How to improve Euston station

[Topological]

What'd go a long way (short of the much needed HS2 expansion) is as you point out separating arrivals/departure flows. The reason the platforms are down long ramps, was to allow for a car park (60s planning) underneath the pedestrian concourse. It'd make a great ammount of sense to re-purpose that as a departures concourse & re-purpose the existing mixed concourse as arrivals.

This makes good logistical sense, as you'd then remove the safety element of people running down ramps, but rather walking more slowly up them upon arrival. Departing passengers would be level with the platforms and simply walk straight onto them. The downside of this is of course getting natural light down to the Departures concourse, but this could be achieved by essentially creating a large rectangular hole in the existing surface concourse, letting natural light down putting the arrivals (which require less space) on a ground floor "mezzanine" with escalators down to the departures area.

Another potential complication might be access to the tube concourse. It currently sits just below the car park level, so a lot of through would need to be out into how to provide access to it safely (two flights of escalators from arrivals) whilst not creating contra-flow issues. You might do this by providing a single escalator all the way down to the tube concourse from arrivals level, with another shorter escalator from departures, thus splitting the flows.

As ever there's probably no "simple" solution, but provided associated engineering works to make such a plan work isn't too disruptive, it might well do the job nicely, with further relief as HS2 comes online with long-distance passengers using a dedicated Western concourse, again helping split the flows.

Just my two pence!

Interesting.

I was wondering what was under the present concourse. Splitting arrivals and departures would help a lot.

IF it was possible to create a departures concourse then presumably lighting could be arranged. Artificial light is never ideal, but it can be done well.

Where would a ground level departures concourse fit opposite the ticket hall for London Underground? The escalators down from the current concourse appear to go two floors down, but do they?

Another question is whether the two halves can be split. At least if passengers know which half their train is in then the scrum is reduced a bit more than present. Taking out more of the retail units would make the necessary space. Indeed you can have a 3-way split since the overground platforms would only need a narrow area between the two halves.

Separate departures and arrivals would be good though.

 

[philosopher]

The Guardian have an article on Euston’s woes. Essentially the article says there are two designs for Euston, one with HS2 and one without HS2. However neither design seems to have progressed very far at all.

Euston, we have a problem: how can London fix the ‘worst main station’?

Ugly, overcrowded and undermined by dithering over HS2, the unwieldy terminus needs an urgent rethink – or at least a few less digital billboards

www.theguardian.com

According to the Network Rail spokesperson: “There are basically two designs for Euston, one that incorporates HS2 and one that doesn’t.”

That sounds sensible, except it turns out there isn’t really a design for either. One insider on the redevelopment team says that there are several planning stages to go through before any kind of designs are drawn up, and no master plan exists at present for either eventuality.

Whatever happens, it seems it will be many years before Euston station stops being the rotten tooth among the capital’s increasingly gleaming main stations. In the meantime, there’s not much for passengers to do but be machine-gunned by the battery of advertising boards, while keeping one eye on the departure board for the platform scrum.

 

[The Ham]

I think,IIRC, that Reading (General) now has only one bridge, aka the Transfer Deck. It is very spacious, not apparently for customer convenience but for some detraining time specification (though retail space has taken up much). Still, there's plenty of space to wait, mostly for through trains, even in the warm and dry. The old canopies were mostly effective at keeping off the rain; the new architectural ones deflect it on to waiting passengers!

The difference is that Euston is a terminal (like Paddington) with quick turnrounds of busy trains and TOC differentiation, probably steps too far within the existing building. More waiting space and better passenger flows and distribution are now indicated. Perhaps we should move Euston to Old Oak Common for remaining Intercity rather than try to expensively connect them. After all, few Euston travellers are local, most accessing it by TfL rail and could use Crossrail nearly as easily.

I Remember the Great Hall!

WAO

Even with the retail, there's more than the old over bridge at Reading in terms of space either side of the central retail spaces.

