Paddington Square – 12th Oct 2024
Some parts of Paddington Square at Paddington station are now open and I took these pictures.
Note.
HS2 Manchester Route Not Sold Off Yet As Labour Weighs Up Rail Options
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on i.
This is the sub-heading.
The Government has a looming dilemma with climbing costs and pressure from supporters to bring back the Birmingham to Manchester line
These first three paragraphs explain the problems.
Labour faces a £500m decision on what to do with HS2 land which was not sold despite promises by Rishi Sunak, as Sir Keir Starmer braces for new calls to resurrect the cancelled Birmingham to Manchester line.
The £50bn rail line is likely to cause the new Labour government a headache as supporters push for the party to support the project which was initially launched by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009.
Within Whitehall, civil servants are currently thought to be calculating the value for money of Mr Sunak’s HS2 plan in comparison to the previous HS2 plan to Manchester, with the result expected to favour the longer route.
These are my thoughts.
The Appointment Of Lord Peter Hendy As Rail Minister
Two of the more unusual ministerial appointments by Sir Keir Starmer were the appointment of James Timpson as Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probatio, and Lord Peter Hendy as Minister of State in the Department of Transport.
But if you read their Wikipedia entries, they both have great knowledge of the area to where they have been appointed.
This picking of Ministers outside of elected MPs has happened before, with the most recent being Rishi Sunak’s appointment of David Cameron as Foreign Secretary.
This is a paragraph from the article in the i, gives some views about Lord Hendy and High Speed Two.
The appointment of Lord Peter Hendy as rail minister has been received positively by many supporters of the high speed rail line, given his previous work around the project and Euston’s redevelopment, where he pushed for a more ambitious project. One industry source told i that Lord Hendy was “one of the most respected figures in the UK rail industry”, and a “definite supporter of HS2 to Manchester”.
As the current Chairman of Network Rail, I suspect Lord Hendy has had endless thoughts on how he can get High Speed Two to Manchester, within an acceptable budget.
I also believe that since being appointed to be Chairman of Network Rail, the performance of that company has improved.
Has Lord Hendy improved the quality of the workforce or imposed better top down project management?
The Euston Station Problem
The article in the i has several paragraphs on the Euston station problem.
Lord Hendy has probably, the best directory of contacts of property developers, architects and engineers in the UK and with his background of economics, he probably know how to sort the wheat from the dross.
So could Lord Hendy somehow conjure a solution for Euston station out of the speculation?
I wonder if he could find someone to develop a multi-billion commercial complex over the station, that this could generate the cash to pay for Birmingham and Manchester section of High Speed Two.
Like Baldrick, I suspect Lord Hendy could have a cunning plan, but based on sound economic sense.
For instance, I believe, that the best way to serve Leeds by High Speed Two could be via Manchester.
- Leeds would have a choice of routes from London; King’s Cross and Euston.
- It could possibly have three, if St. Pancras and Leeds via Derby and Sheffield were to be improved.
- Birmingham and Leeds services would be greatly improved if High Speed Two to Leeds, went via Manchester.
I would suspect every idea will be on the table.
Development Around Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line Station
After my Full English breakfast in Leon this morning, I walked around the area between the two entrances to Liverpool Street station on the Elizabeth Line, before entering the station at the Liverpool Street entrance.
I took these pictures as I walked.
Note.
- The large development with the naked concrete towers is the Western extension to Broadgate.
- The old entrance to Moorgate Underground station and two pubs are squeezed in between the modern buildings.
- The cylindrical building behind the Globe pub, is Moor House.
- Some buildings are brand new and others are older ones, that have been refurbished and/or reskinned.
There is hardly any space left to put in a dog kennel.
Are Arnos Grove And Northolt Tube Stations Going Step Free?
BBC London local news announced this morning some Underground stations would be made step-free.
- It could have been two or ten stations, that would be made step-free.
- Arnos Grove and Northolt were definitely mentioned.
- A timescale of eighteen months was given.
The news story seems to have vanished without trace.
Arnos Grove Station
This Google Map shows Arnos Grove station.
Note.
- The cylindrical shape of Arnos Grove station.
