Bank-Monument: TfL mellows out

So on Monday morning London Underground were handing out an amazing little booklet at Bank station:

That's it on the right, next to their earlier snotty dictatorial attempt at public relations.

They've managed to produce a nice, well-illustrated, detailed look at the history of Bank and Monument and a reasonably detailed overview of the escalator refurbishment programme*. It's informative, relevant, well-written and borders on being friendly in places. It doesn't even contain any outright lies.

Let's look at some quotes:

There will be no interchange at Bank and Monument stations

vs

Customers are advised not to interchange at Bank and Monument stations

Or:

Remaining walking routes through the station will change significantly, so please use nearby Cannon Street, London Bridge, Mansion House or Moorgate stations

vs

To minimise disruption we are endeavouring to keep as many walking routes as possible through the stations open.

But the most astonishing thing about the new leaflet is how it closes:

We apologise for any inconvenience caused to your journey.

Disingenuous or not, there wasn't anything even resembling an apology before.

[* though not as detailed as it could be]

Bank-Monument escalator works

It looks there's a lot more work planned for the escalator refurbishment at Bank and Monument. I've been sent some info that gives details of the full programme:

• April 2008-Autumn 2009: DLR-Monument (E12-13 and E14-15). These are the ones currently closed.
• September 2008-June 2009: Northern Line-Monument (E4-5), one at a time. If the remaining one fails the Northern Line will have to non-stop Bank due to lack of evacuation routes.
• May-October 2008: Lombard Street ticket hall escalators (E6-7), one at a time.
• Late 2009-Autumn 2011: DLR to Bank (E8-9 and E10-11). These have already been worked on, but it seems it was life-extending maintenance, and this will be the full replacement.
• TBD: Main Central Line escalators (E1-3)

(The map I made of the station has the escalators and their numbers marked on)

The presentation notes that the DLR escalators are being replaced so early in their life (17 years) due to much heavier usage than anticipated.

The E4-5 works will mean there'll actually be no Monument to Bank interchange, though Bank to Monument should still be a goer. One of the E6-7 escalators is closed already, so that work shouldn't make things any worse at the Bank End. In fact, things are better since I made that last map - the spiral staircase route has been open every time I've been there.

Bank-Monument: Open!

I made a visit to Bank-Monument on my way home and bring good news in diagram form (closed areas in purple - click to enlarge).

Two of the three closed to scare you away passageways are back open, and in both directions - at least when I was there. With only the spiral staircase passageway closed, movement around the north end of the station is almost completely free, and the "no interchange at Bank and Monument" is even less true than ever.

There is some bad news for passengers arriving on the DLR. The gates across to the departures platform at Bank were closed, making the stairs up to the Northern Line and so the route to Monument inaccessible. The only way out is to take an escalator up to the interchange hall, from where you can take a short flight of stairs down to the Northern Line, but to get to Monument you then have to walk the entire length of the platforms. I have a feeling this was just a temporary measure due to rush hour crowding on the departures platform, however.

Bank-Monument: They want to scare you away

Still wondering why passageways without escalators have been closed for escalator refurbishment? This internal staff briefing document has answers [hosted by Going Underground]. In particular, read the "Why will this help?" section.

The logic goes:

1. One of the two main routes to the DLR needs to be closed, so...
2. The other route will have to become up only to provide extra capacity, which requires...
3. Passengers going down to the DLR to use a temporary route via the Northern Line platforms, but...
4. Those platforms are too crowded, so...
5. The aforementioned passageways will also be closed in order to...
6. Make interchange to the Central and Waterloo & City Lines so difficult that...
7. Passengers get exasperated and go elsewhere...
8. Reducing the crowding on the Northern Line platforms.

I can't figure out whether this is bonkers or genius.

How Bank-Monument falls apart

Just as I was finishing my diagram of Bank-Monument a couple of weeks ago, TfL cryptically announced they'd be closing various bits today for escalator refurbishment. I went for a shufty on my way home today, and this is what I found:


[ Update: several closed routes are now open ]

So while the headline was that there's no interchange between Bank and Monument, in reality there's a perfectly cromulent interchange route between the two (which unsurprisingly seemed much quieter than usual).


Rather wonderfully, the new hoarding around the very work at Monument that's causing "Bank and Monument to effectively operate as two separate stations" has a big sticker on it pointing out there's a direct route to the Central Line and the DLR - which are where again?

Meanwhile, they have closed the three underground routes between the north and south bits of Bank, none of which contain escalators, forcing thousands of people through a tiny passageway upstairs in the ticket hall.

According to the leaflet, this phase lasts until this August August 2009, when we get all new lies.

How Bank-Monument works

Since I made my maps of Green Park and King's Cross St. Pancras I knew it was only a matter of time before I had a crack at Bank-Monument. And here's what I've come up with:

[ Update: Diagram of the current closures ]

There are several other maps available, but I wanted to do something a bit more detailed and geographically accurate that could be reconciled with the actual experience of traipsing through the tunnels.

Notes, disclaimers and things learnt during this exercise:

• This was made entirely by visual observation on a handful of short visits, with no accurate charts used save an aerial photo to get the general shape right. It's entirely possible it's hilariously wrong.
• The DLR really is slightly offset from the Northern Line and not quite parallel to it as shown. It's not me making my drawing easier.
• From shallowest to deepest the levels are: Ticket halls, District/Circle Line, Waterloo & City Line, upper interchange level, Central Line, lower interchange level, Northern Line and DLR.
• The route from end to end via the DLR rather than the Northern Line isn't actually much longer, it just involves a stupidly high number of bends and transitions.
• The Waterloo & City Line platforms have a tiny newsagent hidden in a cross passage. Is it the only deep[-ish] level station so blessed?
• The complex is so vast it has a whole other tube station within its thrall (Cannon Street).
• The lift access from street to the DLR requires using three separate lifts, two of which are in the peak hours only ticket hall.
• I have no idea what shape the Bank ticket hall really is.
• For extra anorak points I've included the platform numbers and escalator numbers - I've heard the guy on the tannoy (it appears the same one works there 24/7) use the latter to refer to the escalators under repair.

This long easter weekend, why not use the diagram to try to work out what on earth today's rambling TfL press release about escalator closures is trying to say.

Waterloo & City Line at Bank to get new entrance

TfL have announced plans to build a new entrance to the Waterloo & City Line platforms at Bank station:

The new street level entrance in Walbrook Square will provide step-free access with lifts, as well as escalators and stairs to the Waterloo & City Line platforms.

Legal & General is redeveloping Bucklersbury House [...] As part of the construction programme a new station box will be constructed in the basement of the building for London Underground.

The new entrance will open in 2013. Walbrook Square, which is a redevelopment of several buildings on the south side of Queen Victoria Street, a little to the west of Bank station.