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]

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.

Mitcham Eastfields now open (sort of)

London's newest railway station opened this afternoon, 8 hours, 2 weeks or 72 years late.

Just 9 months ago it was greenlighted, 5 months ago it was little but dirt, 2 months ago there were still no buildings and a month ago there was no footbridge.

As of today:

• Southern trains are calling, but First Capital Connect trains aren't, whatever Live Departures tells you. Update 3/6: Possibly they are now.
• One of the four Driver Only Operation cameras on the southbound platform is dead, and one of the four on the northbound is out of focus, which must be why only Southern are calling (FCC don't employ any guards).
• The footbridge is open, but the lifts aren't.
• Both platform canopies have panels missing.
• The station building canopy and adjacent platform canopy do not overlap.
• The station building has at least 5 external doors, but as yet none is the promised public toilet.
• Some ticket machines can already you a ticket to the station, but don't expect the barriers at Victoria (either station) to recognise them.
• It has a staffed ticket office, but the opening hours are puny.
• Both platforms have entrances at their far ends, as well as by the level crossing.
• There were a whole load of locals gathered to check out the station, but no staff around.

I shan't bore you with more photos. Go down there yourself - it's easy to get to now and you'll find the best chip shop in London a couple of minutes walk down Tamworth Lane.

Mitcham Eastfields station opening this Monday

There's been a bit of confusion over whether Mitcham Eastfields station would open on Sunday or Monday. In particular, the National Rail Enquiries site had trains in the timetable for Sunday, and explicitly gave that date in its notes.

That's now been fixed. The first train to call at the station appears to be the Southern service from Epsom to Victoria at 5:49am. If you want to be on it, First Capital Connect run all night to East Croydon, where you can catch an early tram to Mitcham Junction, one stop before Eastfields on the Southern service.

The National Rail page notes the footbridge will be available "from Summer 2008", implying it won't be ready for this weekend.

Photo taken two weeks ago. Hopefully it's finished by now.

Update: The opening's been postponed again. See the comments.

Update 2: Opening at 4pm today. The first train to call will be the Epsom-Victoria at 16:10

Mitcham Eastfields: Two weeks to go

View all posts about Mitcham Eastfields

Let's try this again. Mitcham Eastfields station is allegedly opening in two weekend's time, and last we looked, progress was disappointing.

Good news. The final landscaping around the station building is taking shape:

The footbridge is in:

The gap in the southbound platform has been fixed and all of the platform equipment is in:

Even the streetlights work. There are still a few bits and pieces to sort it out but it now very closely resembles a finished station. It'll take extra special effort to not have this open on June 1.

Mitcham Eastfields opening postponed until June 1

View all posts about Mitcham Eastfields

First Capital Connect have posted a revised opening date for Mitcham Eastfields:

We have been informed that Network Rail do not feel the station will be ready to open before Sunday 1 June 2008. It is therefore anticipated that First Capital Connect trains will serve this station from the start of service on Monday 2 June.

FCC don't run trains this way on Sundays, so it's likely the first service will be run by Southern on June 1, and a note on the National Rail journey planner concurs.

The picture is of Greenhithe for Bluewater station, which is a larger version of the same design, with an enclosed ticket hall.

[Thanks to Pedantic of Purley for the FCC link]

Mitcham Eastfields countdown: Two weeks to go

Mitcham Eastfields station is allegedly opening in two weekend's time, and last we looked, progress was disappointing.

Here it is as of last Sunday. The building is almost finished, and the northbound platform has gained fencing and lights on top of its posts:
It turns out I was wrong to think there was anything to be built in the empty end of the building. While some plans show the ticket office at the north end, they've clearly switched it around and that end will be open to the elements. No ticket barriers either.

Still no sign of that footbridge:

The southbound platform has a bit of a localised Shepherd's Bush going on:

Still a lot to do, but the May 18th date isn't looking quite as unlikely as before.

Latest posts about Mitcham Eastfields

Mitcham Eastfields latest

View all posts about Mitcham Eastfields

With the opening of Mitcham Eastfields allegedly only a month away, it's time for another visit.

Here's an overview of the site, looking south:

The station building and the northbound platform:

The liftshafts, footbridge columns, and the very end of the southbound platform:
(NB This blog does not endorse the commandeering of handy nearby tall buildings for photography purposes. Unless, of course, there's no one about)

So since three weeks ago they've put up equipment rooms for the lifts as well as pillars for the footbridge to stand on - but still no bridge. The station building has gained eaves and the canopies on both platforms look finished but unpainted, and the platform edging looks complete. The empty end of the building is where the ticket office, toilets and so on will be. Either it's all going to arrive in one piece on the back of a lorry, or they have a lot of work to do.

