Shepherd's Bush Overground: Finished!

Well almost. These men are putting the last bits of trim onto the aluminium panels that cover the rebuilt part of the station building:
You can see in that picture there are still some bits of back fence to do, and there's some tidying up of the work of the other platform, but I can't see them spinning it out for more than a couple more weeks.

In that spirit, here's an attempt to recreate the very first picture I posted of the station, last October, so you can see the difference:

And here's the widened bit and the non-widened bits of the platform together:


Update: According to the latest TfL board papers, opening is pencilled in for October 1. [Thanks to D-Notice in the comments]

Finally, a bonus picture of the enormous new Shepherd's Bush Central Line station:

The Thameslink Programme, illustrated

There are lots of elements to the Thameslink Programme, but at its core is a proposal to untangle the lines outside London Bridge to get the maximum possible number of trains through as efficiently as possible.

As an introduction, here's how things currently work (click to enlarge):
[NB pedants: this is a simplified schematic showing the principle of the thing, not a track map, though it doubles as one in places]
The worst problems are highlighted in red:

1. Thameslink trains through London Bridge have to cross in front of Southeastern services terminating at Blackfriars. There's also a short section of single track due to cost cutting before the Thameslink service was introduced.
   
2. Borough Market Viaduct. A huge number of different services have to share this double track bottleneck, as well as the London Bridge platforms that serve it.
   
3. To get onto the route towards Borough Market Viaduct, Thameslink trains need to make a flat crossing move.
   
4. It's fairly common to have a pair of fast tracks between the two tracks used by stopping services, but normally there's a flyover provided near the terminus to switch them out. At London Bridge there is no flyover, so trains just cross the southbound slow line.
5. Tanners Hill flydown. This link was built relatively recently to allow the bridge taking trains to Victoria* to double as a flyover to get trains onto the fast lines to London Bridge without crossing the slow lines. Currently only single track.
   

If you follow the route of Thameslink trains through London Bridge (dotted purple), you'll notice they share track or otherwise conflict with almost every other service in the area, which is why they don't run during peak hours. Given that London Bridge is going to be the principal Thameslink route when the programme is finished, that isn't a good start.

Here's how they intend to fix it:

1. Rebuild Blackfriars to have the through tracks to Farringdon on the same side as London Bridge. The knock-on effect is that services from the Wimbledon/Sutton loop will now be on the wrong side to run through, so will terminate at Blackfriars, and services from southeast of Elephant & Castle will run through instead.
2. Build a second pair of tracks over Borough Market. London Bridge will also be rebuilt with extra through platforms.
3. The Bermondsey Diveunder. This is a massive piece of engineering due to the number of viaducts that need to be reworked. Its basic purpose is to get Thameslink trains to/from the Brighton direction over the top of the Southeastern tracks to/from Charing Cross.
4. The southbound slow line is also routed under the dive under, and no longer crossed by other services.
5. Double tracking the Tanners Hill Flydown. There aren't going to be many Thameslink trains going this way, but it's still part of the project.

The second diagram also illustrates how the East London Line extension fits in (with phase 2 dotted), and incorporates proposals from the South London RUS (chiefly evicting everything but Southeastern fasts from Charing Cross).

[* The "temporary" replacement bridge built after the 1957 Lewisham Rail Crash, in fact]
[Thanks to Paul Scott for forwarding me the documents used to draw this]

Imperial Wharf construction begins!

If you believe this press release or this press release, they've finally started work on site at Imperial Wharf station, just 5 short years after it was approved (in May 2003). Hurrah for St George!

[Thanks to Rick for the tip]

ELL works at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace is one of the strangest stations on the network. It's built on the apex of a triangular junction with platforms on two sides of the triangle. While one side is perfectly normal, the other is, well... see for yourself:
That vast building is the station footbridge - and you can only see half of it in that picture. This is the platform area:

It once had six platforms and a twin-span overall roof. The roof has been gone for over a hundred years, there's nothing left of the two middle platforms, and only the through platforms are in use. So the current configuration looks like this:

Crystal Palace will be one of the termini of the extended East London Line, and they'll need a couple of terminating platforms. So given the choice between reinstating the existing side platforms, or rebuilding the centre platforms, they've chosen something completely different:
That's according to the latest planning application, which although not explicitly stated, will see the northern island taken out of use. I expect most East London Line trains will use platform 5, as getting out of platform 3 means crossing the other line.

I've marked the locations of the planned lifts as black squares, but I don't understand them. The one on the 3/4 island gets you to half way up the station's stairs, which is useless, and the one on the 5/6 island gets you to nowhere.

As for what's happening at the other new terminus, West Croydon, they're just putting in a siding beyond the station.

East London Line phase 2 works to go ahead

According to this planning application, "funding has been secured" for enabling works for the phase 2 extension of the East London Line (network map) to be done before the line reopens.

To be clear, this isn't the full scheme, but it does involve building a rather substantial grade separated junction, like so:
You can view a much larger version of that picture, and a reverse angle shot in this document (sans annotations), and an explanation in this one.

The junction is located at the northern tip of the Silwood triangle (near Surrey Quays station), which currently looks like this:
That's taken from the footbridge marked on the diagram above, with the East London Line on the left, and temporary works sidings on the right, on the path of the phase 2 extension.

