Highgate's exceedingly long platforms

[bwhughes]

Someone correct me if this topic has already sprung up!



On the Video 125 DVD of the Northern Line, Rob Curling was explaining about the platforms at Highgate being unusually long (they could take nine-car trains).

Tottenham Court Road is the only station in the Central area I think with equivalent platform lengths; a number of decades ago, passengers for Tottenham Court Road were encouraged to board the back two carriages at Highgate and, until Tottenham Court Rd, the back carriages remained in the tunnel when stopping at intermediate stations.

Whilst a significant increase in passenger capacity was possible between those two stations, it would have meant that passengers would be committed on a twenty minute/half-hour journey without the option of changing course before Tottenham Court Rd. Today's passengers would probably not be so tolerant of this, especially when toilet requirement arises.

The traffic exclusively to Tottenham Court Rd may not be sufficient to add extra cars, but hasn't consideration been given to reinstating the nine-car trains in the recent past?

The problem nowadays is that ordering new carriages to add onto the existing trains could be time-consuming considering that the production line for 95TS closed some years ago now, and when the back carriages are empty the trains would waste more electricity.

[Deleted]

Not quite. TCR has platform lengths similar to the other 'normal' Northern Line stations. Any such 9-car train would stop at the station twice; once, to unload the front seven cars, and again to empty the last two.

[Harsig]

theonekea said:

Not quite. TCR has platform lengths similar to the other 'normal' Northern Line stations. Any such 9-car train would stop at the station twice; once, to unload the front seven cars, and again to empty the last two.

I'm haven't checked this but I very much doubt that the trains would stop twice at Tottenham Court Road, rather it would be the first station where the front two cars were in the tunnel and the rear two in the platform. To stop twice would eat up train paths and thus negate any possible advantage of running longer trains.

[mandgc]

The Nine Car Trains only ran on the Edgeware branch but were planned to run on the (unopened) Barnet branch. The new platforms at Highgate were built to take nine car trains but were never used by them.

Nine car trains picked up passengers at the open air stations (which had all been lengthened) and then the last two cars remained in the tunnel until Tottenham Court Road where the front two cars stopped in the tunnel, allowing TCR passengers in the last two cars to alight. The trains then ran round the loop at Kennington (with the last two cars out of use ) back to Edgware. Additional staff travelled on the trains to assist passengers and Notice Boards were errected on the platforms. The trains worked in a similar way on the Northbound in the Evening Peak.

The object of the scheme was to show something was being done to relieve congestion at TCR where the exit was at that time at the North end of the platform. (Trains were formed of Standard Stock at the beginning) The 9 car trains were withdrawn during the 1939/1945 war and afterwards ,with staff shortages, it did not seem such a good idea.

[abe]

The platforms at Highgate were originally designed for 7-car trains. The decision to lengthen the platforms was only made once the tunnelling had actually started. The approval to lengthen the SB platform was made on 4 July 1937, and the NB on 18 October 1937. Both were then constructed to a length of 470 ft.

[Deleted]

The nine-car train idea complicated the orders for the 1938 TS. Obviously the guard could not be in his usual position at the leading end of the rear car, as that would be in tunnel from Hampstead to Goodge Street. So there had to be guard's positions in the seventh and (to allow for reversals) fifth cars, which were non-driving motors. So there were DMs without guard positions, and NDMs with them.

The 9 car trains were cancelled during the war and never brought back. Possibly LT found that the extra passenger capacity of the 38TS made this expedient unnecessary. But they were left with some non-standard cars, and this was part of the reason for the 49 TS.