LONDON | Network Rail: Overground, Thameslink, Crossrail

[PortoNuts]

Raising the roof

Plans to transform London Bridge station have been given the green light by Southwark Council.

The station will have a completely new platform layout allowing high frequency trains on the Thameslink route. Britain’s largest station concourse will provide more space for passengers. Sadly the historic station roof will be demolished.

However new eye-catching entrances on Tooley Street and St Thomas Street will make the station more accessible and easier to use.

Says David Higgins, Network Rail’s chief executive, ‘London Bridge is one of the busiest stations in the country and this investment is vital for passengers who want more space, less congestion and better services.

‘Our proposals will breathe life back into London’s oldest rail terminus and help build on the programme of regeneration along the South Bank and Bankside. It will provide a focal point for the local communities it serves as well as the tens of millions of passengers who use it every year.

‘We are grateful for the support we’ve received and will continue to work closely with our partners and the local authority to deliver the project efficiently and considerately over the coming years.’

The station will remain operational throughout the redevelopment and will be complete by 2018.

http://www.railstaff.co.uk/2012/02/10/raising-the-roof/

[PortoNuts]

First Step To Completion Of Overground Network

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has ensured the last rail has been put firmly in place in the final link of the London Overground orbital network as he marked the completion of the track laying phase of the project.

London Overground already carries two million people every week linking north, west and east London with frequent and reliable services and well lit and staffed stations. The new extension across south London will complete the network, providing a brand new link between Surrey Quays in the south east and Clapham Junction in the south west.

Fifty-six new jobs will be created in the running of the new service, in addition to the 1000 who have been employed in designing and building the new link. The new line will also put 125,000 more jobs within an hour’s travel from south east London stations such as Peckham Rye and bring opportunity and investment to this previously under served area of south east London.

Once complete, passengers on the line will benefit from a four trains per hour service. The next phase of the project will be electrification, followed by testing. The extension is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.

The new £75million link is being made possible in part through £60million from the Department of Transport, which was negotiated by the Mayor and confirmed in 2009.

Mr Johnson, said: "London Overground is already one of the most reliable and popular railways in the UK, and South London deserves a piece of that. Thanks to the neo-Victorian levels of investment we are putting into London's infrastructure, the people of Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and Wandsworth will be linked, for the first time, to every other corner of this city; and have access to a turn up and go metro service that will brings jobs, opportunities, growth and prosperity to this previously under served area of London."

http://www.build.co.uk/construction_...?newsid=140045

[PortoNuts]

Crossrail tunnel boring machine.

[PortoNuts]

Did Blackfriars station reopen just for the Tube or the Thameslink as well?

[PortoNuts]

Crossrail plans to ‘lessen impact of construction’ on west London

Crossrail has announced that it has reduced the extent of land required for a major sub-station at Great Western Road in west London. As a result of Crossrail’s efforts to reduce the size of the sub-station site, a building at 56 Great Western Road is no longer required.

Crossrail has been working closely with Big Table, who lease the property from the railway, to ‘ensure they can continue to trade as long as possible’. Crossrail had ‘already formally agreed with Big Table that the building would be retained to at least the end of 2012′.

Reducing the extent of land required for the sub-station means they will be able to remain for the duration of their lease.

The site is required for a major electrical sub-station to power Crossrail’s trains.

Ian Lindsay, Crossrail Land and Property Director said: “Crossrail has been and will continue to make every effort to reduce the impact of Crossrail construction in west London.

“We have reduced the extent of land required for our sub-station and negotiated an alternative access. This means that the property at 56 Great Western Road can be retained for commercial use.”

http://www.rail.co/2012/02/21/crossr...n-west-london/

[PortoNuts]

Canary Wharf Crossrail Site

by No Expert.

[PortoNuts]

Work set to begin on station refurbishment

A multi-million pound project to make a railway station fully accessible for disabled people is set to begin in the next few weeks, it has been announced.

Builders will start work on Crystal Palace station, which is used by 11,000 commuters each day, to provide three new lifts operating from the ticket hall to platform level. The £3.5million development will also include improved CCTV, signage, information boards and a PA system.

Meanwhile, work on the Grade II listed ticket hall is scheduled for this summer and should be completed by 2013.

The station, which forms part of the London Overground line, was originally built in 1854 to serve visitors to the nearby exhibition building, The Crystal Palace.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “This work is vital to improve the journeys of thousands of passengers travelling through south London every day. It will transform this historic station, bringing it bang up to date and mean families with buggies and those with disabilities will have a much improved journey.”

Howard Smith, Transport for London’s chief operating officer for rail, said: “Crystal Palace is a wonderful example of Victorian station architecture and has real historical significance. This is a great opportunity to restore it to its original grandeur and at the same time bring it into the 21st Century with full accessibility from the ticket hall to the platforms.”