The work proposed to do before phase 1 opens in 2010 (and before phase 2 is given the green light) includes building the underpass, replacing the footbridge, and building earthworks to take the phase 2 tracks down the side of Silwood Triangle, but no further.

Mudchute DLR station progressing well

The main reason service the southern branch of the DLR is messed up is to rebuild Mudchute with three platforms. Reader Robert sends in this picture taken yesterday of how they're getting on:
They were doing two thing to this platform - extending it to take three car trains and giving it a second face onto the [currently trackless] siding behind it. The platform extension is clearly finished already (it's the section on individual supports) and the canopy shows there's serious progress on making it double sided.

It's notable that the canopy is much more substantial than the old one. The three-car programme is being used as an excuse to do a general upgrade programme, and several stations are going to get their whole canopies replaced, which is why you'll find construction hoardings along the whole length of Limehouse and Westferry, for example.

That London Overground interchange map

London Overground have quietly added walking interchanges to the London Overground network map found on trains:

Oddly they don't tell you which line the other station is on (except at West Hampstead), and some of them are completely useless (Kensal Green to Kensal Rise) and, as noted, some of the most useful ones are missing (Wanstead Park-Forest Gate).

Of course there's nothing saying these are meant as interchanges at all. Maybe they're just to show that stations in places you've never heard of (like Brondesbury) are near places you have (Kilburn).

Shepherd's Bush/White City/Wood Lane interchanges

When the new stations at Shepherd's Bush and Wood Lane open there'll be two new out-of-station interchanges, requiring a short walk outdoors to change between lines. But how short?

Interchange #1: Shepherd's Bush (Overground) to Shepherd's Bush (Central Line)
Just across the bus station.

Approximate gateline-to-gateline walking distance: 100 metres.

Interchange #2: Wood Lane (Hammersmith & City Line) to White City (Central Line)
A stroll along Wood Lane right past BBC Television Centre.

Approximate gateline-to-gateline walking distance: 230m.

Top secret London Overground news

Well, not very secret. But I've been sent a non-public London Overground presentation that contains a few interesting bits.

Firstly, there's an updated rendering of the new London Overground trains:
Compared to the old rendering, it's gained eyeliner and a thicker orange stripe that continues around the front, and lost its Overground logo, Bombardier logo and number (though there should be a real one of these to ogle by now).

Moving on, it's stated the East London Line will reopen in "January 2010". Although completion much earlier than the "Summer 2010" public date have long appeared in TfL's board papers, this is the first time I've seen them telling anyone it'll open so much earlier.

Finally, they have a construction schedule for the North London Line upgrade, and the extensive line closures required:

• April 2009 to April 2010: Camden Road to Dalston
  Freight trains will be diverted onto the passenger tracks. Currently freight trains use the single track on the north side of the passenger tracks, which needs to be rebuilt as double track during the upgrade. It's unclear what the effect on passenger services will be.
• April 2009 to June 2010 (Sundays): Hackney Wick to Stratford
  
• Dec 2008 to April 2009 (Sunday and some Saturdays) Gospel Oak to Woodgrange Park 
  
• April 2010 to June 2010 (weekends): Kensington Olympia to Clapham Junction
  They need to convert Latchmere Curve, just outside Clapham Junction, from single to double track.
• April 2010 to May 2010 (weekends): Willesden Junction to Kensington Olympia 
• Jan 2010 to Feb 2010 (weekends): South Action to Acton Central 
  
• April 2009 to Jan 2011 (Sundays): Acton Central to Gospel Oak
  

They don't actually give specific reasons for these closures, so the two above are mine, and otherwise it's for general track, signalling and power upgrades for the new high frequency service.

Gospel Oak-Barking Line news

A few quick quotes from the Barking - Gospel Oak Line User Group's latest news update:

[...] as all the track works to permit 4-trains-per-hour running will be complete, commissioned and tested by Easter 2009, we want that service frequency to start ahead of schedule in May 2009 [...]

[...] the new in-train maps show useful details of walking distance between our stations and others nearby - but oddly omit the Wanstead Park/Forest Gate interchange

[...] As a stop-gap the three-seat rows are to be converted to two-seaters to increase standing room, but regrettably it seems the North London Line trains are taking precedence over ours for this work to be done

Waltham Forest Council have assured us that there is firm commitment at senior level to getting the long-overdue pedestrian link constructed between Queens Road and Central

Oddly, they don't seem to know Boris thinks the line's getting three car trains in 2010.

Oyster problems: Blame Transys

During today's Oyster failure, TfL put out a press release that includes the first hint of what the problem is:

This problem, like the recent issue, resulted from incorrect data tables being sent out by our contractor, Transys (a consortium of the firms EDS and Cubic).

They're probably referring to new fare and routeing data (there are a few changes due). No word yet on how this caused 65,000 cards to be permanently destroyed last time this happened.

Network Rail: Waterloo sucks!

Network Rail have a long term plan (after 2014 at least) to extend Waterloo's platforms across the current concourse (which is elevated), and move all the stations facilities downstairs to street level. English Heritage have retaliated by trying to get the whole station listed, as "largest and finest British terminus of the early 20th century”.

