Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – 28th August 2017
I took a quick trip to Waterloo station and took these pictures from a train departing from Platform 19.
There certainly seems to be less piles of track and other construction materials.
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – A Progress Report From London Reconnections
This article on London Reconnections is entitled Back to the Future: (Re)lengthening and Shortening at Waterloo.
It describes in detail why and how the platforms at Waterloo station are being lengthened and shortened and information on other important topics can be gleaned.
Why Did The Train Hit The Barrier Train?
It doesn’t actually say why, but it does discuss the need for the barrier train to protect the workforce. As the train hit the barrier train, it seemed to have worked.
If you want to know more, I suggest you search for barrier in the comments added to the article by others. If nothing, you’ll realise there’s a lot to go wrong.
Why Weren’t The International Platforms Used Earlier?
The platforms were designed to handle six trains per hour (tph) with a long dwell time in the platform and after modification they will handle 18 tph for the Windsor Lines. So a lot of serious work was needed!
There was also complicated ownership of the five platforms.
Looking at it from a planning point of view, the provision of a terminal for Eurostar in London could have been handled better.
Why Are The International Platforms Only Being Used For A Few Weeks And Then Reopening in 2018?
The platforms are needed for this August’s blockade, but there is still a lot of work to do.
Effectively, the remodelling of the International Platforms have been almost split into two independent projects.
I like the way they’ve done this.
How Will Suburban Capacity Change?
In addition to the five platforms in the old International station, platforms 1-6 will also be remodelled for suburban use.
Currently, the slow lines through Wimbledon can handle 18-19 tph into four platforms.
After completion . these same slow lines will handle 22 tph, but they will have the use of two extra platforms.
In An Analysis Of Waterloo Suburban Services Proposed To Move To Crossrail 2, I showed that if you were running 4 tph on the four branches to Chessington South, Epsom, Hampton Court and Shepperton, which will transfer to Crossrail 2, then you need.
- New 100 mph trains.
- A capacity of 20 tph between Waterloo and Wimbledon.
Both these conditions will be met.
How Will The Passenger Experience At Waterloo Change?
Read the article and there are some snippets in there, that give me hope, that passengers will like it. See what you think!
Conclusion
It is a highly intricate and difficult project, that will be performed in a short time.
What Is Happening At Platform 9 At London Bridge Station?
I regularly come home from Waterloo station, by walking to Waterloo East station and then getting a Southeastern train to London Bridge station, from where, I get a 141 bus to a zebra crossing on the corner opposite my house.
Location is important, when buying a house!
You might ask, why I don’t use the Jubilee Line between Waterloo and London Bridge. I prefer not to be in a dark tunnel in an small-diameter Underground train, when there is a full-size alternative on the surface.
When the new Southeastern Franchise is awarded, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a succession of large-windowed trains, like Aventras, replacing the over twenty-years-old Class 466 trains. They could become a tourist attraction linking Greenwich and Westminster via The Shard, that would be so much more interesting than the Jubilee Line.
This diagram from Wikipedia shows the proposed platform layout for London Bridge station from 2018.
Note.
- The island Platform 6 and 7 is flanked by two lines coming from Charing Cross station.
- The island Platform 8 and 9 is flanked by two lines going io Charing Cross station.
- The tracks through Platforms 6 and 9 appear to be on loops from the track going through the other paired platform.
I assume the layout is to get sufficient platform capacity for the ten-car trains going through the station.
Look at this Google Map of the station.
The Platforms are numbered from top-right to bottom-left.
- Platform 1 doesn’t appear to be complete and will be a bi-directional platform into Cannon Street station.
- Platforms 2 and 3 are the first through island platform and serve Cannon Street.
- Platforms 4 and 5 are the second through island platform are are for Thameslink.
- Platforms 6 and 7 are for trains coming from Charing Cross.
- Platforms 8 and 9 are for trains going to Charing Cross.
- Platform 10 upwards are bay platforms for terminating services.
Note.