Mitcham Eastfields opening May 18th-ish

View all posts about Mitcham Eastfields

The new First Capital Connect timetable gives a provisional date for Mitcham Eastfields station to open:

At the time of printing, the exact opening date of the station has not been determined, however it is anticipated that it will open on or close to 18 May 2008. Times of trains at Mitcham Eastfields (which is between Streatham and Mitcham Junction stations) are included in the tables of this booklet. However trains will not call there until the station has opened.

Handy advice in that last sentence.

Mitcham Eastfields station update

View all posts about Mitcham Eastfields

At the end of last year I posted everything there is to know about Eastfields station. Since then they've renamed it Mitcham Eastfield, decided it will be in Zone 3 and possibly First Capital Connect are going to stop there (all according to the latest London Connections map). But with it due to open a few months from now, let's see how construction is going.

[Update: Buildings are up]

On the London-bound platform they've finished the standalone part of the platform and the foundations for the building and are putting up the short station canopy:
When completed, the platform will extend across in front to much nearer the level crossing (see plan).

On the other side of the level crossing, construction of the southbound platform is also nearly complete, as are the foundations for the footbridge:
The brick hut visible in this image is gone.

And here's a bunch of bits (possibly the footbridge) arriving on the back of a lorry:


The immediate location of the station is quite unusual. On one side there's little but school playing fields, and on the other it's surrounded by ramshackle allotments (the station is by the crossing gates in the distance):

There doesn't seem to be much sign of the fast, cheap modular station concept they once bragged about, though maybe that will change now the ground preparation is nearing completion.

East Coast Main Line RUS published

Network Rail have published their East Coast Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy. The recommended work affecting London includes:

• Six-car trains will be used on all shoulder-peak First Capital Connect inner-suburban services as soon as trains are available from London Overground (four are needed).
• Off-peak inner-suburban services will be increased from 3tph to 4tph on each branch, including weekday evenings and Saturdays.
• Extension of hours on the Moorgate branch is unlikely.
• The Up Goods line (the easternmost track) from Alexandra Palace to Finsbury Park will be converted into a third southbound passenger usage. The four stations it passes will get extra platforms on the line, and may also get them on the equivalent northbound line, the Down Slow 2 (the westernmost track). This will improve flexibility and capacity.
• Extra trains will run from the Hertford Loop to Moorgate in the morning peak.
• Outer suburban platforms will be extended to 12-car length progressively, in advance of when they're needed by the Thameslink Porgramme.
• Finsbury Park and Harringay are candidates for the National Station Improvement Programme, which seeks to improve station ambience.
• Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington will be getting lifts to the National Rail platforms (and the tube platforms).
• A speculative section at the end mentions the [somewhat unlikely] possibility of inner-suburban trains going to Thameslink, with outer suburban trains being Intercity Express Programme trains to King's Cross
• Also speculatively, insufficient capacity at Moorgate could in the long term lead to some inner-suburban trains using the Canonbury tunnel to the North London Line.

If any of this sounds familiar, it's because most of it appeared in the draft document, published last June.

As an aside, both this document and the West Hampstead Interchange info mention that, come 2015, the split of Thameslink services between the Midland Main Line and the East Coast Main Line will be 16 vs 8 each hour, rather than the 14 vs 10 that appeared in previous documents. There'll still be two trains per hour into King's Cross (possibly peak-only), rising to six per hour in the longer term.

West Hampstead Interchange: It's back

Following a tip-off from reader THC that First Capital Connect are reviving the West Hampstead Interchange plans, I've spent the last couple of weeks bugging First Capital Connect's press office, and today they came through with some details:

• West Hampstead station will be rebuilt with lifts, a new entrance, ticket gates and cycle parking. I'd think the entrance will be further south.
• The pavement on the west side of West End Lane will be widened and the road crossing to the Jubilee Line will be improved.
• The North London Line station will get a "modified entrance" and lifts.
• There will be two "associated mixed use developments" to pay for it, which they also say will "improve the public realm".

The timescale given is 2011. In the mean time, they plan platform canopy renewals, extra information screens and and canopies over the ticket machines (and one extra) during this year.

This is far less ambitious then the previous plans, which were championed by Chiltern Railways, and potentially included a rebuilt tube station with Chiltern and Metropolitan Line platforms, relocating the NLL and Thameslink stations to the east side of the road, and an off-street interchange bridge between them.

