HS2 Euston London Underground Plans

[Jorge Da Silva]

A new London Underground entrance for Euston Station

One of the many things that HS2 will deliver to Euston is a new London Underground entrance in a much needed location - south of the Euston Road.

www.ianvisits.co.uk

here are the plans for a new tube ticket hall at Euston post HS2.

One of the many things that HS2 will deliver to Euston is a new London Underground entrance in a much needed location – south of the Euston Road.



At the moment, people on the south-side of the Euston Road wanting to use the London Underground have to cross two busy roads, and then head up to Euston Station, but there are plans to build a new entrance on the south side – next to the Wellcome Collection.

As that corner of the Euston Road and Gordon Street is lined with grand buildings, it’s not possible to demolish one for the new tube station entrance, so it’s going to sit right in the middle of the road.


Google street view
And the road sealed off from cars.


Artist impression – made in 2013
Note – this is an artist impression, not what the end product will look like, so don’t start picking holes in the design.

The plan would see the new entrance built on Gordon Street, with links to the existing platforms at Euston Station. It may be that this would also be a public subway so people at street level can avoid the busy road, although experience at Baker Street suggests people tend to avoid subways when crossing roads unless forced to use them.

This is not just a nice to have, but with HS2 arriving, the road junctions are already pretty much at capacity for handing pedestrian crossings, so something needs to be done to cope with the increased pedestrian flow. Part of that means pedestrianising a couple of the roads outside Euston station, but also adding the new London Underground entrance on the south side of the Euston Road.

It will also be just one small part of a huge rebuild of the station, with a massive new ticket hall built alongside the current site.



The plans also call for a new subway link between Euston station and Euston Square station – creating a new hub of the Northern, Victoria and Circle/Met/Hammersmith lines.

That mainly helps reduce crowding on the Northern and Victoria lines, as people new to town who gravitate automatically to the London Underground are quite hard to persuade to walk down the road to Euston Square even when that would have been a better option for them.

Put in a pedestrian tunnel, and suddenly a lot of people arriving at Euston and heading to, say, Baker Street wont go via Oxford Circus.



Whether Euston Square will remain a separate station that’s linked to Euston – much like Bank/Monument, or merged into it is still be decided.

When HS2’s finished though, the tube tunnels under Euston will be as radically changed as the mainline station above ground.

Any Thoughts?

 

[gordonthemoron]

It'll be handy for transferring from Euston mainline trains to Euston Square and vice versa

 

[Mikey C]

A new London Underground entrance for Euston Station

One of the many things that HS2 will deliver to Euston is a new London Underground entrance in a much needed location - south of the Euston Road.

www.ianvisits.co.uk

here are the plans for a new tube ticket hall at Euston post HS2.



Any Thoughts?

A good idea. It was a massive mistake to have the only entrance to Euston underground being via the Mainline station, no other major termini in London are like this, hence the current botch up with the entrance to enable night tube! (I don't count Marylebone as it's a much less important terminus AND Baker Street is used by a lot of people as its tube station)

It was if the planners forgot that many people take the Underground to/from Euston to go to the general area, not just the mainline station, the south side of the Euston road would be very convenient for the Universities and the hospital, especially for the Bank branch of the Northern Line which doesn't serve Warren Street

Clever idea to put the station on a closed road, there are lots of minor roads in the area, so sacrificing one isn't a hardship.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Will this new entrance link to both Euston and Euston Square?

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Will this new entrance link to both Euston and Euston Square?

Yes it’s in the article

 

[si404]

Will this new entrance link to both Euston and Euston Square?

It's an eastern entrance to the current Euston Square station that links directly to the new tunnel under the Euston Road linking to the current Euston tube station.

And that's deliberately precise to avoid the unknowns about how the link is going to work, how many stations they would be after it opens, etc.

 

[MikeWh]

And that's deliberately precise to avoid the unknowns about how the link is going to work, how many stations they would be after it opens, etc.

Bank and Monument suggest that they'll keep their individual names.

 

[si404]

Bank and Monument suggest that they'll keep their individual names.

Charing Cross, on the other hand, suggests a different approach might happen.

 

[rebmcr]

Bank and Monument suggest that they'll keep their individual names.