Disability campaign group Transport for All, based in Brixton, also welcomed the news after hundreds of residents signed a petition to improve accessibility at the station.

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/new...refurbishment/

[PortoNuts]

Kings Cross Station

Originally Posted by hoodedvillain

Some pictures from 5 days ago taken by myself:

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


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New bridge connecting shops in the new concourse to ALL the platforms

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new extension to platforms 9-11

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Scaffolding coming off the main train shed roof

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Cleaned internal facade with refurbished shop fronts (work was continuing on the fit out for restaurants, bars and retail in each unit)

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Entrance gates to access the platforms from the new concourse

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image hosted on flickr

[kodass]

I Like
Eu gostei
Io gostare
SOU BRCOLOR="Blue"]A[/COLOR]COLOR="blue"]SILEIR

[PortoNuts]

Liverpool Street Crossrail takes a leap forward

Laing O'Rourke has been awarded the construction contract for Liverpool Street Crossrail station.

The transport hub will serve businesses with City offices and residents who live close to London's financial centre, and will provide connections to Stansted airport, serve all of the major Underground lines and enable people to benefit from links to Moorgate and Liverpool Street train stations.

It will be constructed below Finsbury Circus, as well as the aforementioned two train stations, with two new ticket halls planned.

Commenting on the step forward for the scheme, Crossrail programme director Andy Mitchell said: "As with the Paddington, Farringdon and Whitechapel contracts, high-quality bids were received for Liverpool Street station. The main construction contract for Tottenham Court Road station will be the next to be awarded in mid-2012."

Last month, construction of the Paddington Crossrail hub advanced as the station box was excavated, resulting in the complete closure of Eastbourne Terrace to accommodate the work.

The new station will slash journey times to Tottenham Court Road to four minutes, while businesses with London offices at Canary Wharf will be reached in around 15 minutes. Liverpool Street station will also be accessible in less than ten minutes.

http://www.mellersh.co.uk/News/Liver...801307967.aspx

[PortoNuts]

Boxing clever at Paddington

Construction of the new Crossrail station at Paddington is pressing ahead as excavation of the station box gets underway.

The new Crossrail station will be built under Eastbourne Terrace, to the left of the station facing the tracks from the concourse. To enable excavation of the 260m long station box, Westminster City Council has agreed to a full closure of Eastbourne Terrace from 12 February 2012.

This will cut costs, save time and make the site safer for construction workers. Once the box structure and excavation is complete, work will get underway to fit-out the new station.

Says Kay Buxton, Chief Executive, Paddington Waterside Partnership, ‘The Paddington area has changed beyond recognition and is now one of the fastest growing business and residential areas in the capital with significant further investment underway.

‘The new Crossrail station at Paddington will deliver improved and direct transport connections with areas to the west and east of the capital as well as with London’s other major employment centres. Crossrail has worked closely with us ahead of these major works commencing and while there will be an impact locally we are clearly focused on the long-term benefits that will be delivered.’

Cabs that use the parallel departures road will be using a new rank to the north of Paddington station, above platform 12.

http://www.railstaff.co.uk/2012/03/0...at-paddington/

[PortoNuts]

Farringdon Thameslink: Faster track to growth

As the only station where London’s two biggest transport improvement projects will meet, Farringdon station is unique. To cope with the passenger influx this will create, a major upgrade is nearing completion. Mark Hansford checks out the progress.

London mayor Boris Johnson reopened Farringdon station’s London Underground entrance last month following an eight-week closure to restore and expand the Grade II listed building. It was the latest in a series of milestones during a £250M remodelling of the station as part of Network Rail’s £5.5bn Thameslink programme.

Farringdon is being dramatically expanded in preparation for it becoming London’s newest transport hub when Crossrail services start running in 2018. It will be the only main line station where London’s two biggest transportimprovement programmes will meet.

Network Rail project director Richard Walker explains: “From 2018 the revamped north-south Thameslink route will meet the new east-west Crossrail service, linking with existing Tube connections. With up to 24 trains an hour running in each direction on Thameslink and Crossrail, plus the Tube, Farringdon will be served by over 140 trains an hour.”
New ticket hall

The station, whose concourse straddles London Underground plus Thameslink subsurface tracks, now has an entirely new ticket hall, ready to serve Thameslink and Crossrail passengers, a new entrance, 20 new staircases, one new footbridge and two new ticket offices.

Standing in the newly reopened ticket hall last month, Johnson was enthused. “Farringdon Station has already undergone a massive transformation, with a brand new ticket hall up and running, renovations to the entrances and many more improvements still to come,” he said. “By the time of the Olympics, this station will also be fully accessible with five new lifts, and before too long Crossrail will interchange here too, making millions of journeys easier for passengers.”

