Shephard bush station

Yup, A'dam CS is a disaster when speaking of this. However, stations like Bijlmer ArenA have an extra-wide ticket gate before the elevator.

As it would cost so much to dig a new lift shaft at Shepherd's Bush, perhaps in the short-term step free access could be more easily provided at White City? Its next to the western side of Westfield's shopping centre, opposite the BBC and of course has interchange with the already step free accessable station at Wood Lane. Shepherd's Bush itself isn't too far away either.

It seems a shame that the old CLR building was pulled down only for the station to open with no step free access anyway. The old building was actually quite spacious inside and with some re-modelling and refurbishing it could have been made fit for purpose for the slightly increased demand since 2009.

The escalators have always faced that way, maybe the awkward direction is because the escalators were installed to replace lifts. I don't have vivid memories of the old station, but it would not have been able to fit the much-needed wide gateline now in place.

I don't see the point of spending money on step-free access at Shepherd's Bush over White City, the latter has far better interchange options including a very frequent bus service to the former.

Are those tram tracks in the second image!

That second image showing the side view / cross section is really interesting - there seem to be two proposed shafts with staircases in them.
Where would these two shafts reach the surface, and was either shaft completed?
Why were two staircase shafts necessary, and which shaft had the lifts in it?
I tried looking at the plan view, but either I couldn't understand it or it does not show the two proposed shafts.

Queensway and Holland Park are now the sole examples of original CLR street level buildings operational on LU (with the miniscule remnant at Tottenham Ct. Rd that will be gone soon) I agree that some period features were been lost in the ticket office area in the 80's but I just think more could have been to save the facade and shell possibly with re-modelling and using that extra space by the escalators.

The new SHB is airy and brighter in comparison but at the same time its brutal and soulless. Just a square box fashioned from a load of metal sheeting and glass, not very imaginative and doesn’t have any character. Then again I suppose that’s ideal for blending in with its rather large neighbour.

To my eye the image appears to show 3 lifts - one from the Central line ticket hall to the level at the bottom of the escalators, where the pedestrian tunnel is extended Eastwards above the platforms, another from this extended tunnel to platform level, and a third from the other end of the extended tunnel directly into the London Overground station, or perhaps the area immediately to the South of it. This would appear to be to achieve step-free interchange with the Overground station. The size of the shafts would seem to allow them to contain both the lifts and stairs (or maybe more escalators). Given the heavy usage the two escalators at Shepherds Bush are now experiencing, this isn't such a ridiculous idea.

But the CLR and BS&WR weren't in competition - they run at right-angles at Oxford Circus. They were separate companies, so built separate buildings. Do you complain when Starbucks and Costa open in separate buildings, rather than sharing?

Both buildings had lifts down to their respective lines. The CLR could have offered to modify its station to accommodate the BS&WR when that opened 6 years later, but it would not have benefited the CLR (more congested station and inconvenience for its passengers). More lifts would have been required anyhow, so the building would have needed to expand. So we ended up with two buildings across the street, rather than one building. Hardly a major problem, especially as the companies did cooperate in providing low-level interchange.

Not a waste, just an historical quirk. It's good that they've both survived.

Yes - the entrance/ticket hall underneath Oxford Circus itself was built in the 1960s in conjunction with the Victoria Line. The old entrances are now used for exit only.

Whatever happened to that new shaft? Wasn't it meant to link up with the Overground ticket hall?

The thing I never understood about it, though, was why it went to the existing central line platform concourse, and not to the east end of the platforms.

There's some sort of fenced-off bridge there, right at the end, that goes up and into the north wall of the tunnel, over the line - couldn't they turn that into an entrance, or at least a MIP lift?

I couldn't agree more!!! I really don't understand why modern architects are so set against pastiché or immitation. Instead even modest extensions to existing vintage buildings seemingly must be glass-and-steel, the excuse being it compliments it by contrasting the historic character within a contemporary frame and environment. Well thats bull! It happens because of lazy, sycophantic egotism; because ever since Le Corbusier (and later the brutalists) dictated that building design should be about how society should function in regard to buildings instead of the reverse, nobody cares about what people might actually enjoy or find reassuring aesthetically. Its all about what people are told that they should appreciate aesthetically by the designers, and thats mostly influenced by what the designers are educated to appreciate.