- The bridge over the tracks, which gives access to the trains to the East of the cylinder.
- Car parks to the East and West of the station.
- In Go-Ahead For West London 460-Home Build To Rent Scheme, I described how houses were to be built in the two car parks.
- According to this article on Ian Visits, which is entitled Plans To Build Flats On Arnos Grove Tube Station Car Park, there will be 162 flats in four blocks.
These pictures show Arnos Grove station.
Note.
- Work on the flats on either side seems to have started.
- There are lots of period features.
- There will be a lot of work needed on the rather steep stairs.
- There will be a need for at least three lifts.
This page on Connected Living London, has a plan of the development.
- Gardens are shown each side of the iconic station.
- The gardens can be accessed from the pavement in front of the station.
- Southbound buses draw up in front of the station.
- A zebra crossing gives access to the Northbound buses on the other side of the road.
I suspect that there will be step-free access to the station bridge over the tracks from both gardens.
Northolt Station
This Google Map shows Northolt station.
Note.
- The station entrance in the South-East corner of the map on Mandeville Road.
- The long island platform stretching North-West from the station building.
- An eight-car 1992 Stock train is in the Southern platform going West.
- The land on the Northern side of the railway appears to be low-grade woodland, which is quite similar to that at Arnos Grove station.
This map from cartometro.com shows the lines through Northolt station.
Note.
- The Central Line is shown in red.
- The Central Line is laid out so that there are two ways of turning a train back to London.
- The single-track Acton-Northolt line is shown in black.
- The former second track if the Acton-Northolt line is shown dotted, as are the two former platforms.
These pictures show Northolt station.
Note.
- The station is showing signs of a sympathetic refurbishment.
- The steps down to the platform is a double set of steps separated by a handrail.
- There is a stylish glass shelter.
- There doesn’t seem much space for a lift to the station entrance.
It should also be noted that for eleven in the morning, the station seemed busy.
These are Underground passenger figures for 2021 in million for stations between Hanger Lane and West Ruislip.
- Hanger Lane – 1.47
- Perivale – 1.08
- Greenford – 2.05
- Northolt – 2.47
- South Ruislip – 0.89
- Ruislip Gardens – 0.48
- West Ruislip – 0.71
Note.
- Greenford, South Ruislip and West Ruislip have some extra National Rail passengers.
- Greenford is the only station between Hanger Lane and West Ruislip, with full step-free access.
- Greenford station uses an inclined lift and I wrote about it in The Inclined Lift In An Improved Greenford Station.
As Northolt is the busiest station without step-free access, this is probably sufficient reason for step-free access to be installed.
Could Step-Free Access At Northolt Be Linked To Property Development?
This Google Map shows a close-up of the station building and Mandeville Road.
Note.
- The station building is marked by the London Transport roundel.
- To the North of the station, is Northolt Leisure Centre, which was opened in 2010.
- Mandeville Road runs across the map to the East of the station and the Leisure Centre.
- In the South-East corner of the map, thee looks what could be a High Speed Two site, marked out with red and white barriers.
- Between the station and the Leisure Centre, there appears to be a site used for parking trucks.
Could it be possible to develop step-free access from the site to the North of the station?
This second set of pictures show that site.
Note.
- The site is rather a dump.
- There is even a subway.
This third set of pictures, show the land on the other side of the Acton-Northolt line from the platform at Northolt station.
There are certainly possibilities! Especially if, housing were to be developed alongside the Northern side of the railway.
I suspect, that there could be a bridge across the railway, at this position in the station.
Certainly something would be possible.
Conclusion
Property development at both Arnos Grove and Northolt station would probably need step-free access at both stations.
If the BBC report was right, then to build the step-free access as the first part of the projects, is probably a good idea, as passengers get some early benefits.
I suspect though, that we’ll get a press release that says what is actually happening in a few days.
Bank Station – 16th September 2022
On August 13th, I wrote What Goes Up Must Come Down, where I described the crane coming down over the new Bank station entrance on Cannon Street.
The triangular site, that lies between Cannon and King William Streets, has now been opened up for development, as these pictures show.
Note.
- I took the pictures from the top of a 141 bus, that was going to London Bridge station.