Borough Market viaduct route

I was in Borough yesterday and noticed this building, the Hop Exchange, immediately to the south of the existing Borough Market viaduct. As we all know, Network Rail are planning to build a new viaduct to the south of the existing one for Thameslink 2000, but I couldn't believe they were ballsy enough to propose demolishing a building like this.

Turns out they aren't. I couldn't find plans in any of the usual places, but the Save Borough Market campaign has some. The route swings to the north at its west end just in time to avoid affecting the Hop Exchange. Extra tracks will be built north of the existing viaduct instead, cutting off the westward connection from Cannon Street (off the top of the diagram) to Charing Cross.

This plan shows what will be affected. From right to left:

• The 3 highlighted terraces to the right will be completely demolished.
• The big green blob in the middle is it cutting through the roof of Borough Market.
• Across Stoney St, the Wheatsheaf pub will have its top storey removed.
• The buildings on the south side of Park Street will lose their rear extensions (not highlighted)

For a more detailed description, see this document from page 28 onwards.

Eastfields station

All posts about Mitcham Eastfields

I've neglected to mention Eastfields, a new station under construction in south London. Construction started a few months ago (after years of talking) and it's scheduled to open some time next year.

It's located between Streatham, Mitcham and Tooting (Google Maps) and I've marked it on our eponymous map. According to the Transport Statement, only the half-hourly Southern services to/from Victoria are expected to call. The line is also part of the Thameslink Sutton/Wimbledon loop service, but it's uncertain if those trains will stop.

The transport statement also mentions that "just over 13,300 residents live within 800m (as the crow flies) of the new station. Only a very few small proportion live within 800m of any other station." A quick check of the London Gaps map bears this out (I've marked it on the version to the right - click to enlarge).

The station itself is interesting in a couple of ways. It's being built at a level crossing with each platform on a different side of the road (plan), so that in both directions trains will go over the crossing before they reach a platform. This allows the gates to reopen while the train is stopped.

Secondly, it's the prototype of Network Rail's "modular" station concept. They're written a long essay on the topic as part of their planning application (though this news article is a lot more digestible). They want to use standard easy-to-maintain components for the station buildings and canopies. Having only one station using standard components isn't very useful, so the plan is to rebuild many stations this way. The concept doesn't extend to the platforms, which are concrete beams on breezeblock walls.

The photos show how far along constructions is. They've built about half the length of each platform, which will eventually be 170m long (for 8 car trains) and a healthy 3m wide, and by my count of the breezeblocks underneath they appear to be so. Both photos are looking north: The first shows the northbound platform, with the site of the station building on the far left. The second is from further south, and shows the southbound platform, with the level crossing and northbound platform in the distance.

Oyster PAYG extensions this January

The new fares leaflet is on tube station leaflet racks everywhere, though not yet online. It confirms the new National Rail route sections where Oyster PAYG will be valid from January, though they're not quite as expected:

• Grays to Upminster and Barking on c2c. This covers all their London stations, with the exception of their few trains to Liverpool Street where Forest Gate and Maryland still aren't covered.
• West Ruislip to Marylebone on Chiltern, covering all their London stations.
• Greenford to Ealing Broadway on First Great Western, but not at intermediate stations. This is a surprise, but since both already have PAYG for their tube services, no expenditure was necessary.
• All intermediate stations between Walthamstow Central/Tottenham Hale/Seven Sisters (i.e. the Victoria Line) and Stratford/Liverpool Street on 'one'. 6 of the 9 added stations are in almost-tubeless LB Hackney. The promised expansion to Chingford hasn't happened.
• Kentish Town to West Hampstead Thameslink on First Capital Connect. This actually happened last month for the launch of London Overground.

The brochure also confirms that both Southern and London Midland will be accepting Oyster PAYG between Watford Junction and Euston/Clapham Junction.

Station openings today

This weekend saw the opening of two new London stations, and the closure of another after 134 years.

The last ever train left King's Cross Thameslink last night around 1.15am (several minutes late), and the first ever train to call at St Pancras International arrived on time at 9.13am (earlier trains today called at neither, though did appear on the St Pancras departures board). The interior is a lot like City Thameslink, but with everything twice as big. Meanwhile, King's Cross Thameslink is now plastered with massive red "Do not alight here" signs. I was there for both events, but my photos were eaten by a shonky cheap memory card (don't do it kids), so you'll have to make do with this picture of a random train at St Pancras this afternoon.

Langdon Park DLR also opened this morning. When I passed yesterday afternoon the entrances were sealed off and it was swarming with men in orange jackets fiddling with the paving. But today the fences were gone and trains were stopping there, confusing at least a couple of passengers. As shown in the second picture, they've really gone to town with the footbridge roof. Disappointingly the station still has the standard DLR ticket machines that don't do Oyster.