Network Rail obviously object, and the only way to do that is to rubbish the station. Some choice quotes:

“a late and rather weak expression”

"The station was a major engineering project of its period, but the results, in spatial and architectural terms, are far from dramatic or memorable"

"The architecture... is a late expression of Edwardian baroque styling, rather thinly applied."

“Waterloo is not especially innovative in terms of planning and in structural terms is unadventurous, lacking the excitement of the great 19th century stations"

Thanks to reader Bob for sending this in.

Wood Lane aerial photo

Following on from the photos I posted earlier this week, here's a great aerial photo of Wood Lane station taken by reader Former Optimist, presumably from the roof of BBC Television Centre:
There can't be many tube stations with another line they don't serve passing underneath the ticket hall.

Mayor's Question Time: July 2008

A few interesting items from the most recent Mayor's Question Time:

• Trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be lengthened to three cars by 2010. Electrification of the line is too expensive.
  
• Bus roofs are being painted white to help keep them cool.
  
• Boris likes Greenwich Waterfront Transit.
  
• This list of South London transport improvements includes things like Greenwich Waterfront Transport but conspicuously not Cross River Tram. Nail, coffin, etc.
  
• Croydon's tram system will be getting deep cleaned and refurbished, as well as a new livery and new seat moquettes.
  
• The first three bus routes to be unbendied will be the 38, 507 and 521, with "appropriate" capacity to be provided by the double deckers (note not "the same" capacity).
  
• The DLR is set to go back to normal  on August 25 (at least on the Lewisham route) , rather than there being a different set of closures.
  
• The redeveloped King's Cross may include a new footbridge to allow continued access from York Way.
  
• The Mayor has met with Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to ask for money for the East London Line phase 2 extension.
  

Rebuilding Tottenham Court Road station

Tottenham Court Road station is being massively rebuilt and expanded over the next 8 years - both to accomodate Crossrail and increase capacity - and an exhibition about what they're doing opened at New London Architecture today.

Here's the money shot (click to enlarge):
(1) is the new Crossrail platforms; (2) is a new escalator down to the Northern Line platforms; (3) is Crossrail's Oxford Street entrance (which looks like this inside); (4) is an escalator down to the Crossrail platforms, obscured by a new ventilation and emergency stair structure; (5) is the massively expanded ticket hall; and (6) is a new set of escalators down to the Central Line.

To build this, they've got to dig up a big chunk of the West End:
The right half of the site is the plaza outside Centre Point, while the left half is a block of buildings to be demolished - including as noted, The Astoria. In the middle is where the top end of Charing Cross Road currently is. They'll also be demolishing the block to the south of Sutton Row to build the Crossrail ventilation shaft (4). Everything currently on the site of the western ticket hall (3) will also be going.

The timescale for this is glacial, with preparatory works long since started, demolition and construction beginning next year. The new piazza entrance (on the southeast corner) opens 2013, and the piazza itself opens in 2015. Charing Cross Road will be diverted from 2010 until 2014. Construction at the station won't be finished until 2016.

In contrast, the exhibition lasts only until August 9.

Shoreditch High Street station box going up

As previously reported here, the East London Line extension's Shoreditch High Street station is to be enclosed on all sides by a massive windowless concrete box (i.e. walls and a roof). The primary aim of this is to protect the line so that it can stay open during the construction of skyscrapers alongside it.

Until now there was no sign of it, but this week they started erecting posts to support the structure:
It really is that big compared to the poxy humans.

Thanks to Antonio for the photo. Here's a panorama of the whole of Bishopsgate Goods Yard, using pictures taken by him today from the Tea Building on the north side of the site (click to enlarge):

The box will stretch at full height for the length of the platforms (which corresponds to the finished section of viaduct), and at a lower height all the way to Brick Lane on the left and Shoreditch High Street on the right (a map of Shoreditch, if you're lost).

Crossrail is Law

Today both the House of Lord and House of Commons approved the Crossrail Bill, which grants the powers needed to build Crossrail, London's new super tube line. The only obstacle now is money.


From now on the route, the stations, the buildings to be demolished, and everything else is now set in stone. If they build it at all, it has to be built as set out in the countless bill documents, unless they aquire new powers or push through another Act of Parliament. The only thing I can't see is any requirement for them to build all of it.

So no more bickering about how the route should be changed. And no more Astoria.

The diagram shows how the tunnels will be dug, taken from this document. Yes, it's missing Woolwich station, but is otherwise correct.

Crossrail Bill approved by Lords

The Crossrail Bill was approved by the House of Lords this morning. The final step to Royal Assent is a vote in the House of Commons scheduled for 5pm-7pm tonight. Watch this space.

The 2M Group's Heathrow Express Network

The 2M Group is an anti-Heathrow expansion pressure group formed by 19 London Borough Councils, plus a few from outside London. Today they became the latest entity to publish a blueprint for a high speed line to the north.

The intriguing part about this one is the diagram on the right. They want to passengers to be able to transfer from the High Speed Line to Heathrow, and also run feeder services from Cambridge and Portsmouth. The orange bit is Airtrack, the green bit is Crossrail and the purple bits are high speed lines, but what on earth is the route in red?

