Charing X Dissused

[Deleted]

For those of you that wonder what it looks like these days, here are a couple of pics taken at CX Jubilee Line Platforms today.

Quality is a bit naff, but they were taken with my phone!

img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/met_apprentice/IMG_001_023.jpg

img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/met_apprentice/IMG_001_022.jpg

[Phil]

Lovely - but what sort of a world is it when someone not too far out of their teens indulges in a spot of nostalgia....

[Deleted]

rbruce1314 said:

Lovely - but what sort of a world is it when someone not too far out of their teens indulges in a spot of nostalgia....

LOL yes, it was actually the first time I remember going onto the Jubilee Line CHX platforms! Dont think i have ever been down there before!

[Deleted]

Do you recon there's still stuff in those chocolate machines? mmmm antique Crunchie.

[Deleted]

hardcastle said:

Do you recon there's still stuff in those chocolate machines? mmmm antique Crunchie.

Talking of which a mate of mine had a go to see and they worked just as any other machine would, and out came an in date chocolate bar!

[citysig]

The machines are still serviced. Well, when Neasden SCC sends a train down there by mistake, the punters will need something to eat while they decide what time it's due back out ;D

[Deleted]

hahaha, the t/op must get right confused "This is West... er... oh s***!". Poor people, mere pawns in the sick games of the line controllers ;p

[ejitrafik]

How often is this branch still used on average?

[citysig]

Difficult to say. It varies from shift to shift. Certain Line Controllers will use it to excess to get the service back on time, and others won't. Other than that it is used when trains cannot go towards the newer part of the line for whatever reason.

In a typical, not too bad service week I would say once or twice.

[markextube]

Picture quality is quite good for a phone.

Doesn't it bring a few thoughts to mind though?

The extension though a great feat of engineering and architecture narrow minded and short sighted decisions were made.

Charing cross jubillee complex with its platforms, escalators and running tunnels which extend almost to aldwych area just abandoned! These cost a huge amount of money to construct and the closure has reduced the capacity at Charing cross station. With all the moans about overcrowding and the costs of new trains, railways etc. here we are closing a section of railway in central london? Just does'nt add up.

I do not accept the reason to close it as it would take away services from the extension or it would be difficult to operate.

If you look at any other line with branches as well as national rail these were constructed many years ago with different technology and still they operate today. They allow more flexibility and relieve other lines especially if sections are closed down.

With technology now there would be no problems in having a service to charing cross say every third train. Or even extending the branch for another few stations.

If you look at the railways today millions is being spent on expansion most of were cut many years ago again by short sighted people.

[Deleted]

markextube said:

Picture quality is quite good for a phone.

Doesn't it bring a few thoughts to mind though?

The extension though a great feat of engineering and architecture narrow minded and short sighted decisions were made.

Charing cross jubillee complex with its platforms, escalators and running tunnels which extend almost to aldwych area just abandoned! These cost a huge amount of money to construct and the closure has reduced the capacity at Charing cross station. With all the moans about overcrowding and the costs of new trains, railways etc. here we are closing a section of railway in central london? Just does'nt add up.

But this time, it does - apparently Charing Cross Jubilee had low usage in terms of passenger journies. Therefore capacity was not reduced.

markextube said:

I do not accept the reason to close it as it would take away services from the extension or it would be difficult to operate.

Nevetheless that is exactly what has happened. The line simply cannot run more than 24tph due to the poor signalling on the JLE; if you divert trains to Charing Cross you will lower frequencies on the extension, without the ability to compensate on the old route.

IOW, it simply cannot happen without destroying the service - and why would you want it to happen anyway? Nothing was truly lost with the closure of Charing Cross Jubbly, as pax can cross the platform at Baker Street!

markextube said:

If you look at any other line with branches as well as national rail these were constructed many years ago with different technology and still they operate today. They allow more flexibility and relieve other lines especially if sections are closed down.

And they are a pain when the service goes up the wall and must be reformed - the SSL is a good example of this...

markextube said:

With technology now there would be no problems in having a service to charing cross say every third train. Or even extending the branch for another few stations.

Until a proper, high-capacity signalling system is in place on the whole line (and not just Baker Street to Green Park!), running trains to ChX will not happen. Extending the line serves no real purpose either, as it forces you to run even more trains over the old route that should go on the extension.

It would be better for the infrastructure at Charing Cross to be (a) retained as a reversing point or (b) reused to build another line.

markextube said:

If you look at the railways today millions is being spent on expansion most of were cut many years ago again by short sighted people.

Yup. But that doesn't mean that all of it was short-sighted.

[Colin]

And of course, Charing Cross will be useless in 2012 - stratford will need all the trains it can get.

