From Haggerston To Moorgate
I did this journey this morning and I described it in detail in The Whitechapel Shortcut.
It may seem obvious to take the Overground to Whitechapel and then take the Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street and come out on Moorgate.
But that route means a long walk at either Whitechapel or Moorgate to get to the right end of the train.
So I took a Hammersmith and City Line train, which was slower, but involved much less walking.
I Can’t Wait Until The Sixth Of November
This morning, I wanted to go between Moorgate and Romford stations.
Because the Elizabeth Line is not fully joined up, I wanted to avoid a long walk.
So I had decided, that the best way to go would be.
- Hammersmith and City Line from Moorgate to Mile End.
- Central Line from Mile End to Stratford.
- Elizabeth Line from Stratford to Romford.
Note that both interchanges are cross-platform ones, so it is certainly a route with the minimum of walking.
When I got to Moorgate station, it appeared that there were problems with the Hammersmith and City Line, so assuming that things would be OK from Whitechapel, I took the Lizzie Line one stop to try my luck from there.
But my luck was out and after waiting for about twenty minutes in a stationary District Line train for a lift to Mile End station, I gave up and returned to the Lizzie Line, where I took a train to Canary Wharf station.
I’d changed between the Lizzie and Jubilee Lines before and wrote about it in Changing Trains At Canary Wharf Station – 13th June 2022.
I had not been impressed, as I’d found it a long walk.
But this time, I followed a route between the Eastern ends of both stations, which goes past Waitrose in the shopping centre. Opposite Waitrose was this stall.
That looks good for a pit stop. Badiani 1932 appear to have realised that London has a chronic shortage of ice cream and have opened a number of shops.
Once on the Jubilee Line, I finally got to Stratford and walked to the Lizzie Line for Romford Station.
What Had Caused All The Delays?
It appeared there had been a power supply problem on the Hammersmith and City Line.
Conclusion
Once Crossrail is fully open, it will be a bypass around problems like today.
Southbound Thameslink To Eastbound Elizabeth Line At Farringdon Station
I travelled today from St. Pancras International station to Whitechapel station, using the following route.
- Southbound Thameslink service to Farringdon station.
- Eastbound Elizabeth Line service to Whitechapel station.
These pictures show my walk at Farringdon station.
Note.
- I was riding at the back of the train, so I had a long walk to the lifts.
- It would be better to travel in the Southern end of the Thameslink train, as the lifts are at the Southern end of the Southbound Thameslink platform.
- I used the lifts to descend to the Elizabeth Line platforms.
- It is only a short walk between the lifts and the Elizabeth Line trains.
As the last picture indicates, the connecting lifts that I used, can also be used to go from the Southbound Thameslink to the Westbound Elizabeth Line at Farringdon Station.
These connecting lifts can also be used in the reverse direction to go from all Elizabeth Line services to Southbound Thameslink services to London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Brighton and all the other Southern Thameslink destinations!
If you want to avoid the lifts, as it appears they can busy, you have to climb the stairs to get to the concourse and then descend to get the escalator down to the Elizabeth Line, that I wrote about in Westbound Elizabeth Line To Northbound Thameslink At Farringdon Station.
Conclusion
There would appear to be an imbalance of quality between the connections between the Elizabeth Line and the two Thameslink platforms.
- Those going between the Elizabeth Line and the Northbound Thameslink platform will find it easy, as most of the route is on an escalator.
- On the other hand, those using the Southbound Thameslink platform at busy times could find it congested and slow.
I suspect that regular users of the station, will develop their own routes through the station.
Changing Trains At Canary Wharf Station – 13th June 2022
I took these pictures around the new Canary Wharf station on the Elizabeth Line.
Note.
- The station appears to follow, a very similar design to some of stations on the Jubilee Line.
- Changing to various lines at Canary Wharf would appear to be a bit of a walk, that is very much in line with say a connection between the Jubilee Line and the Docklands Light Railway.
- The connection to the Jubilee Line appears to be a tunnel under the offices.
- For West India Quay DLR station, you walk along the dock.
