London Banter - View Single Post

Stephen Furley · October 23rd 06, 11:56 PM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london

wrote:

Thanks - it certainly is. Interesting to see the old subway will be
brought back into use and extended. I wonder if this will include
re-opening the original ticket hall - at least as an exit.

They're re-opening the old subway which used to be the only access to
platforms 9-13 as they used to be, but not the long subway under
platform 3/5, which used to be the access to all of the other
platforms. People who complain about the long walk between 5 and 10
must have either never used the station in those days, or forgotten
about it.

Stratford station was a real dump in the '70s and '80s, but it used to
absolutely fascinate me. I remember when I first went through the
place, being puzzled by what seemed to be a four-platform station, with
the platforms numbered 3,5,6 and 8. then one day I got out, and
discovered the low-level 1 and 2, 2 reached directly from the old
subway, and 1 over the old concrete footbridge, still there I think,
alongside the new one. Later I found 9, 10 (now 10a) and 11. There
was no way of getting to 12 and 13, it was an island then, as the
subway had been long bricked up beyond the stairs to 11.

The entrance was just behind where the tank loco is now displayed, and
there was a subway under Great Eastern Road, which came up inside the
shopping centre. This was the only normal entrance to the shopping
centre at this end, there was a door, roughly where the present ones
are, but that was just a fire exit. When you walked out of the old
booking hall, and up the stairs there were the remains of two old
posters high up about Easter train services. The exit must have been
at street level before the exit subway was built.

Platforms 1 and 2 were served by North Woolwich - Tottenham Hale DMUs,
previously the service had run to Palace Gates until about 1964, but I
did'nt know the station then. In the '80s the line between Dalston and
Stratford was re-opened to passengers, and a Camden Road - North
Woolwich service provided. How things have changed on the North
Woolwich line since then! The line between Stratford and Tottenham
Hale was then served only by a rush-hour shuttle service until this was
withdrawn, and Lea Bridge station closed, in 1985. One of the
destinations shown on the dark blue and white sign by the entrance to
the low-level platforms was 'THE DOCKS'

After you passed through the ticket barrier you tured sharp left into
the long subway under 3/5. Straight ahead was the subway now proposed
to be re-opened, leading to the higher numbered platforms. No trains
normally served these platforms, except or one or two of the Tottenham
Hale shuttles, which used 11, the others ran into the low-level, via
High Meads. What is now 9 was not a platform face, there railings
aling the edge of it, and some old GER buildings. What is now 10 was
9, what is now 10a was 10, 11 was as it is now and 12/13 were a long
disused island, with, as I said previously, no access. I really wanted
to get down this subway and onto 9-11, but the staff on the barrier
would never allow me down there; I didn't know anout the odd one or two
trains still serving 11.

One day the tracks through 6 an 8 were closed, and the trains were
serving 9 and 10, as they then were. This was my chance. This subway
was filthy, and looked like it had been disuded for decades. There was
lots of 'stuff' dumped there, including more blue and white signs.
There was also one on the wall pointing to platforms 10-13, with '13'
painted over to read '11' There were various doors leading off this
subway, I'm still not sure where they went, there were two ancient
goods lifts on the platforms above, which I couldn't find the bottom
end of; maye they came out behind these doors; parcels office maybe?
There was another door, leading into a room full of electronic
equipment; relay room and telephone exchange under the signalbox?
There was also another passage leaing off to the East, still in use by
staff, I think this may have led to the depot.

The building between platforms 10 (now 10a) and 11 was in use by staff
at each end, but the centre section was roofless; had it been the
victim of a fire at sometime, or wartime bombing? What was it
originally?

Before the stairs up to platform 11 there were two disused staircases
which had been capped with concrete at platform level, near the
roofless building; these stairways were also full of rubbish.

Later, it was decided to re-open platforn 12, and to run services on
the Cambridge line. The platform was re-built, and the wall in the
subway demolished, and the staircase up to the platform re-built. The
capped-off stairways were boarded over at subway level, and the subway
cleaned up somewhat. From the time of this work it was possible for
me to walk along the subway any time I wanted to. one day there was a
pile of rubbish which had been cleared out of one of the side rooms.
There was an old wooden board with the remains of a timetable showing
services to Hertford East from the long disused platform 12. The
reburbishment of the Cambridge line platforms took ages, and must hve
cost a fortune, but the services didn't last long; I'm not surprised,
BR didn't seem to want anybody to know about these services, there
didn't seem to be any timetables posted anywhere, and the subway still
looked distinctly disused.

The high-level platforms which were still in use had blue and white
glass name signs, which had originally been fluorescent lit, but the
lighting had nong ceased to function, and some of the signs had been
broken, and replaced by ones made of plywood, hadboard or some similar
material. There had previously been illuminated cubes with blue and
white glass platform numbers; I remember seeing these in use, but they
too were later dumped in the dis-used subway.

About twenty years ago the never used bay platform 4 was brought into
use for the DLR; it has been shortened somewhat from its original
length. The other bay, platform 7, remains unused to this day, the
Fenchurch Street electtric shuttle servce for which they were intended
never having been introduced, and Bow Road station closed in 1949.

I'm glad to see that the Cambridge line platforms still have a place in
the proposed upgrade; I hope we they will see a proper service again,
and the re-opening of Lea Bridge station.

Are the large areas at each end of the mezzanine level, beyond the
stairs, to serve some useful purpose at last? They're totally wasted
space at the moment.

For such an important station it's amasing how dilapidated parts of
Stratford became. The nice new station of 1949 was looking distinctly
past its best by the early '70s. Does anybody have any pictures of the
station prior to the rebuilding for the Central Line extension, and the
Shenfield electrification?