Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

What's going on with the work at Kings Cross for the H&C, Met & Circle
lines? Is there anyone overseeing the work as it progresses?

Apart from the slow gates that ensure nice long queues in the rush
hours (sorry Paul C, but they are not up to the task, at least at the
moment), it seems that both sets of stairs are now marked 'way out'
from the platform. As you might imagine, when a train arrives in the
peak periods on either platform - the stairs become a battle ground.

Think of the old stairs, when there were signs/indicators to show which
section you could use (two down, one up and swapped). Sure some people
ignored it, but imagine having NO such guidance! Carnage.

And it seems that if you're going towards Farringdon then the wording
on the walls will tell passengers you are at Kings Cross, only. The
signs also have Eurostar on them!! Are they ahead of schedule for
opening this?

On the other side, going towards Euston Square, it's St Pancras, only.
Yes, the Underground logos are the wall (with Kings Cross St Pancras
marked) but is there any reason for having only half the name on each
platform? My guess is that they're slightly different sizes and half
the signs didn't arrive/were damaged or whatever, but why not wait
until everything can be done at once?

One more question; will there be any form of ventilation when the
station is renovated? At the moment there are some rooms/offices
inbetween the two sets of stairs with air conditioning units that blast
out huge amounts of hot air. In effect, the platforms have their own
fan heaters in operation. You can feel the heat the minute you get to
the bottom of the stairs and on to the platform.

Apart from that, everything is just fine! When the signs upstairs start
showing arrival/departure times for the lines, I'll be particularly
happy. When you walk down at 0830 to see 'delayed' or 15 minutes
showing, it's a right PITA to walk back up and out to get a bus. I also
think that it's going to look very nice when finished, even if the
platforms will actually have less space on them than they did before.

Jonathan

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

jonmorris wrote:
What's going on with the work at Kings Cross for the H&C, Met & Circle
lines? Is there anyone overseeing the work as it progresses?

Apart from the slow gates that ensure nice long queues in the rush
hours (sorry Paul C, but they are not up to the task, at least at the
moment), it seems that both sets of stairs are now marked 'way out'
from the platform. As you might imagine, when a train arrives in the
peak periods on either platform - the stairs become a battle ground.

Have you tried telling the staff at the station?

The
signs also have Eurostar on them!! Are they ahead of schedule for
opening this?

No.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

jonmorris wrote:
Apart from the slow gates that ensure nice long queues in the rush
hours (sorry Paul C, but they are not up to the task, at least at the
moment), it seems that both sets of stairs are now marked 'way out'
from the platform. As you might imagine, when a train arrives in the
peak periods on either platform - the stairs become a battle ground.
I would imagine that the situation will improve a bit once the
'paid-area' link between the sub-surface and deep-level lines opens
later this year.
And it seems that if you're going towards Farringdon then the wording
on the walls will tell passengers you are at Kings Cross, only.
On the other side, going towards Euston Square, it's St Pancras, only.
Yes, the Underground logos are the wall (with Kings Cross St Pancras
marked) but is there any reason for having only half the name on each
platform?
Beats me. I wonder if anyone else had noticed that.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

By the way, you might like to know that because of the fit-out works
going on in what will be called St Pancras Thameslink, Midland Road will
remain shut until March 2007, and even then it will open only to limited
pedestrian and vehicular traffic until the arrival of Eurostar.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:44:07 -0700, jonmorris wrote:
Apart from that, everything is just fine! When the signs upstairs start
showing arrival/departure times for the lines, I'll be particularly happy.
When you walk down at 0830 to see 'delayed' or 15 minutes showing, it's a
right PITA to walk back up and out to get a bus.

I've never seen that at any Tube station. Putting arrival times displays
in the concourse would result in impatient idiots bolting down the stairs
when it shows "1 minute" for their desired train. It would be a safety
nightmare. Think of how people speed up on the escalators now when they
hear a train arriving at a platform at the bottom.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

John Hearns wrote:

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:44:07 -0700, jonmorris wrote:

Apart from that, everything is just fine! When the signs upstairs start
showing arrival/departure times for the lines, I'll be particularly happy.
When you walk down at 0830 to see 'delayed' or 15 minutes showing, it's a
right PITA to walk back up and out to get a bus.


