Stations which could be joined together to make a better large station

[Mikey C]

If you were linking them you could probably incorporate Barbican too.

Barbican is already directly linked in one direction with Farringdon Liz Line, which itself has an eastern station entrance very close to Barbican.

 

[Pdf]

Barbican and Farringdon EL are only directly connected by lift though, presumably because the street level interchange isn't step free or something.

 

[urbophile]

Moving the station from Central to Lime Street would have been worse for access to the city centre, though. So a lot of cost for not a huge amount of benefit, given the arrangement utilised the existing underground station at Central.

I did say you couldn't justify the expense. But the location of the 'city centre' depends more on psychology than geography, and Lime Street station is literally across the road for the main shopping district and actually no further from the newest part Liverpool One, than is Central. It's all about perception.
A Merseyrail station in the actual heart of the shopping district, at Paradise Street, was actually talked about some years ago. It would cost, but maybe not disproportionately considering the need to resolve overcrowding at Central.

 

[Basil Jet]

If the relocation of Fenchurch Street to Tower Gateway ever happens, I'd like to see some sort of travelator connection from Tower Gateway to Aldgate (Metropolitan).

 

[duffield]

It's definitely not feasible with current infrastructure, but I would love it if there was a direct link between Newark Castle and Newark Northgate. It's such a faff when changing here and the walking route is through lots of small side streets

It would also give Nottingham better connections north if changing at Newark was easier!

The walking route from Newark Castle and Northgate can be either via the side streets, or over the river and just turn left, straight down the main road till you get to the Northgate access road. I've measured and walked main road and side street routes recently and there's really nothing much in it time wise, and either way you still have to cross the main road. The route needs some bigger/more obvious signs though.

 

[MPW]

The redevelopment a few years back did improve the connection a bit, but you share the access road onto the South Circular with any cars/lorries that are using it. Originally, the development plan from Lewisham council did propose a central ticket office building in between the two stations, to be shared by both, but that got dropped in later iterations. Widening the plaza outside Sainsbury’s over the Ravensbourne to provide easier pedestrian access from Catford Bridge side entrance towards Catford would be a possibility, but there’s not much you could do beyond that without major reconstruction.

The industrial site (halfords) over the south circular from the stations will be redeveloped at some point. If deemed worthwhile that could be an opportunity to move the road south slightly to enable a single station plaza and combined ticket hall as mentioned by someone up thread, as well as improved space for cyclists. Basically to make it more of a human focused space rather than a queue of cars and make it feel like one station. It would also be a big improvement if bus connections were improved! Probably not space for a proper bus station but at least wider pavements at the bus stops and removing cycle conflict.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I did say you couldn't justify the expense. But the location of the 'city centre' depends more on psychology than geography, and Lime Street station is literally across the road for the main shopping district and actually no further from the newest part Liverpool One, than is Central. It's all about perception.
A Merseyrail station in the actual heart of the shopping district, at Paradise Street, was actually talked about some years ago. It would cost, but maybe not disproportionately considering the need to resolve overcrowding at Central.

Back when I was making regular journeys from Ormskirk to points South, I'd usually walk between Central and Lime Street rather than using the Wirral Line loop unless it was chucking it down. For accessing Liverpool One, I agree that Central "feels" closer... though James Street probably "feels" closer still. I suppose it depends where in the city centre you're heading to though. Last time I was in Liverpool, James Street felt psychologically like the best option for the Passport office for example, until I got there and realised Moorfields was nearer. Less convenient if coming from Lime Street due to the direction of the loop, but on the flipside it was better for getting back to Lime Street afterwards.

Getting back on topic but sticking with Merseyrail, I agree with the earlier suggestion that Walton and Rice Lane could be merged simply by giving them the same name. Though other than making interchange between Ormskirk and Kirkby services more obvious I'm not sure what "problem" it would solve.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Getting back on topic but sticking with Merseyrail, I agree with the earlier suggestion that Walton and Rice Lane could be merged simply by giving them the same name. Though other than making interchange between Ormskirk and Kirkby services more obvious I'm not sure what "problem" it would solve.

It would benefit people travelling in to Liverpool. And then only if there was some way to wait to choose the right platform for the next Liverpool train.

Anyone travelling back can already choose either a Kirkby or Ormskirk train for the earliest return. And anyone changing between the Kirkby and Ormskirk branches is catered for one stop further on at Kirkdale.

 

[leytongabriel]

I think promoting 'near-miss' stations like Forest Gate and Wanstead Park as interchange points is fair enough and a good low-cost help to passengers.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It would benefit people travelling in to Liverpool. And then only if there was some way to wait to choose the right platform for the next Liverpool train.

