New Central Line platform at Stratford Update

Here's some new images of the new platform 4a at Stratford for the Central Line. The platform is being build as part of the upgrade of Stratford station to handle the Olympic crowds and the extra traffic as the station is now one of the biggest interchanges outside Zone 1 in London.



The Jubilee Line building is in the background here looking towards Canary Wharf.



In the background here is the supports for the new bridge over the railway into Stratford City development and the Olympic Park.



You can see in this image the new station extension building in the background to this shot.

New Central Line platform at Stratford

Stratford (Central)
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

Work on the new platform is progressing well with this view on saturday. The new plaform will make it easier for the crowds from the Olympic park to get into Central london via the Tube that much quicker with dual sided platform.

Other images here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mackenzieblu/2951583351/

Tube News

DSCF2417
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

I recently got my hands on a pack from London Underground talking about upgrading the Tube.

Couple of things stuck out incuding new Tube stocks. After the Victoria starts getting the 09TS from next year (Jan) and the Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, Circle and District with the S stock from 2010-18. The new Piccadilly line stock is due to be fully running by 2014 meaning that the new trains will work with the new signalling. This will be the same technology that they are having issues installing on the Jubilee (then Northern). This will mean that in six years time the Piccadilly will have a 25% increase in capacity and 19% reduction in travelling times. The stock is already being rumoured to be called the 13TS. The Bakerloo on the other hand is just getting new trains around 2020 according to the leaflet tho word is that the new stock will be called the 18TS. This will help shorten jounery times by 2 minutes and capacity increase of 40% in the peak. What will be interesting will be will Bakerloo be going to Watford Junction at this point or not?

There is more on step free with 17 stations to made step free in the next two years.

*Acton Town
*Amersham
*Edgware
*Golders Green
*Greenford
*Hainault
*High Barnet
*Kingsbury
*Kings Cross St. Pancras (Northern, Piccadilly & Victoria lines)
*Ladbroke Grove
*Newbury Park
*Osterley
*Pinner
*Roding Valley
*Southfields
*West Kensington
*Wood Lane (Even tho its a new build so doesn't count)

Archway is due to have two 16 passenger lift by 2012. Finsbury Park is having more work including step free access by 2013. Green Park is getting step free and ventilation improvements by 2012. LU is going to work with Westminster City Council and the Royal Parks for street level improvements.

As for the Olympics the following works are going to be put in place

*£10.5m for West Ham District line platforms to cope with the crowds. The ODA is paying for this and its estimated that 13% of the total Olympic Park traffic will go to West Ham (17% if rail traffic for the games).

*As for Stratford, major works are now in hand inculding the new taxi is almost finished with the exception of removing the lampost from what is going to be the road surface. Inside parts of the station are now horded off to enable subway extension works. The new central Line platform seems to have been left for awhile now but there is the beginings of the the foundations now for all to see.

Stratford Station - Update

Mini update on Stratford station works. The posters on the Jubilee concourse have been removed and show the foundation for the new Central line platform. One thing that comes to mind is how wide the space for the new platform is going to be. The concrete stairs over the NLL platforms has been destoryed with the top part now being under the steel of the new platform. Outside the old railway engine has gone on his holidays for a few years as they ramp up major work on the station.

Just to remind people the works include a new northern ticket hall, new gateline on the east side of the Jubilee concourse linking to the new footbridge into the shopping center. This is as well as a new Central line west bound platform (Central London) and the re-opening of the 1940's station entrance to provide better access. The new NLL platforms will also be build to the north of the station as well.

Wrong Stick?

I wonder what happened here?

Seems as a
promotional event they got one of the new Javelin trains into Stratford Market Depot on London Underground's Jubilee Line. As you can see from the two pictures they managed to fit a bus in there as well. The depot is LU's newest on the eastern end of the Jubilee and on the edge of the Olympic site.


All good and well now as a
promotional event for the 2012 London Olympics but these pictures show a white Javelin with a tellow nose rather than bule with a yellow nose. Does this mean that SouthEastern is repainting all these new trains once they have finished testing them? Why didnt they just have them painted when they were making them?

Just incase you don't what the Javelin's are all about they are the the new high speed trains. Basically the only way they could get Kent's councils to drop any challenge to building the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) or HS1 as it now known was to promise to provide high speed trains from Kent towns to Central London using new trains with a maxiuium speed on HS1 of 140MPH. Quite an improvement for some people, I.E. Ashford will drop from 83mins to 37mins, Some towns will only get minor gains like Chatham goes from 47mins to 43mins. But with connections to Stratford and St Pancras International means the Kent traveller willing to pay extra for this service will have great onwards connections. For me it means I can visit my mums in about an hour with one train compared to two Tube trains and one train for about 2hrs 30mins. Quite a saving for the extra 30% they will be charging. But we have to wait till decenber 2009 before these trains will run. This is partly because Stratford International isn't safe to let passengers use as its currently in the middle of the Olympic building site construction. This won't be helped when it opens in december 2009 as it still won't have an links to anywhere really. The DLR extension isn't supposed to open to mid 2010. I can see it now, people walking the half mile as the nice new shiny DLR train run in test mode empty. Or will the DLR work its magic and have the extension finished ahead of time again?