New concourse opens at King’s Cross by Jayne Dubois
The new western concourse at King’s Cross station opened to the public on Monday 19 March, as part of plans to increase passenger capacity for the Olympic Games. The scheme will see the station’s former
Victorian glory restored, in combination with modern extensions.
The new concourse brings improved facilities including better lighting, larger destination boards, clearer station announcements, and more shops and restaurants.
A new roof structure has been blended with the station’s heritage features over an area that is three times larger than the main concourse. There are also improved links to both the London Underground network and St Pancras station. Network Rail CEO David Higgins said: ‘The new King’s Cross station is something for everyone to be proud of. But rather than focusing on the end of a project, we should see this as a symbol of what can be achieved with the right vision, partnerships and a sustained commitment to investing in our country’s infrastructure.’ Further work to the station, including a square at the front that will be larger than Leicester Square, will be completed next year when the current single-storey extension at the front of the station – a 1970s addition – will be removed. The
King’s Cross redevelopment is costing £550m. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, added: ‘Londoners are now seeing the benefits of a Neo-Victorian flow of investment into transport infrastructure helping to improve travel across the city and create thousands of jobs. The stunning revitalisation of King’s Cross station is set to play a
vital role in the wider regeneration of this quarter of the capital. ‘Together with the architectural marvel of St
Pancras and an improved Tube station, we have created a truly stunning world-class travel hub ensuring a splendid gateway for the millions of people using these stations every year.’
The new western concourse
Extension to Wirral Tramway proposed Merseytravel is considering
buying the Wirral Tramway to expand it. Currently the tramway is a tourist operation little used by locals. Under the proposals, the enhanced tramway would combine tourist trams and modern commuter services, based on successful schemes in the USA. An extension would serve the new Wirral Waters development at Birkenhead Docks.
Developer Peel Holdings has offered to fund part of the development work and half the cost of a consultation. Wirral Tramway is owned by
Wirral Borough Council, which is looking to sell the operation. Merseytravel has asked council officers to look at whether it should make a formal bid for the tramway.
PAGE 6 APRIL 2012
Angel orders new Desiros for London Midland and FTPE n
Siemens is to build 20 new Class 350 Desiro EMUs for London Midland and First TransPennine Express in a £145m deal financed by Angel Trains. Seven of the 10 trains for London Midland will be used on its London to Birmingham routes to facilitate an extra three services in the morning peak and five more in the evening.
Speeds on the West Coast Main Line will be increased from 100mph to 110mph, allowing journey times between London and Northampton to reduce by up to 10 minutes and between Milton Keynes and London to be cut by up to seven minutes. Crewe to London Euston journey times will improve by up to 25 minutes.
The other three Desiros will be used to provide extra capacity on the Cross-City line in Birmingham, increasing the weekday frequency of peak and off-peak services between
Birmingham and Redditch. Patrick Verwer, managing director of London Midland said: ‘We are very excited at the prospect of introducing higher speed services for our customers.
‘These new trains will create significant extra capacity for our customers travelling into London Euston and the West Midlands.’ TransPennine Express’ Desiros will be used on the Manchester to Scotland route, following the
electrification of the line between Manchester and the West Coast Main Line south of Wigan. The new carriages will enable existing diesel rolling stock to be redeployed across the TransPennine Express network to increase capacity into Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. The new trains, which will be built in Krefeld, Germany, are part of the 2,700 carriages promised in the last HLOS.
www.railimages.co.uk
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