The rule is sound, but I don't think "Euston-Square-Euston" or "Euston-Euston-Square" ("Euston-Cubed"?) is at all feasible in this specific case.

 

[Roast Veg]

Definitely good news that passengers will start using the SSL to change between more termini on point to point tickets.

 

[Belperpete]

This is very definitely a good scheme. Bit surprised about the small size of the Gordon Street entrance and subway, compared to the new entrances at KX/STP.

The problem with renaming the Circle station as Euston is what to do about the existing western entrance. If that is called Euston, people are likely to head down there expecting to catch a Victoria or Northern line train. The entrance would need to be clearly labelled Circle/Met/H&C only, in a similar manner to Paddington.

 

[si404]

If that is called Euston, people are likely to head down there expecting to catch a Victoria or Northern line train. The entrance would need to be clearly labelled Circle/Met/H&C only, in a similar manner to Paddington.

While you'd have to walk through the platforms and then along the subway, you will be able get to Euston tube. While it's undesirable to walk along the platform, there's not really an 'Only' about it, unlike Paddington where there's no link between the two LU stations.

Neither Charing Cross nor Elephant & Castle say which line the entrance is for, even though they are both pretty much separate stations for Northern and Bakerloo lines that just happen to be connected underground. Of course, this isn't great and TfL have a scheme (part of the Bakerloo Line Extension and its realignment of the Bakerloo line there, so not going to happen) to make an "Elephant & Castle Combined Station Entrance" as people are fed up of there being, in effect, two tube stations: "Currently the two stations are confusing for the public and combining them would make it easier for people to find their way to the correct line."

Certainly, for the Northern (Charing Cross branch) and Victoria lines the best move from the current Euston Square entrances are to go to Warren Street. So that option ought to continue to be clearly signed.

 

[ivzem]

While you'd have to walk through the platforms and then along the subway, you will be able get to Euston tube. While it's undesirable to walk along the platform, there's not really an 'Only' about it, unlike Paddington where there's no link between the two LU stations.

The last image in the first post suggests you don't even have to do that - the new entrance is on the eastern end of Euston Square station, as is the link to Euston station.

 

[si404]

The last image in the first post suggests you don't even have to do that - the new entrance is on the eastern end of Euston Square station, as is the link to Euston station.

Sorry I oversnipped the post (one above mine) that I was responding to. We were talking about the existing western entrance, not the new entrance (which does link to both directly):

the existing western entrance. If that is called Euston

 

[ivzem]

Sorry I oversnipped the post (one above mine) that I was responding to. We were talking about the existing western entrance, not the new entrance (which does link to both directly):

Ah, thank you for clarifying.

 

[Belperpete]

Re: passengers entering the existing Euston Square western entrance

While you'd have to walk through the platforms and then along the subway, you will be able get to Euston tube. While it's undesirable to walk along the platform, there's not really an 'Only' about it, unlike Paddington where there's no link between the two LU stations.

If I read the plan correctly, having walked along the Euston Square platforms, you would then have to exit the barriers at the eastern end of the platforms, as the subway appears to be outside the barriers. Having walked through the subway, you would then go through the barriers to the Vic & Northern lines. So you would go through 3 sets of barriers within a few minutes, which could cause problems.

I was thinking more of the various Bakerloo, Circle, and main-line entrances to the joint station at Paddington, as examples of what might be needed, as opposed to the separate H&C station.

 

[si404]

If I read the plan correctly, having walked along the Euston Square platforms, you would then have to exit the barriers at the eastern end of the platforms, as the subway appears to be outside the barriers. Having walked through the subway, you would then go through the barriers to the Vic & Northern lines. So you would go through 3 sets of barriers within a few minutes, which could cause problems.

Oh, if there's barriers, it's clearly two stations and staying as Euston Square. But I don't think it's clear from the plans where gatelines would be.

I was thinking more of the various Bakerloo, Circle, and main-line entrances to the joint station at Paddington, as examples of what might be needed, as opposed to the separate H&C station.

Looking at the Streetview there (which is a few years old), the Network Rail signage specifies "Bakerloo, District and Circle line via Victoria", but doesn't split them to go via different entrances. TfL signage is just standard station entrance.

Bank/Monument is a better example - there's some entrances of Bank that tell you that this is for the Central, Northern and Waterloo & City, but not all of them.

