alexandra Palace would work better as there is more space.
In Could A Reversing Siding Be Built At Alexandra Palace?, I examined the possibility of building a reversing siding at Alexandra Palace station.
I came to the conclusion that it is feasible and also found out that one already exists at Bowes Park station.
So a train reversing at the Northern end of the new route would go through the following procedure.
- The train from the South, would arrive at a down interchange platform in Finsbury Park, where all down Thameslink and local services call, probably with Main Line services on one platform face and Hertford Loop Line services on the other.
- Reversing trains would probably use the Hertford Loop Line platform.
- After discharging passengers, it would proceed to the down Hertford Loop Line platform 4 at Alexandra Palace.
- Any passengers still left, would leave the station or catch another train.
- The train would then proceed to the reversing siding between the two lines of the Hertford Loop Line.
- The train would then start its return journey in the up Hertford Loop Line platform 1 or 2 at Alexandra Palace.
- The train would then return to Finsbury Park.
- It would call in the up interchange platform, before continuing on its way.
Effectively, the route would have a two station terminus with interchange to other trains at both Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, with train reversing at the latter.
Note.
- As a maximum of six tph will be using the Hertford Loop line, there is plenty of spare capacity to fit in another four trains.
- Reversing sidings are always useful when there are problems like failed trains or blockades.
- It could be used by Northern City services to Moorgate.
- If it could take an eight-car Class 700 train, it might have uses for Thameslink.
It is one of those small lengths of railway, that if it were properly designed could have a lot more uses than is obvious.
I am also actually surprised that as the space is there between the tracks of the Hertford Loop Line, that it hasn’t been used for something productive before.
The Southern Terminus
Just as the Northern end of the route must serve Finsbury Park, the Southern end must serve East Croydon, as so many services call at the station.
- Thameslink
- Gatwick Express
- Southern services all over the South.
- Tramlink
Another possibility would be to perhaps have a dedicated bay platform at South Croydon station, with services calling at East Croydon before reversing in a dedicated bay platform or a reversing siding at South Croydon.
South Croydon station also has form as a past Southern terminus for the West London Line route to Milton Keynes Central.
This Google Map shows the South Croydon station and the area immediately to the South.
South Croydon Station
At a quick look, it would appear that fitting a bay platform into the Northern end of the station could be difficult.
But, there could be space in the tangle of lines South of the station to create a reversing siding.
There’s certainly more space than there is at East Croydon.
Perhaps, if the station was to be properly sorted as a Southern terminus for the East London Line, it could also become the terminus for an uprated service on the West London Line to the West Coast Main Line.
Drayton Park Station
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines through Drayton Park station.
Drayton Park Station
The lines either side of the island platform are the two tracks of the Northern City Line to Moorgate.
The line on the right in the map, links Finsbury Park station to the Canonbury Curve through the Canonbury Tunnel. This line is at a higher level, as this picture taken looking South along the platform at Drayton Park station shows.
Drayton Park Station
The line is behind the retaining wall at the left. It’s position is betrayed by the overhead wires visible in the picture.
If a platform was to be put on this connecting line at Drayton Park, it would not be simple.
But help could be at hand!
In the map of the tracks at the station, there is a disused track labelled Depot. There is quite a large area of land around the station and any housing built on the site, should surely incorporate a new station underneath, with provision for a platform on the connecting line.
It would be a disaster, if housing was built all over the Drayton Park station site, without leaving provision for a station on the Canonbury to Finsbury Park Line.
The Canonbury Curve
As I pointed out earlier, the Canonbury Curve would need modification to enable trains to get between Finsbury Park and Canonbury stations.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the Overground through Canonbury and the two Dalston stations.
North And East London Lines Through Canonbury And Dalston
The various East-West tracks through the area from North to South are.
- The Eastbound North London Line to Stratford
- The Westbound North London Line to Highbury and Islington and Richmond.
- The Southbound East London Line to Dalston Junction and Croydon
- The Northbound East London Line to Highbury and Islington
A Finsbury Park to Dalston Junction service would do something like the following.
- Take the Canonbury Curve to the Eastbound North London Line.
- Stop in Plstform 4 at Canonbury station.
- Cross over to the Southbound East London Line using two new crossings.
- Continue South after stopping in Platform 4 at Dalston Junction station.
A service going the other way would do something like the following.
- Call in Platform 1 at Dalston Junction station.
- Cross over to the Westbound North London Line using two new crossings. (One would probably be used both ways.)
- Stop in Platform 3 at Canonbury station.
