Shoreditch High Street - UPDATE

After weeks of waiting I finally got a reply from TfL over why all of a sudden Shoreditch High Street has been re-branded from a Zone 2 to Zone 1 stations. The following is what TfL told me;

“Thank you for your email.
Yes, I can confirm that the Secretary of State (Department for Transport) has set out a condition that Shoreditch be a Zone 1 station as part of the funding deal that’s been agreed.
As with most of these type of agreements, they are complicated and involved and I'm not in a position to provide further details of the reasoning behind the decision.”

So although the price of using the East London Railway will bring in extra money, the addition cost means that the full extension gets built and built quickly. Now its just a case of seeing if TfL can get the cash for the Surrey Canal Road station.

The original story can be found here.

Shoreditch High Street

As have been reported it has now been announced that the new station at Shoreditch High Street has been confirmed as a Zone 1 station. Rumor has been abound that the station was going to be put into Zone 1. I recently contacted TfL press office to ask about this and was give the following information;

“Thank you for your feedback form.
Shoreditch High Street is a new station on the extended East London line and I can confirm that for fares purposes the station will be classed as a Zone 1 station.”

This means that using the line, as was initially though, as away to divert traffic away from the crowded lines in Zone 1 to provide relief on the Underground is now less of an incentive. The old Shoreditch station on the East London Line was in Zone 2 and it was thought that the whole line from Highbury & Islington to Brockley/New Cross should be inside Zone 2.

In fact the 2010 Tube map that TfL released in November 2006 showed the entire Overground network include the second phase of the East London Line Extension (ELLX) to Clapham Junction. This clearly showed that to travel from Clapham Junction all the way round to Highbury & Islington would have kept you in Zone 2, therefore giving you a cheap ticket to cross London without using Zone 1.

As well as increasing fares for TfL to gain there is also the fact this simplifies Oyster usage as the system doesn't have to work out which way you went as now a cross London journey using the ELLX means a Zone 1 trip.

The re-zoning of Shoreditch High Street also means there is potential now for the system to charge wrong for journeys made with Oyster as Clapham Junction to Highbury & Islington is still possible using only Zone 2 if you go via Willesden Junction and use the West London and North London Lines. Whether or not there is enough of an incentive to do this when you could use a single train remains to be seen.

What has been said about the zoning of this station is that it was a condition laid down my the DfT for funding of the ELLX phase 2 from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction, which if true could be a good reason why TfL accepted it to allow the South London Lines adding to the Overground network. So in the end there is worthwhile benefits to this.

ELLX Delays Update

Overground have got back to me over the map and said the following:

"Dear Mackenzie,

Thank you for your email regarding the opening times of the East London Line extension.

I can confirm the line from Shoreditch High Street to Dalston Junction is due to open in June 2010. The line from Dalston Junction to Highbury & Islington is scheduled to be open from February 2011.

I have attached an image of a map which confirms what I have just advised.

I hope this information proves useful. If you should have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards

External Communications Executive"

Well this is good news then and just means someone in the maps department screwed up royally or they are hiding it (doubt full).

ELLX Delays?

Overground Map
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

I got the new copy of Rail today and inside it is the TfL "London Rail delivering for the capital" free booklet. It talks about the new 378s, DLR trains and some of the future plans.

What I found most interesting is what it said in a new map of the planned network. As we all know the East london Line (ELL) is to re-open in 2010 all the way to Dalston Junction. When it does the line which serve West Croydon and Crystal Palace as well. Well that was the plan. With the link between Dalston and Highbury & Islington opening in 2011.

Heres a map Tfl have produced in 2007.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mackenzieblu/2929308202/in/set-72157607902143904/

Now what turned up in this booklet is that the line from Shoreditch High Street south opens as the East London Railway (ELR) in 2010. the big change is that the link bewteen Shoreditch High Street and Dalston junction is now delayed and wont be open until the 2011 along with the link from Dalston to Highbury & Islington.

According to the TfL website page (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/2105.aspx) the following is still the case.

"By June 2010, the line will run from Dalston Junction in the north to New Cross, Crystal Palace and West Croydon in the south. By February 2011 we will have extended it to Highbury & Islington."

I have emailed TfL Overground today asking what the offical position is as it could be an error on the map (Dalston Junction is missing its wheelchair circle and Imperial Wharf isn't located on the Overground line but in the Thames!). Hopefully I will be able to update this soon.

Bridge GE19

London Overground logo
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

Yesterday doing something completely unrelated I was told a reason for the problems with the GE19 last week. It seems that it wasn't in its final resting place when the vibrations from plant (heavy machines used to build with) and trains have cause the bridge to slip and therefore create the events we saw last week.

So it seems that there has been a clear failing of the contractor at this point (I'm not sure which one has the responsibility for GE19) to not secure the bridge correctly and failure to plan for something that is expected (i.e. vibrations from a busy area).

Hopefully they can put this behind them and get on with building the ELR which before now was making great progress. I'm sure TfL and NR are working to check all the bridges now before they can work on them again. As for the cost, someone has mentioned a figure (£16M, a big mistake if its true) but who knows?