I understand the Euston is a different beast, however with two overground at Euston which were then linked without having to descend to platform level, you could create a large area to wait with lots of retail space, but by having the potential for up to 4 access points to the platforms along each platform you could easily distribute passengers along the length of a train.

Even if the platforms weren't wide enough for that, a single bridge at the northern end (with links back to the existing main concourse) would allow more waiting space, more retail space and could allow the ramps down to the northern end of the platforms to give two access points to each platform.

This would mean that those with seats at the front of the train would be able to position themselves with a shorter walk to their seats, so wouldn't be so rushed to get there.

Whilst lots would stay at the main concourse, even a 20% reduction due to many using the northern bridge would aid with the crowding.

You could even have queuing capacity on the linking bridges so you could advise "passenger door the xx:xx to Manchester Piccadilly, please go to queuing point C" which could then allow them to be positioned in a queue ready for their train.

These could be used during significant disruption by sending people to a given queuing point and loading them to trains based on when they arrived at the station.

The other thing that this could allow is the checking of tickets before accessing this area, allowing a fatter loading process when platforms were announced.

Yes you'd run the risk of people boarding the wrong train (for example buying a cheap ticket to access the station and then jumping on a train to somewhere north of Birmingham.

However given there's few major stations without gates, and the risk of getting caught on the train, the numbers willing to risk it is likely to be low (especially if you have to pay the full price ticket for your journey, rather than an advanced ticket).

Due to it being at the northern end, you could build a tower block up off of it without impacting the amount of light to the platforms.

 

[GJMarshy]

Interesting.

I was wondering what was under the present concourse. Splitting arrivals and departures would help a lot.

IF it was possible to create a departures concourse then presumably lighting could be arranged. Artificial light is never ideal, but it can be done well.

Where would a ground level departures concourse fit opposite the ticket hall for London Underground? The escalators down from the current concourse appear to go two floors down, but do they?

Another question is whether the two halves can be split. At least if passengers know which half their train is in then the scrum is reduced a bit more than present. Taking out more of the retail units would make the necessary space. Indeed you can have a 3-way split since the overground platforms would only need a narrow area between the two halves.

Separate departures and arrivals would be good though.

As I understand it, the current Euston set-up is:

First Floor Mezzanine
____________________
Ground Floor Concourse
____________________
Former Taxi Rank/Car Park & Existing Platform Level
____________________
Tube Ticket Hall

Kings Cross already has separate Departures/Arrivals, with the arrivals exit onto the open square rather than into the 2012 side concourse, this works great in preventing clashes of people moving in opposite directions. It also makes sense as arriving passengers don't need all the facilities departures do as they have no reason to linger around waiting, with the tube station and bus stops being the first port of call in most cases.

At Euston it's mote difficult as there's no open square with onward-connections you can feed arriving passengers into without requiring them to traverse the existing ramps/concourse. So there's probably 2 ways of doing it:

1. (The simpler version with less structural work required) Provide doors level with the platforms into the low-level car park, which would be re-purposed as a wide corridor with a new tube entrance for arrivals only, and an exit via escalators up to the station forecourt.

2. (The grander more "permanent" feeling version) Effectively the reverse of the former, departing passengers enter the station and descend directly down to a low-level departures area (existing re-purposed car park) with doors leading directly onto platforms at the same level. Hospitality units are provided on this level in roughly the same location as today's only a floor down, keeping the area infant of the platforms clear of them. People should be able to see their train (Glass walls/large openings into the train shed etc)

Arrivals would be on the existing ground floor concourse level, with passengers walking up the existing ramps to access it (only without the contra-flow that exists today.) The arrivals concourse would be fairly linear made up of what would become a "mezzanine" around the low-level departures area, allowing it to be flooded with natural light (The front of the station would be returned to floor-ceiling glass with the coffered ceiling remaining as a feature.)