These are some of the routes that you would use from Canary Wharf.
- Bank – DLR
- Battersea Power Station – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Clapham Junction – Elizabeth Line – Change at Whitechapel – East London Line
- Croydon – Elizabeth Line – Change at Whitechapel – East London Line
- Crystal Palace – Elizabeth Line – Change at Whitechapel – East London Line
- Enfield – Elizabeth Line – Change at Liverpool Street – Enfield Town or Cheshunt Line
- Euston – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Heathrow Airport – Elizabeth Line
- King’s Cross – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Liverpool Street – Elizabeth Line
- London Bridge – Jubilee Line
- London City Airport – Jubilee Line – Change at Canning Town – DLR
- Marylebone – Elizabeth Line – Change at Paddington – Bakerloo Line
- Moorgate – Elizabeth Line
- Paddington – Elizabeth Line
- St. Pancras – DLR – Change at Bank – Northern Line
- Victoria – DLR – Change at Bank – District/Circle Line
- Walthamstow – Elizabeth Line – Change at Liverpool Street – Chingford Line
- Waterloo – Jubilee Line
Note.
- The new escalator connection between the DLR and the Northern Line at Bank station will enable easier journeys to Euston, King’s Cross, St. Pancras and many other Northern Line stations.
- The excellent connection between the Elizabeth Line and the East London Line at Whitechapel station, will get a lot of use.
- The DLR features in several routes, including the important one to London City Airport.
In A Short Cruise At Greenwich, I said this about the DLR.
The Docklands Light Railway is often thought by Londoners, commuters and visitors as a bit of a Cinderella.
However, like Cinderella she works hard all day and provides reliable and efficient transport, where the only alternatives are buses, bicycles, taxis and Shank’s pony.
Just after the 2012 Olympics, I met a big cheese in Transport for London on a DLR train. He felt that the DLR had been the star in getting everybody to the games.
It must be one of the most successful light railways in the world!
And yet, no-one has ever thought to build another running on the same principles.
So why does it work so well?
This article on Intelligent Transport is entitled Celebrating 30 years Of The DLR, where this is said, under a heading of Customer Satisfaction.
One of the biggest successes of the DLR over the last 30 years has been its high levels of reliability, with over 99% of its trains departing on time.
The DLR has also had consistently good feedback and engagement with its customers, with high satisfaction ratings averaging at 89 out of 100.
Do these numbers mean that people trust Cinderella and will trust her to get through even in the most difficult of circumstances?
Conclusion
Canary Wharf station could develop into a very important interchange.
Dalston Junction To Moorgate Via The Elizabeth Line
This morning to get my breakfast at Leon on Moorgate, I took the longer route via Dalston Junction and Whitechapel stations using the East London and Elizabeth Lines.
Note.
- I travelled in the last coach of the Overground train from Dalston Junction station.
- I travelled towards the front of the Elizabeth Line train from Whitechapel station.
- There are lifts between Overground and the Elizabeth Line at Whitechapel station.
- All the escalators have traffic lights.
- Using stairs and escalator, the change at Whitechapel station took around two minutes.
The total journey time was just over 25 minutes.
A New Route Between New Cross Gate And Queen’s Park Stations
In Does The Elizabeth Line Offer Similar Benefits To The Bakerloo Line Extension?, I said this.
I suspect that the easiest way between New Cross Gate and Harrow & Wealdstone will be with changes at Whitechapel and Paddington.
I also said, I would try out the route today.
I did a shorter route between New Cross Gate And Queen’s Park stations, with the same two changes.
For each extra station, I can apply Irene’s Law, by adding two minutes for each station.
I took these pictures on the route.
Note.
- On the Overground and the Elizabeth Line, there were few spare seats and a number of standees.
- Quite a few passengers changed at Whitechapel.
- The tunnel at Paddington between Elizabeth and Bakerloo Lines wasn’t very busy.
- The Bakerloo Line wasn’t very busy.
I have a few thoughts.
First Time Riders
I got the impression, a lot of passengers were first-time riders.
This could explain the passenger numbers.
Timings
These were my timings.
