The View From Platform 1 At Birmingham Moor Street Station
Birmingham Moor Street station is one of my favourite stations, as it is rather a unique restoration and enlargement of an old Great Western Railway station.
I hope the restoration for Crossrail of Hanwell and West Drayton station please me as much.
My train was leaving from Platform 1, so I took these pictures whilst I waited.
Platform 1 and 2 are either side of the lines to Birmingham Snow Hill station and were opened in the 1980s and when the station was enlarged later the buildings were matched to the original terminus, which is Grade 2 Listed
The low-flying barrage balloon in most of these pictures is Birmingham’s Selfridge store.
North Wembley Station
When I missed the last train at Sudbury and Harrow Road station, I had no chance but get a bus. I got a 245 towards Golders Green, but decided to get off at North Wembley station, so I could get a train into London.
I’d never been to the station before and it is purely functional.
On my trip around the area and after my troubles on the Piccadilly Line earlier, it’s almost the area of London that has been forgotten.
The Station With The Least Passengers In London
After my visit to the truly dreadful Angel Road station, which has the next-to-least number of passengers, I just had to go to the only station, which attracts even less.
I arrived at the station at 10:42 after a really tedious journey on the Victoria and Piccadilly Lines, which were both very crowded. To make matters worse, the train was held for several minutes at Acton Town station.
I think that the problems with Sudbury and Harrow Road station are not the normal ones of filth and squalor. In 2013-14 it had just 18,700 passengers.
Although I just missed the last morning train into London at 10:41, I don’t think you can blame neglect on the part of Chiltern Railways.
The main problem I could see was that there is no pedestrian crossing close to the station, as is normal for stations on a busy road. So those needing to get a bus to and from home might go to a station where the walking route is easier.
All the other problems were minor, like the fact that the station sign is not easily visible and there isn’t really a good drop off point for passengers.
Chiltern seem to have spent money here, but they haven’t drawn in the passengers. But then they haven’t done too well in the next station, Sudbury Hill Harrow.
Before Crossrail 2 – Angel Road
Angel Road station is one for which there are big plans.
However, it will be on Crossrail 2 and will be one of the main features of the development at Meridian Water, which may give the station a new name.
This Google Map shows the station and the surrounding area as I walked to the Tesco superstore to get a bus to Tottenham Hale.
Angel Road Station
It is not the most beautiful of stations and the walking route is pretty dreadful.
After I arrived, I walked Northwards along the line and then climbed up onto the flyover on a set of rusty steps, before walking alongside the road and under the North Circular Road, taking these pictures as I walked.
Angel Road must surely, be one of the most inaccessible stations for the able-bodied not just in London, but the whole of Europe. No wonder it is the second least-used station in London. I shall have to visit Sudbury and Harrow Road station, which sees fewer passengers. The station is also so lacking in facilities, that there isn’t even a convenient place to drop or pick-up a passenger with a vehicle.
The one good thing about this truly dreadful station is that there is more than adequate space to put the two extra tracks for stopping trains and Crossrail 2 between the current West Anglia Main Line and the busy Meridian Way.
Short term plans for this station include an hourly service pattern. So when there is limited development at the station, which must include decent pedestrian access direct across Meridian Way from IKEA and Tesco with perhaps a footbridge with lifts, the prognosis for passenger numbers at the station can only be upwards.
Before Crossrail 2 – A Narrow Four Track Station
As I said in my post on Brimsdown station, squeezing a four track railway through the station could be challenging.
But space can be saved, by not having any platforms on the fast lines, as in normal operation they will not be needed.
So would this be acceptable to the Health and Safety Authorities?
There is one station I use regularly, where two fast tacks run within ten metres or so of the slow platforms that I use.
That station is Shadwell station on the Docklands Light Railway, where the c2c lines into Fenchurch Street are on the other side of the viaduct. This Google Map shows the layout of tracks through the station.
Shadwell Station
I would also borrow the idea from the DLR of putting a single platform between the two slow lines.
At Shadwell too, there is no bridge, but a series of steps lead up and down to the single platform. To make the station step-free there is a single lift at the end of the platform.
Surprisingly, in 2010-11, Shadwell had ten times the passengers of Brimsdom.
So perhaps you’d put a wide subway under the tracks, with perhaps a height of two metres or whatever is normal and then connect it to the single platform using steps, escalators and just a single lift. A similar layout to this is also used at Burnham station on Crossrail.
This station design has several advantages
1. The subway could be used by those not using the train, as they went about their business.
2. Passenger gates, waiting rooms,toilets, kiosks and staff could be stationed where they are needed – On the platform!
3. No fast trains would pass platforms with people on them.
4. Only a few trains not stopping in the station would come alongside the platforms.
5. Width can be designed in where it is important for safety and operational needs. So the single platform would not be narrow and an adequate gap could be left to the fast lines.