If the two sets of platforms were considered one station, a simple screen at the entrance would indicate which platform for the next Liverpool train. To be honest though I'm not sure it would be necessary- If I lived in the area and was travelling to Liverpool I'd look up both stations to see which had the next Liverpool train. Merging them would just mean I'd only have to look up one.

 

[Bartsimho]

The walking route from Newark Castle and Northgate can be either via the side streets, or over the river and just turn left, straight down the main road till you get to the Northgate access road. I've measured and walked main road and side street routes recently and there's really nothing much in it time wise, and either way you still have to cross the main road. The route needs some bigger/more obvious signs though.

The issue there is walking along the Trent at night as it is has a large volume. This could be helped by good lighting though and clear signposting

 

[Meerkat]

Dorking and Dorking Deepdene could do with having a more straightforward interchange.

The awkward issue is how sharply the Dorking to Horsham line diverges away from where Dorking Deepdene is sited.

There was a mad plan to build a footpath round the back - basically building a remote back alley to replace a quick walk along a wide footpath with plenty of traffic and other ‘overwatch’

It has often occurred to me that Warrington could have had a split level station like Tamworth

Isn’t Bank Quay going to become that if NPR/HS2 ever gets to Liverpool?

King's Cross-St Pancras is sort of integrated. Dropping the road into a tunnel to create a free-flow interchange plaza would have been nice, although I recognise there are good reasons why the Pedestrian tunnel was chosen instead

There’s a tunnel!?! Done that walk a few times and never realised!

It's definitely not feasible with current infrastructure, but I would love it if there was a direct link between Newark Castle and Newark Northgate. It's such a faff when changing here and the walking route is through lots of small side streets

It would also give Nottingham better connections north if changing at Newark was easier!

Where is your ambition!? I imagine moving Northgate north of the road and putting the Lincoln line over it with platforms on the flyover. Cost estimate and build ability? Errr…I’ll get back to you…..

 

[Thebaz]

Maybe they're a little far apart to create a single station, but I used to live in Leytonstone and thought that properly connecting the High Road station with the Underground station would have been a good idea. If you build south from the station car park there's plenty of room beyond the cess on the western flank to provide quite wide footpath. You could fairly easily shift the High Road station towards the A12 as the remnants of the originals platforms are still extant and could be refurbished.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Aug 2023 ==

The, ahem, Elephant in the room for London though is that one near the big roundabout that used to have a great shopping centre on top of it. Can't think of the name right now but I'm sure you know the one I mean . Connecting there is terrible, once you exit the Thameslink station you're on your own in the Wilds of Lambeth.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

There’s a tunnel!?! Done that walk a few times and never realised!

I think that refers to the now closed tunnel from the Midland city station ( the old King's Cross Thameslink ) to the tube station - from memory it comes out at the east end of the Piccadilly Line platforms.

 

[renegademaster]

Airport Style travelator between Penge East and West.

 

[D6130]

Gloucester Central and Gloucester Eastgate....oh wait - it's already been done!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It's often suggested that Burscough's two stations could be merged (or rather replaced with a new combined station) at the point where the Preston and Southport lines cross. Though it would mean that any service over a reopened south-west curve would have to skip Burscough entirely.

 

[Basil Jet]

I think that refers to the now closed tunnel from the Midland city station ( the old King's Cross Thameslink ) to the tube station - from memory it comes out at the east end of the Piccadilly Line platforms.

I think he means the tunnel visible here which is marked just as "Underground" at the St Pancras end.

 

[Magdalia]

There’s a tunnel!?! Done that walk a few times and never realised!

I think this refers to the tunnel under Pancras Road. It goes from the deep level tube lines northern concourse, under the new Kings Cross western concourse, coming up into the Circle concourse at St Pancras near to the lift to the Javelin platforms.

I think that refers to the now closed tunnel from the Midland city station ( the old King's Cross Thameslink ) to the tube station - from memory it comes out at the east end of the Piccadilly Line platforms.

But this was a thing, and, in its day, the Kings Cross equivalent of the secret passage from the lounge to the conservatory in Cluedo. It linked the eastern end of both Victoria and Piccadilly lines with the Midland City station.

 

[Basil Jet]

Airport Style travelator between Penge East and West.

For the number of interchangers involved, it's hard to justify hundreds of metres of moving steps and handrails. Wouldn't some sort of horizontal lift cabin be cheaper to build and run?

And although the distance from Penge East to Sydenham is about 250 metres further than the distance from Penge East to Penge West, Sydenham has about 6 times as many passengers as Penge West, and the land seems to be available to create a new entrance for Penge East across the road from Sydenham station. Sydenham obviously has more trains than Penge West too.

 

[Mikey C]

I think this refers to the tunnel under Pancras Road. It goes from the deep level tube lines northern concourse, under the new Kings Cross western concourse, coming up into the Circle concourse at St Pancras near to the lift to the Javelin platforms.