I emailed them, and their response is on this Google Map (the text is theirs, the route plotting is mine, using nothing but the text included). In short: Heathrow Express tunnels to Hayes & Harlington, new build route up to the Chiltern Main Line, east to Neasden, Dudding Hill Line to Cricklewood, Midland Main Line to Radlett, new build east to Hatfield, segregated as far as is possible, and running at conventional. They reckon trains will take 20 minutes to get from Heathrow to Cricklewood, and that this is comparable to interchange between terminals.

Obviously this isn't a transport project at all and is just meant as a cudgel to beat about the government's collective head, but as the plans have been worked out in some detail by a proper engineer, they're worth a look.

East London Line progress: the official version

Reader Edward Betts has scanned in his copy of East London Line News, a newsletter delivered to local residents. The fourth page is the one with the interesting details on it, going over work for the next few months.

Wood Lane station progress

London's last new tube station is in the final stages of construction, ready for opening in October.

They've finished most of the external panelling:
If you click to enlarge you can see they've installed the external roundel, currently badly hidden by a black bin liner.

Down in the cutting is the Central Line, and the south end of the platforms at White City are a just the other side of the bridge on the left. Still probably not going to be marked as an official interchange.

The station building:
The pavement level has been raised far above road level here, for reasons unknown.

The platform signs are now visible from passing trains. Here's the roundel:

And the destination sign:
This shows the renaming of Shepherd's Bush (H&C) to Shepherd's Bush Market that will occur when Shepherd's Bush on the Central Line reopens, or when this station opens, or possibly it'll all happen at the same time.

Shepherd's Bush Overground: Idiots!

The Good News: They've finished filling in the gap in the platform left by moving the wall back.

The Bad News: They've put those fscking street lights back in!


On the other platform they've finishing paving over the gap where the new entrance is (see the last update), but they still need to put the panes of glass over where the old one was:

There's now very little left to do other than fixing a handful of cosmetic gaps and putting up Overground signs. I've noticed the protective plywood is off the ticket barriers, so the place is on its way back from being a building site and to a railway station.

As an aside, the last issue of Modern Railways contains a brief note blaiming the narrow platform on the need to accommodate the West London Tram terminus alongside. Here's a diagram from the planning application, with the Overground platforms in orange and the tram tracks highlighted in red:
Not terribly convincing.

East London Line progress photos: July 2008

Construction of the East London Line extension continues apace. Since I haven't checked in on progress since May, so it's time for another look at how they're getting on.

At Dalston Junction, the station is going to be in the basement of a massive development, and they've now put in the floor above the station. Trains arriving from Highbury & Islington will go through the hole on the right:

Via the magic of the telephoto lens, here's a glimpse of Haggerston station from Richmond Road. The white vertical line is the Regent's Canal bridge even further in the distance:

And here's Haggerston station from ground level:

At Hoxton station they've been digging out the viaduct arches and laying a concrete slab, and in the foreground are the fundations for the stairs and/or lifts alongside the viaduct:

That mysterious building alongside the site is huge, and could possibly be a ticket office. It has a large opening in the side roughly at viaduct level:

Here are a couple of glimpses of the top of the viaduct from a nearby tower block. It looks like they're starting to prepare the ground for tracklaying:


The viaduct ends in Shoreditch, and it looks like they're deliberately not connecting it up so they can keep this access ramp. Note the massive concrete support column where the viaduct will eventually be:

Turning the camera slightly to the right, they've finished this section of the viaduct and are working on the next section that connects it to the Shoreditch High Street bridge:

On the other side of Shoreditch High Street the viaduct linking the bridge to the already-finished Shoreditch High Street station viaduct is also taking shape:

They're also working on the viaduct between the station and Brick Lane, but it's very hard to see or photograph.

At Brick Lane they've put in this little walkway so they can build the viaduct across the top, although there's no sign yet of them doing so yet:


Just to the left is the notorious GE19 bridge. Reader Steven Gee sends in this picture of the missing slab:
Going by the known measurements of the bridge, I estimate the weight of the slab that fell on the bridge at around half a ton.

This is the ramp down from the bridge. It looked pretty much like this at the time the bridge collapsed, so I'm not certain they've been able to work on it:

Conversely, here's the nearby ramp down into the East London Line cutting:

Just west of Valance Road there was a brick arched bridge, which has been demolished and replaced:
This is to provide clearance so that trains coming up the ramp from the cutting can get under it.

Just north of Whitechapel there's not a lot happening:


At the north end of the East London Line platforms at Whitechapel they've been busy digging out Crossrail interchange subways:

Just south of Whitechapel they've busy laying new track:

And south of the river, they've completed replacing the track on the New Cross branch, though they seem to have forgotten the conductor rail:
There's no sign of any connection to the main line here for works trains to get in, which was once rumoured.

As always, it's just about impossible to get a decent photo of anything at the New Cross Gate depot site, but they appear to have finished the concrete shell of the control centre buildings; finished the ramps up to the flyover; put in the second, smaller span of the flyover; and are in the very early stages of laying track.

Farringdon Thameslink works about to start

The Thameslink Programme has three elements: Reconfiguring track and junctions so that more routes and more trains can run through the central section; Extending platforms at local stations so that 12 car trains can run; and completely rebuilding Farringdon, Blackfriars and London Bridge stations for both of the previous reasons.

