"What might be sensible would be if preparatory work for the change was

done now - for instance, stringing catenary to Shepherd's Bush, but not

wiring it up to the mains."

We can but live in hope, Tom!

"Because (a) this allows the CTRL phase 2 to be built"

Yes, I gather that...

"increasing speed"

.... by a few minutes....

"and reducing congestion in the south London network"

Will removing (is it 2 or 3 per hour) a few Eurostar trains from the
South of London will hardly cause such a dramatic change will it? And,
as for the vacated terminal at Waterloo (itself built at vast expense
and admitted reduction of Waterloo domestic handling capacity), I
understand that rather than returning it to railway use, a shopping
centre is being mooted!

"(b) there are a lot more people north of London than south."

Yes, but is that really the reason behind this move to St. Pancras? I
thought it had something to do with the political goal of a high-speed
link for its own sake rather than there actually being a pressing need
for such. That, surely, must be the reason why all of St. Pancras'
domestic passengers have been given the two-finger salute as they
struggle alonng a dirty, narrow, unsafe and overcrowded passage that
was Pancras Road, to a station so badly designed that its escalators
actually face the wrong direction to the main traffic flow, and whose
departure boards are hidden like State secrets well away from view!

"Give up!"

Indeed, so appalling do I find the new St. Pancras interchange that I
will find ANY alternative changing arrangements when travelling North
next time. Surely this travesty of a station should be called Pancras
North or similar, and unsuspecting passengers who are so naive to
believe they can get from Underground to mainline train in less than 15
minutes should be warned of what they can expect.

Marc.

Yes, but is that really the reason behind this move to St. Pancras? I
thought it had something to do with the political goal of a high-speed
link for its own sake rather than there actually being a pressing need
for such. That, surely, must be the reason why all of St. Pancras'
domestic passengers have been given the two-finger salute as they
struggle alonng a dirty, narrow, unsafe and overcrowded passage that
was Pancras Road, to a station so badly designed that its escalators
actually face the wrong direction to the main traffic flow, and whose
departure boards are hidden like State secrets well away from view!

"Give up!"

Indeed, so appalling do I find the new St. Pancras interchange that I
will find ANY alternative changing arrangements when travelling North
next time. Surely this travesty of a station should be called Pancras
North or similar, and unsuspecting passengers who are so naive to
believe they can get from Underground to mainline train in less than 15
minutes should be warned of what they can expect.


The current arrangement is temporary.
When all the work is finished there will be direct indoor access from the
new tube station ticket halls to the main line station,
but you know this already.

How are the departure boards hidden? They are straight in front of you as
you walk in the main entrance.

And 15 minutes is plenty of time, even with luggage.
Seven minutes was my time today.

--
Peter

Peter Goodland,

Actually, I did not know that the present arrangements are temporary -
indeed the staff seem not to know that either since, when I asked one
of them, he agreed that this was a lamentable change and mentioned
nothing about it being temporary either!

The departure boards on the platform level is what I was referring to.
I did not even see any at the entrance as I came in - I was too busy
searching for the escalators!

Seven minutes is hardly something to boast about! Why should domestic
passengers have to be so inconvenienced (to say nothing of being denied
the use of one of London's finest Gothic buildings) at all?

Moreover, I'd suggest 7 minutes when going AGAINST the morning commuter
flow, as I invariably would be, is rather optimistic!

Marc.

wrote:
Peter Goodland,

Actually, I did not know that the present arrangements are temporary -
indeed the staff seem not to know that either since, when I asked one
of them, he agreed that this was a lamentable change and mentioned
nothing about it being temporary either!


snip

Seven minutes is hardly something to boast about! Why should domestic
passengers have to be so inconvenienced (to say nothing of being denied
the use of one of London's finest Gothic buildings) at all?


snip

The Midland Mainline platforms will be moving to the other side
(western) of the station and will still be a long way from the Euston
Road.
I think that the time taken to get to the tube will be substantially
shortened when the King's Cross northern ticket hall opens in 2009.
This will have extra access to most of the underground lines and will
also have access to the domestic platforms.
I can't immediately find an on-line plan showing this, but I think
there was a map in Modern Railways a few months ago though. Although,
there are some pictures showing the location of the new ticket hall
above ground on the tfl website.

whose departure boards are hidden like State secrets well away from view!

Left in taxis?