 

[Belperpete]

Oh, if there's barriers, it's clearly two stations and staying as Euston Square. But I don't think it's clear from the plans where gatelines would be.

So what would the Gordon Street entrance be signed as, Euston or Euston Square?

I think it would be better to have it all named as one station, Euston, as that would make it more likely that people unfamiliar with the city will use it to get to and from Euston mainline.

Looking at the Streetview there (which is a few years old), the Network Rail signage specifies "Bakerloo, District and Circle line via Victoria", but doesn't split them to go via different entrances. TfL signage is just standard station entrance.

I seem to recall that the small entrance by the higher-numbered platforms was signed for the Bakerloo line, with passengers for the D&C being directed to the main entrance in the middle of the concourse?

Aren't there some entrances at KX/STP that only give access to the circle platforms?

 

[bluegoblin7]

The Western concourse (under St. Pancras and accessed from there and Euston Road) provides access to the Sub Surface platforms, but it is possible to walk through to the Tube concourse and access all lines.

Similarly, the Northern concourse (under King's Cross and accessed from there, St. P via the subway and the Granary Square developments) provides direct access only to the deep tube lines, but again it is possible to walk through to the Tube concourse.

It is also possible to access all lines from within the gatelines although this does require going via platform level. All entrances are signed without referencing lines, with internal signage providing the wayfinding. This is the standard way of doing things across all LUL stations (excepting the entirely separate Hammersmith, Edgware Road and Paddington stations).

 

[Mikey C]

Kings Cross St Pancras has been massively rebuilt over the years

I remember when the sub surface platforms were effectively a separate station from the deep lines, and you had to go through the ticket barriers (twice) to change between them

 

[greyman42]

Aren't there some entrances at KX/STP that only give access to the circle platforms?

Not any more as explained in #20.

 

[Roast Veg]

I would be interested to see estimated end-to-end timings for getting between the Euston concourse and the various STP/KGX concourses via walking/SSL/Vicoria/Northern.

 

[urbophile]

Does anybody know why Euston Square station is where it is and not a couple of hundred metres further east where it would directly serve the mainline station? The original Metropolitan Railway was designed to link up the mainline termini surely, so why wasn't it built nearer?

 

[Bald Rick]

Does anybody know why Euston Square station is where it is and not a couple of hundred metres further east where it would directly serve the mainline station? The original Metropolitan Railway was designed to link up the mainline termini surely, so why wasn't it built nearer?

The more pertinent question is why the entrance is at the very western end of the platforms; if it was at the very eastern end, it would be at the junction of Melton St / Gordon St / Euston Rd.

 

[si404]

The original Metropolitan Railway was designed to link up the mainline termini surely

It was sort of, but there were technical and other constraints. Should point out that Kings Cross had a similar problem of not being that close, and I gather Paddington wasn't as ideal as they wanted.

There was an extra problem at Euston with the GWR and GNR being the main backers (to the point of having track connections and running trains on the line onto their networks) of the Met, but the LNWR not being as keen - presumably, in part, because they were, at that time, helping fund the NLR into Broad Street.

It was named Gower Street and wasn't renamed until 1909. It was almost as if they pretended that the big terminus nearby didn't exist. It's therefore not surprising that they built the stairs to go to the street that ran south through Bloomsbury, and not to go to near to the rival companies rail station.

 

[AlbertBeale]

It was sort of, but there were technical and other constraints. Should point out that Kings Cross had a similar problem of not being that close, and I gather Paddington wasn't as ideal as they wanted.

There was an extra problem at Euston with the GWR and GNR being the main backers (to the point of having track connections and running trains on the line onto their networks) of the Met, but the LNWR not being as keen - presumably, in part, because they were, at that time, helping fund the NLR into Broad Street.

It was named Gower Street and wasn't renamed until 1909. It was almost as if they pretended that the big terminus nearby didn't exist. It's therefore not surprising that they built the stairs to go to the street that ran south through Bloomsbury, and not to go to near to the rival companies rail station.

And of course, Euston Station is at Euston Square; Euston Square station, though on Euston Road, isn't on Euston Square.

(Even more fun, for visitors, is the fact that Bayswater station is on Queensway, and Queensway station is on Bayswater Road,)