Alterations in February

Work actually starts next weekend and the altered service applies Mon 25th Jan to Fri 5th Feb for platform 1 and then again from Mon 8th Feb to Fri 19th Feb for platform 4.

Offpeak Amershams start/finish at Wembley Park with the Watford service using the bay that is still available. Uxbridge service unaffected.

Peak Uxbridge service reduced by 1 train every 16 minutes with a corresponding Watford fast making the stops. The through city service generally unaffected.

4 less trains required in service, all being interpeak stablers.

Edit: The second fortnight should have said platform 4 blocked with platform 3 non stopped.

Yes, but without the facility to reverse south to north from platform 3 - which means in the event of a shutdown in the city, any train already in platform 3 will have to stay there until things begin to move (or will have to shunt via the outer-rail shunt to the east of the station).

This is being communicated as a "temporary" new layout, but given the scale of the track alterations surrounding the extended platforms, I doubt the pointwork to enable the reversing move will ever be re-instated.

There are quite a few trains that use platform 3 to reverse North at the end of service if I remember. These are mostly Wembleys, but I think the last Chesham leaves platform 3 Mon-Fri? Can the other platforms cope?

Ah, so it's less of a problem then, however, in times of disruption it's still good to reverse from platform 3, especially if there is a problem in the City and Uxbridge trains are still pouring out through platform two!

That's interesting. Went to Baker Street today to take a couple of pictures of plats 1/2 across from 3/4, which I did.

With the service in total disarray at midday time (earlier signal failure at Barbican with Met City service suspended, followed by a fire alert Finchley Road - Baker Street and thus no service south of Wembley Park), there was a train in platform 3 that was waiting to reverse, which it eventually did (not "scheduled" of course since the 13/12/09 WTT). I thought a photo of this leaving might have been "one of the last [unscheduled] platform 3 reversers" but if the work has been delayed as suggested, then it might not be "one of the last" after all. Never mind !

The works were very slightly over-running, and could have been completed with all guns blazing. However, the aforementioned industrial action has put the mockers on quite a bit of engineering work this weekend, including the completion of platform 1.

The rescheduling needed to allow the works to begin on platforms 3 & 4 (not least a road closure outside the station) may mean it is several weeks before the planned closure of these platforms can be carried out.

Yes - and it will stay that way for at least this week.

And as I was the controller who would have allowed the withdrawal of one possession and the introduction of another, I should know ;D

From looking on the CCTV, platform 1 is near completion (it was being swept, mopped and polished last night ;D ) and I think the only thing holding things up now is installation of platform end barriers and the official "signing off" of the works.

There have been the usual rumours kicking around. Like the classic "Trains can't use it as the platform has been built wrong" but these, as far as I know, are a figment of someone's imagination. If it was wrong, then why they spent time putting some current rail back would seem a very silly move if they've got to start all over again.

So confirmed (on my way back from photting the 72ts movement from Stonebridge Park to Ealing Common depots).

The planned weekend possession at Baker Street has been cancelled. Unfortunately there was insufficient notice to allow the full Met weekend service to be re-instated and thus the planned temporary timetable will operate instead. However it has been determined that there was just enough turn around time in this timetable for the trains from Watford and Uxbridge to be extended to Baker Street and return north to pick up their booked workings. This will be done on an ad-hoc basis on the day and it is therefore impossible to say with certainty which platforms will be used at Baker St for reversing except that they will definitely not be using platform 1 as this remains out of use and will continue to be so next week as well, meaning that the current weekday alterations will continue.

Thanks, Harsig, a decent chance of my required crossover into platform 2 then, as I should imagine that with with both Watfords and Uxbridges running into Baker St, 2 platforms will be required.
Thanks LNWR electric for the clarification on bay closures.