Luton Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Luton station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
Without doubt, this is the worst station, I’ve found so far in an important town, that is to be made step-free.
There is nothing of any architectural merit at all in this station.
Will Abellio East Midlands Railway Improve Their Service To Luton?
Currently, Luton station has the following.
- Full electrification, which is being upgraded to a high standard for 125 mph running.
- Platforms long enough to accommodate Thameslink’s 242 metre long twelve-car Class 700 trains.
- The Class 700 trains are already fitted for working with digital signalling and this will be added to all trains.
It certainly treats trains better than it does passengers.
From December 2020, the following trains will run through Luton station.
- Two trains per hour (tph) to/from Corby, which will be 240 metre long twelve-car electric trains in the Peak. Why not in the Off Peak?
- Two tph to/from Leicester and Nottingham
- Two tph to/from Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield
At the present time, only the single Corby service stops at Luton.
From 2022, East Midlands Railway will be running new bi-mode trains through the station.
- For compatibility with the electric trains to Corby and to make full use of long platforms, I suspect that these trains could be up to 240 metres long.
- They will have a larger capacity, than the current Class 222 trains.
- They will effectively be electric trains between London and Market Harborough, where the electrification ends.
- They will have fast acceleration and smooth regenerative braking, because of the electric power.
- They could have step-across access between train and platform.
As Luton station is electrified and has long platforms, these trains will be able to stop at Luton (and Luton Airport Parkway) in minutes.
Network Rail intend to make Luton station step-free by 2024.
The improved access will give easier connections between the expresses and Thameslink, and entry/exit to the station.
I can see several trains per hour stopping at Luton.
Conclusion
If money was no object, this station should be totally rebuilt.
But money is an object, so the architects will be struggling.
But by 2024 at the latest and possibly a couple of years earlier Luton station could be sorted for passengers and handling well upwards of a dozen 240 metre long high capacity trains in every hour.
Petts Wood Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Petts Wood station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
It was built in 1928 and it is of rather an eccentric design. Not only are there steep steps from the two island platforms, but there are steps up to the bridge.
This is a 3D Google Map of the station.
After visiting and looking at the station for the best part of an hour and seeing these images, there appears to be no obvious solution to making this a step-free station.
At many stations needing step-free access, the solution is to build a new modern bridge with step-free access further down the platform. If at Petts Wood station, this were to be done, there is then the problem of connecting the new bridge to the station square and the ticket office.
Morrisons supermarket and the gardens of the houses are in the way.
The only solution is probably to replace the current steel bridge with a new one with lifts at each end and to each platform. But in a station that handles over two million passengers a year that would cause tremendous disruption.
I will watch out for the solution that is applied at this station. It will need to be very innovative.
Northallerton Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Northalleron station is on the list.
This 3D Google Map shows the station.
Currently to cross the tracks, there is a subway with a steep ramp.
Installing Step-Free Access
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
So could a factory-built bridge like this be installed on the wide platforms?
Crowborough Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Crowborough station is on the list.
This Google Map shows the 3D image of the station.
Note.
- The current bridge is in the North East corner of the map.
- The platforms were lengthened and refurbished in 2016 to accept ten-car trains.
Crowborough would appear to be a typical well-built and managed country station.
Installing Step-Free Access
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
I think there are three options for using a factory-built bridge like this at Crowborough station.
- The new bridge replaces the existing bridge.
- A new bridge is placed in a different position and the old one is demolished.
- A new bridge is built in addition to the current bridge.
In my view, if the condition of the old bridge is good enough, the third option is preferable.
Grays Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Grays station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
Note.
- The stopping trains from London arrive in a long bay platform 3.
- There are exits on both sides of the tracks.
- There is a subway under the tracks.
- There is a bridge over the tracks outside the station.
- The station only handles four trains per hour in both directions.
This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
Note that the main platforms can take twelve-car trains.
Installing Step-Free Access
According to a station guy, it will not be easy to add lifts to the subway and a step-free bridge will be installed.
- The subway is narrow and two wheelchairs probably couldn’t pass.
- There also appears to be enough space for a bridge.
- The bridge could probably be placed either side of the main station building.
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
So could a factory-built bridge like this be installed at Grays station?
Installing such a bridge, would not need the subway to be closed, so overall the station could handle more passengers needing to cross the tracks.
This would not appear to be the most difficult of installations.
Battersea Park Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Battersea Park station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
This 3D Google Map shows the station.
It’s a bit different to the average commuter station.
Installing Step-Free Access
This will be a challenging station to install step-free access.
