I was in Hackney this afternoon for the first time since London Overground took over.
A few observations:
- the new link between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central is almost complete. It will make interchange between the two stations far quicker and safer (I wonder if this will be reflected in the official interchange time).
- There is an Oyster pink reader at the entrance to the link
- There is a departures screen at on platform 1 at Hackney Downs near to the entrance to the new link showing the departures from Hackney Central. For a moment I thought there was a train from Hackney Downs to Clapham Junction until I realised what it was! There really should be a sign saying the departures are for Hackney Central.
- Ticket gates have been installed at Hackney Downs, all of two of them to cater for in and out traffic!! It must be difficult trying to get through them at busy times, especially if you're going against the flow. The old Oyster readers in the passageway are now covered up.
- Hackney Downs seems to have had a decent clean and spruce up.
- Surprised to see some purple WAGN era platform signage still in place - platform numbers and customer information. Very un-Overground like!
I caught a train to Liverpool Street. It'd had a deep clean inside and looked in good condition. All the signage had been replaced with TfL signage, naturally no double arrows on any of it or reference to being part of National Rail as well.
At both Hackney Downs and Liverpool Street my One Day Travelcard failed to open the barriers. The barrier assistant at Liverpool Street had a good look at my ticket and slightly aggressively asked me where I'd come from. A bit concerning when I'd got off a train that had come from within the zones. Maybe they expect everyone to use Oyster or Contactless...
A few observations:
- the new link between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central is almost complete. It will make interchange between the two stations far quicker and safer (I wonder if this will be reflected in the official interchange time).
- There is an Oyster pink reader at the entrance to the link
- There is a departures screen at on platform 1 at Hackney Downs near to the entrance to the new link showing the departures from Hackney Central. For a moment I thought there was a train from Hackney Downs to Clapham Junction until I realised what it was! There really should be a sign saying the departures are for Hackney Central.
- Ticket gates have been installed at Hackney Downs, all of two of them to cater for in and out traffic!! It must be difficult trying to get through them at busy times, especially if you're going against the flow. The old Oyster readers in the passageway are now covered up.
- Hackney Downs seems to have had a decent clean and spruce up.
- Surprised to see some purple WAGN era platform signage still in place - platform numbers and customer information. Very un-Overground like!
I caught a train to Liverpool Street. It'd had a deep clean inside and looked in good condition. All the signage had been replaced with TfL signage, naturally no double arrows on any of it or reference to being part of National Rail as well.
At both Hackney Downs and Liverpool Street my One Day Travelcard failed to open the barriers. The barrier assistant at Liverpool Street had a good look at my ticket and slightly aggressively asked me where I'd come from. A bit concerning when I'd got off a train that had come from within the zones. Maybe they expect everyone to use Oyster or Contactless...