...

http://www.nce.co.uk/features/transp...627170.article

[leonardrm]

^ London has come back to a new and enhaced "tunnelling era".

[K_]

Originally Posted by leonardrm

^ London has come back to a new and enhaced "tunnelling era".

To what profile are those tunnels build? Are they build large enough that they could (in the future) accommodate double deck trains, like the Paris RER?

[makita09]

Crossrail perhaps, the bores are a good size. I doubt it will ever happen though, Crossrail has to use existing tracks at each end of the tunnel.

Thaneslink definitiely not, because its tunnels are a hundred and fifty years old.

[sotonsi]

Also, double-decked metro services are frowned upon here. They did some trials on the network south of the Thames, and there were all sorts of problems. They didn't add any meaningful capacity, as throughput was less because dwell times were longer and delays greater. They are difficult to get to comply with the Disabilities Discrimination Act too.

I don't think the Crossrail tunnels are big enough - they wouldn't waste money on continental gauge when you'd only could get GB Mainline gauge.

Double-deck trains on HS1 and HS2 = likely. Any non-intercity services in the UK - almost definitely not.

[PortoNuts]

CW Crossrail site

by Core Rising.

image hosted on flickr

IMG_1215 by corerising, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

IMG_1218 by corerising, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

IMG_1220 by corerising, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

IMG_1227 by corerising, on Flickr

[K_]

Originally Posted by sotonsi

Also, double-decked metro services are frowned upon here. They did some trials on the network south of the Thames, and there were all sorts of problems. They didn't add any meaningful capacity, as throughput was less because dwell times were longer and delays greater. They are difficult to get to comply with the Disabilities Discrimination Act too.

These problems were mostly due to the need to fit a doubledecker in the British gauge. These problems can be solved once you go to a larger loading gauge. Hence my inquiry.

I don't think the Crossrail tunnels are big enough - they wouldn't waste money on continental gauge when you'd only could get GB Mainline gauge.

When building tunnels increasing the size of the bore will not make it that much more expensive. I would expect the tunnels to be sized for continental gauge. I also suspect that whenever a bridge is replaced in the UK it is replaced with one that is a bit higher, so that it doesn't stand in the way of an adoption of continental sized rolling stock.

Anyway, it turns out I am not the only one that has been asking this kind of questions:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reques...l_future_proof

So initially crossrail will not be build to accomodate continental gauge trains, but the actual tunnels will be large enough that they might be modified to accept such trains in the future.

What is (in my opinion) a missed opportunity however is having platforms at both sides of the tracks in the new stations. The Münich S-Bahn has these in its central tunnel, so that dwell times can be kept to a minimum.

[streetquark]

Originally Posted by K_

When building tunnels increasing the size of the bore will not make it that much more expensive. I would expect the tunnels to be sized for continental gauge. I also suspect that whenever a bridge is replaced in the UK it is replaced with one that is a bit higher, so that it doesn't stand in the way of an adoption of continental sized rolling stock.

Anyway, it turns out I am not the only one that has been asking this kind of questions:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reques...l_future_proof

So initially crossrail will not be build to accomodate continental gauge trains, but the actual tunnels will be large enough that they might be modified to accept such trains in the future.

What is (in my opinion) a missed opportunity however is having platforms at both sides of the tracks in the new stations. The Münich S-Bahn has these in its central tunnel, so that dwell times can be kept to a minimum.

The tunnels are large enough for overhead power supply and probably future-proofed for continental gauge even though use of the tunnelled sections for anything other than London commuter services is highly unlikely.

AFAIK bridges on mainline have been replaced to allow for continental gauge - where possible - since the 1930's. This is not going to apply to repair though, and there are literally thousands of old but well-built (Victorian) railway bridges...

The Crossrail stations are large enough as it is, with extensive footfall for passengers. Though stations are far apart and big, none is like a Hbf. Double-platform stations might improve times but they would create more problems for other aspects of the network.

It is a question of area taken up by tunnels in a crowded city. Station tunnels that are large enough to accommodate platforms both sides are more difficult to align through urban areas, especially in conjunction with route between the stations. Crossrail is a very direct and fast route.

[PortoNuts]

Originally Posted by Light Parade

Back to Bond Street.

Works between Gilbert Street and Davies Street. High hoardings, so all you can do is hold your phone over the top and then see what comes back. Hmm, not THAT exciting!





Walking back up to Oxford Street, the replacement for the Hog In Pound at the north end of South Molton Street is well advanced:



All gone on the north side of Oxford Street:



Looking back down Stratford Place - there used to be a Georgian gatehouse here, which I thought was going to be retained. Well, it's gone...



Here's a useful plan of the station works. The existing station is represented by the clear tunnels/escalators/tiicket hall; the new construction is shown in yellow: