Greenford
 

I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have thought
all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

Hoarding hid the down escalator. The Station Supervisor told me a lift
was being put in for step-free access.

Following this, I was surprised to read in Thursday's standard that
step-free access at Greenford is to be deferred - possibly sine die ;)

I left by the First Great Western (FGW) service to Paddington which runs
at 16 and 46 minutes past the hour. It takes 26 minutes for 9 miles.
Is this the slowest rail service in London?
Just for fun, a misplaced bag at Ealing Broadway cost 5 minutes.

I found it interesting to see that FGW had much less PA there was than
there is on Underground lines other than the Metropolitan. i.e. The only
announcement reported the bag problem.
--
Walter Briscoe

Greenford
 

On 17 Oct, 09:46, Walter Briscoe wrote:
I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have thought
all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

Hoarding hid the down escalator. The Station Supervisor told me a lift
was being put in for step-free access.

Following this, I was surprised to read in Thursday's standard that
step-free access at Greenford is to be deferred - possibly sine die ;)

I left by the First Great Western (FGW) service to Paddington which runs
at 16 and 46 minutes past the hour. It takes 26 minutes for 9 miles.
Is this the slowest rail service in London?
Just for fun, a misplaced bag at Ealing Broadway cost 5 minutes.


Some evening services take 28 minutes from Victoria to Lewisham (less
than 8 miles), but then they continue at a higher speed, so I spose it
doesn't count.

This is presumably because a slot out of Victoria doesn't line up with
a slot into Lewisham, and they park for a very long time after
Nunhead.



I found it interesting to see that FGW had much less PA there was than
there is on Underground lines other than the Metropolitan. i.e. The only
announcement reported the bag problem.
--
Walter Briscoe

Greenford
 

"Walter Briscoe" wrote in message

I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have
thought all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

It's because it's an open air station, not underground. Very unusually
for an "Underground" station, the escalator takes you up to viaduct
level, and the platforms are in the open air, so there's no real fire
risk.

Alperton had a similar escalator, disused since 1988, to the east
(south) bound platform. I can't remember what steps it had, but presume
that they also had wooden treads.

Greenford
 

Walter Briscoe wrote:
I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have thought
all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

I noticed that as well a few years back.

I left by the First Great Western (FGW) service to Paddington which runs
at 16 and 46 minutes past the hour. It takes 26 minutes for 9 miles.
Is this the slowest rail service in London?
Just for fun, a misplaced bag at Ealing Broadway cost 5 minutes.

How'd you like the semaphore signals?

Greenford
 

On Oct 17, 9:46*am, Walter Briscoe
wrote:
I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have thought
all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

Marylebone still had one as late as about 2004, though I recall it's
gone now. It was a bit of a shame to see it go, really, as it had
character. I assume it must have been treated in some way to reduce
the fire risk, though I suppose the top of it opened out into the
mainline station so the same sort of fire had less risk of occurring.

Neil

Greenford
 

On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:46:30 +0100, Walter Briscoe wrote:

I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have thought
all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

Hoarding hid the down escalator. The Station Supervisor told me a lift
was being put in for step-free access.

I've only been there a couple of times, but I don't remember there
being a down escalator - wasn't there only ever one escalator there?

Greenford
 

asdf wrote on 19 October 2009 00:05:50 ...
On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:46:30 +0100, Walter Briscoe wrote:

I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have thought
all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

Hoarding hid the down escalator. The Station Supervisor told me a lift
was being put in for step-free access.

I've only been there a couple of times, but I don't remember there
being a down escalator - wasn't there only ever one escalator there?

Clive Feather's site lists two staircases and one escalator. However,
various photos show that the escalator is numbered '3', and in the photo
at http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035804249@N01/6152259 the adjacent
staircase is numbered '2' and looks as if it has been adapted from a
former escalator shaft. So perhaps there were originally 3 escalators.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Greenford
 

In article ,
(Richard J.) wrote:

asdf wrote on 19 October 2009 00:05:50 ...
On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:46:30 +0100, Walter Briscoe wrote:

I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have
thought all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

Hoarding hid the down escalator. The Station Supervisor told me a
lift was being put in for step-free access.

I've only been there a couple of times, but I don't remember there
being a down escalator - wasn't there only ever one escalator
there?

Clive Feather's site lists two staircases and one escalator.
However, various photos show that the escalator is numbered '3',
and in the photo at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035804249@N01/6152259 the adjacent
staircase is numbered '2' and looks as if it has been adapted from
a former escalator shaft. So perhaps there were originally 3
escalators.

Provision for 3 maybe but there has only ever been one.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Greenford
 

On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:23:13 +0100, Recliner wrote:

"Walter Briscoe" wrote in message

I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have
thought all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

It's because it's an open air station, not underground. Very unusually
for an "Underground" station, the escalator takes you up to viaduct
level, and the platforms are in the open air, so there's no real fire
risk.

Are there plans for the Greenford escalator to be removed or modernized
any time soon? (I hope it waits at least until my next visit to London.)
--
David of Broadway
New York, NY, USA

Greenford
 

In message of Tue, 20 Oct 2009
00:38:26 in uk.transport.london, David of Broadway
writes
On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:23:13 +0100, Recliner wrote:

"Walter Briscoe" wrote in message

I visited this outer London station on Tuesday - before Boris's fares
and improvement budget announcement on Thursday.

I was surprised to see a wood-slatted up escalator. I would have
thought all these have gone since the King's Cross fire.

It's because it's an open air station, not underground. Very unusually
for an "Underground" station, the escalator takes you up to viaduct
level, and the platforms are in the open air, so there's no real fire
risk.

Are there plans for the Greenford escalator to be removed or modernized
any time soon? (I hope it waits at least until my next visit to London.)

I 'phoned LU Customer Services on 0845 330 9880 and took option 3 to
speak to an agent, who turned out to be Niall. He checked with the
Station Manager and reported there are no plans to replace it.
I don't know if +44 845 330 9880 would work for you. 844 is a peculiar
area code within the UK numbering plan and may not be internationally
accessible.

I believe I was wrong in inferring that hoarding hides a second
escalator at Greenford. I also believe that an MIP facility is to be
provided. (Today, I noticed MIP Lift 3 at King's Cross and infer this
TLA stands for Mobility Impaired Person.)

http://directenquiries.com/stationdi...+Detail&Title=
Ticket+Hall+to+Central+Westbound+(Platform+1)&fid= 0135-0028016&did=0135-
0012594%2b0135-0028008_H2P&level=3 shows two staircases and an up
escalator. It seems the outer stairs are being replaced with than MIP
facility.
--
Walter Briscoe