City Thameslink

[Joe Paxton]

That is completely in keeping with the rathole of an area in which it is located.

It's an area that's changing a lot at the moment.

 

[Joe Paxton]

What's unpleasant about it? It's clean and functional. It's not even that dated.

Yep, it seems fine to me. Seems to be an odd obsession amongst some on this forum about things that aren't very old 'looking dated'!

I'm sure it could do with a decent deep clean, as could lots of other stations.

Lighting is quite a subjective issue, but I'm not a fan of the harsh bright clinical style floodlighting that one sometimes gets.

 

[tsr]

Yep, it seems fine to me. Seems to be an odd obsession amongst some on this forum about things that aren't very old 'looking dated'!

I'm sure it could do with a decent deep clean, as could lots of other stations.

Lighting is quite a subjective issue, but I'm not a fan of the harsh bright clinical style floodlighting that one sometimes gets.

Cleanliness (or lack thereof) is not a problem I've really found at any of the Thameslink Core stations. Some of the outer metro area stations they stop at, mainly including some of the ones managed by the Southern brand, are better candidates.

I agree about lighting temperature. I think there's something about the types of tiles used at City Thameslink which dates it. It's certainly not in the same overall league of design as London Bridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon or St Pancras, either. Even Farringdon, although not a landmark, is not unpleasant to look at.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't generally like "daylight white" lighting, though it has its roles (in fact including in my kitchen, the reason being that I have terracotta walls in there which look really good under daylight but far too overly orange under warm white). Rest of the house is warm white.

But what *really* looks unprofessional and "don't care" is mixing colour temperatures. It's the lighting equivalent of just specifying "green" paint (say) and using 2 or 3 different greens indiscriminately. It's really obvious and it looks awful.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I agree about lighting temperature. I think there's something about the types of tiles used at City Thameslink which dates it.

I think it's the use of the BR station sign font that is the main factor. Add to your two hundred quid's worth of bulbs a further couple of quid's worth of sticky-backed replacements in a more modern font and that'll be sorted too.

It'd cost about a grand to sort the whole thing, really. Yes, it's *adequate* as it is, but it really should be Thameslink's flagship station being located where it is in the heart of the biggest money-generating area of the UK.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I think it's the use of the BR station sign font that is the main factor. Add to your two hundred quid's worth of bulbs a further couple of quid's worth of sticky-backed replacements in a more modern font and that'll be sorted too.

It'd cost about a grand to sort the whole thing, really. Yes, it's *adequate* as it is, but it really should be Thameslink's flagship station being located where it is in the heart of the biggest money-generating area of the UK.

I don't think anything needs sorting. The Rail Alphabet font is a great work of modern, unfussy clarity.

 

[wipers]

I think CT is brilliant - it's pretty unique in having such a long, straight platform entirely underground, and so looks pretty epic as a result in my opinion. If anything it could do with going back to its 1990 routes and having some of the more recent signage and clutter removed. It certainly doesn't need updating, particularly given the miserable replacement schemes you typically see.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't think anything needs sorting. The Rail Alphabet font is a great work of modern, unfussy clarity.

But shouts "1990s" and makes the station look uncared-for and dated. Compare to how modern and bright LM have made their stations (all of them, even barely-used Kempston Hardwick) look using just new signage with a more modern font and colour scheme and a lick of paint.

But if you do *nothing* else, the uplighter bulbs need changing so they (a) work, and (b) are all the same colour temperature.

 

[Tetchytyke]

London Midland's running-in boards are all style over substance. Funky colours but I cannot bloomin' read them at night.

Nowt wrong with NSE red, white and blue and Rail Alphabet. The only real criticism of City Thameslink is that it's not consistent.

 

[jon0844]

Replacing the bulbs in (or removing completely) the uplighters would be a start. That only some work and they have different colour temperature bulbs in them looks really scruffy.

What's that going to cost, 200 quid for the lot maybe? Money well spent.

Then the risk assessments, the need to shut off the power because the lights are within nn metres of the overheads, working through the night etc.

Total cost; £2.5m Estimated date of completion; 2022.

 

[edwin_m]

Then the risk assessments, the need to shut off the power because the lights are within nn metres of the overheads, working through the night etc.

Total cost; £2.5m Estimated date of completion; 2022.

How many railway people does it take to change a light bulb.

 

[Bletchleyite]

London Midland's running-in boards are all style over substance. Funky colours but I cannot bloomin' read them at night.

Interesting, I've never had an issue with that. Perhaps that's an argument for using black on white instead, but that can of course be done in a different font. Much as I hate Comic Sans (and no I wouldn't suggest that) that is said to be very good for dyslexics. There are much more professional and modern looking fonts which share the key features while not looking dated as Helvetica and derived fonts do.

Nowt wrong with NSE red, white and blue and Rail Alphabet. The only real criticism of City Thameslink is that it's not consistent.

The biggest issue is half the decorative uplighters not working. It looks *incredibly* sloppy and unprofessional, and would be very cheap to fix, simply by removing and plating over with a quality metal plate (NOT a bit of tape) if they can't be properly fixed.

 

[Skimble19]

How many railway people does it take to change a light bulb.

Two. One to change the bulb and the other to hold the ladder

Sadly things like the colour temperature of bulbs is not something the majority of our maintenance people pay an awful lot of attention to as they’re contractors - as long as it works their job is done.

 

[Bletchleyite]

How many railway people does it take to change a light bulb.

Quite.

Get a sparky or two in on the days when the OHLE is off for some other reason. Replace the bulbs with LEDs. No further work required for years then.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sadly things like the colour temperature of bulbs is not something the majority of our maintenance people pay an awful lot of attention to as they’re contractors - as long as it works their job is done.

Sloppy contract management, then. Surely the contracts should specify the bulbs being to specification, which would surely include colour temperature and lumens, not just whacking in an Aldi Value 40 watt tungsten or a cheapo CFL.

At what should be THE premier station in the UK, being located in by far the richest area of the country, it is shockingly sloppy. Many of the commuters could pay for the work out of their back pocket without even thinking about it.

 

[rebmcr]

Sloppy contract management, then. Surely the contracts should specify the bulbs being to specification, which would surely include colour temperature and lumens, not just whacking in an Aldi Value 40 watt tungsten or a cheapo CFL.

At what should be THE premier station in the UK, being located in by far the richest area of the country, it is shockingly sloppy. Many of the commuters could pay for the work out of their back pocket without even thinking about it.

Spot on!

 

[edwin_m]

Two. One to change the bulb and the other to hold the ladder

Aha, a working at height hazard. And remember it has to be a wooden ladder.

 

[Railguy1]

No, if I recollect, it was midday.

So my flight back to stansted arrived at 12:50 on the Saturday. I took the stansted express back to London. (Don't remember the time). I then took a bus to City Thameslink but Nationalrail and realtraintimes both said there were no departures. I am guessing the time was probably closer to 2-3pm. Does no one know why it was closed? I had a quick search on twitter but can't find anything?

 

[Joe Paxton]

So my flight back to stansted arrived at 12:50 on the Saturday. I took the stansted express back to London. (Don't remember the time). I then took a bus to City Thameslink but Nationalrail and realtraintimes both said there were no departures. I am guessing the time was probably closer to 2-3pm. Does no one know why it was closed? I had a quick search on twitter but can't find anything?

Did you go to the station and find it closed, or were you just relying on the NRE and RTT information? If the latter the data could have been wrong.

 

[Railguy1]

Did you go to the station and find it closed, or were you just relying on the NRE and RTT information? If the latter the data could have been wrong.

I was relying on the websites. I didn't realize that the national rail website would give incorrect departures Oh well, good to know.