- After leaving Canonbury station take the existing crossover to the Eastbund North London Line.
- Take the Canonbury Curve to Finsbury Park station.
I don’t know whether my route would be possible, but I’m sure that an expert at Network Rail could come up with a workable and very safe solution.
At least there are factors that help.
- The line has been rebuilt in the last few years, so it must be well-documented.
- There are a lot of crossovers South of Dalston Junction station.
- The signalling is capable of handling bi-directional running.
But the most important factor is that to the East of the former Mildmay Park station, there is space for more track, as it would sappear there was an island platform between the pairs of lines. It is actually shown on the map of the lines through Canonbury and Dalston, earlier in this section.
These are some pictures of the lines between the Canonbury Curve and Mildmay Park.
I was really surprised to see how much space there is between Dalston and Highbury and Islington and I don’t believe it would be an impossible task to create a route between Dalston Junction and Finsbury Park stations via the Canonbury Curve.
I think the biggest problem could be where to switch from the third-rail electrification of the East London Line to the overhead electrification of the North London Line and the Canonbury Curve.
One of the solutions would be to use trains with on-board energy storage and they would automatically deploy pantograph or pick-up shoe, once they were on the electrified sections.
Six-Car Trains On The East London Line
Over the years there have been mixed messages about whether six-car trains will ever run on the East London Line.
The problems of lengthening some of the platforms at stations like Shadwell, Wapping and Rotherhithe mean that the current five-car trains need to use selective door opening.
But as this is probably the only problem to running longer trains, I suspect that running six-car Class 378 trains through the Thames Tunnel, is still an option to increase capacity on the East London Line.
So if six-car Class 378 trains with selective door opening can run from Dalston Junction to Surrey Quays and several stations in the South, surely six-car Class 717 trains could do the same, if they had selective door opening fitted.
As both trains are walk-through trains, selective door opening is not a great inconvenience to passengers, as with comprehensive information on the train, the passengers move to doors that open.
I can’t see any reason, why with a few simple modifications, Great Northern’s Class 717 trains could not use the East London Line to connect North and South London.
Frequency Between Finsbury Park And East Croydon
London Overground’s services on the East London Line and some other lines is based on the rule of four.
If you provide at least four tph, then passengers will turn up and go.
So there must be at least four trains between Finsbury Park and Croydon in both directions in every hour.
The upper limit to the frequency would probably be determined by two main questions.
- How many trains could negotiate through the Canonbury Curve and Canonbury station in an hour?
- How many spare paths exist through the Thames Tunnel?
The question also has to be asked if four tph were going to East Croydon, do four tph still need to go to West Croydon?
I think all this will mean that the probable frequency will be four tph.
Alternative Routes
I have been parochial and have concentrated on the core service between Finsbury Park and East Croydon, which would be of the greatest benefits to those like me, who live on the current East London Line.
But if trains can work the route profitably, why does there have to be a limit of where they can go?
Possible termini in the North include all of the current ones used as termini by services into Moorgate.
- Alexandra Palace
- Gordon Hill
- Hertford North
- Letchworth Garden City
- Welwyn Garden City
I have added Alexandra Palace, as it could have a reversing siding and could be invaluable in maintaining the stability of the service. It is also the last station on the route, that serves both Northern branches.
In the South, the possible termini include the following.
- Caterham, which was a Thameslink possible and has now been discarded.
- Gatwick Airport, because it likes to have its fingers in everything.
- Purley, because Southern are using it as a station to split Caterham and Tattenham Corner services.
- South Croydon, because it has form and is in a convenient location.
- Tattenham Corner, which was a Thameslink possible and has now been discarded.
I calculated the core time between Finsbury Park and East Croydon using these current journeys.
- Finsbury Park to Highbury and Islington – 4 minutes – Great Northern
- Highbury and Islington to New Cross Gate – 26 minutes – London Overground
- New Cross Gate to East Croydon – 22 minutes – Southern
This gives a time of 52 minutes, between Finsbury Park and East Croydon which until proven otherwise is a good base time.
It is also the current scheduled time for London Overground’s Highbury and Islington to West Croydon service.
The following should be borne in mind.
- New trains could shave a twenty seconds or so from each of the nineteen stops.
- Cutting the corner using the Canonbury Curve should save time.
- Modern trains would be able to change voltage quicker.
I would think that a sub-fifty minute time between Finsbury Park and East Croydon is possible.
The times between Finsbury Park and my possible Northern termini are.