Major work work doesn't start until next March, but preparatory works ("Key Output 0") are happening now. The most significant of these is the replacement of the interchange footbridge at the north end of Farringdon station, and work on that starts next month.

Here are your before and after shots:

And here's the diagrams on the back of the leaflet:

Handily reoriented so that north is at the top. Thameslink trains use the tracks on the left, London Underground the tracks on the right.

The new footbridge will double as a new entrance to the station, which will come in handy as a lot is happening at the south end where the existing entrance is.

Update: Here's a much more detailed plan and an explanation from the planning application. A cross section is to the right - and until the trainshed roof is extended, a temporary fabric roof will be stretched across the top of the bridges.

Photo of new train for District/Circle/H&C/Met

Go here to see what I think is the first actual photo of one of the new S Stock trains. By 2015 these will be running all services on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines, with the first in passenger service some time in 2010.

[via District Dave]

Stratford International aerial photo

The Olympic Development Authority have published some amazing aerial photos of the Stratford Olympic site, including this one that shows the Stratford International DLR extension very clearly.

Here's an annotated version (click to enlarge):

You can see exactly where the track will go, taking over the North London Line route on the right and then running alongside the existing tracks on the left. They've been quietly boxing in the route at the Stratford station end, in order to build over it. The North London Line will be diverted to use new platforms parallel to the existing main line platforms, using the track along the right hand edge of the picture to get there.

This image shows a similar view but from nearer Stratford station.

[via Skyscraper City]

Another East London Line bus disappears

London Underground are thinning out the East London Line replacement bus service again:

From Saturday 19 July 2008, bus service ELS, between Whitechapel and Shoreditch (Bethnal Green Road) will be permanently withdrawn. Route ELW will be extended to serve Shoreditch on Sunday mornings and during Monday to Friday peak hours.

From Monday 21 July the ELC frequency will be reduced to every 10 minutes in peak times.

Member Dstock7080 on the District Dave forum reports the ELW will also be downgraded from double to single deckers.

The cuts are probably due to the small number of people using the services (which is puzzling, given they do not collect fares). ELS is the oldest of the routes, having started in June 2006 when Shoreditch tube station closed, and I've never seen anyone on it. The ELC runs between Canada Water and New Cross, and likewise seems to be poorly patronised.

This follows the withdrawal of route ELP in February, probably because it was duplicated by the more frequent Route 381, which became the official replacement bus. Tube ticket acceptance on the 381 has now been extended to Surrey Quays, along the route of the ELC.

(there's a map of the new routes on the last page of the brochure linked above)

Shepherd's Bush Central Line station closure documents

Andy Slaughter MP has been doing some digging on why Shepherd's Bush Central Line station closed so suddenly earlier this year. Using the Freedom of Information Act he's got hold of a whole stack of internal documents. While they fill in few new details, the story laid out is pretty much what we knew already. The original plan was:

• Westfield, developers of the new shopping centre, were due to replace the station building before the shopping centre opens, keeping the station open as far as was possible.
• At some point, a new high-capacity staircase would have been installed down to the platforms, in conjunction with step-free access and other below ground works (BGW).
• Metronet were due to replace the escalators in the period 2010-12. There was a possibility that if one escalator could be kept in service ("there have been engineering differences of opinion on the feasibility of this"), combined with the new staircase the station could remain open.

Fast forward to late November last year with the centre's opening less than a year away, work on the station not started, the BGW programme looking increasingly unfeasible, and Metronet in administration. Westfield made London Underground an offer: let us close the station so we can get the building replaced on time, and we'll replace the escalators for you while we're at. After some deliberation, TfL accepted.

That's a picture of the new ticket hall I've posted before. Thanks to reader Tim for the tip.

A few more West Hampstead Interchange details

In recent months plans have emerged to improve the interchange at West Hampstead in conjunction with the upgrading of the Thameslink station that will be done for the Thameslink Programme.

The various parties actually held a meeting last October but minutes have only just been made available, with lots of new details. The proposals are:

Thameslink Station – a new entrance on Iverson Road and new footbridge to west where platforms are wider to allow lifts. Existing entrance would remain open for people to/from the north. This will reduce pressure on West End Lane (WEL) pinch point.
NLL station – saw off front with a modest development to south at the same scale as current buildings.
West End Lane (WEL) – Make carriageway a uniform 7 metres all the way through and improve the public realm (footways on the west side) and crossings. Fully signalled junction with pedestrian crossing at WEL/Blackburn Road and widened footway between there and to beyond the NLL station would be provided.

The new crossing provides access to the tube station, which will remain on the other side of West End Lane. I've made a quick mockup of the changes in Google Maps. One victim of the scheme - and likely source of contention - is the trees between Iverson Road and the Thameslink station, because at least some of which will need to be removed to make way for the new entrance.

More London Overground sign shenanigans

Following on from the late decision to switch from orange on white to orange, reader Simon has spotted a third kind at Clapham , this time blue on white with an orange stripe. Clapham Junction is managed by South West Trains rather than Over- or Underground, which may explain it.

