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.

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.

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.

Northern Line extension to Battersea Power Station proposed

The latest masterplan for the Battersea Power Station site has been unveiled by the poetically named new owners Real Estate Opportunities Ltd, and includes a surprising transport element:

Treasury Holdings UK is in discussions with Transport for London and other landowners in the Nine Elms about building an extension of the Northern Line from Kennington to bring the Tube into the heart of Battersea.

Looking at the map it's not a completely terrible idea. Kennington is where the two central branches merge so would be a good place to start the extension, most likely from the Charing Cross branch due to the track layout. I'd suggest an interchange at Vauxhall and a possible extension to the massive Chelsea Barracks redevelopment.

With construction of the development not due to start until 2012, it's more likely the site will be sold on again and this plan scrapped. The last owner's masterplan centred around upgrading Battersea Park railway station, which is one stop south of Victoria and a bit useless really.

There's a half finished website about the proposal here, which mentions an exhibition will open at the site this Wednesday.

Update: Today's londonpaper tells of a stop at "Wandsworth Road", though they can't mean the railway station of that name, since it's a long way out of the way.

Update 2 : More details

[Thanks to reader Jonathan for the tip off]

TfL Question Time

Two TfL managers have just done an online Question Time session with an uncharacteristically eloquent and on-message section of the general public. There are quite a few interesting answers:

• On tube cooling: "A new ventilation shaft is being installed at Liverpool Street"
• On the Northern Line split: "We're currently reviewing the prospect of being able to separate the service and the likely timescales involved. [...]
  The option of fully separating the line would mean all Charing Cross branch trains would only go on to Edgware. All Morden - Bank trains would go on to High Barnet. [...]
  It's unlikely we would be able to implement any proposal before 2015 at the earliest."
• On the King's Cross St Pancras Northern Ticket Hall: "This redevelopment programme is due to complete in December 2009" That's a little bit earlier than previous official dates.
• On extending the Bakerloo to Watford Junction. The strategy guy says: "There are no plans at present [...] The Bakerloo line is being upgraded by 2020 and this would be the time to consider this"
  However the possibly-less-informed operations guy is slightly more positive: "At the moment we don't have funding to do this so London Overground services will continue to serve Watford Junction for a few years to come."

[via District Dave]

Partial Northern Line split now permanent

Back in January signs appeared at Northern Line tube stations advising that during the morning peak, all northbound trains on the Bank branch would go to High Barnet, and all northbound Charing Cross branch trains would go to Edgware*. Today they've put out a cryptic press release hailing its success:

A series of changes to the Northern line schedule, the product of over a year of detailed study, has resulted in more trains running on time. Modifying the service in response to increasing customer demand has led to increased reliability and has reduced journey times by around a minute.

Interestingly they manage to ramble for 400 words without once mentioning what the major change is. The thing I find interesting is they could have used this as an opportunity to butter up the press for the probably upcoming full split, but have instead chosen to say nothing of substance.

(* actually each sign only mentioned the arrangements for the branch the station was on. Can't have the passengers knowing too much)

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.

The Northern Line split

A TfL spokesman responds to the Hendon Times over claims by a Barnet council leader that the Northern Line will be split in future:

"At the moment, Camden Tube Station cannot cope with being a major interchange as it would need major remodelling. Regarding segregation, there are therefore absolutely no plans. No decision has been made and there is no funding in the current investment programme."

That's not a denial, is it? The current investment programme only covers spending until 2010, and they're on their way to getting planning permission for the remodelling of Camden Town.

The evidence isn't just circumstantial - the split of the Northern Line is explicitly included in TfL's transport vision for 2025:

A segregation of services would deliver simpler service patterns on the line. This will allow more trains to be run through both the West End and City branches – enabling 30tph services on the central London branches. This will provide roughly 25 per cent extra capacity and crowding relief on these busy sections.

Even now, the line is effectively split at Kennington and Mill Hill East, and only a couple of weeks ago they instituted a split at Camden Town (see picture) in the morning peak, though northbound only to get some of the benefits of segregation without sending too many commuters through the station's passageways.

Not that I'm trying to support the councillor's campaign. A split is the number one solution to the overcrowding and unreliability he complains about. Just as soon as the signalling is upgraded ca. 2011 and Camden Town is fixed sometime after that, a split is inevitable.

February Board Papers: Miscellaneous notes

I've already posted separately about ELL Phase 2, the Southern franchise takeover and Shepherd's Bush Overground but there are a lot of other things worth noting:

• Another follow-on order for new London Overground Electrostars is planned for this month.
• Roll out of Oyster PAYG to the whole London rail network is still pencilled in for next January.
• The renaming of Shepherd's Bush (H&C) to Shepherd's Bush Market will happen when Shepherd's Bush (Central Line) reopens, not when Wood Lane opens (which may be earlier) as previously announced. There's likely only weeks in it.
• The King's Cross St Pancras tmporary tunnel is known as the 'Hockey stick'.
• Royal assent for the Crossrail Bill is expected by the end of July. A Lords committee will consider petitions from 19 Feb until mid May.
• Purchase time at tube ticket machines is down to "0.28 minutes".
• The East London Line officially ceased to be a London Underground line on 22 January, when they finished clearing their things and handed it over to contractors.
• Replacement signalling (and ultimately Automatic Train Operation) is due on the Jubilee and Northern Lines by December 2009 and September 2011 respectively, with the first part of the Jubilee commissioned this October.
• A tender for new Piccadilly Line trains has just been issued.
• The first S-Stock train is due for delivery for testing in January 2009.
• The first new DLR train was delivered on 22 December. The whole first 'Woolwich Arsenal' batch is due in service by September, with a follow-on 'Olympic' batch coming next.
• They're still deciding how to progress the Cross River Tram scheme.
• They're pressing on with Greenwich Waterfront Transit and East London Transit, and are due to start October 2009 and July 2011 respectively,

You can read more in the board papers PDF.

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

Camden Town redevelopment plan moving forward

TfL have been quietly continuing to pursue their plan to rebuild Camden Town station. After a public consultation earlier this year, Camden Council have now decided that the development can go ahead, sort of.

The actual news is that the council's Environment subcomittee quietly resolved to adopt this planning brief as a "Supplementary Planning Brief". TfL still need to reapply for planning permission, but as long as they stick to the guidelines they should be OK.

The plan is to build a temporary station (which means a new ticket hall connected to the existing platforms) before the current station closes, and only then will work begin on the permanent new station. This delays possible completion until around 2016.