Reader Dazz285 has supplied me with another shot of a new London Overground train under construction (previously), this time much more recognisable:
You can see how wide the walk-through end gangways will be. It seems we won't be getting the fancy frameless windows the other air-conditioned models of Electrostar have.
After getting the GE19 bridge most of the way across yesterday, it was moved into its final position overnight. Here are some photos of it in its final position:
The extension on the front has ended up completely across Brick Lane:
It's not obvious in this picture, but the front extension curves upwards significantly. This meant as the bridge was pushed the front was lifted up, raising the bridge from the horizontal (how it was built) to a 1 in 30 gradient (needed to get the line over Brick Lane).
The area where the bridge was assembled:
If you look immediately underneath you can see the bracket where the strand jack was attached, and a corresponding hole in the framework on the ground that the cable was anchored to.
Inside the Bishopsgate Goods Yard compound:
The wall in the distance is obviously where the site borders Brick Lane. There's a fair gap between the under construction viaduct and the bridge, though the viaduct posts have been ready for a while. As far as I'm aware, the bridge over Brick Lane will simply be a concrete viaduct span rather than anything special.
Finally, a slightly wonky Autostitched panorama of the whole site:
From left to right: Bushes atop the Braithwaite Viaduct, Shoreditch High Street bridge (very small), Shoreditch High Street station, the extension, Brick Lane, the bridge, the bridge construction site, and just out of shot, Shoreditch tube station.
I was invited by TfL to use the official viewing galleries set up for this event, so I've had a very good view of the action.
I'll start with an overview of the site, taken from the east end:
This was taken around lunchtime after the bridge had been moved a fair distance, with the front dangling over the railway line.
While the wheels at the back are powered, the majority of the force comes from a pair of strand jacks: 
These are basically just hydraulic rams that can pull themselves along cables. The two sets of cables are strung along underneath the bridge and anchored to the eastern abutment (ie they don't cross the railway line). The jacks should therefore roughly reach the end of the cable when the bridge is in its final position.
So that's the theory. Here's how it looked when I got there first thing:
The bridge had already been moved a significant distance, with the west end of the bridge proper (the brown bit) resting on the eastern abutment. The grey bit is a temporary extension and will be cut off and scrapped.
During the morning they moved it much further:
They then took a break to add a whole load of counterweights (kentledge) to the back. It started moving again:
With the tip of the bridge looming very close they started lubricated the western abutment:
The bridge is sliding on flat pads, with no bearings, though the pads are free to pivot front to back.
A short while later, the tip of the extension was hovering right over the pads:
This next bit surprised me. They were able to jack up the back of the bridge, tilting the opposite end down onto the pads:
Note that the left side touched down before the right. This caused a view anguished faces in the viewing gallery. It doesn't seem to have been a real problem, though they were briefly seen holding an ordinary builder's spirit level up against it.
They moved it a couple of feet further packing up:
I think they're now repositioning the counterweights. At time of writing it hasn't moved again, though you can watch the live webcam and be the first to know.
Thanks again to TfL for the invite.
The second of the three major bridges for the East London Line extension is being moved into place this Sunday and Monday. It's the GE19 bridge that crosses the Great Eastern Main Line (the line out of Liverpool Street), right next to where Shoreditch tube station was. See my map of the whole area.
This photo was sent to me by TfL's actually-being-helpful press office, which shows just about everything, taken from above Brick Lane looking east:
The building on the right is Shoreditch station, and the bridge is sitting where the platform cutting used to be.
The accompanying info says the best place to view the move is Allen Gardens (a short walk from Whitechapel station). Regarding when to go:
The best times to see the bridge actually moving are expected to be Sunday 04:00 to 07:00, 09:00 to 12:00 and 17:00 to 22:00 or Monday 04:00 to 08:00, but are of course subject to progress on site and weather.The bridge will be moved using "strand jacking", which is where a hydrualic ram is used to pull on a steel cable. Once the ram is fully extended, it's disconnected from the cable, retracted, and reattached further down the cable, so the process can begin again.
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
Customers are advised not to interchange at Bank and Monument stationsOr:
Remaining walking routes through the station will change significantly, so please use nearby Cannon Street, London Bridge, Mansion House or Moorgate stations
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.
An anonymous tipster points me to this set of London Travelwatch minutes, which say:
Meeting with First Great Western (FGW) and Passenger Focus to discuss implementation of Oyster pay as you go on FGW. This was on schedule for May 2008 – nine months ahead of most other train operating companies (TOCs).An early rollout was mentioned at another London Travelwatch meeting.
Last night Hammersmith & Fulham council approved the funding plan for Imperial Wharf station, which means everything is in place for the station to go ahead, with construction starting later this year, and opening in 2010.
The station will be located on an embankment section of the West London Line between West Brompton and Clapham Junction, and served by London Overground and possibly Southern.
[Update: Southern trains that on the WLL will call at all stops except Imperial Wharf, according to themodel timetable for the North London Line upgrade]
The entrances will be on Townmead Road, which is the road passing under the new bridge* by the bus in the photo above (taken from the southwest). The ticket office will be located within the old bridge to the right, with ticket barriers and stairs up to the platforms either side. I did once locate the planning application which showed all this in detail, but it's alluding me right now - the rendering on Always Touch Out sort of shows the set up.
