The development plan for London’s Euston Station includes a new entrance and keeps Tube, rail and bus passengers separate.


“THE BENEFITS OF THOROUGH AND WELL THOUGHT-OUT STATION RENOVATIONS ARE NUMEROUS. THE CHALLENGE FOR THE UK’S PLANNERS IS TO INTEGRATE THESE NEW LAYOUTS EFFECTIVELY INTO OUR CHAOTIC URBAN LANDSCAPE”


At Barking, the London Thames Gateway Development


Corporation has funded a detailed design for the space immediately outside the station. But other potential financers, including Network Rail and the train operating company that has a licence for the station, have yet to step forward to pay for other elements. Reynolds says the lack of funding shows the inherent limitations of the UK’s train franchise system, where companies hold licences for relatively short periods and therefore lack incentives to make significant long- term investments. Reynolds and Lowe agree that the financial crisis and public spending cuts have hit funding for station projects. In Euston’s case, the redevelopment scheme is further complicated by plans for the High Speed 2 rail link (HS2), which envisages Euston as the main London hub. Should that go ahead as planned, Euston would need to be extended again, both southward and westward. The problem, says Reynolds, is that Euston needs redeveloping soon, rather than in 10 or more years, which is the probable timeframe for HS2. The planning and


funding difficulties around inner-city stations such as Euston means that some observers think the UK should consider different approaches, including building further out of town. One HS2 proposal considers Old Oak Common, to the


far west of London, as a potential site – seeing the disused railway yards as a much easier redevelopment opportunity. The disadvantage is that Old Oak is 40 minutes outside central London, which would limit the value of a high- speed service in the first place.


Model stations But the edge-of-city approach is one that has been taken in France, and to a greater extent, China. “In China, they have built a lot of high-speed stations


wherever the land is available. They have then built cities largely around the new stations,” says Reynolds. An example of this is Shanghai’s new South station,


which Atkins has been involved in masterplanning. “The major challenge was to redevelop the former railway yards and associated land and to reconnect the


redeveloped area with surrounding communities,” says Mark Harrison, senior technical director for Atkins’ urban planning consultancy in Beijing. “The development is intended to take advantage of the high level of accessibility offered by the new station, with its high-speed rail links to Hangzhou. The area was planned as a new mixed-use business hub within Shanghai also serving the wider region.”


The challenge in the UK is that planners are unable to drive large-scale rail projects, changing the purpose of whole urban areas as a result. “We don’t have that luxury,” says Reynolds. “When we’re talking about Euston, we’re talking about an existing urban context. We can’t simply clear two miles and build a whole new city.” Nevertheless, we can recognise from successful overseas models that the benefits of well thought-out station renovations are numerous. The challenge for the UK’s planners is to integrate these new layouts effectively into our already chaotic urban landscape, while anticipating and incorporating future requirements of the transport network.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44