6. A safety barrier could be used to separate the fast lines from the slow lines and the platform to cut the opportunities for suicide.
At Burnham they do get problems with the layout, when the relief (slow) lines are not working. Wikipedia says this.
Unusually for a station on the Great Western Main Line, Burnham was built with platforms that serve only the relief lines, which makes it vulnerable to losing services when engineering work closes the relief lines and leaves trains only on the main lines. Consequently the station is frequently served by a replacement bus service at night.
I suspect though that this wouldn’t be so much of a problem along the Lea Valley as there are alternative lines, which seem are connected by buses.
Kensal Rise Station
Kensal Rise Station is being updated with a lift on the Eastbound platform.
If you compare the state of this station with that of Prittlewell, it illustrates how it was right for London Overground to takeover the Lea Valley Lines from Abellio Greater Anglia.
Prittlewell Station
After my doctor’s appointment, I came back from Prittlewell station.
The pictures show that it is getting the standard level of care from Abellio Greater Anglia. The Class 321 Train was certainly living up to its nickname of a Dusty Bin.
But if I’m honest, I wouldn’t be sorry if Abellio Greater Anglia didn’t keep the East Anglian rail franchise, when it is renewed.
At present the management just don’t seem to care, if the poor state of the stations and trains, and the service they provide are anything to go by. Just to look at say Hackney Downs station after the London Overground takeover, to see what a good deep clean and some paint will do.
A Double-Sided Station
Southend Central station is one with an unusual layout. It is just off the High Street in Southend, as this Google Map shows.
Southend Central Station
The main station buildings are on the Southern side of the line, but on the Northern side, there is another set of entrances and some facilities.
The pictures show both sides of the station and the bridge across the High Street.
It strikes me that if this station ever gets rebuilt, perhaps in conjunction with a shopping, residential, leisure or office development, the architect has a lot of scope to create a uniquely accessible building.
Those Canny Yorkshire Folk Seem To be Thinking About More Stations
Different parts of the country seem to have there own preferred ways of expanding their transport network.
Only London can probably afford large projects like Crossrail or Crossrail 2, but several cities like Manchester, Cardiff and Nottingham can make good cases for sensible projects that cost from say a hundred million pounds up to a billion. Projects in this category would include.
Croxley Rail Link to Watford – £230 million – Click for details
Midland Metro extension to New Street – £127 million – Click for details
North West Electrification – £422 million – Click for details
Nottingham Express Transit – Phase 2 – £570 million – Click for details
Valley Lines Electrification – £400 million – Click for details
The costs I have quoted are probably only indicative, as Network Rail have had their problems lately. But I just wanted to show that trains and trams don’t come cheap.
Underneath these large and medium sized projects, there are a large assortment that generally get chosen to suit the problems of an area. For example.
1. East Anglia got the Bacon Factory Curve at Ipswich to sort out delays to all traffic caused by the large number of freight trains going into and out of the Port of Felixstowe.
2. Lancashire got the Todmorden Curve to allow direct trains from Blackburn and Burnley to Manchester Victoria.
3.Warwickshire received funds to develop new stations at Coventry Arena, Bermuda Park and Kenilworth.
So as I said at the start of this post different areas of the country see their own priorities and attempt to get schemes funded.
Sheffield and Manchester for example might promote schemes based on their tram networks, and Leeds and Liverpool might want to expand their successful rail networks.
It is interesting to look at this page, which is a list of current projects on the West Yorkshire Metro.
Three new stations; Apperley Bridge, Kirkstall Forge and Low Moor are either under construction or could be so in the next year or so.
Improvements at major stations in the area are listed and there is even a project to identify places for new stations.
So as I said in the title of this post, it looks like West Yorkshire is hoping new and improved stations will be a successful, practical and affordable way of bringing more traffic to the network.
They do have a project on the possible introduction of tram-trains in the City. The web site just says this.
Development of a tram-train network for the Leeds city region would be through conversion of existing heavy rail routes and construction of some on-street alignments.
Further consideration will be given following the outcome of a trial in South Yorkshire.
How sensible!
Like many other cities and areas are probably doing, to wait for the trial between Sheffield and Rotherham to show if tram-trains are viable in the UK, is a very good idea.
If what I have seen in Germany is any indication of how the Vossloh tram-trains are introduced and perform, I suspect we’ll be seeing quite a few of their UK variant, the Class 399 tram-train.
Cockfosters Tube Station
Cockfosters tube station is the terminus of the Piccadilly Line.
It is not the spectacular architectural design of other stations on the line.
As a child, I only used the station occasionally and that was to use the barbers, where I got my hair cut.
The Anonymous Widower 