- The generous width of the through island platforms.
- Ot appears it might be possible to put a second platform on the other side of the track through Platform 9. Let’s call it Platform 9a
- This extra Platform 9a and the bay Platform 10 could be easily connected, with a walk-through.
These pictures were taken from outside the station and show the area to the West of Platform 9.
Some substantial construction work is going on.
These pictures were taken inside the station.
I wonder what the final outcome will be!
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – 18th August 2017
I took a train to and from Waterloo to Woking today, so that I could take pictures of the Platform 1 to 8 works at Waterloo and to have lunch at a branch of Carluccio’s, which is close to the Woking station.
I went out on a train from Platform 11, but unfortunately, the train came back into Platform 14.
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – Timelapse Video Of Platforms 1-4 At Waterloo Station
This video dates from the 14th August 2017.
The story seems to have gone rather quiet.
There are these possible explanations.
- Everybody is getting through the station without any trouble.
- It was so bad on the first day, everybody has given up.
- The upgrade has finished and everything is running normally.
Or it could just be that it’s all going well and good news doesn’t sell newspapers!
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – Mid-Platform Entrance/Exit On Platforms 23/24 At Waterloo Station
These pictures show the mid-platform entrance/exit on Platforms 23/24 at Waterloo station.
Note.
- This mid-platform entrance/exit must mean that Platforms 20 to 24 effectively have a double-deck gate line.
- Access is also to the Waterloo and City Line.
This article in Rail Engineer, which is entitled Waterloo and South West Route Upgrade, says this.
Improvements in access to the Bakerloo, Northern and Jubilee tube lines from platforms 1/2 and 3/4 and from the former International terminal.
These pictures were taken at 09:30 at the end of the Peak.
When finished it looks like it will be impressive.
Will the access on Platforms 1/2 and 3/4 be double-escalator like this access on the former International platforms?
As I indicated in Waterloo’s Wide Platforms, the design of the older platforms isn’t cramped, so it could be possible.
Incidentally, I couldn’t see any lifts on Platforms 23/24, but these structures behind the grey hoardings could be for lifts.
Will there be any platforms in the UK with better step-free access?
And it’s not as if the platforms are for an exotic destination like Cardiff, Huddersfield or Norwich, although I suspect services will go to the regal delights of Windsor! Will Liz be amused?
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – Waterloo’s Wide Platforms
These pictures compare the platforms at Waterloo station.
The pictures are shown in increasing platform number order.
Platforms 5 to 14 are in the old part of the station, which was opened in 1922, whilst Platforms 20 to 24 are in the former International station.
Surprisingly, the platforms in the old part of the station seem to be fairly generous in width compared to say those in other London terminals.
They are not much narrower than those built for Eurostar in 1994.
Note that it appears that the old platforms have around five to seven gates per platform, as the space allows, whereas the new ones have thirty gates for the five platforms.
As gates are reversible, that surely is enough to cope with the Peak, especially as there is a mid-platform entrance/exit on some platforms to the Underground.
I suspect the platforms can cope with a whole battalion of guardsmen complete with full kit, all arriving at the same time!
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – Was It Alright On The Day?
This article in the Standard had a headline of Waterloo station upgrade: Furious commuters hit out at ‘shambolic’ queues on first weekday of major works.
This article on the BBC had a headline of Waterloo station: Stations quiet after upgrade warnings.
This article on the Independent had a headline of Waterloo station upgrade: Passengers report trains better than normal despite predictions of ‘month of chaos’.
There certainly isn’t lots of interviews on the BBC this morning with irate passengers.
This was the first paragraph from the Independent.
Commuters reported easier journeys than normal on train lines into London Waterloo on Monday morning as some passengers apparently took alternative routes or worked from home to avoid a predicted “month of chaos”.
But I think that Network Rail and South West Trains must have got it more or less right.
London thought they would have a problem during the 2012 Olympics and Transport for London flooded the streets and stations with extra staff to help passengers.