That tunnel is really only there to access the Underground though. I can't imagine anyone would actually use it to walk between STP and King's Cross, instead of just crossing the road (unless it was raining).

 

[PTR 444]

It's often suggested that Burscough's two stations could be merged (or rather replaced with a new combined station) at the point where the Preston and Southport lines cross. Though it would mean that any service over a reopened south-west curve would have to skip Burscough entirely.

I think a more likely scenario would be to reopen both Burscough curves, and relocate the terminating points of Merseyrail and Preston - Ormskirk north to Burscough Bridge. This would improve connectivity better than building a new Burscough station, and possibly even allow for extension of both services to Southport.

 

[davews]

Not mentioned yet, the obvious one is Waterloo and Waterloo East. They are already pretty integrated, with each displaying the other station's departures, and with a little extra work the rather long walk between them could be shortened - travelator? They could even call them both Waterloo...

 

[zwk500]

I think this refers to the tunnel under Pancras Road. It goes from the deep level tube lines northern concourse, under the new Kings Cross western concourse, coming up into the Circle concourse at St Pancras near to the lift to the Javelin platforms.

Yes, this one

But this was a thing, and, in its day, the Kings Cross equivalent of the secret passage from the lounge to the conservatory in Cluedo. It linked the eastern end of both Victoria and Piccadilly lines with the Midland City station.

I'm not old enough to know about this one.

 

[The Ham]

Maybe not exactly in the spirit of this thread as it involves closing a station, but one idea I’ve had is to close Farnborough North and replace it with two new stations on the North Downs Line. A ‘Frimley Interchange’ located just north of the Blackwater Shopping Park with a footbridge over the A331 to the existing Frimley station, and a ‘Farnborough Interchange’ where the NDL crosses the SWML to provide an interchange between both these lines.

There's certainly options for this area to create better interchanges between lines.

Frimley/Blackwater Shopping Park (Farnborough Gate as it was called originally) would be a good one, there's a lot of demand created by the Sixth Form College and that would be marginally closer.

Another option would be to create a grade separated junction to allow a Basingstoke/Ascot service to connect Farnborough Main with Frimley, which would then connect the three lines which currently are very disconnected.

I did even consider a single station, but it would be quite a way away from the existing stations and key locations.

 

[Kingston Dan]

While we're there we could connect Upper Tyndrum and Tyndrum Lower with a short funicular.

Beat me to it!

 

[AY1975]

St Johns and Lewisham

By closing St Johns tbh

A bit like they did with Eltham Well Hall and Eltham Park in about the mid-1980s, I suppose, although there they also slightly realigned the track.

Another example that no-one has mentioned so far is Putney (National Rail) and East Putney (LU District Line). They could close the existing Putney station and replace it with a new interchange station where the District Line crosses over the Windsor Lines, but that would be less convenient for Putney High Street. For many years there has been talk of creating a second entrance to Putney station off the Upper Richmond Road or Oxford Road, which would make interchange between the two stations more convenient, but so far nothing has ever come of it.

 

[class ep-09]

Worcester Shrub Hill and Worcester Foregate Street - ideally both to be merged in to one new station in the enlarged “triangle” where London Middlands depot is. That way all lines would be in one location ( Shrub Hill - Gt Malvern , Gt Malvern - Droitwich , Shrub Hill - Droitwich ).
Shrub Hill and its numerous sidings could the be made as a depot for both GWR and London Middlands ( it is already a stabling point for number of units anyway).

 

[The Planner]

Worcester Shrub Hill and Worcester Foregate Street - ideally both to be merged in to one new station in the enlarged “triangle” where London Middlands depot is. That way all lines would be in one location ( Shrub Hill - Gt Malvern , Gt Malvern - Droitwich , Shrub Hill - Droitwich ).
Shrub Hill and its numerous sidings could the be made as a depot for both GWR and London Middlands ( it is already a stabling point for number of units anyway).

That would move it even further away from the centre.

 

[urbophile]

A bit like they did with Eltham Well Hall and Eltham Park in about the mid-1980s, I suppose, although there they also slightly realigned the track.

Another example that no-one has mentioned so far is Putney (National Rail) and East Putney (LU District Line). They could close the existing Putney station and replace it with a new interchange station where the District Line crosses over the Windsor Lines, but that would be less convenient for Putney High Street. For many years there has been talk of creating a second entrance to Putney station off the Upper Richmond Road or Oxford Road, which would make interchange between the two stations more convenient, but so far nothing has ever come of it.

There might have been an opportunity for that 20+ years ago when East Putney was under BR control and underwent some major refurbishment. Not major enough perhaps.