Charing Cross Northern Line ticket hall works

[zcap]

I've been wondering for a very long time actually, why have the Northern Line platforms remained open during the period of the works? Switching between the Bakerloo and Northern is hardly fun, youre almost always better off just going to Embankment and switching to the Bakerloo line (I feel awful when I see people with massive luggage get off to switch :/ ). Also, leaving the network via Embankment makes perfect sense too, its not that much further than the "closed" Charing Cross Northern Line exits anyway, and youre saving time actually getting out of the tunnels. Ultimately, to me, it wouldve made sense to have just closed the Northern Line platforms and have trains fast to Embankment/Leicester Square? Or am I missing something massive?

Also, one more point, if the platforms are closed for the Night Tube for the reason of the Charing Cross Northern line exits being closed, why do they bother opening them up the platforms at the start of day service at all?

Any insight would be appreciated, its genuinely been puzzling me

[spsmiler]

I suppose that the platforms are still useful for people going to or from the mainline station.

I agree with your comments about changing trains here - it is a *very* long walk! Its a shame that the UndergrounD map does not show this, eg: add a double headed arrow (pointing to the two lines) with the distance between the two lines below it.

The walking distance was less in Jubilee Line days as you could ride the escalator down to the Jubilee Line and then up again on the other side.

Embankment is not necessarily better though, as an historic quirk means that the southbound Northern Line platform is also a bit of a hike away - from memory the pedestrian passageway that must be walked along (called the 'Lower Access Tunnel' - photo below) is 300 metres in length.



I am not sure of the interchange passageway lengths at Charing Cross, I suspect that these are longer than at Embankment but might be wrong. Its a very long time since I used them, as I always aim to avoid them!

Simon

[crusty54]

the only way out is via the Trafalgar Square exit which still involves a long walk.

For a lot of people heading south it is easier to get off at Leicester Square.i

[jacks]

The only thing I can think of is Charing Cross being a sometimes useful reversing point, but I don't know if this makes any difference at all. Not too long back there was a PUT (Mod comment: Person Under Train?) at Waterloo and there were some trains being reversed at Charing Cross in consequence. Not sure if this would've still been possible if the platforms were closed entirely, but even if it were it would mean de-training at Leicester Square when I'm sure I remember someone on here mentioning before that the reversing move can be done in passenger service?

If that doesn't come into play at all, I'm just as clueless and think it doesn't make much sense to leave it open!

[North End]

Apr 1, 2017 10:09:11 GMT jacks said:

The only thing I can think of is Charing Cross being a sometimes useful reversing point, but I don't know if this makes any difference at all. Not too long back there was a PUT at Waterloo and there were some trains being reversed at Charing Cross in consequence. Not sure if this would've still been possible if the platforms were closed entirely, but even if it were it would mean de-training at Leicester Square when I'm sure I remember someone on here mentioning before that the reversing move can be done in passenger service?

If that doesn't come into play at all, I'm just as clueless and think it doesn't make much sense to leave it open!

At the end of the day, LU isn't going to close a facility simply because it doesn't appear to make much sense to some people.

Sure there may be little interchange value, and Embankment may be near to Charing Cross mainline station, however for people wishing to access the Northern Line from the Trafalgar Square area it's still by far the easiest route. By leaving the route available, at least it offers people a choice. Furthermore, as you say, with Charing Cross being a reversing point, one which is used surprisingly frequently when there's issues on the Northern Line, it's much more preferable not to have to detrain at Leicester Square - plus if the whole service is reversing at Charing Cross then it means people can actually get there.

It seems LU can't win on this one - had the whole Northern Line side been closed I bet we would have been reading complaints on here about that! ;-)