In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message , at
16:59:15 on Tue, 12 Jan 2010, remarked:

I must get someone to show me this supposed step-free route to the
Piccadilly Line at King's Cross.

Northern ticket hall, lift down to new passageways; short lift down
to platforms. (The only access that's not finished yet is the lift
down from the old concourse to the Northern Line platforms)

The current access to the Northern ticket hall from King's Cross
main line is not step-free.

There are five that I can think of (are you saying some are out of
action temporarily). Working around the complex clockwise:

There's a lift just inside the St Pancras extension that goes up to
the Kent platforms and down to the passageway to the NTH. There's
another lift by the stairs which come out near the KX Suburban
platforms. The third lift is by the stairs that give access to the
KX mainlaine concourse near the large departure board, and the
fourth is out by the main road and leads down to the old concourse,
which is then a level passageway all the way to the NTH. The fifth
lift is inside the western ticket hall and gives access from road
level to the barrier level, which connected by a level passage to
the old KX tube concourse.

All but the first mentioned are on this diagram I did a year ago,
from various plans, before it all opened ...

http://www.perry.co.uk/images/kx-com...with-lifts.jpg

(the numbers refer to the kind of lift, not an ordering that they
are currently using on the signage - which doesn't include my first
lift because it appears to be regarded as a St Pancras mainline
lift not a tube station lift):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blech/4147448998/

The only lift from ground level only goes relevantly to the old tube
concourse which does not have step-free access to the Piccadilly
Line.

That's the fourth one in my list above, top half of lift "D".

You seem to be assuming that the lifts are all completed.

They all seemed to be completed when I looked, the week the NTH
opened (with the one exception of the lift down to the Northern
Line platforms). Of course, two of the surface lifts I mentioned
have been open for several years now.

I've only ever seen one lift at King's Cross, that in Euston Road. The
main tube access now is from the concourse and I've not seen any lift
there. I have never seen any sign of your lift 1.

I'm only talking about access from King's Cross concourse which is not
yet completed.

So you are saying lift C isn't commissioned yet?

I can't see any access to the Northern ticket hall from King's Cross
which is presently open that is not down steps, apart from the old
lift by the front of the station.

There's lifts C and A.

I don't regard as travel via St Pancras as a credible route.

Nor do I, but unfortunately my trains to London terminate in a
distant corner of St Pancras, and that's the best they can do. In
fact, those platforms are further from the St Pancras "Kent Line"
lift...

bottom of lift: http://www.perry.co.uk/images/unmarked-lift.jpg

... than KX Suburban platforms!

Top of the lift on the very left, you can see KX out of the window:

http://www.perry.co.uk/images/st-pan...igns-north.jpg

And lift A is about halfway between the two.

The lift at the front of King's Cross would be a squeeze with a bike,
by the way.

The lifts aren't designed for bikes, I guess. Just wheelchairs,
buggies and luggage. Taking a bike on the tube as a regular thing
is a tad antisocial, in my view (although OK in an emergency).

The long standing lift out the front of the Kings Cross concourse is not
generous with a buggy and luggage. I've tried it when helping my daughter
and granddaughter from Cambridge to Heathrow.

But I carry my bike up and down stairs. I'd just rather not do so at
a station like Edgware Road where the signage is so crap you
can't be sure which platform you need.

So don't take the bike! (Yes, I know, you won't ever agree not to).

It's normally a much more practical way round central London. Quicker than
the tube (without these issues) as well as more predictable.

--
Colin Rosenstiel