- Alexandra Palace – 7 minutes
- Gordon Hill – 21 minutes
- Hertford North – 37 minutes
- Letchworth Garden City – 62 minutes
- Welwyn Garden City – 20 minutes
And those between East Croydon and possible Southern termini are.
- Caterham – 25 minutes
- Gatwick Airport – 15 minutes
- Purley – 6-9 minutes
- South Croydon – 3 minutes
- Tattenham Corner – 33 minutes
When linked to passenger statistics and the capacity on the various routes, I suspect that some routes could be shown to be a lot better than others.
Conclusions
If the following projects can be successfully delivered.
- A suitable Northern terminal platform or other arrangement.
- A suitable Southern terminal platform or other arrangement.
- An updated Canonbury Curve to connect the East London Line to Finsbury Park station.
- The procurement of suitable dual-voltage trains.
I can see no reason why a train service from Finsbury Park to East Croydon couldn’t be successfully run via the Canonbury Curve.
It would give the following benefits.
- Extra connectivity for those going to and from stations between Finsbury Park and East Croydon.
- Better access to Canary Wharf, Dalston, Gatwick Airport and Shoreditch.
- It would take some of the pressure off Moorgate services, if Crossrail loads them up.
- Development of a quality Southern terminus, might enable a better service from East Croydon to Old Oak Common and the West Coast Main Line using the West London Line.
Perhaps though, the biggest benefit would be that more trains could be running on the East London Line, without needing extra platform capacity at the current termini.
O
Does London Need To Get A Grip On Rail Connectivity?
This article in the Standard has a title of Old Oak Common regeneration scheme ‘risks being London’s worst cock-up in 50 years’. This is the first three paragraphs.
Boris Johnson’s flagship regeneration scheme at Old Oak Common is in danger of turning into London’s “worst cock-up in 50 years”, a leading government adviser warned today.
Urban planner Sir Terry Farrell said the £10 billion development, the biggest in Britain, is heading for disaster because of the rush to finish Crossrail.
He blamed politicians for ducking key decisions and said the Mayor was partly responsible for a shortsighted “pass the parcel” approach. Sir Terry said: “If a tenth of the energy he put into the Boris island airport idea had gone into Old Oak Common I feel sure it would have happened without a problem.”
Old Oak Common is going to be a major development of 25,000 homes and 55,000 jobs created over the next fifteen years. A major transport hub will be created at Old Oak Common station will be created, linking some or all of the following lines together.
- Bakerloo Line
- Central Line
- Crossrail
- Dudding Hill Line
- Great Western Main Line
- HS2
- North London Line
- Watford DC Line
- West Coast Main Line
- West London Line
This map shows the plans for Option C of TRfL’s Old Oak Common proposals.
Option C Proposal At Old Oak Common
I wrote about this option in Should An Overground Station Be Built At Hythe Road?
Terry Farrell has said that there is no space between the rail lines to put the piling to support the homes, offices and other developments that will built over the top.
I also believe that the walking routes between the various stations will be far to long and tortuous.
The developers, Transport for London and the rail companies involved all seem to be planning their own parts in isolation.
It seems to echo what I documented in Searching For What Is Going To Happen On The East London Line After The Thameslink Programme Opens, where I was trying to find out how Thameslink will improve my journeys from Dalston Junction using the East London Line.
My correspondence on that issue, would seem to indicate that Thameslink and Transport for London don’t talk to each other and calmly go their own ways.
Someone needs to get a grip on all these big projects at a high level.
The Camden Town Station Upgrade Exhibition
This afternoon I went to the Camden Town Station Upgrade Exhibition at the Trinity United Reformed Church, Buck Street, Camden Town NW1 8NJ.
It will be on tomorrow and Saturday.
I did get a few questions answered and I have a few comments.
- This capacity upgrade is only concerned with the upgrade to Camden Town station and has nothing to do with improving the routes between this station and Camden Road station.
- I do think that provision should be made for a connection, even if it isn’t made until quite a few years.
- As in the current station, steps will still normally be used to access the two Southbound platforms from the main circulating space.
- For those needing step-free access to and from the surface, there will be a second lift lobby at Southbound platform height, below the main circulating space.
- Anybody crossing between the two Southbound or the two Northbound platforms will have a step-free route across.
I think that it is important that in addition to upgrading the capacity at Camden Town station, that the routes between the two Camden station; Town and Road should be improved for the following reasons.