Both levels would have their own tube entry/exit to split the flows. There would be a connection between levels by a small set of escalators/stairs & a lift for people who may need to access both levels (people dropping off friends/family, staff etc)

It'd look something like this:



(Drawn to-scale on SketchUp to ensure industry-standard features (escalators, lifts, stairs walkways etc) fit within the bounds of the existing concourse. The arrivals walkways (orange) are 11m wide, which is plentiful, not least given there's 2 arrivals exits. The departures entrance features a large "circulation space" at ground level on a Mezzanine before a set of 4 escalators flanked by stairs & lifts either side take passengers down to concourse level. This should help avoid situations where unfamiliar passengers may stop to orientate themselves. Essentially it creates an orientation space for people unfamiliar with the station to step to one side out of the crowds if needs be to orientate themselves.

Another tube entry/exit would be provided closer to Euston Road to serve the local area, without requiring residents/workers to traverse the station concourse/s, again reducing potential contra-flow issues.

 

[HSTEd]

Do we think that a northern entrance to a rebuilt station complex could be made attractive to significant numbers of passengers?
Perhaps with bus access on the Hampstead Road (stands built over the throat if necessary) or some sort of walkway to Mornington Crescent?
If you are at the north end of a long train (HS2 or otherwise) the distance to Mornington Crescent isn't going to be that much more than to Euston tube.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd definitely go for departures upstairs. The Great Hall is a much nicer place to be than some sort of low ceilinged New St a like.

 

[GJMarshy]

I'd definitely go for departures upstairs. The Great Hall is a much nicer place to be than some sort of low ceilinged New St a like.

If you opened up the departures floor to create a mezzanine on the ground floor, the departures area would be incredibly open with very high ceilings and plenty of natural light!

 

[InTheEastMids]

A number of newspapers/website are running stories suggesting that the Government will proceed with HS2 to Euston. apparently citing something in the Sunday Times, e.g.

A Government source told The Sunday Times: “HS2 just wouldn’t work if the terminus was not at Euston. The station is also well overdue for investment and has become a dystopian mess and a stain on London.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/hs2-euston-leg-poised-given-163948309.html?

"Dystopian Mess" is probably quite on the money from the "source". I guess the question to all of the above is which elements are deliverable in the short term and have a decent business case given that HS2 may well trigger a wider redevelopment of the current station.

 

[Topological]

A number of newspapers/website are running stories suggesting that the Government will proceed with HS2 to Euston. apparently citing something in the Sunday Times, e.g.

A Government source told The Sunday Times: “HS2 just wouldn’t work if the terminus was not at Euston. The station is also well overdue for investment and has become a dystopian mess and a stain on London.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/hs2-euston-leg-poised-given-163948309.html?

"Dystopian Mess" is probably quite on the money from the "source". I guess the question to all of the above is which elements are deliverable in the short term and have a decent business case given that HS2 may well trigger a wider redevelopment of the current station.

Good news if true.

I have no problem with HS2 only serving sites on the edges of cities and using metro services for the last mile, but Old Oak Common was never designed in that way. Therefore, the need for a terminus that is designed for purpose requires Euston to be built.

On the designs for Euston, I like the idea of essentially making a big hole in the current floor to let light down onto the lower levels. Presumably, that design can be tessalated left and right into the ticket office and retail units so you have 3 holes and much more light going downwards?

Development wise, one of the sides could be done first without really impacting the main station (save the loss of concessions/whatever is on the ticket office side)

 

[HSTEd]

Giving the go ahead for a Euston reconstruction without any kind of detailed plan for what they want to do sounds like how we ended up in the mess in the first place!

Development wise, one of the sides could be done first without really impacting the main station (save the loss of concessions/whatever is on the ticket office side)

I'm not sure the "build the HS2 side first" approach is really going to work, remember we are three failed attempts into attempting to create a workable design based on that premise.
I think the station reconstruction has to proceed as an integrated project across the entire station at once.

First step would be the removal of everything over the current platforms and demolition of the buildings that are in front of the current station concourse.