Meanwhile London Overground's Interim sign standards (Version 5!) now codify the situation of having white-on-orange outside and black-on-orange inside. TfL have a whole load of these available. On page 13 of this one you can see Hackney Central with lifts but very narrow platforms.

Chelsea-Hackney Line results published

The Department for Transport has published their results for their updating of the Chelsea-Hackney route (aka Crossrail 2). The only real change is that the route via Sloane Square will continue to be safeguarded, in addition to the newly proposed route further south. The original consultation documents are here, including a nice set of detailed maps at the bottom.

It's important to remember that this is only a safeguarded route and not a proposal to build anything. At some point between now and 2025 it's likely a proposal will be made, and they may use the route safeguarded here, or they may do something entirely different. Decisions about the locations of stations, the choice of outer branches, the tunnel diameter and so on simply haven't been made yet.

What the Overground disruption is for

As I've posted about before, most of the London Overground network is going to be disrupted this autumn for engineering work. If you haven't seen it, the official leaflet about the replacement buses and changes to service is online.

But I wanted to go over what work they're doing and why, and how it will benefit passenger services. Basically, the problem is freight traffic, particularly container traffic from the ports around the coast of Essex and Suffolk. A lot of this traffic ends up going north on West Coast Main Line, and the only real way to get there is along the most congested part of the North London Line. Here's a diagram:

The current main freight route is in dark blue. Freight from the LT&S Line has to run across both pairs of tracks of the Great Eastern Main Line. Freight from both directions has to pass along the two track section of the North London Line from Stratford to Dalston Kingsland, which is also one of the busiest passenger sections.

It should be obvious from the diagram that it'd be much better to send freight from the LT&S Line along the Gospel Oak to Barking Line (shown in light blue), and that's exactly what they're trying to do. The problem that needs fixing first is that bridges and tunnels along the route aren't tall enough to allow modern containers through. During the closure three bridges over the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be demolished, and the track in Hampstead Tunnel will be lowered.

Similar upgrades to other rail routes are planned to reduce the importance of the London Overground network to freight. Work to allow larger containers on the Felixstowe-Ely-Peterbrough-Leicester-Nuneaton will provide an alternative to the North London Line, while Southampton-Basingstoke-Reading-Oxford will provide an alternative to the West London Line.

The frequency increases on the London Overground network can only happen if freight traffic is properly managed, and these various upgrades are an important part of that.

Croxley Rail Link soldiers on

Hertfordshire County Council are about to submit a new business case for to the Department for Transport, less than six months after the last one, and three months after that was rejected for not being "compliant". The cost has gone up from £95m to £150m, suggesting the original bid was rejected for underestimating costs.

All they need now if for the DfT to agree to fund the bulk of the cost (£120m), which is exactly the position they've been in since forever. They've received a boost in that the East of England Regional Assembly have given their backing, which may or may not be worth anything.

The scheme is to divert the Metropolitan Line's Watford branch to Watford Junction by building a 500m connecting viaduct to link it up with an mile-and-a-half long disused branch line (pictured), which will need to be rebuilt. The new route includes two new stations. Here's a diagram of all the bits and pieces on Google Maps.

[via uk.transport.london]

Northern Line upgrade details

District Dave's tube forum has some lecture notes about progress on upgrading the Northern Line, given by the line's General Manager, Jeff "98.5% train reliability" Ellis.

The Northern Line is due to be fitted with a new signalling system called TBTC (transmission-based train control), which is the what provides the automatic operation of the DLR and is currently being fitted to the Jubilee Line (look for the telltale loops of cable between the tracks), which will allow trains to run closer together and therefore more frequently.

The rebuilding of Camden Town is mentioned, apparently in Jubilee Line Extension style, although not until TfL next budget period, which starts in 2013. This will allow the Northern Line split, and a train every 90 seconds (36 trains per hour) could be the result, though they'd need to buy more trains.

Rebuilding Clapham Common and Clapham North to rid them of their narrow island platforms (as was done at Angel and Euston) is also thought necessary in the near future.

Death of the Circle Line confirmed

In the latest issue of Modern Railways there's an interview with David Millard, manager of the Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines, discussing the ins and outs of the plans to turn the Circle Line into a Hammersmith-Edgware Road spiral (see diagram). That's right, a senior member of staff has confirmed it on record in a public forum. No more rumours, no more leaked internal documents. It's happening.

One consequence of the plan is an increase in the number of trains using Praed Street Junction and Edgware Road. The article mentions a proposed solution - run half of the District Line's services to Edgware Road only as far as High Street Kensington. However this will only be possible off-peak when demand is lower.

The timescale - like everything else in London - is to have it ready by 2012.

Update: I've just had another read of the article, and they say they could introduce it as early as December 2009.

Crossrail Bill date: 22nd July

The House of Lords Committee on Recomittment that was reviewing final amendments to the Crossrail Bill appears to have finished, and readings of the Bill are now scheduled in both houses for 22nd July, the last day of parliament until October 5th. The Commons speaker is actually forbidden from packing up for the summer until both votes have happened and Royal Assent has been granted (assuming the houses vote yes, which is very likely).

So if they stick to this schedule, that's planning permission in the bag, and the funding agreement is scheduled to be signed until September. We're in the endgame on this one.