I've never seen that at any Tube station. Putting arrival times displays
in the concourse would result in impatient idiots bolting down the stairs
when it shows "1 minute" for their desired train. It would be a safety
nightmare. Think of how people speed up on the escalators now when they
hear a train arriving at a platform at the bottom.

Didn't they used to do that at one of the Clapham tubes so people could
wait upstairs ?

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:48:20 +0100, John Hearns
wrote:

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:44:07 -0700, jonmorris wrote:
Apart from that, everything is just fine! When the signs upstairs start
showing arrival/departure times for the lines, I'll be particularly happy.
When you walk down at 0830 to see 'delayed' or 15 minutes showing, it's a
right PITA to walk back up and out to get a bus.

I've never seen that at any Tube station. Putting arrival times displays
in the concourse would result in impatient idiots bolting down the stairs
when it shows "1 minute" for their desired train. It would be a safety
nightmare. Think of how people speed up on the escalators now when they
hear a train arriving at a platform at the bottom.

They have it at some stations on the southern end of the Northern
line, and have recently installed one at GPS. The latter seems to be a
minute or so ahead of the platform dot matrix, thus assuring that if
it says "1 min" you need not hurry to get the train.

--
James Farrar
. @gmail.com

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 11:17:23 +0100, James Farrar wrote:



They have it at some stations on the southern end of the Northern line,
and have recently installed one at GPS.
I stand corrected.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

John Hearns wrote:

They have it at some stations on the southern end of the Northern line,
and have recently installed one at GPS.
I stand corrected.

Also Swiss Cottage. I think it's standard for newly-renovated stations.
Do they have one at Queensway?

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On 21 Sep 2006 03:38:26 -0700, "John B" wrote:

John Hearns wrote:

They have it at some stations on the southern end of the Northern line,
and have recently installed one at GPS.
I stand corrected.

Also Swiss Cottage. I think it's standard for newly-renovated stations.

Correct - it is.

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:48:20 +0100, John Hearns
wrote:

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:44:07 -0700, jonmorris wrote:
Apart from that, everything is just fine! When the signs upstairs start
showing arrival/departure times for the lines, I'll be particularly happy.
When you walk down at 0830 to see 'delayed' or 15 minutes showing, it's a
right PITA to walk back up and out to get a bus.

I've never seen that at any Tube station. Putting arrival times displays
in the concourse would result in impatient idiots bolting down the stairs
when it shows "1 minute" for their desired train. It would be a safety
nightmare. Think of how people speed up on the escalators now when they
hear a train arriving at a platform at the bottom.

All they need to do is not show any sub-1-or-2-minute trains on the
"distant" display. People arriving and seeing they have 3 minutes to
get to the platform will not rush. People arriving one minute later
will not see that train so won't rush for it, but will see the later
trains on their way.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

John Rowland wrote:
Have you tried telling the staff at the station?

No. Who should I ask? Gate staff? Anyone at the ticket office? The
announcer on the platform? A PCSO standing outside?

Seriously, I doubt I'd get much response (I did notice today that some
Eurostar logos are covered up, so maybe they ran out of labels and
couldn't use paper/tape for the rest). To be honest, I'm never hanging
around at the station (partly because it's so hot) which is why I
commented on here as there are some very knowledgeable people, like
Paul C, who will hopefully explain.

The signs also have Eurostar on them!! Are they ahead of schedule for
opening this?
No.

I wasn't serious. Even though I often see some big changes every Monday
morning, the CTRL doesn't look very finished yet. :)

Jonathan

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:59:20 +0100, matt
wrote:


I've never seen that at any Tube station. Putting arrival times displays
in the concourse would result in impatient idiots bolting down the stairs
when it shows "1 minute" for their desired train. It would be a safety
nightmare. Think of how people speed up on the escalators now when they
hear a train arriving at a platform at the bottom.

Didn't they used to do that at one of the Clapham tubes so people could
wait upstairs ?

Oakwood used to have an illuminated 'Train Coming' sign OUTSIDE the
station, I assumed to tell buses to wait for the passengers.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

Sky Rider wrote:
I would imagine that the situation will improve a bit once the
'paid-area' link between the sub-surface and deep-level lines opens
later this year.

Is there an exact date available for that?

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

Ken wrote:

Oakwood used to have an illuminated 'Train Coming' sign OUTSIDE the
station, I assumed to tell buses to wait for the passengers.