 

[Topological]

Giving the go ahead for a Euston reconstruction without any kind of detailed plan for what they want to do sounds like how we ended up in the mess in the first place!


I'm not sure the "build the HS2 side first" approach is really going to work, remember we are three failed attempts into attempting to create a workable design based on that premise.
I think the station reconstruction has to proceed as an integrated project across the entire station at once.

First step would be the removal of everything over the current platforms and demolition of the buildings that are in front of the current station concourse.

My apologies if I have the layout wrong. I though there was still a block between the current departures hall and the site taken by HS2. Since leaving Manchester I do not use Euston as much as I used to.

I think that having a design for the national rail side is ok. HS2 have a blank canvas to work with and I would not suggest they copy the compromises needed to bring the design into an operating station.

 

[HSTEd]

My apologies if I have the layout wrong. I though there was still a block between the current departures hall and the site taken by HS2. Since leaving Manchester I do not use Euston as much as I used to.

Your information is probably more up to date than mine!
I meant more that we have repeatedly failed to come up with a suitable design based on the premise of leaving the classic side of the station untouched.
The previous attempts have been cancelled after ballooning costs and scope creep.

I think that having a design for the national rail side is ok. HS2 have a blank canvas to work with and I would not suggest they copy the compromises needed to bring the design into an operating station.

They have a blank canvas, but one that seems too small to actually build the station without dismantling a large part of the conventional station anyway.
The compromises from trying to fit a station into too small a space are just as damaging as those from attempting to rebuild an existing station.

But if we can dismantle as many of the existing structures as possible I think we could mitigate the latter issues and build an integrated station that will be superior overall.

EDIT:

Does anyone know if there is anything under the existing platforms? Is there a station basement or is that the lowest level?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Does anyone know if there is anything under the existing platforms? Is there a station basement or is that the lowest level?

I think the Northern and Victoria lines are directly below the main concourse - not sure of the depth - and the tracks to Mornington Crescent curve north underneath the main platforms area?

Probably a maze of sewers and other related stuff as well.

Even if the tubes are fairly deep, their presence may limit the options for piling for foundations.

 

[HSTEd]

I think the Northern and Victoria lines are directly below the main concourse - not sure of the depth - and the tracks to Mornington Crescent curve north underneath the main platforms area?

Probably a maze of sewers and other related stuff as well.

Even if the tubes are fairly deep, their presence may limit the options for piling for foundations.

In that case, I assume it should be possible to build arbitrary layouts of temporary platforms during the reconstruction process.
So once the building is removed the platforms could be rebuilt one by one, then half a new concourse deck could be built over them.
You could then demolish the old concourse and build the southern ends of the new platforms.

I think, anyway.
Obviously requires a lot of work with crash decks over the existing platforms.
It's been a long time since I've been to Euston - is the overhead wiring suspended from the ceiling?

Replacing it with temporary masts might be annoying.

 

[Nottingham59]

I meant more that we have repeatedly failed to come up with a suitable design based on the premise of leaving the classic side of the station untouched.

My understanding was that they had a perfectly workable design, but when detailed costings were worked out this was more expensive than the guesstimate budget that had been allocated at the start of the project.

 

[HSTEd]

My understanding was that they had a perfectly workable design, but when detailed costings were worked out this was more expensive than the guesstimate budget that had been allocated at the start of the project.

The rapid growth in budget as the design progressed was probably not a good sign regarding actual buildability though.

That is likely what set off alarm bells in Government and got the design axed.

 

[Trackman]

I think the Northern and Victoria lines are directly below the main concourse - not sure of the depth - and the tracks to Mornington Crescent curve north underneath the main platforms area?

Probably a maze of sewers and other related stuff as well.

Even if the tubes are fairly deep, their presence may limit the options for piling for foundations.

There are a lot of videos about what lurks underneath Euston station on You-Tube, a lot of it left over from the rebuild in the 60's (think it was the 60's)
Depth:
From Euston station level to tube platform level: Northern Charing Cross branch 21m, Northern Bank branch & Victoria 33m. For those using imperial, 33m is about 108ft.