There is one final hurdle - the Lords Committee notes that the change in law allowing Crossrail to be funded by business rates hasn't happened yet:

Funding of Crossrail is very dependent on the legislation that will take into account the small part of the business rate that will provide funding. That is how the whole project was agreed. I think that the Prime Minister said in his pre-Queen’s Speech announcement in the summer that this legislation was to be protected in the coming year. If it does not happen and that legislation does not go through Parliament, the current funding mechanism for Crossrail will not be available.

It is noted later that the law is very likely to pass, on the assumption Gordon Brown's government is still around to introduce it.

Half of our DLR is missing

Here's the DLR service map that appears above the doors on every train, and unlike the tube map, shows the individual services they run:

Or at least, are meant to run, because it's not really accurate anymore. Let's start with the obvious, Tower Gateway is closed:

For reasons unknown, possibly related to building the junction for the Stratford International extension (although I can't fathom what), the Beckton-Tower Gateway service is actually curtailed all the way back to Canning Town:

Moving on, they've turned the northbound track through Mudchute into a building site while they turn the siding into a third platform:

With only a single track available, the Stratford-Lewisham service has been curtailed at Crossharbour:

The line goes immediately into twin tunnels south of Mudchute, which would force trains to share a single track all the way to Greenwich, which would seriously limit frequency. So they've come up with a clever wheeze whereby trains from Mudchute reverse at Island Gardens. Meanwhile, trains from Lewisham reverse in the other platform there, using the normally-northbound tunnel under the Thames in both directions.

This has the happy side effect of leaving the southbound platform at Greenwich free to be extended for three cars, but the downside is there no trains run through Island Gardens:

Oh, and someone has demolished one of the viaducts into West India Quay, in preparation for the Delta Junction upgrade:

Which means with only one southbound track through the station, during peak hours when an additional Bank-Crossharbour service runs, half the trains from Stratford have to terminate at Poplar, and the rest terminate at Canary Wharf:

And let's not forget, as the network-wide tannoy announcements endlessly tell us, there is no interchange at Bank and Monument stations, except between the DLR and Northern Lines (not really true and probably never will be):

The service is so fucked they're running rail replacement buses while it's open, and the leaflet accompanying the disruption also suggests using the Greenwich foot tunnel, a Thames Clipper, even an East London Line replacement bus - anything but the DLR. TfL have gone so far as to invent a whole new bus route so you can avoid the DLR completely.

This phase of disruption lasts until August 25, and disruption in general lasts until ca. 2010 when all the various projects should be finished. With nothing but the probably-undisruptive Dagenham Dock extension on the horizon, you may even get some time to enjoy the upgrades.

[Thanks to an anonymous reader for the Delta Junction photo, and martin_petrov for suggesting I write about this]

Imperial Wharf station: New design unveiled

I've found out what the "construction work" that's supposed to have started at Imperial Wharf station amounts to. They've put a new rendering on the hoarding:

Compared to the old rendering, it's gained Overground branding; shorter simpler canopies, and ticket barriers. You can just see the ticket office, which will be built along the back wall of the arch with a public area in front. An identical set of ticket barriers, lift and stairs will be on the other side of the viaduct for the other platform, and I presume the level access for wheelchair users to get into the station will be that side too.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, the arch is a disused road bridge. Here's a clearer picture of it than I've posted before:
You can also see there's still no sign of construction work starting.

If anyone's still confused about Imperial Wharf is on the rail network, it shows up in red on this old version of the London Connections map, opening "early 2006".

Shepherd's Bush Overground: Wall moving complete

Each time I visit Shepherd's Bush Overground, they've made some significant step towards fixing the dodgy platform.

This time, they've filled in the gap between the station building and the moved wall:
Thus the station once again has a continuous retaining wall, and they're now in the cosmetic tidying up phase of the work.

Just out of shot, they've started reinstating the horizontal beams between the metal fence posts at the top of the wall. If they're sensible this will be followed by moving the platform equipment on to the fence and ditching the lamp posts, but it could go either way at this point.

Meanwhile, they've been busy on the other platform too:
They're making it so that the entrance is towards us onto the wide section of platform, rather than to the right onto the narrow section. As on the other platform, this has required adding a great big ugly steel beam to hold the structure together (ignore the yellow scaffold tower in the right picture).

I've also just been sent some pictures by someone who's been on site. This one is taken from the unwidened section at the far north end of the station, and shows exactly how narrow it was as built:
That glass box in the distance is what my second pictures above are of.

First bendy buses withdrawn next year

The Guardian is reporting that Boris will replace bendy buses with good old-fashioned double deckers as soon when the contracts come up for renewal between next year and 2015. This will start with three routes next year, including the 38 (Victoria-Angel-Dalston-Hackney-Clapton), which coincidentally or not was one of the only routes converted directly from Routemaster to bendy.

Boris Watch has an excellent list of bendy bus routes and contracts, and surmises the other two routes to go next year will be two out of the 12, 25, 73, 507 and 521. Routes are presumed to be staying bendy until at least their contract renewal date, which for the 436 and 453 is after the next Mayoral election.

More on the Northern Line to Battersea

Annie Mole at Going Underground has been to Battersea Power Station to check out the developer's exhibition of plans for the site. She's posted photos of the information about the proposed Northern Line extension.