- The station is Grade II Listed.
- There are four platforms
- Platform 2/3 is reasonably wide, but Platform 4/5 is narrow.
- The station handles ten trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
- In 2017-18, the station handled nearly two million passengers.
- The station will have an out-of-station interchange with the new Battersea Power Station station, when that station opens.
As the pictures show, the entrance hall has been tastefully restored in the last few years.
Surely, only a masochist would work on installing lifts in this station.
St. Mary Cray Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
St. Mary Cray station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
The station was rebuilt in 1959, when disabled people didn’t exist. Or were they locked in institutions?
Installing Step-Free Access
In addition to lifts to each pair of platforms, there is also a need to sort out access to the main entrance to the station.
It could be quite tricky to create a step-free station out of this architectural monstrosity.
The following will help.
- I very much doubt the station is Listed, except in Prince Charles’ Book of Carbuncles.
- The similar Swanley station has been made step-free.
- As it’s only fifty sixty old, the drawings probably exist.
- I doubt there’s an architect, that couldn’t improve this station.
- It’s probably built as strongly as a brick outhouse!
If the installation could be to the standard of Swnley station, I doubt anybody would mind.
St. Erth Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
St. Erth station is on the list.
These pictures show the station and the current bridge,
Note that the bridge is only used to access trains going West to Penzance.
This Google Map shows the station.
The three tracks from the station are as follows.
- To Penzance in a South-Westerly direction.
- To Plymouth in a North-Easterly direction.
- To St. Ives in a Northerly direction.
The bridge over the main line stands out in white in the bottom-left corner of the map.
Installing The Step-Free Access
As the station is Grade II Listed care must be taken in installing the step-free access.
- The current elderly steel bridge could be replaced with a modern one with lifts. This could be too drastic for the Heritage Lobby.
- But It does look that a modern bridge could be installed towards the Eastern End of the station.
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
So could a factory-built bridge like this be installed at St. Erth station?
This bridge has the great advantage, that it can be installed without closing the existing bridge.
Wandsworth Town Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Wandsworth Town station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
The station would appear to need three Subway-to-Platform lifts.
I would feel that after seeing two similar lifts installed at Finsbury Park station recently, this can be done without too much disruption.
After Harry’s comments to this post, I went back to the station and took these pictures of Platform 1 and the outside of the station.
This Google Map shows Platform 1.
Installation of a lift would appear to be tricky.
- Platform 1 is not wide enough for a lift tower.
- To the left of the station entrance, there is a garden with a tree, which limits the space.
The best place is probably hard against the wall to the right of the station entrance, where the phone box is now!
- The platform entrance could be through a hole in the wall along the side of the platform
- The ground floor entrance could be inside the station entrance if this is feasible.
- If not, why not put it outside?
If the outside position were to be used on the ground floor, touch-in could be provided outside or even in the lift.
Thoughts On Kentish Town Station
Kentish Town station is not step-free, as these pictures show.
This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
Note the four platforms and two extra tracks on the Southern side.
But I do believe it is a station with potential.
An All-Electric Railway
In perhaps 2022 or a couple of years later, when the new bi-mode trains are delivered, between Kentish Town and St. Pancras stations will be an all-electric railway.
The Station Is In A Cutting
The station is in a cutting and given the price of land in the area and the demand for housing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the whole station roofed over at some time in the future.
This couldn’t be done until the railway was all-electric.
Step-Free Access To National Rail Platforms
If the station was covered by development, I’m sure it would be possible to provide step-free access between the surface and the National Rail platforms.
Step-Free Access To Underground Platforms
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines at Kentish Town station.
Note how the Northern Line is at almost right angles to the Midland Main Line.
Providing step-free access might be easier from the area to the North of the current Undegrround station, which could be within any new development.
Some of the new techniques used on Crossrail might make a connection possible.
Kentish Town And West Hampstead Thameslink Stations
The next station to the North of Kentish Town is West Hampstead Thameslink.
Both stations have six tracks, but only four platforms.
It would probably be very advantageous if there were six tracks on the Midland Main Line along this very busy railway.
But this is impossible as the tunnels that lie between the two stations only have a total of four tracks.
I suspect that Network Rail’s engineers sometimes muse about what might have been, if the Victorians had built the extra tracks.
- Thameslink services could have their own separate tracks.
- Express services could be roaring through at 200 kph.
- The West London Orbital Railway could terminate at Kentish Town station.
But short of rebuilding the Midland Main Line between the two station and digging a lot of extra tunnels, these are impossible ideas.
The Anonymous Widower 