The Holloway Road Bridge Is Now Open
I took these pictures this morning of the reopened bridge by Upper Holloway station.
Note there are no wires on the tracks of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line. But it does look, that the line could be run with the current Class 172 trains
Did The Project Management Go Wrong On The Holloway Road Bridge?
It was originally planned that the bridge decking where Holloway Road crosses the Gospel Oak to Barking Line (GOBlin) at Upper Holloway station would be replaced over Christmas this year.
But plans were obviously changed.
This article in the Islington Gazette is entitled Holloway Road closures: Islington Council threatens to sue TfL over ‘last-minute’ plans.
This is said.
TfL says work to transfer underground pipes and cables from the old bridge to another specially-made bridge has proved problematic because of their “complex layout, poor condition and a leaking water main”.
But Cllr Webbe was having none of it. She said: “This section of Holloway Road will be closed in at least one direction for nearly three months, including over half term, Christmas and New Year.
It looks like the water main is the problem and perhaps this didn’t show up until they started to move everything.
But whatever the problem was, it looks to me like there has been a cock-up by someone.
Was it the surveyor, who looked at the moving of the cables and the water main and didn’t quantify the task properly?
Surely though, the big problem now is that if this bridge problem delays the rebuilding of the trac for the GOBlink, which is needed for the electrification.
It’s a mess!
I took these pictures of the area today.
I walked down from Archway station and then caught a free bus to Holloway Road. At least TfL had got the buses right.
But except for Junction Road from Archway to Kentish Town, which was blocked solid, the traffic levels were very low.
Before GOBlin Electrification – Upper Holloway
I went to Upper Holloway station on my way to Waitrose.
It is not a grand station, being just two ramps and staircases from the Holloway Road to two more than adequate tidy platforms. It is not unlike Crouch Hill station.
At present there are roadworks outside, as the road bridge over the railway is being replaced. I suspect that this project will have to be completed before electrification through the station is started. Obviously, when the new bridge is finished it will have sufficient headroom for the overhead line equipment.
Upper Holloway isn’t an official interchange but as the station is in middle of a slope between Archway and Holloway Road stations, which eases walking in one direction, it can sometimes be a useful interchange.
But the station will need improvements to its step-free access.
The Anonymous Widower 