- It is going to be a large block on top of the station.
- Do the pictures indicate retail or further station entrances along King William Street?
- This development must help in the financing of the massive Bank Station Upgrade.
This is the last picture, shown to a larger scale.
On the end of the lowest level of the portable offices, you can just about make out a sign indicating a ladies toilet.
Is this the most inaccessible ladies toilet in London? Or even the world?
Knightsbridge Station – 25th April 2022
I wrote Development Of Knightsbridge Station on November 27th 2017.
It is now a few days short of four years and five months later and the station looks a bit different.
Note.
- The original station entrance on the corner of Sloane Street and Knightsbridge is now a new retail unit for Burberry.
- The original entrance in front of Harvey Nicholls is still open.
- The entrance opened in 2017 on the North side of Knightsbridge is still open.
- The new step-free entrance with lifts, is behind the black hoarding to the right of the new Burberry.
- The pavements are wider around the frontage of Burberry, than they were, when it was the station entrance.
The station is intended to fully open with lifts to the Piccadilly Line by Summer 2022.
Conclusion
This Google Map shows the site of the original Sloane Street entrance.
Note.
- Knightsbridge running East-West across the top of the map.
- Brompton Road running towards the South-West and past Harrods.
- Sloane Street running North-South towards the right of the map.
- The London Underground roundel indication the old entrance.
- Thee large size of the development site.
Is this going to be the world’s most expensive step-free rebuild of a Metro station?
The development is being carried out by the owners of the site; the Knightsbridge Estate, who are ultimately owned by one of Saudi Arabia’s richest families.
On the Development page of the web site, this is said about improving the public realm.
Significant improvements are being made to the public realm. The pavements on Brompton Road and Sloane Street have been widened to ease the pedestrian flow, Hooper’s Court, which links Brompton Road and Basil Street, is being completely remodelled and the Knightsbridge underground station is being substantially upgraded. A brand new tube entrance is being created further west along Brompton Road, a step-free access via two 17-person lifts located on Hooper’s Court will be introduced as well as on-platform cooling systems.
How many other tube stations are there in London with air-cooled platforms?
But then those, who buy the multi-million pound flats in this development, will expect a constant atmosphere between flat and platform. Remember too, that the New Tubes for London being built by Siemens for the Piccadilly Line will be air-conditioned.
Go-Ahead For West London 460-Home Build To Rent Scheme
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Construction Enquirer.
This is the first paragraph.
The scheme is the first to be brought forward by Connected Living London, a partnership between build to rent specialist Grainger and Transport for London.
This must be the way for London to get best value from all the suitable sites for housing, owned by Transport for London.
Four sites are mentioned in the article.
- Next to Southall station
- Next to Arnos Grove station
- Montford Place in Kennington. which is currently being used as a construction site for the Northern Line Extension.
- Above the new Nine Elms station on the Northern Line Extension.
These are some thoughts on the sites.
Arnos Grove Station
The developers will have to be careful, with the design at Arnos Grove station, as it’s a Grade II* Listed building.
This Google Map shows the station.
I never knew, that the station had so much parking.
Will the development be over some or all of this car parking?
This article on Ian Visits is entitled Plans To Build Flats On Arnos Grove Tube Station Car Park.
Ian says that there will be four blocks, with a total of162 rental homes, of which 40 % will be affordable.
- It doesn’t seem to be high density or high towers.
- A map shows it is not over the railway.
Ian also says this about the loss of car parking.
Unsurprisingly, there are local objections to the plans to remove the car park with nearly 300 parking spaces, although TfL counters that a third of the people who currently drive to the station living within walking distance.
But then many people never drive very far from where they live. For environmental reasons, perhaps fossil fuel vehicles should pay a Movement Tax of say five pounds, every time the vehicle is moved in a built-up area. Zero-emission vehicles would be exempt!
Montford Place
I took these pictures of the Montford Place site in July.
This site could be sensitive too! But surely, the residents don’t want an ugly utilitarian headhouse for the ventilation shaft of the Northern Line Extension.
This Google Map shows the site.
It is not small, judging by the two buses at the side.
There’s also a large hole to cover!
The Anonymous Widower 