 

[MidlandMainlie]

Good news sense has prevailed

In that case, I assume it should be possible to build arbitrary layouts of temporary platforms during the reconstruction process.
So once the building is removed the platforms could be rebuilt one by one, then half a new concourse deck could be built over them.
You could then demolish the old concourse and build the southern ends of the new platforms.

I think, anyway.
Obviously requires a lot of work with crash decks over the existing platforms.
It's been a long time since I've been to Euston - is the overhead wiring suspended from the ceiling?

Replacing it with temporary masts might be annoying.

Would it be possible to build 6 platforms for HS2 as phase 1 of the rebuild on the cleared land to the West of the station with a plan to expand to 10 as part of the wider rebuild of the existing station?

 

[crablab]

There's a good webpage (I won't reproduce it in a quote) on the level below the Euston concourse: https://londonrail.uk/architecture/a-euston-station-era-ends/

 

[GJMarshy]

Good news sense has prevailed



Would it be possible to build 6 platforms for HS2 as phase 1 of the rebuild on the cleared land to the West of the station with a plan to expand to 10 as part of the wider rebuild of the existing station?

Really is great to see the gov seemingly doing the sensible thing. Let’s hope they follow through!

I’m not sure Euston can wait until c.2043 to see a rebuild though, it gets worse month on month at the current rate (people returning to rail back to and in some cases beyond pre-pandemic levels)

It might be better to re-work the existing station by reorganising the space and making use of the low-level, then once the HS2 station comes online, the concourse will be separate. This may make more sense anyway given the differing needs of inter-city and local/regional passengers.

It’s just a matter of how you’d phase it as to cause minimal disruption.

The most simple (if imperfect) short-medium term solutions might be providing a separate side exit for inter-city passengers, or use the low-level to create an arrivals corridor from the platforms to the forecourt with a new arrivals tube entrance.

In an ideal world you’d open the whole thing up with split-levels & mezzanines so everywhere gets natural light and you get the “wow factor” upon arrival, but the disruption to do it may be a non-starter.

I think at this point many people who just want the bare minimum of an efficient and safe station environment would be content with a new side exit/arrivals corridor to the forecourt. It’s imperfect, it’s in no way grand, but until HS2 comes online it might do the job.

A glass canopy over the forecourt would go a very long way too! People often wait there in the warmer months weather permitting, which somewhat reduces congestion. The more people who wait there the better. Make it dry and sheltered from wind and that’s another quick win in the short term.

None of this of course is to say a long-term fix isn’t needed, but rather something needs to be done pre-HS2 that doesn’t entail intensive disruption. When the HS2 station is completed, the whole thing should function and look a lot more like Kings Cross or St Pancras. True gateways which are both functional and welcoming.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Talking of side exits, the old side exit from Platform 16-18 was much appreciated by commuters arriving on the rammed 12 car peak services (and it was widely complained about when it was temporarily closed off for reasons of elevated security during the Olympics). It was also often used as an entrance if you knew your evening peak train went from 16-18 and provided a good shortcut to/from Euston Square tube. I've never quite understood why the side gate on 1-3 wasn't used in the same way to avoid congestion by the toilets.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I guess there is a trade-off here. If we have one DC platform that means we are likely to have trains passing in the approach, which means the approach almost certainly has to be double track throughout.
If we have two DC platforms then we can probably get away with a few hundred metres of single track in the approach, which might let us segregate the DC lines completely from the rest of the station. That could also have some advantages.
Given the short length of the DC trains the platforms might not take much room if we can stick a dedicated island in a "corner" of the site.

DC platforms hardly needed as the trains using them are now dual voltage. Only excuse is they are short trains and end up at the top of Camden bank on their own two track railway. So maybe segregate them completely.