- Camden Road is a station with full step-free access and if you lived or were staying within easy reach of the North London Line, you might find the route a much better alternative for going to the attractions of Camden Town and Camden Lock. I sometimes go for a coffee with my son, who works in Camden Town by that route from Dalston.
- Camden Lock is five hundred metres from Camden Road station and three-hundred and fifty metres from Camden Town stations and the longer route can be less busy.
- Walking between Camden Road station and Camden Lock has been improved recently, by creating a set of steps down from Camden Road to the Regent’s Canal. This may encourage many to walk to the Camden Lock area along the canal.
- Using Camden Road station or a bus for leaving the area avoids using the long spiral staircase to descend to the Northern Line at Camden Town station, which at times is the only route to the platforms.
- During the building of the capacity upgrade at Camden Town station, any alternative route that takes pressure off the station will be welcomed.
- The current walking route along Camden Road is very crowded and involves two crossings of roads on controlled crossings.
- Access to buses could be better thought out.
I would do the following.
- Improve the Regent’s Canal route between Camden Road station and Camden Lock. At present it is a bit difficult at the Camden Lock end, due to the development of Hawley Wharf.
- Improve the steps from the canal to Kentish Town Road, so that, when the Buck Street entrance to Camden Town station is opened, you have a shorter walk between the two stations.
- The Kentish Town Road steps could also provide a possibly quicker route to Camden Lock and the Roundhouse from the Buck Street entrance.
In addition lots of maps and signposting could point out some of the myriad routes and short-cuts in the area.
Eventually, a second entrance could be built at an expanded Camden Road station in the area of Camden Gardens.
Perhaps, by building much of the entrance in the three empty arches under the railway and using external lifts and escalators as has been done in buildings like the Pompidou Centre, the Lloyd Building or Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop in Manchester.
This Google Map shows the area.
Camden Gardens, Camden Lock And Buck Street
Camden Gardens is at the top right around the viaduct of the North London Line, which runs across the map to Camden Lock. Kentish Town Road goes almost North-South through the area, with Buck Street towards the bottom. The triple building is the school that currently occupies the proposed station site. I would estimate that the distance between Camden Gardens and Buck Street could be little more than two hundred metres.
Perhaps, the Buck Street entrance building, needs a back entrance on Kentish Town Road?
To finish this is a picture of the viaduct across Camden Gardens.
After being rebuilt since the freight train crash of a couple of years ago, I’m sure another good use can be found for it.
Further Investigations Around Camden Town
As there was nothing else to do, and I’d watched Match of the Day last night, I went to Camden Town to investigate the area and see if I could get any pictures of the disused lines that looped round Camden Road station.
I walked up Camden High Street and then turned into Hartland Road, where in 1970 we nearly bought a newly-refurbished house for six grand. I wrote It Always Rains On Sunday, about a film shot in the road. The house we tried to buy could have been the one in the film or one of its neighbours.
I then went in a circle following The North London Line before I ended up on Royal College Street, from where I entered the station to get a train home to Canonbury.
As I did in Camden Town Station Capacity Upgrade, I can add a few conclusions and questions.
- What is happening between Hawley Road and the Regent’s Canal? This Planning Framework from Camden Council gives some history and some rules.
- The loop around the station ends in a stub end above Camden Gardens.
- The arches underneath the loop seem to be in good condition.
- The arches under the railway in Camden Gardens have no obvious current use.
- There would appear to be enough space to create any platform extensions needed at Camden Road to accommodate the planned six car trains.
- The extended platforms could probably reach to Camden Gardens.
- Could escalators and/or lifts to connect Camden Road and Camden Town stations be built into the empty railway arches in Camden Gardens?
As I said previously, there is a lot of scope to do something really good in this area. Further digging has led me to this article in the Evening Strandard, which has this picture of what is now called Camden Lock Village.
Camden Lock Village
Note how the rail lines thread their way through the development.
This is said by the Standard about the development.
The plan for the project will feature 170 new homes, of which 156 are private and the rest affordable housing. There will also be new shops and market pitches and 100,000 square feet of offices.
Building firm McLaughlin & Harvey has also been hired to build a primary school and nursery.
If you add in the number of visitors already going to the area, I can’t believe that serious thought has not been given to how the development will effect the new Camden Town station and its relationship to Camden Road station.
We could be seeing some interesting plans, when TfL show them in full on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
If as I suspect TfL decide to go to for a full Camden Interchange, where the following lines meet.
- North London Line
- Edgware – Charing Cross – Battersea – Clapham Junction Section of the Northern Line
- High Barnet – Bank – Morden Section of the Northern Line
Then I feel that they will throw other services into the Interchange.
