Extending the Northern Line to Clapham Junction

[Ex LT]

Just wondering if anyone knows why the platforms are so deep 2 flights of escalators from ticket hall down.

 

[bramling]

Just wondering if anyone knows why the platforms are so deep 2 flights of escalators from ticket hall down.

I seem to recall reading that the stations are 20-25 metres below ground, which is fairly typical for Tube stations. Now the stations are both “box” construction, but the running tunnels are all deep Tube.

The depth at the Kennington end would of course be dictated by the older Northern Line tunnels (which one of the new tunnels crosses). The fact that the extension doesn’t then rise to a shallower depth once clear of Kennington suggests that there was reason for keeping the tunnels at a reasonable depth. Presumably simply meant less issues with encountering foundations or other buried services, especially as the extension doesn’t follow the line of public roads like very early Tube lines tended to.

I don’t think any attempt has been made to provide gradients either side of the stations to assist braking and acceleration.

 

[starlight73]

If this old TfL document is correct, Battersea Power Station was designed so the line could reach Clapham Junction in the future:

The current proposal is to extend the Northern line as far as Battersea only, but designed in such a way that would allow for a possible further extension in the future. There is currently no proposal to extend beyond Battersea and any proposal to do so would be subject to a separate assessment.

I don’t think any attempt has been made to provide gradients either side of the stations to assist braking and acceleration.

I read somewhere that the current timetable on one ATO line (Central?) is so demanding that trains keep motoring into the platform - they can’t use the gradient to slow down anymore. This might have been on District Dave’s forum, I can’t remember!

 

[Ex LT]

I seem to recall reading that the stations are 20-25 metres below ground, which is fairly typical for Tube stations. Now the stations are both “box” construction, but the running tunnels are all deep Tube.

The depth at the Kennington end would of course be dictated by the older Northern Line tunnels (which one of the new tunnels crosses). The fact that the extension doesn’t then rise to a shallower depth once clear of Kennington suggests that there was reason for keeping the tunnels at a reasonable depth. Presumably simply meant less issues with encountering foundations or other buried services, especially as the extension doesn’t follow the line of public roads like very early Tube lines tended to.

I don’t think any attempt has been made to provide gradients either side of the stations to assist braking and acceleration.

Yes you are right that it is built in a box it just seemed to be deeper than I thought> I know some stations have a sub surface ticket hall. I know that some of the early stations such as Tooting Bdy just have one flight of escalators. In the central area where there are a number of interchange with other lines you have more than one flight as it is a bit crammed and with all the other service tunnels although I suppose you could say that Battersea Power station is in central London I would say south London but the powers that be would say otherwise.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Jun 2024 ==

If this old TfL document is correct, Battersea Power Station was designed so the line could reach Clapham Junction in the future:



I read somewhere that the current timetable on one ATO line (Central?) is so demanding that trains keep motoring into the platform - they can’t use the gradient to slow down anymore. This might have been on District Dave’s forum, I can’t remember!

That's right I forgot that there was mention of a possible extension sometime in the distant future perhaps.

 

[Turtle]

Yes you are right that it is built in a box it just seemed to be deeper than I thought> I know some stations have a sub surface ticket hall. I know that some of the early stations such as Tooting Bdy just have one flight of escalators. In the central area where there are a number of interchange with other lines you have more than one flight as it is a bit crammed and with all the other service tunnels although I suppose you could say that Battersea Power station is in central London I would say south London but the powers that be would say otherwise.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Jun 2024 ==


That's right I forgot that there was mention of a possible extension sometime in the distant future perhaps.

An extension to Clapham Junction with at least one intermediate station at, say, the junction of Lavender Hill and Cedars Road would take some of the pressure off Clapham Common with its narrow island platform.

 

[cle]

An extension to Clapham Junction with at least one intermediate station at, say, the junction of Lavender Hill and Cedars Road would take some of the pressure off Clapham Common with its narrow island platform.

Agree. And I don’t think Clapham Junction is so crazy busy that it couldn’t handle it. The Northern line (and whole CX branch) has capacity. Especially if the upgrade happened.

Commuting has come down a lot and many fasts don’t call at CJ. Nor would a lot of Victoria passengers (or Vauxhall changers) choose this necessarily - more for Londoners and connectivity.

 

[starlight73]

Found a previous thread about an extension to Clapham Junction - see this post from Bald Rick

However the passenger modelling was very clear - extending the Northern to Clapham Junction would overwhelm the Northern line sufficiently to cause major issues at Waterloo / London Bridge (ie cause the closure of the tube stations at peak times), and make the interchange flows at Clapham Junction itself unmanageable, requiring that station to be closed at peak times, which thus defeats the whole object.

It seems like this is therefore unlikely in the short term - better to shift these passengers onto the tube at Waterloo/Victoria rather than Clapham Junction

 

[Mikey C]

The double escalators, with that intermediate area, make it feel deeper than it is.