And it worked!
Network Rail and South West Trains have done the same, at least at Waterloo.
And it seems to be working!
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – 5th August 2017
It’s all change at Waterloo station with Platforms 20 to 24 open for business.
I think what has been revealed today is an excellent stop-gap to allow platforms 1 to 9 to be extended.
- Network Rail and South West Trains are also to be congratulated on putting a large number of informed staff on the platforms to answer passegers’ questions.
- With luck too, the vast open spaces around platform 20 to 24 will help to calm passengers.
- But they weren’t lucky in that everything was disrupted by a signal failure early in the day.
If I have any criticism it is over the length of time it has taken to get these platforms open.
The International platforms were closed about the time my wife died in December 2007.
That closure has just been too long.
Passenger And Train Capacity
From what I saw today, Network Rail have opened five new platforms numbered 20 to 24, with the following features.
- The ability to handle twelve-car trains.
- Wide platforms for large numbers of passengers.
- A new very wide gate line.
- Lots of natural light and fresh air.
Passengers will wish all stations could be this good.
Just imagine five packed commuter trains arriving at those new platforms at around the same time.
- Each pair of new five-car Class 707 train can hold just over sixteen hundred passengers.
- A ten-car Class 720 train, which must be similar to South Western Railway’s new trains can hold around fifteen hundred passengers.
So can the platforms, gates and concourse handle all those passengers?
As the flow of passengers seems straight down wide platforms and into the Underground or out of the station through the Victory Arch, I suspect that the station has been designed to handle the greatest number of passengers, the trains can deliver.
With Crossrail, the stations at Shenfield and Abbey Wood will be handling twelve trains per hour (tph) in a two platform layout or 6 tph at each platform.
I suspect that the signalling and track layout at platforms 20-24 at Waterloo station, is such that each platform can handle at least four tph and possibly the six, that will be achieved at Shenfield and Abbey Wood.
If they can handle six, that is an unbelievable thirty tph.
This figure is probably way in excess of other capacity constraints in the complex rail network out of Waterloo, but at least platform capacity won’t be a constraint on growth in the future.
But four tph on each platform, would give a theoretical capacity of twenty tph or around thirty thousand passengers per hour. That is a massive increase in the capacity of the station.
It has to be taken into account, that part of the Waterloo Upgrade for August 2017 is lengthening Platforms 1 to 4 at the station and improving the track layout for the lower-numbered platforms. Access to the Underground is also being improved at platforms 1 to 4.
Are Network Rail creating another high-capacity set of four platforms at the other end of the station?
What is happening at platforms 1 to 4 will be revealed at the end of the month.
Conclusion
The work has whetted my appetite as to what the station will eventually look like!
In An Analysis Of Waterloo Suburban Services Proposed To Move To Crossrail 2, I came to the following conclusion.
Crossrail 2’s proposals for the suburban branch lines from Waterloo to the four destinations of Chessington South, Epsom, Hampton Court and Shepperton stations, can be fulfilled using the following.
- More platform capacity at Waterloo.
- Modern high-performance 100 mph trains like Class 707 trains.
- Some improvements to track and signals between Waterloo and Wimbledon stations.
- Wimbledon station would only need minor modifications.
- A measure of ATO between Waterloo and Wimbledon stations.
What effect will this have on the design of Crossrail 2?
The Class 707 trains will not be arriving, but high performance Aventras will.
This August’s Upgrade will certainly make substantial increases in service frequencies and passenger capacity possible.
Waterloo Upgrade August 2017 – 4th August 2017
These pictures show everything ready for the start of the first partial closure of Waterloo station from tomorrow.
From tomorrow, the five platforms in the old International station will come into use until the 28th of August.
Note.
- The piles of track ready to be used to reorganise the lines into Platforms 1 to 9.
- The new destination board in front of Platforms 20 to 24.
- The lowered concourse in front of Platform to 24, which will become retail units.
I shall be there in the morning.
The Anonymous Widower 