Waterloo Station Upgrades
Two new developments of the ongoing expansion of Waterloo
South Bank Entrance
Temporarily closed to enable redevelopment of the site above, the new ticket hall has been greatly expanded and will have a new side entrance.
Images taken by IanVisits: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/201...hbank-entrance very good blog for transport developments.
• Video Link
Platforms 20-24
Platforms 20-24 were constructed in 1994 to house Eurostar services; but when Eurostar transferred a decade ago to the rebuilt London St Pancras they were mothballed. Over the past two years, work has been underway to remodel the approach tracks and recommission the platforms to provide much needed capacity; 230mn journeys are made via the Waterloo-Waterloo East-Southwark station complex.
Late last year platforms 20-22 were brought back online, and now the remaining platforms are now usable. Works are also nearing completion of the second concourse which runs below the platforms (this was the old Eurostar departures/arrivals area) which will further aid passenger distribution through the station and improved access to the Underground.
Images sourced from The Anonymous Widower: https://anonw.com/2019/05/20/is-this...utes-in-europe
The reopened platforms 20-24
Image taken by johnmightycat1on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmi...734468/sizes/l
The next phase of the platform 20-24 redevelopment will be the completion of a new three storey retail area and improved access.
Class 717 Trains
Great Northern has now started to roll out replacements for the class 313 trains which were showing their age. The new Class 717 share a lot of similarities with their Class 700 cousins (also made by Siemens) with the exception that they have emergency access at either end of the train (for the underground section south of Drayton Park) and run in 6-car formations (the Class 700 run in either 8 or 12-car formation). Like all new commuter trains being introduced onto the UK rail network, they come with onboard WiFi, air conditioning and walk-through carriages.
Image taken by localet63 on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136510...993171/sizes/l
Image taken by Stuart’s Transport on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart...674828/sizes/l
Class 710 Trains
Originally planned to be introduced in May 2018, they have only now started to be rolled out due to software glitches. They share similarities with Bombardiers other Aventra trains such as the Class 345 found on the Crossrail route and are being delivered in 4 and 5-carriage sets. 53 trains are being built and will run on several London Overground routes (Lea Valley Lines, Gospel Oak to Barking Line, Watford DC Line, Romford-Upminster Line and the West London Line) to boost capacity and frequency.
• Video Link
Image taken by localet63 on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136510...663281/sizes/l
Image taken by diamond geezer on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeeze...817072/sizes/l
Beam Park Station
Beam Park is a new station planned to be constructed on the Tilbury Loop Line to serve the new 3,000 residential unit Beam Park development in East London.
Image sourced from JSA Architecture: https://www.jsaarchitecture.co.uk/se...m-park-station
Barking Station Rebuild
Located in East London, Barking is a regional centre where four railway lines converge; c2c commuter services (main line and Tilbury Loop), London Underground (District and Hammersmith & City) and London Overground (Gospel Oak to Barking). The station was completely redeveloped in 1959-61 to create a large spacious ticket hall (it became Grade II listed in 1995). Unfortunately, various changes over the years (congestion at the ticket barriers and encroachment of retail) has meant that the station looks dated and unable to cope with the passenger volumes (32mn in 2017-18), let alone cope with several massive residential developments all around the station.
An application was lodged earlier this year to regenerate the ticket hall, by clearing out and reorganising the retail units, reinstating the second ticket barrier line to avoid congestion, and refresh the interior. A second phase will extend the overbridge to deliver additional stairs and installation of lifts. A final phase envisions building over parts of the station as part of continued redevelopment of the area around the station.
Images sourced from London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Planning: http://paplan.lbbd.gov.uk/online-app...=PM1ZEKBLKXU00
Southwark Station Upgrade
Southwark station is part of the London Waterloo-Waterloo East-Southwark complex, a complex handling 230mn passengers each year. To further aid station access and avoid bottlenecks at the eastern entrance, TfL proposes to build a new entrance to the west.
Images sourced from TfL Consultations: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tub...econd-entrance
Clapham Junction
Clapham Junction is located in south-west London, and acts as a junction for services running into London Victoria and Waterloo, and outbound to South and South West England, as well as London orbital services. It holds the title of Europe’s busiest station in terms of trains throughput (one every 20 seconds) despite the absence of a London Underground connection; 30mn people interchange each year which is pretty astronomical for a non-metro station. The station has been upgraded over the years, but growth and changing needs (more orbital journeys) has meant that at times the station becomes dangerously overcrowded. Crossrail 2 (which will call at the station) should help provide relief but will also undoubtedly increase demand to interchange and avoid onward tube journeys at Victoria and Waterloo.
As part of the UK government’s strategy to make better use of infrastructure, a proposal has been put forward to construct a deck over Clapham Junction with over-station development. This won’t be a simple or cheap project; the station covers a sprawling but confined site and keeping the station open will be a monumental task, but sometimes you need to think big (e.g. the rebuild of Reading or London Bridge) to deliver long-term capacity gains, especially with the growth on the suburban lines which are increasingly sharing metro characteristics.
Images taken from Hawkins\Brown: https://www.hawkinsbrown.com/project...nction-futures
Image taken by u07ch on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/u07ch/25578804974
Crossrail
Crossrail was meant to have opened in December 2018, but last Autumn it was announced that several issues had been discovered which have delayed the opening of the central section. This section will now open sometime before the end of 2020. Some updates.
Images taken by Crossrail: www.crossrail.com
Custom House
Farringdon
Liverpool Street
Tottenham Court Road
Whitechapel
Track