At Stratford this afternoon, all DLR trains were using the north platform, rather than the south platform as they usually do. I'm not sure if this has been happening for a while or only started today, but at least both are now in use, though apparently not yet at the same time. The new footbridge from the old platform area is still sealed off, but appears complete (that's the rather unpromising Central Line/One end of it in the photo).

The King's Cross St. Pancras nexus - a novelty tube map

Just in time for the closure of King's Cross Thameslink and the opening of the Thameslink platforms at St Pancras this weekend, here is a complete diagram I've made of the whole complex, in the style of the tube map. It attempts to show every public passageway, escalator and entrance, and as far as possible it's geometrically as well as topologically accurate, so in a very approximate way the shape of the interchange blobs matches the shape of each interchange.

There are a few of the more obvious things I left out:

• None of the changes for the new King's Cross concourse are shown, though the new tube station passageways underneath it are.
• It shows all of St Pancras as open. The Circle and the coach station are not.
• Pancras Road continues further north.
• The public part of the mezzanine level at St Pancras is not shown, but there's very little on it of note.
• The temporary diversion of the passageway to the Piccadilly Line is not shown.
• I couldn't be bothered drawing separate lines for GNER/NX East Coast, Hull Trains, Grand Central, etc.
• It's in Gill Sans, not New Johnston.

Links: PNG | Zipped PDF

Thameslink Programme approved

As rumoured, the Thameslink Programme got funding today, which is the last hurdle before construction can commence. There was some suggestion it would only include the northern half, but that seems to be a misunderstanding. The current budget period only lasts until 2014, a year before the work is due to be complete, but there's no suggestion it won't be funded in the next period.

Today's white paper has some details hidden at the end. It confirms the 16 train per hour frequency and 12 car train length due by 2011 will only involve trains on the Midland Main Line. Trains on the Great Northern route (those that currently go to Kings Cross) will be added only in the next phase. The infrastructure budget is still said to be £3.55 billion, with the £5.5 billion figure mentioned today apparently covering rolling stock procurement (well over 1,000 carriages will be needed, at around £1 million each) and franchise renegotiation, and possibly other things.

East Coast Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy

Network Rail have published their strategic plans for the East Coast Main Line, which covers all services from King's Cross and Moorgate via Finsbury Park. Of interest to Londoners:

• The Finsbury Park to Moorgate branch is currently closed all weekend and after 10pm on weekdays, with trains directed to King's Cross at other times. The document rejects
  extending these hours as too expensive, though they suggest it might be needed on Saturdays to free up capacity at King's Cross.
• Inner-suburban services (ie the ones that run to Moorgate) may be increased from 3tph (trains per hour) to 4tph off-peak on each branch north of Alexandra Palace, and therefore from 6tph to 8tph south of there. A similar extra train may run at weekends.
  
• Four North London Line Class 313s may be transferred to First Capital Connect to run more inner-suburban trains as six car formations. They recommend doing this as soon as possible, which won't be until the new London Overground trains come into service.
  
• Lots of vagueness over when and whether the ECML will be connected to Thameslink. Seeing as a decision on this is meant to be due shortly and it has a major impact on any plans, it's an odd time to publish the document.
• Outer-suburban services will probably be extended to twelve car eventually, though due to the Thameslink Programme indecision, it's hard to say when.
  
• The long rumoured new "Platform 0" at King's Cross is apparently now called "Platform Y". It would be created by building a track through the more-or-less derelict arches and buildings along the east wall of the station.

Thameslink Programme schedule

There's an archived webchat on the First Capital Connect site that provides some concrete information of what will happen if the Thameslink Programme gets funding (announcement due very soon). There's also some info on it in the Network Rail Business Plan. Cross-referencing with existing info, it looks like the plan is:

• Key Output 0: By December 2008, the central section will have been upgraded to allow 15 trains per hour (tph). The Moorgate branch and the Blackfriars bay platforms will then be closed to allow the main construction to happen, and the displaced services will have to run all the way through, with Thameslink trains from the north going on to serve some of Southeastern's current routes.
• Key Output 1: By December 2011, all (or most) stations will have been rebuilt for 12-car trains. This would have to include the full rebuilds of Blackfriars and Farringdon.
  
• Key Output 2: By December 2015, 24 tph will be running through the core section. This requires rebuilding London Bridge station, and the remaining major works.
  

It's still not clear when the Kings Cross First Capital Connect services will start running via Thameslink. The tunnels for this have already been built, but no track has been laid.