One of the periodic reports from TfL has been released with details of ongoing network upgrades across the networks it controls. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on when the lines are closed at weekends, this is what’s going on.
Station News
Battersea Power Station
The roof level capping beams and cross beams have been completed on time, enabling the lower level basement excavation to progress.
Bank tube station
Piling for the new station box is more than 80 percent complete, and the tunnelling work is progressing well with over 220 metres of sprayed concrete lining now finished.
They are scheduled to complete the new electrical rooms and a purpose-built cable shaft in November. This enables TfL to hand over the site to the power contractor, freeing space so that they can build the new Central line triple escalator.
Bond Street
Final inspections and trial operations of the new station tunnels are under way. Lifts and escalators are also having their final inspections. They expect the station to come into use by the end of the year.
Victoria Station
Work continues on the east and westbound link passages to the District and Circle lines, the associated lifts and the new south ticket hall escalators.
Paddington
Work on the step-free link between the new Elizabeth line station at Paddington and the Bakerloo line remains on schedule.
Finsbury Park
They are installing two lifts and refurbishing the southbound staircase, and are on track to complete the basic construction work by spring next year.
Alongside this, builders are also constructing a new western entrance to the station, due to open in 2019.
Tottenham Hale
The station upgrade is now a quarter of the way through. Piling foundations to support the new station are being installed and a retail unit, which will sit beside it, is taking shape.
Custom House DLR
The station upgrade suffered from slow design approval which may result in a delay to the station re-opening (December 2017)
Southwark
A consultation on the planned oversite development is expected to be launched before the end of this year.
Rail lines
Northern line extension
They have completed enabling works for the junctions between the Kennington Green and Kennington Park tunnels and the existing Northern line in preparation for removing 120 cast iron tunnel rings from the Kennington loop by the end of November.
Following this, they will install new track junctions, signalling, and points and crossings at each of the two junctions to create the permanent connection between the current line and the new extension over 10 days at Christmas.
Metropolitan Line Extension
The extension of the Met line has been formally put on hold and will be cancelled if additional funding is not found.
The Transport and Works Act Order powers necessary for to deliver the extension expire in August 2018. In order for TfL to undertake the work required to keep the powers intact, a revised funding package, with revised funding terms, will need to be agreed within the next two months.
London Overground
Works are on target to launch the “night tube” on the Overground in December.
Services will run all night on Fridays and Saturdays on the East London route between New Cross Gate and Dalston Junction initially, before being extended to Highbury & Islington next year.
Crossrail / Elizabeth Line
The project is approaching 90 per cent complete, and remains on schedule to open as planned in December 2018 within its £14.8 billion overall funding envelope.
The key risks continue to be Crossrail’s management of cost and schedule
pressures on a small number of contracts, and Bombardier’s software development and testing for the new Elizabeth line trains.
Seventeen escalators have been fully custom built at Canary Wharf station and the frameworks for 37 more have been completed at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon and Liverpool Street.
Testing of the line is scheduled to start in November 2017, in the section between Abbey Wood and Canary Wharf and will then be extended west to encompass the rest of the central section in spring 2018.
TfL Rail
Three of the new Class 345 trains are now running every day between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
It looks like the prospect of diversion and extension of the Metropolitan Line to Watford Junction are not to good and thus not providing the links to local hospitals etc this extension was planned to create . However, this extension is wholly within Hertfordshire so if it is cancelled then it’s Hertfordshire failure to fund this project to blame .
Longer term the question may arise as to whether Watford would be better served by an increased frequency on the Overground to Watford Junction with the service on the Metropolitan Line to Watford ( Metropolitan) withdrawn allowing greater frequency on other Metropolitan Line branches .
Why not reinstate the moth balled West Watford to Croxley old electric line
The Croxley Rail Link would have involved diverting the present Metropolitan Line South to pick up this old line and go into Watford Junction. Please don’t take the Met to Watford away. It’s very useful when there’s trouble on the WFJ to Euston line as well as for getting to Northwood and Pinner from Watford.
It will take more than “de-mothballing”, the track has been lifted, there are no platforms at ols station sites, no signalling or power and the embanked way to the terminus at Croxley Green station has been cut through by a dual carriageway road at ground level. All that work would probably cost as much as the MLX to put it back to it’s original design which being a dead end never got the traffic to pay it’s way. I’m afraid it’s MLX or nothing!
This is the only info I ever received about Custom House station, many thanks. All TfL info still says it’ll open by the end of December and tweeting them for updates yields no response.