- It took me forty-six minutes for the fourteen stations.
- The interchange at Whitechapel was about four minutes.
- At Paddington, I walked between the Elizabeth and Bakerloo Line platforms in under five minutes and then just missed a Northbound train.
Irene’s Law
I talk about Irene’s Law in Irene’s Law – Estimating Tube Journey Times, where I define it like this.
If you want to get an estimate of how long a journey will take on the London Underground, you count the number of stations and multiply by two, before adding five for every interchange.
For the Overground, I’ve found that using three minutes for the number of stations gives a reasonable answer.
So how does it fit for my journey?
- The base time is forty-six minutes.
- Deduct ten minutes for the two changes gives thirty-six minutes.
- 36/14 gives 2.6 minutes.
I’ll go with that! But it looks like for a mixed journey like this, 2.5 might give a rough estimate.
How Would This Time Compare With An Extended Bakerloo Line?
Consider.
- New Cross Gate station could be on an extended Bakerloo Line.
- The Bakerloo Line timetable gives a time of 26 minutes between Queen’s Park and Elephant & Castle stations.
- There are three extra stations, which would probably be two minutes per station.
So the time between Queen’s Park and New Cross Gate stations would be 32 minutes via an extended Bakerloo line.
Conclusion
It looks like an extended Bakerloo Line will be a few minutes quicker.
But that the Elizabeth Line will be a good alternative for a few years.
My feeling is that the Elizabeth Line will have enough capacity for several years, but that eventually the Bakerloo Line will need to be extended.
Does The Elizabeth Line Offer Similar Benefits To The Bakerloo Line Extension?
This map shows the proposed Bakerloo Line extension.
Note.
- There are new or improved stations at Old Kent Road 1, Old Kent Road 2, New Cross Gate and Lewisham.
- New Cross Gate station has Overground and Southern services.
- Lewisham station has Docklands Light Railway and Southern services.
- The future potential option going South is to take over the Hayes Line.
Could we provide improvements along the line of the Bakerloo Line Extension in a less disruptive and more affordable manner?
I will look at the various stations.
New Cross Gate
New Cross Gate station is a fully-accessible station, as these pictures show.
The station, currently has the following services.
- Overground – Highbury & Islington and Crystal Palace – 4 tph
- Overground – Highbury & Islington and West Croydon – 4 tph
- Southern – London Bridge and Victoria via Sydenham – 2 tph
- Southern – London Bridge and Coulsdon Town via Sydenham – 2 tph
Note.
- tph is trains per hour.
- The Overground services provide an 8 tph service to the Elizabeth Line at Whitechapel station.
- TfL may well increase the frequency of the two Overground services to 5 tph.
I suspect that the easiest way between New Cross Gate and Harrow & Wealdstone will be with changes at Whitechapel and Paddington.
- New Cross Gate and Whitechapel – Overground – 13 minutes.
- Whitechapel and Paddington – Elizabeth Line – 14 minutes.
- Paddington Interchange – 15 minutes
- Paddington and Harrow & Wealdstone – Bakerloo Line – 29 minutes
This gives a total time of 71 minutes.
As Bakerloo Line trains go between Elephant & Castle and Harrow & Wealdstone, which is 24 stations and the journey takes 48 minutes, this gives a figure of two minutes per station.
- This seems to fit Irene’s Law, which I wrote about in Irene’s Law – Estimating Tube Journey Times.
- So it looks like a direct train on the extension would take 54 minutes.
- That time fits well with the 71 minutes via the Elizabeth Line if fifteen minutes is allowed for the walk at Paddington.
I will do the trip for real today.
Lewisham
There are two ways to get between Lewisham and the Elizabeth Line.
- Take the Dockland’s Light Railway to Canary Wharf. Estimated at 15 minutes.
- Take a train to Whitechapel, which needs a change of train at New Cross station. Estimated at 17 minutes minimum.
Neither are perfect.
I will try out these two trips soon.
Hayes
The Hayes Line is often talked about as the final destination of the Bakerloo Line.
