London will get a new railway station on Sunday 10th December, when Brent Cross West on the Thameslink line opens.
(c) GTR
Brent Cross West, with four platforms, sits between Cricklewood and Hendon stations on the Midland Main Line. Thameslink trains will connect central London to Brent Cross in as little as 12 minutes, with up to eight trains an hour at peak times.
The expected service will include all Luton and St Albans stopping services. This gives a frequency of 6 trains per hour in each direction off-peak, increasing to 8 in the peak.
The expected off-peak service upon opening is:
- 2 tph to Luton
- 2 tph to Rainham
- 4 tph to St Albans City
- 2 tph to Sutton via Wimbledon
- 2 tph to Sutton via Mitcham Junction
In the peak hours, additional trains will run between Luton and Orpington.
The station is also part of a wider regeneration of the area, which will see the shopping centre being doubled in size, plus around 7,400 additional homes being built on the land around the area, which is currently a mix of light industrial and residential.
The station will also connect the areas of Brent and Barnet via a new overbridge, which will be free to access 24/7. A 150-year landmark, the overbridge will provide the first pedestrian access across this stretch of the Midland Main Line since it was first built in the 19th century.
The Brent Cross West station programme is being led by Barnet Council, built by VolkerFitzpatrick, and project managed by Mace, with Network Rail a key programme partner.
If it goes ahead, the station can also accommodate the planned West London Orbital (WLO) railway.
By coincidence Date of new timetable launch
These openings are usually timed deliberately because of that!
I live on that line and have a casual interest in the regeneration project BCZ is packaged with, so I’ll likely make a trip of it on opening day.
As it happens the Thameslink core and Luton-Bedford will be closed for engineering works that day, so Geoff Marshall et al may find it a bit tricky to get there on the very first service.
Various buses to the site available up the Edgeware road from the likes of Brondesbury, Kilburn, or to Brent Cross shopping centre by various routes, or a long walk from Brent Cross tube station.
A superloop will pass fairly close but not yet I think
This is perfect seeing that my friend who lives in Brent Cross jumps on the underground or goes to Cricklewood Station for the Thameslink to where I live in Elephant and Castle. This now will be so much easier and more efficient everytime. This will be music to my son’s ears with his friends up North with the ease of jumping on the Thameslink which we both use going to work and leisure. This has definitely made my day. Thameslink from South to North and the frequency of the service. 100%. Lovely
Think the shopping centre expansion has been canned.
I’ve seen reports of a pause dated 2018 (linked to the financial woes of the then-owner, Hammerson), any more recent status update from a trusted source?
Some of the new housing proposed will be “behind” the main shopping centre (as you look at it from the North Circular), needing the rear part of the shopping centre to be demolished (multi-story parking and some shops) with replacement stoer space added on the flat space between the current “front” (where the bus station is) and the North Circular, so if the expansion/restructuring is on pause presumably the housing won’t happen or will be reduced.
John Lewis would stay where it is, they wouldn’t want to pay to move into a new building on the site, and I’m surprised that they are continuing at Brent Cross instead of encouraging customers to shop at their newer store in Westfield Shepherds Bush which is apparently not as popular as John Lewis expected.
Recent plans do not seem to include housing behind the shopping centre, essentially the new Brent Cross Town and Brent Cross Shopping Centre have no connection to each other. Had the shopping centre been expanded, one option was for the bus station to move onto a raft over the A406 ! Bus routes 189, 316 and 326 are planned to be changed to serve the new station, but not sure there is a date yet. Access to the east side of the station was opened up about a month ago, and reveals two bus stops, shelters and a bus stand, but sadly at that stage details shown on the bus stops was incorrect.
Having seen the consultation maps I suspect the details are based on Merchant Street* and the Tempelhof Link Road already being built (they haven’t and won’t be for some time; until then the 326 will likely stay as is).
The 189 can serve BCZ from day one as the interim turnback will allow buses to run doglegs on Parkview Avenue / Arbour Street. On the west side, an anticlockwise loop of Geron Way / Edgware Road allows the 316 to be extended from the get go as well.
[* Previously labelled High Street South]
Hmm, just read the consultation docs again and it doesn’t look like the 316 extension will happen on day one either. The footway and siting of a bus terminus (both on Geron Way) are apparently issues that need resolving before a bus stop can be installed near the western entrance.
Having seen the latest timetable, I’m disappointed to see (albeit useful at times), that this will only further slow down the trains between Elstree and West Hampstead. It used to only take 9 minutes to get between the two around 10 years ago, now we’re looking at an average of 14 minutes. Can’t see why, considering how big Elstree is becoming, we can’t have a few more fast trains coming through, or ideally have some St. Albans fasts stopping too.
According to Google maps the station is busier than usual today!