Case and point being Camden Town's redevelopment. Look at these pictures of whats previously been proposed for the block:

www.alwaystouchout.com/img/projects/camdentown3.jpg
www.alwaystouchout.com/img/projects/camdentown1.jpg

Ghastly and soulless. Touted as being a 'landmark' building, there seems to be no discernable difference between this and ten thousand other buildings like it the world over. Would Tower Bridge be such a landmark if there were over a hundred within the M25 at various scales? I doubt it. Now combine that with cheap finishes ("Look, its concrete and exposed steel 'I' beams! Isn't that terrifically marvelous and modern"), and it becomes even less. St Pancras Station still looked impressive, powerful and grand even after decades of neglect and dirt, and in the foulest of British weather. What does the South Bank centre look like on a bleak April morning in the rain, covered in grime and soot?

If they wanted to push a development through on the site, take the most memorable facades there already and change the sizes/scales/repetition to suit the number of floors they want to build to. We have technology and materials now that architects from eras past could only dream of. Why should anyone feel ashamed of realising those dreams if people aren't willing to merely settle for somthing bland-yet-favoured by developers?

Tourists don't come to London to see the skyscrapers, they come to visit it for its individual character and its history. Westminster Palace, the Globe, Buckingham Palace, St Pauls...

[/rant]

In Video 125's "Central", the narrator says there's 4 pumps there, dealing with an underground stream nearby - is that correct?

Couldn't that be turned into a lift, with suitable walls, rather than just railings.

Or do you mean the actual hole in the wall is narrow? Is there any reason it couldn't be widened?


But that space at the east end, where there isn't a wall between the platforms, couldn't a lift be shoved against the end of the wall? There's a lift (not in use yet) at Tottenham Court Road, shoved between platform walls - I know the walls were moved to fit it in, but the width it actually takes still doesn't seem that much?

From recollection the two platform tunnels are very close together and the platforms narrow. This created a particular problem with the circulating area around the base of the stairs which led to the Eastbound platform. As people tend to congregate at this spot.

At TCR on the Northern there was sufficient space to install a single escalator between the two platform tunnels, but at Shepherds Bush I would doubt it would be possible to install lifts without further compromising the width of the platform.

At the London end of the platforms (where the platforms were extended for 8 car trains), the platform barrels are so close that the extension was created by installing an island platform. Again this continues to taper down towards the platform ramp where the access to the fan shaft is.

It’s quite an eerie staircase to use when a westbound train is arriving. Because although your in a segregated cage, the train seems to pass quite close to the staircase. You also get blown all over the place! So on that basis I would suspect it would not be a good spot to install a lift.

However if you stand on the west-end of the Eastbound platform, you will notice the openings in the ceiling for the air to flow. Unlike the one at the east-end of the platform this links to the old lift shafts near the escalators. And they are at roughly the same diameter as a normal passageway. This passageway is clearly visible if you use the emergency staircase. Perhaps this could be used with a bridge to link over to the platform at some point.
But I would imagine that LUL would have considered all this anyway, and perhaps other engineering constraints prevent this happening.

Regarding the water seepage, I seem to recall that it was worse in the Westbound running tunnel. This is a fairly tight curve which runs under part of Caxton Road. This was the original tunnel into the CLR depot at White City/Wood Lane. The eastbound tunnel was a later addition when the line was extended to Wood Lane. In the westbound tunnel there is a small channel had been created to direct the water towards the pumps at Shepherds Bush. The water seepage is constant throughout the year. However on a couple of occasions the pumps failed and the pits in the station started to fill with water. Despite efforts to stop the seepage by grouting the tunnels the water continued relentless.

I also heard some comments that as a result of the decline of underground water extraction (partly as a result of the loss of industry who relied on underground wells), the water table has risen over the last 100 years. Which means that it probably cheaper to accept it as part of life and pump it away.

Adjacent to Westbound tracks in the old White City Depot was a large well (or perhaps more accurately a sump) which collected water from the tunnels before extracting it into the local sewers. I had the chance to go in there once and it’s not a visit I would like to repeat! It was warm and very humid. We stood over the sump on a kind of metal honeycomb surface. Below us you could hear the sound of rushing water and the noise from the pumps. Although I was with a pump engineer I was quite happy to get out.