Yes, but only for trains FROM london, so not much use to passengers.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006, Sky Rider wrote:

By the way, you might like to know that because of the fit-out works
going on in what will be called St Pancras Thameslink, Midland Road will
remain shut until March 2007, and even then it will open only to limited
pedestrian and vehicular traffic until the arrival of Eurostar.

Well, here's to another few months of illegal right-hand turns then!

tom

--
It's almost over now.

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On 20 Sep 2006 16:44:07 -0700, "jonmorris" wrote:

What's going on with the work at Kings Cross for the H&C, Met & Circle
lines? Is there anyone overseeing the work as it progresses?

Apart from the slow gates that ensure nice long queues in the rush
hours (sorry Paul C, but they are not up to the task, at least at the
moment), it seems that both sets of stairs are now marked 'way out'
from the platform. As you might imagine, when a train arrives in the
peak periods on either platform - the stairs become a battle ground.

As you acknowledge the gates are taking far more demand that they will
when the tube interchange traffic is rerouted.

Think of the old stairs, when there were signs/indicators to show which
section you could use (two down, one up and swapped). Sure some people
ignored it, but imagine having NO such guidance! Carnage.

And it seems that if you're going towards Farringdon then the wording
on the walls will tell passengers you are at Kings Cross, only. The
signs also have Eurostar on them!! Are they ahead of schedule for
opening this?

On the other side, going towards Euston Square, it's St Pancras, only.
Yes, the Underground logos are the wall (with Kings Cross St Pancras
marked) but is there any reason for having only half the name on each
platform? My guess is that they're slightly different sizes and half
the signs didn't arrive/were damaged or whatever, but why not wait
until everything can be done at once?

I think my main comment is that the place is still demonstrably "under
construction" and therefore signage may well appear showing things that
are correct for the end state but not now. It is also possible - and I
don't know because I'm not involved with the project - that things are
moving relatively quickly which may mean that any temporary signing is
struggling to keep up.

One more question; will there be any form of ventilation when the
station is renovated? At the moment there are some rooms/offices
inbetween the two sets of stairs with air conditioning units that blast
out huge amounts of hot air. In effect, the platforms have their own
fan heaters in operation. You can feel the heat the minute you get to
the bottom of the stairs and on to the platform.

No idea about this I'm afraid.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

Paul Corfield wrote:
On 21 Sep 2006 03:38:26 -0700, "John B" wrote:

John Hearns wrote:
They have it at some stations on the southern end of the Northern line,
and have recently installed one at GPS.
I stand corrected.
Also Swiss Cottage. I think it's standard for newly-renovated stations.

Correct - it is.

There's also one at London Bridge for both the Jubilee and Northern lines.

I've noticed that the electronic delay information displays are becoming
more widespread - very useful. Embankment now has a huge (projected?)
one hanging on the wall behind the ticket gates!

--
Dave Arquati
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Sat, 23 Sep 2006 12:36:28 +0100, Dave Arquati
wrote:

Paul Corfield wrote:
On 21 Sep 2006 03:38:26 -0700, "John B" wrote:

John Hearns wrote:
They have it at some stations on the southern end of the Northern line,
and have recently installed one at GPS.
I stand corrected.
Also Swiss Cottage. I think it's standard for newly-renovated stations.

Correct - it is.

There's also one at London Bridge for both the Jubilee and Northern lines.

I've noticed that the electronic delay information displays are becoming
more widespread - very useful. Embankment now has a huge (projected?)
one hanging on the wall behind the ticket gates!

They are part of the spec for all mods and refurbs. They are obviously
driven off the back of the signalling system and the information levels
will improve as signalling and control systems are replaced as part of
line upgrades.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Kings Cross or St Pancras? Eurostar started already?
 

On Sat, 23 Sep 2006 12:36:28 +0100, Dave Arquati
wrote:

Paul Corfield wrote:
On 21 Sep 2006 03:38:26 -0700, "John B" wrote:

John Hearns wrote:
They have it at some stations on the southern end of the Northern line,
and have recently installed one at GPS.
I stand corrected.
Also Swiss Cottage. I think it's standard for newly-renovated stations.

Correct - it is.

There's also one at London Bridge for both the Jubilee and Northern lines.

I was at H4 today, and spotted one listing the next four trains - each
one due to arrive in "2 min"!

--
James Farrar
. @gmail.com