Talking of side exits, the old side exit from Platform 16-18 was much appreciated by commuters arriving on the rammed 12 car peak services (and it was widely complained about when it was temporarily closed off for reasons of elevated security during the Olympics). It was also often used as an entrance if you knew your evening peak train went from 16-18 and provided a good shortcut to/from Euston Square tube. I've never quite understood why the side gate on 1-3 wasn't used in the same way to avoid congestion by the toilets.

That is almost 40% of the arrivals that could be funnelled away from the concourse. For them it is not much further around the outside to the tube or busses.

---

Grand plan.

1. Departures handled in a NEW concourse built half way along the platforms with several links down onto each platform and further high level links-cum-waiting-areas to bridges further towards the platform ends (both ends).
2. Need for separated holding areas for passengers for each service - advantage is tickets checked at entrance to holding area long before departure. This is known as a departure lounge at airports. Problem is it is not very flexible if platform alterations happen and a service is moved too far across the station. This would work if there were more walkways and lockable doors.
3. Use the current concourse for arrivals. A one ended approach for exits slows arrivals down to a longer slimmer stream making the job of the underground easier.
4. Create an entrance to Euston Square underground at the Eastern end so as to be nearer to Euston mainline. It is reallt damning that did not get done one hundred or more years ago.
5. Busses either dogleg the Euston Road so busses do not have to swing across and into the front of Euston. Or perhaps buid a bus station above the tracks.
6. At the end of the job lengthen the platforms under the old concourse (OK maybe demolish and raise the old concourse),

I think building a raft for a concourse halfway along the platforms could be achieved with less disruption to the existing concourse. It would be a better result. A central concourse would make access from the East and West sides more convenient. Notice how Kings Cross/StPancrass concourses have sort of moved further North to Euston could stay in line.

Really HS2 Euston should be designed with 1960s Euston improvement in mind. Maybe a total rebuilding of the area using HS2 platform capacity to allow a staged approach to re-aligning the existing platforms and all around them. Not doing this while HS2 has created space will be a waste of a one in 150 years opportunity.

Double deck station anybody ?.

 

[HSTEd]

DC platforms hardly needed as the trains using them are now dual voltage. Only excuse is they are short trains and end up at the top of Camden bank on their own two track railway. So maybe segregate them completely.

Yes, my feeling is that segregated platforms with a segregated approach would be best. 2 short platforms can easily be squeezed into a corner of the complex without much issue in my view.
With two platforms in the station, we could have a single DC track down Camden Bank that is entirely isolated from everything else.

Grand plan.

1. Departures handled in a NEW concourse built half way along the platforms with several links down onto each platform and further high level links-cum-waiting-areas to bridges further towards the platform ends (both ends).
2. Need for separated holding areas for passengers for each service - advantage is tickets checked at entrance to holding area long before departure. This is known as a departure lounge at airports. Problem is it is not very flexible if platform alterations happen and a service is moved too far across the station. This would work if there were more walkways and lockable doors.
3. Use the current concourse for arrivals. A one ended approach for exits slows arrivals down to a longer slimmer stream making the job of the underground easier.
4. Create an entrance to Euston Square underground at the Eastern end so as to be nearer to Euston mainline. It is reallt damning that did not get done one hundred or more years ago.
5. Busses either dogleg the Euston Road so busses do not have to swing across and into the front of Euston. Or perhaps buid a bus station above the tracks.
6. At the end of the job lengthen the platforms under the old concourse (OK maybe demolish and raise the old concourse),

I think building a raft for a concourse halfway along the platforms could be achieved with less disruption to the existing concourse. It would be a better result. A central concourse would make access from the East and West sides more convenient. Notice how Kings Cross/StPancrass concourses have sort of moved further North to Euston could stay in line.

Really HS2 Euston should be designed with 1960s Euston improvement in mind. Maybe a total rebuilding of the area using HS2 platform capacity to allow a staged approach to re-aligning the existing platforms and all around them. Not doing this while HS2 has created space will be a waste of a one in 150 years opportunity.

Double deck station anybody ?.