(* which the Railtrack signs call "Yuppies". It appears to have been built for access to the luxury flats in the photo. Is there a story here?)
[Thanks, anonymous commenter]
I've been over the plans to install ticket barriers and lifts at Finsbury Park station before, but I saw on TfL's project page they've taken the unusual step of pointing passengers to the planning application, which comes with a long list of documents and plans.
The design statement will tell you everything there is to know about the proposal, including photos of disused parts of the station. It suggests Network Rail may install lifts up to their platforms at the same time, and gives serious consideration to Islington Council's Western Ticket Hall proposal. One odd detail mentioned is the spiral staircases need to have their direction reversed.
The northbound and southbound cross-sections show just how shallow the tube lines are at the station, and where they're located in relation to the rail platforms above.
The future site plan shows a set of doors enclosing the Station Place entrances. This certainly doesn't exist now and isn't part of the works in this planning application, so I'm not sure what that's about.
Finally, TfL's site says the application is still pending, but it was actually approved on April 4th.
The work to widen the platform at Shepherd's Bush seems to be moving ahead quickly):
It was barely started last Tuesday. They only seem to be bothering with the southern half of the platform, nearest the station building, at least for now.
And it's nice to see the station finally being used for something, even if it's just as a site office:
Today's council meeting that could have finally given the green light to Imperial Wharf station seemed too momentous an occasion to miss, so I popped along, and this is what I found.
I was going to make a joke at their expense, but then I spotted this in the agenda:
The Cabinet is invited to resolve [...] that the public and press be excluded from the meetingSo that was a waste of time*. We'll just have to wait for the press release.
• The Committee also agreed to reallocate to the station £750k of Section 106 funds initially earmarked for expansion of primary schools required for Imperial Wharf but no longer considered to be necessary. This, together with interest earned on the station Section 106 account since 2000, amounts to a total of £4.25 million available from St GeorgeThat's over £7 million. The final price for the station is a secret (though it was £7.93m), but Hammersmith & Fulham Council are apparently willing to pay the remainder, including if any of the above deals fall through. They'll be paying St George to handle construction of the station. Network Rail and Transport for London don't seem to be involved at all, beyond being consulted on the design.
• £1 million from Transport for London complementary measures for the western extension of the congestion charge (already received and with interest accruing).
• £1 million from the Lots Road power station development, payable on commencement of development on the land in Hammersmith and Fulham.
• Up to £650,000 on offer from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (subject to a Council decision)
• £300,000 Section 106 funding from Chelsea Harbour design centre, payable upon commencement of development.
• £60,000 Section 106 funding already received (with interest accruing) from Sainsbury’s, Townmead Road.
For whatever reason, Shadwell is getting its platform extended to take three cars long before most other stations. I was passing through and spotted this muddy hole in the ground is a bit of surfacing away from being a proper platform:
There was a reference to "Shadwell Track Slew Completed: May-08" in the recent board papers, which is probably a reference to the eastbound track not being in line with the platform:
In other platform extension news, most stations on the Poplar-Stratford route now have their extension boundaries marked out with blue fencing.
Don't got too excited though. I've just noticed the official completion date has been officially pushed back to early 2010 (not just unofficially). And if you live on the Beckton branch, sorry, you're not included.
The official London 2012 blog has an post on the upgrade works at Stratford station, with a couple of vaguely interesting photos.
I've been emailed a document that includes several interesting bits about DLR current projects, mainly regarding service changes during it.
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:
Ain't it a lovely day today? The sun is shining, Imperial Wharf is being built, and they've started digging a hole behind the legendary wall at Shepherd's Bush Overground:
Inside the ticket hall, they've put up fences and boxed up the gates:
This is the first time anything at all at the station has changed in six months.
(And yes the lift and the station signs are still pointlessly switched on)
[Thanks to Dazz285 for the tip off]
They've started putting the western half of the frame (in the background), plus the internal walls for the staff accomodation:
Ever seen a brand new escalator on the back of a truck?
Thought not.
The flood of press releases does contain one interesting statement:
There are 73 stations on the London Overground network; 50 on the North London Railway with two new stations due to open on the West London line by 2010 and 17 stations on the East London line with four new stations due to open in 2010One is obviously Shepherd's Bush, and even that saga should be over soon. So we're looking at a timescale - however flimsy - for the construction of Imperial Wharf, which we haven't heard anything about since October.
Friday's premature adulation of Homerton station has become not one but five near-identical press releases, covering:
stations have been thoroughly cleaned and re-painted. The existing equipment including the public announcement and CCTV systems, information screens and lights have also been checked and repaired where necessary.So no upgrades yet, just cleaning and repairs. Exactly what I found at Homerton.
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.
Now here's an interesting possibility. Reader Phillip Baker points out a comment Ken made during a TV debate, during a discussion of the news blackout rules that prevent announcements being made in the run up to an election:
And then also let's announce the government's going to let me build the East London Line to Clapham Junction, because we can announce that as well, if we're doing the good newsSo was he trying to say it has been approved, but the rules prevent it being announced? Or was he just making an awkward hypothetical? Watch it for yourself - it's only a couple of minutes in.