You can see on their tube map that, as I suspected, they're only connecting to the Charing Cross branch at Kennington. Most trains from that branch terminate at Kennington anyway, where they go round a huge loop to reverse, and it would be reasonably straightforward to plumb the extension into that loop rather than any of the running lines.

There's be no access to the Bank branch from Battersea, but there would be an easy cross-platform interchange at Kennington.

The exhibition is open for its last day today until 6pm, and includes a tour of the power station site. According to Annie, you may also be able to visit on the 13th and 19th. Check the developer's website for more details.

Update: I popped down there myself and here's a copy of the site transport plan, which shows the exact proposed route of the tunnels (click to enlarge):
Battersea station is on the south edge of the development where it could serve other parts of the local area. Above the key there's the outline of a second station, on Wandsworth Road bang underneath Vauxhall Sainsbury's.

Oyster readers to accept credit cards

Barclaycard's Onepulse combined Oyster/credit card also has a third function, "cashless", that allows you to pay for items by touching the card to readers found in a small number of shops. Over the next couple of years, it's hoped contactless payment will become a standard feature of all bank cards.

According to a recent presentation given by TfL, they're looking at whether this would allow bank cards to be used as Oyster cards. The idea is that you'd be able to touch any concactless-enabled bank card to the Oyster reader on a ticket gate or bus, and the journey would be charged directly to your bank account. It's hoped this would remove some of the administrative overhead of Oyster PAYG, and make it really easy for visitors to use the London transport system.

All 22,000 Oyster readers would have to be replaced to make this possible, but according to the presentation this is due around 2010 anyway. For one thing, they also need to add support for ITSO in the near future, which is a UK-wide Oyster-style transport card.

Another technology the presentation covers is NFC, which allows mobile phones to be used as Oyster cards and could mean being able to top up credit and check journey histories from the phone itself.

Boris proposing giant buses?

Boris Johnson has launched his A New Bus For London competition. There are two elements - a "just for fun" public competition and a more serious competition for designers, which includes outline specifications.

The bus is required to be a double decker and articulation is specifically banned. It'll have an open-rear platform plus at least one other door, each with Oyster readers. There's no stated requirement for either of them to be supervised, making it potentially as much of a free-for-all as bendy buses. However, a second crew member is a requirement of the design.

The big surprise is the maximum length allowed - 13.5m, roughly the same as the giant Skyliner coaches used by The Oxford Tube and National Express. A Routemaster is about 8 metres, an ordinary modern double decker 10 metres and a bendy bus 18 metres.

In contrast, the minimum passenger capacity is only 72 (including standees), about the same as a normal double decker. A Skyliner has 81 seats, and a bendy bus can carry well over a hundred.

TfL Board Papers: June 2008

TfL held its first board meeting since the Mayoral election last week, and the papers are online. Highlights:

Oyster PAYG on National Rail

• The rollout of Oyster PAYG London wide will require work "at 240 National Rail stations [which] includes the installation of around 1,100 Oyster validators, over 600 ticket gate upgrades, ticket machine upgrades [...]"
• A fares proposal for Oyster PAYG has been submitted by the train companies, and is expected to be signed this month (July).
• "Southern has now agreed to allow installation of Oyster equipment to commence immediately."
• The Mayor's planned summit with train companies will look at "harmonisation of passenger standards (fares and information) plus interchange security and policing", as well as the headline Oyster PAYG issue.

London Underground

• "Prior to its introduction on the District line, the new Sub-Surface train will be introduced on the Metropolitan line (from 2010) and on the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines (both 2012)," as previously announced. This seems to contradict Modern Railways' claim of a change of plan.
• The Northern Line is now the most reliable on the network, with 98.5% of services running as planned, thanks to the new timetable.
• The opening of the Northern Ticket Hall at King's Cross St Pancras has been moved forward to December 2009 at the request of the Department for Transport, in time for the start of Kent High Speed rail services.
• The first new Victoria Line train will be tested in service in January 2009.
• Testing of the new Jubilee Line signalling system isn't going well, with only a 50% success rate.

London Overground

• Ticketless-travel on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line is down from 15% to 1.7% since London Overground took over.
• The first new London Overground train will be tested in Derby this month, though it's unclear when the first one will be tested in London.
• A few seats will be removed from the existing trains this month (as discussed for the GOBlin) to increase standing capacity and reduce boarding times.
• The new London Overground platforms at Stratford will open in December 2008. These allow the existing ones to be reused for the DLR extension to Stratford International.
• The first section of new slab track for the East London Line extension was laid on 12 April.

Crossrail

• A final Crossrail funding agreement is being prepared for signing in September.
• They're trying to get the Crossrail Bill passed before Parliament breaks up on 22 July, but it's looking "increasingly tight"
• The congestion relief plans for Tottenham Court Road tube station require powers granted by the Crossrail Bill.

DLR and Tramlink

• Track work for the DLR Woolwich Arsenal extension is complete
• Testing of the new DLR trains is being held up by getting electrical interference approval from London Underground at Stratford.
• An immediate cleaning and refurbishment of the Croydon tram system is planned now TfL own it, to be carried out by existing operating contractor First.