I'm not sure if I like the idea of some sort of separate holding area for each service - as you say it could end up not being very flexible and end up with people in the wrong places during disruption.

I would prefer to simply build a concourse that is a continuous space covering the entire platform area. A space 400-500m long and up to 200m wide, although it could not be fully completed until the old concourse and front facing buildings are removed.
It can be broken up with furniture if necessary but I would want to stage people along the entire length of the platform, so that once the train is called for boarding and the doors on the escalators open, they only have to walk 30m or so. We could provide displays that would show which parts of the platform are likely to be less busy using sensors to detect people density in the concourse.

Every one of the main platform islands would have an endless succession of escalator and lift banks.
Exit from the platforms would be from both ends, with a north exit/entrance and a Hampstead Road bus terminal, possibly with a walkway to Mornington Crescent if it can be fitted in.

 

[BlueLeanie]

In my view, the correct answer is to demolish it, and probably the closest road bridge to the station.

Then (depending on what's beneath the station) build a double or triple storey station. Inter-city in the basement, HS2 in ground floor and suburban on 1st floor. Electric only services permitted.

 

[uglymonkey]

Level it, totally, when you rebuild put in a lovely welcoming plaza at the front, instead of passengers ( sorry customers) fitting to get from the main road past numerous buses and taxi places. It needs to be a lovely open airy European style wonder, also built for future expansion, without having to bulldoze half of it again for a up turn in traffic . Let the light in, its to dark and dingy especially near the platforms, if Paddington, St Pancras, Waterloo etc are all welcoming , the new Euston needs to be as well rather than looking like a 1960's rundown converted semi underground car park!

 

[Peter Sarf]

Level it, totally, when you rebuild put in a lovely welcoming plaza at the front, instead of passengers ( sorry customers) fitting to get from the main road past numerous buses and taxi places. It needs to be a lovely open airy European style wonder, also built for future expansion, without having to bulldoze half of it again for a up turn in traffic . Let the light in, its to dark and dingy especially near the platforms, if Paddington, St Pancras, Waterloo etc are all welcoming , the new Euston needs to be as well rather than looking like a 1960's rundown converted semi underground car park!

I think it is the volume of people that Euston handles that make things worse. Plus the long dash from the concourse to the further platforms (1-3 and less so 16 upwards). Even at six feet two inches tall I have felt intimidated by the stampede coming towards me as I left the 12-15 ramp.

 

[poffle]

New Civil Engineer are reporting that HS2 to Euston will get the go ahead in the Autumn Statement. ( article is paywalled so I haven't read the details.)

Government tipped to green light HS2 Euston development in Autumn Budget | New Civil Engineer

The announcement is rumoured for the Autumn Budget on 30 October, according to The Sunday Times. The Department for Transport said it would not comment on

www.newcivilengineer.com

 

[Bald Rick]

I've never quite understood why the side gate on 1-3 wasn't used in the same way to avoid congestion by the toilets.

It‘s because it is direct from P1 to Eversholt St, with the width of a wall between the platfrom and street. It’s difficult to police (in every sense of the word) especially given the, ahem, ‘social mix’ on that street.

 

[Peter Sarf]

It‘s because it is direct from P1 to Eversholt St, with the width of a wall between the platfrom and stret. I’s difficult to police (in every sense of the word) especially given the, ahem, ‘social mix’ on that street.

I really feel an entrance Eastwards past the loos opposite platforms 1-3 would be good. It is a long way round to the beggars at the foot of the steps on Eversholt Street. I am usually headed to/from StPancras.

Sadly the loos would then be more convenient for non-rail users !.

 

[Bald Rick]

I really feel an entrance Eastwards past the loos opposite platforms 1-3 would be good. It is a long way round to the beggars at the foot of the steps on Eversholt Street. I am usually headed to/from StPancras.

Sadly the loos would then be more convenient for non-rail users !.

Thats quite complicated, as the concourse is a good 3 metres above street level - would entail some fairly major construction. Nevertheless i would like that too!