Also the open section of the western passage has moved again to a slightly more southerly route.
Along with the buckets for the water leaks?
Also the open section of the western passage has moved again to a slightly more southerly route.
Which way is the tube from the Southern platforms? Down the escalators or straight on outside?
Doesn't make a lot of difference, you can go down the escalators and navigate within the station, or go out the station and down the escalator at the Shard to get to Joiner St, or go through the bus station and down the set of stairs on the Tooley St side. All of those will dump you somewhere near the main entrance to the tube.
In other news, I spent a few days in Vienna last week and I was struck by how similar the newly redeveloped Wien Hauptbahnhof (Vienna central station) and London Bridge have ended up looking. Both are multi-level stations with a large street-level concourse, lifts and escalators to each platform, and individual platform canopies instead of a train shed roof.
Vienna is bigger (more shops) and has an underground concourse and a huge car park beneath it, but I've attached a few pics (not mine - from various places) because I was really struck by what seem to be twins!
Main difference would be less use of wood finish - not sure if this is better or worse overall, but the level of finish at Vienna hbf is very high.
August bank holiday is quickly approaching! In case anyone is interested, this is the brief outline of the changes we will be seeing:
Platform 6 opened to the public.
Slewing and commissioning of certain lines (8 up, 7 reversible, 6 down) on the kent side
The first Kent tracks to run through the BDU will be commissioned.
Crossovers & 'slots' being commissioned to once again link the central and eastern sides of the the station
The Charing Cross workstation at TBROC being extended to cover just short of New Cross into Charing Cross
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I got the impression they were laying down track 3 through the station during the blockade as well, am I right?
Doesn't make a lot of difference, you can go down the escalators and navigate within the station, or go out the station and down the escalator at the Shard to get to Joiner St, or go through the bus station and down the set of stairs on the Tooley St side. All of those will dump you somewhere near the main entrance to the tube.
The Charing Cross workstation at TBROC being extended to cover just short of New Cross into Charing Cross
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The last time I changed from a SE train at LBG onto the Tube (a couple of weeks ago) I found the signage to be not very good. It seemed to peter out at one stage - it wasn't obvious that you had to go through some sort of shopping arcade. Will NR <-> Tube access improve after the rebuild?
The last time I changed from a SE train at LBG onto the Tube (a couple of weeks ago) I found the signage to be not very good. It seemed to peter out at one stage - it wasn't obvious that you had to go through some sort of shopping arcade. Will NR <-> Tube access improve after the rebuild?
The 'sort of shopping arcade' you went through is the main interchange between the lower concourse and the tube. It will be much wider than it used to be...
Thanks for replies. Sorry, I don't know the proper names for the various areas. I just know that the signage directing folk to the Tube 'broke down' en route. Not impressed.
I think I remember them saying they purposely pulled the concourse further from the tube to prevent passengers ramming trains at the front. For those interchanging though it makes for a poor experience.
I noticed a few days ago that platform 15 has had a load of steel portakabin-like offices and similar located along the back.
Someone please tell me that this is a short term only location while permanent 'back of house' accommodation is built elsewhere?
Contrast this deliberate act to make interchange harder with the good hearted railway designers in the mid 20th century. Central line to BR at Stratford,Victoria line to northern line at Euston, Vic line to Pic line at Finsbury Park etc etc, all 20 second cross platform interchanges on the level & achieved at considerable engineering cost. Then look at the convoluted Jubilee line interchanges, mostly designed to allow ticket checks on travellers between the different lines. Then look at the latest incarnations. The seemingly mile long interchanges under Kings Cross. The aforementioned London Bridge main line to tube extended hikes & the very recent pushing towards the country of the Waterloo international platforms so more retail can soon be jammed in. Oh and also the wonderfully simple interchange at Paddington 'Hammersmith & City' island platform to the main Line platforms via a footbridge now another external hike.. I often wonder if railway designers, who used to care about people as evidenced by their thoughtful designs now just regard punters as a nuisance.
Alternatively, perhaps the models used to test station designs showed that without sufficient physical capacity to accommodate the increase in passengers caused by the Eurostar Terminal/Thameslink/growth, punters would be backing up everywhere and causing stations and barriers to be overwhelmed as occurs at Victoria every day several times.
I'm sure I read somewhere that these 'mile long' passageways are planned to smooth out the flow of passengers between the lines. The 20second cross platform links would cause dangerous congestion, certainly at the central interchanges.
Contrast this deliberate act to make interchange harder with the good hearted railway designers in the mid 20th century. Central line to BR at Stratford,Victoria line to northern line at Euston, Vic line to Pic line at Finsbury Park etc etc, all 20 second cross platform interchanges on the level & achieved at considerable engineering cost. Then look at the convoluted Jubilee line interchanges, mostly designed to allow ticket checks on travellers between the different lines. Then look at the latest incarnations. The seemingly mile long interchanges under Kings Cross. The aforementioned London Bridge main line to tube extended hikes & the very recent pushing towards the country of the Waterloo international platforms so more retail can soon be jammed in. Oh and also the wonderfully simple interchange at Paddington 'Hammersmith & City' island platform to the main Line platforms via a footbridge now another external hike.. I often wonder if railway designers, who used to care about people as evidenced by their thoughtful designs now just regard punters as a nuisance.