TfL have talked for years about reopening Primrose Hill station on the line between Camden Road and Queen’s Park on the Watford DC Line. Who knows if it will happen?
Something that will happen is an increase in frequency and capacity on both the North and East London Lines. This will mean a full Camden Interchange is more likely.
What is often the biggest constraint on frequency is turning the trains at the end of the line. I do wonder if the former loop at Camden Road station could be used as a turnback platform for trains from the East. It’s certainly a possibility.
I can remember when the current London Overground was designed, that there was talk of some East London Line trains terminating at Willesden Junction. So perhaps in the future we might see a service from Crystal Palace to Willesden or Camden Road via Highbury and Islington.
One of the rules of scheduling is to match your available resources to the needed demand. So as TfL have all the details about complete passenger journeys including any changes, they know the pattern of services that will result in the most efficient loading of the trains.
Passengers on the whole are intelligent, so when a new service is provided, they will check it out to see if it gives them a better journey. If it does they will continue to use it. This phenomena explains why both new roads and rail lines generally attract more traffic than was originally forecast.
West Hampstead Station: A Tangle Of Property Development And People To Solve
West Hampstead station is one of those North London Line stations, that has narrow platforms, which need lengthening and a cramped station building with no step-free access. The station also sits in the middle of a large property development. This Google Earth image shows the station.
West Hampstead Station
This was obviously taken before the development started. There were plans for a grand West Hampstead Interchange, drawing the four rail line in the area; Underground, Overground, Thameslink and Chiltern together in modern stations linked by a boulevard.
This page on the London Borough of Camden web site, is a pointer to some documents. This Google Earth image shows the various rail lines.
West Hampstead Lines
There is actually more lines than is obvious here. Starting from the top (north), the lines and stations are.
1. Thameslink passing through West Hampstead Thameslink station – From 2018 this will be a very much increased service.
2. Midland Main Line passing through West Hampstead Thameslink station – The number of services stopping here to places like Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and Corby may well increase as the line to Sheffield is electrified.
3. North London Line passing through West Hampstead station – This is being upgraded to take five-car trains.
4. Jubilee Line passing through West Hampstead Tube station – A station not to the standard of the Jubilee Line Extension.
5. Metropolitan Line passing alongside West Hampstead Tube station, but without platforms.
6.Chiltern Main Line passing alongside West Hampstead Tube station, but without platforms.
This is Wikipedia’s schematic of the lines.
West Hampstead Lines
I would say that the best way to sum up the area is using that old estate agent’s phrase of development potential.
So how is West Hampstead station getting on?
There certainly seems to be lots of flats growing up by the side of the railway and these seemed to have replaced the trees. There was a bit of fuss about the thirty-five trees being removed, which I can sympathise with, but surely a better plan would be to take away as much traffic as possible from West End Lane and make it a proper tree-lined boulevard. But any council that suggested that would be voted out by the 4×4 owners.
There’s a preview of the new West Hampstead station on West Hampstead Life.
I’m not impressed and it is rather a poor design compared to Hackney Wick.
Only time will tell, but rail developments will have a big effect on the number of people using the stations at West Hampstead.
1. The opening of the full Thameslink service in 2018.
2. More trains from West Hampstead Thameslink station to the North on full electrification to Sheffield.
3. The possible opening of Metropolitan and Chiltern Main Line platforms in a rebuilt Underground station.
4. Network Rail and Transport for London have stated that they will increase the capacity on the London Overground, by increasing the number of trains and running six-car trains. Certainly they will do this on the East London Line, which will get twenty-four trains an hour.
It is my view that all of this extra rail traffic, will necessitate the turning of West End Lane into a proper pedestrian boulevard with very much reduced traffic levels. The only alternative would be to create a pedestrian tunnel.
Homerton Station
I went to Homerton station today to see how the station was built and take some pictures.
The layout of the station is simple with a subway under the lines and steps and shallow ramps to both platforms. It is not true step-free access, but it is better than many other stations.
I did hear though that the station is going to be improved, by opening up a new entrance on the Northern side of the tracks. I also think that this would be an easier station to fit with lifts as there seems to be more space than at some stations. In fact, as it is near to a hospital lifts are surely essential.
The second entrance would also mean that there are both a bridge and a subway under the railway, which must make access easier, especially for those walking to and from the hospital.
I think that this station can be updated with a second entrance and lifts for a lot less than the eight million that is possibly be going to be spent at Hackney Wick station.
The Anonymous Widower 