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]

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.

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.

Initial Thameslink works announced

Network Rail have a press release announcing the awarding of contracts for initial works for the Thameslink Programme. They are:

• Farringdon station - "replacement of the existing interchange bridge, construction of part of a new station entrance & concourse on Turnmill Street and other minor works on emergency access / escape routes and cable diversions"
• Borough Market viaduct - "minor works to enhance facilities at Borough Market and will also provide a new temporary market hall alongside the existing wholesale market" (previously announced)
• Blackfriars station - "a wide range of advance works at and around the existing National Rail and Underground stations and on the railway bridge across the River Thames "

This is all preparatory work that will happen this year, ready for the main construction work from 2009 to 2011.

Thameslink train specifications published

The Department for Transport has posted an outline specification of the trains it wants to order for the Thameslink Programme, amounting to 275 4-car trains.

There are few interesting details - trains will have WiFi throughout and be fitted with 2+2 seating with a wide aisle, rather than the 3+2 common in commuter trains. Another thing that stood out for me was the requirement that trains be fitted with automatic train operation for use in the central section, which would be a first for the National Rail network.

South London RUS published

Network Rail have published their South London Route Utilisation Strategy, which propose forthcoming changes to services. There's a bewildering amount of information included (not to mention the diagrams), but here are some highlights related to high-profile schemes.

London Overground:

• The East London Line phase 2 extension via the South London Line is recommended.
• The South London Line service from Victoria to London Bridge is almost certain to be withdrawn, but they propose several replacement services that will use sections of the line (diagram on page 99), so most journeys should still be possible direct, and all will with a same platform change at Denmark Hill. This excludes Battersea Park, which will lose its SLL platforms when its others are extended.
• The Southern Watford Junction-Brighton services via the West London Line will be curtailed at South Croydon in 2009.
• An extra (possibly peak-only) service on the West London Line will run all stops Shepherd's Bush to South Croydon. Not going further north means 8-car third rail only trains could be used. Trains will reverse in the closed Eurostar depot north of Shepherd's Bush.

The Thameslink Programme:

• It's acknowledged that the Thameslink Programme Key Output 0 has slipped to March 2009 (page 5 and 140). The Moorgate branch lives on!
• The 2011 service (Key Output 1) will add Rochester, Maidstone East, Sevenoaks, Orpington and extra stopping services to Three Bridges.
• The final Thameslink service in 2015 (Key Output 2) will consist of:
  • 4 tph (trains per hour) fast-ish to Brighton, 4tph semi-fast to Gatwick and Horsham, 4tph slow to Sydenham and beyond, 2 tph to East Grinstead and 4 tph to Orpington and beyond via Lewisham (all 12-car via London Bridge).
  • Via Elephant and Castle there will be 4 tph on the Catford Loop and 2 tph into Kent, all 8-car trains.
  • Note the disappearance of stalwart proposed distinations such as Dartford, Eastbourne, Ashford, Littlehampton and Guildford and the curtailing of the Wimbledon Loop at Blackfriars.
  (illustrated above, taken from page 117)

For other suburban services, there are 10 and 12 car extensions planned and lots of other enhancements, but there's far too much to even summarise here.

Thameslink 2000 visibly happening

Lurking at the side of Herne Hill station there's actual new track being laid as part of the Thameslink 2000 project, possibly the first since it got the go ahead last year:
It's nothing permanent, just a turnback siding so trains from the north can come here to reverse during engineering work. Trains using it won't be able to call at Herne Hill, since there's no platform. There's a tiny blurb about it at the back of the Network Rail business plan.

[via Modern Railways]

How Farringdon Crossrail will work

New London Architecture have an exhibition on at the moment about Underground London, and included in the brochure is this diagram of Farringdon Crossrail station (the labels are my doing).

It shows how the station will connect into both Farringdon and Barbican tube stations, and how at the Farringdon end it incorporates the southern platform extensions and ticket hall that are being added as part of Thameslink Programme (shown in light green).

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 Borough Market timetable announced

Following the Thameslink funding decision last week, Network Rail have announced the first work to get the go ahead. A second viaduct will be built over Borough Market between January 2009 and October 2011. This fits in with the upgraded Thameslink timetable due in December 2011.

The viaduct is both the most controversial part of the plan, responsible for much of the delay in getting planning permission, and the most urgent, since at present all trains to Charing Cross and half of the Thameslink service must share a single two-track viaduct over the market. With the second viaduct in place, the two services can be segregated.

Between now and January 2009, there are preparatory works planned, including acoustic protection for Southwark Cathedral and building a roof over "the relocated section of the market". Presumably relocating said section is also one of the things that needs doing, but it isn't mentioned.

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.

Gatwick Express extended to Brighton

The Gatwick Express has been a thorny issue for a while. They take up an enormous amount of track capacity on one of London's busiest commuter routes, yet even at peak times are at best half-full. Meanwhile, pressure from BAA and the airlines make scrapping them politically impossible.

The DfT today announced a plan that does a shockingly good job of pleasing everyone. The Gatwick Express service itself will be essentially unchanged, but 6 trains each rush hour will double as commuter services to Brighton. To pull this off, the separate franchise will be scrapped and operations transferred to Southern. The enhanced service will need extra trains, so Southern will be getting some of the Class 442 units that were controversially withdrawn by South West Trains last year.

Also announced is the repatriation of 12 trains from Southern back to the Thameslink route they were built for, which should increase capacity there. Southern will in turn get a new fleet of Electrostars.

The DfT's full briefing is here, and the Brighton Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy that prompted this is here.