In More Frequent Trains And A New Station For The London Overground, I put forward a plan for connecting the Hayes Line to the New Cross branch of the London Overground.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the lines at New Cross station.
Note.
- The double-track East London Line, shown in orange, arrives from Surrey Quays station arrives in the North-Western corner of the map, becomes a single-track and then goes under the main lines before going into the bay platform D.
- Hayes Line services use Platform C going South and Platform A going North.
- Could the Overground going South divert into Platform C for Hayes?
- It would appear there used to be a line connecting Platform A to the East London Line of the Overground. Could this line be reinstated?
This Google Map shows the same area.
Note.
- The London Overground track is clearly visible.
- The needed connection certainly looks possible, without too much heroic engineering.
- Although, I suspect it could need digital signalling to get everything to work smoothly. But that will happen anyway!
The big advantage of this approach, is that all stations between Whitechapel and Hayes, would have a direct connection to the Elizabeth Line.
Hayes Line services would still continue to Victoria and Cannon Street, although the frequency might be reduced, depending on how many Overground services used the route.
Old Kent Road 1 And Old Kent Road 2
I think there are two ways to serve this important area.
- The first would be to run a high-frequency bus service between Elephant & Castle and the two stations at New Cross.
- I also suspect, it would be possible to have a short extension of the Bakerloo Line to a double-ended station at New Cross Gate and New Cross stations.
I went into the second way in More Frequent Trains And A New Station For The London Overground, where I came to these conclusions.
I am drawn to these two conclusions.
- The Bakerloo Line should be extended via two new Old Kent Road stations to a double-ended terminal station in New Cross with interchange to both New Cross Gate and New Cross stations.
- The New Cross branch of the London Overground should be extended through Lewisham to Orpington and/or Hayes.
My preferred destination for the London Overground service could be Hayes, as this would surely help to free up paths through Lewisham and London Bridge.
I also feel, that the scheme would be much more affordable if high-specification buses were used between Elephant & Castle and the two stations at New Cross.
Conclusion
There are certainly possibilities to create an alternative route, with the same objectives as the Bakerloo Line Extension.
Elizabeth Line – Whitechapel Station – 24th May 2022
I took these pictures at Whitechapel station on the Elizabeth Line.
Note.
- The step-free access between platform and train in two pictures.
- I wrote Whitechapel Station – 23rd August 2021, when the rest of the station opened.
- There are certainly a large amount of concrete panels.
- I have called Whitechapel station the Jewel In the East and now the Elizabeth Line has opened, I think we’ll see a lot of passengers changing trains at the station.
- Passengers reversing direction between the two Eastern branches of the Elizabeth Line, when they are going say between Woolwich and Ilford stations.
- The Hammersmith and City and the District Lines will give Elizabeth Line passengers access to the North and South of Central London.
- The Overground will give Elizabeth Line passengers access further out in North and South London.
Whitechapel station will effectively give easy passenger access to over another eighty stations, not on the Elizabeth Line.
Whitechapel Station – 23rd August 2021
Whitechapel station reopened this morning, so I went to have a look.
Note.
- There are more lifts than any program on Strictly.
- All the main stairs are wide with lots of handrails.
- There is a passageway alongside the Ticket Hall to access Durward Street at the back of the station.
- There is still some work to do on the Overground platforms.
It certainly could be The Jewel In The East.
Whitechapel Station Reopens On August 23rd
I have been told that Whitechapel station will reopen on Monday, the 23rd of August.
Apparently the station has put it out on Twitter.
When I visited this week and wrote Whitechapel Station – 10th August 2021, I did think that reopening wouldn’t be too far away.
As the station is closed this weekend, I shall be going on Monday to observe the progress.
If Whitechapel station gets handed over to Transport for London in the next few weeks, that will leave just Bond Street and Canary Wharf stations still to be completed.
For a few years now Crossrail have talked about opening without Bond Street station, so will TfL just lock the platform edge doors shut and go for as early opening of Crossrail as possible?
Canary Wharf station could also be treated in the same way.
It would certainly be an option to open Crossrail earlier than expected.
The Anonymous Widower 