[yellowsignal]

markextube said:

If you look at the railways today millions is being spent on expansion most of were cut many years ago again by short sighted people.

As a civil engineer i have had to make "short sighted" decisions in the past. It doesnt mean things havent been given much thought. *Sometimes* money is more important than doing something that might be of good use in x years time. Remember that a lot of decisions you call short sighted were taken in a period in other circumstances than today.

If a branch line wasn't making money they took a valid decision in closing it. Now passenger demand is on the rise and roadtraffic is through the roof the circumstances have changed and it is profitable to reinstate the line again.

[citysig]

colin said:

And of course, Charing Cross will be useless in 2012 - stratford will need all the trains it can get.

It needs them all (and is supposed to have them all) now. After all Charing Cross (jub) is no longer considered part of the passenger network. It would be just like the management to close the line though. They normally practice that sort of short-sighted vision.

[tom2506]

Is the platform closed off with gates, also, are the trains delibratly sent up there, empty?

[Deleted]

The passages to the Jubilee are now bricked over with a locked door in the new wall for access.

[Tom]

If they are, it's changed since march. There were a cople of doors at the start of each passage back then.

[Deleted]

The Wall of Charing Cross has a double door with a window in it, allowing the interested to see the escalators - which are sometimes switched on.

[Deleted]

OK then, double doors. Before, it used to be wide open across the width of the passageway.

[citysig]

The line is getting a fair old dusting off this evening. Power Supply problems earlier and a later signal failure at North Greenwich has left the line running in the region of 30 late.

Roughly 1 in every 4 trains has ventured to the 'Cross.

[Deleted]

do peeps get to go to CHX while the trains are diverted, and the driver jsut doesn't open the doors!

[Deleted]

No. A driver is supposed to detrain at Green Park, as Charing Cross is not a passenger station anymore.

Any driver who does take a trainload down to the Cross can expect to meet the nice man with the letters 'DMT' on his jacket.

[tom2506]

theonekea said:

No. A driver is supposed to detrain at Green Park, as Charing Cross is not a passenger station anymore.

Any driver who does take a trainload down to the Cross can expect to meet the nice man with the letters 'DMT' on his jacket.

Has this happened before

[Deleted]

Yes, it has. citysig would know for sure, but I think it has happened at least once or twice every few months.

[Deleted]

Nothing was truly lost with the closure of Charing Cross Jubbly, as pax can cross the platform at Baker Street!

Saying that coming from the other direction you can change at Waterloo

[Deleted]

alexh said:

Nothing was truly lost with the closure of Charing Cross Jubbly, as pax can cross the platform at Baker Street!

Saying that coming from the other direction you can change at Waterloo

But the change at Waterloo is not cross-platform. The change at Baker Street, however, is, and is much shorter to boot.

[Deleted]

Charing Cross Dissused is also used for staff training, as all the platform equipment is till functional, that includes PAs, Tunnel Lighting, Auto Phones, Info Boards and the such like.

[citysig]

theonekea said:

Yes, it has. citysig would know for sure, but I think it has happened at least once or twice every few months.

Well, maybe not quite that frequently these days. The usage it gets means that even the newest train operators are familiar with "the other route" and will wait to be tipped out.

Anyone who is unfortunate (or fortunate depending on your interests) enough to arrive at Charing Cross will be promptly taken back to Green Park on the same train.

I heard a rumour that back in the early days of the extension being open, a train over-carried to Charing Cross. The passengers were taken back to Green Park, and boarded the next Southbound. This too was diverted to Charing Cross - with them on it. I think they were third time lucky though. How true this is I don't know, but it's certainly got an air of Jubilee about it.

[Hutch]

Arrived 11h25 at Green Park yesterday on a terminating service. No problem for me as I was alighting there anyway. The train was quite full but the tipping out process was very orderly even on to a very full platform. I only saw one SA about midway down the train so I reckon if you "fell asleep" you could very well have been carried over to CX.

I'm sure they are quite keen to get away and I would imagine that all routes to and from CX are cleared for passengers even if the Jubilee platforms no longer are.

[Colin]

Are you suggesting that the doors were closed without the cars being physically checked?

Here's an earlier thread on why it must be done properly:
districtdave.proboards39.com/index.cgi?board=picc&action=display&thread=1126341890

As I point out (and indeed Solidbond too) at the tail end of that thread, on the surface it may seem like an over carry is not a big deal (especially to the likes of Charing Cross which used to be a passenger route), but you have to keep in mind that Charing Cross Jubilee is now effectively an abandoned station - which means the likes of the HMRI and HSE will have decreed that trains MUST be devoid of passengers. It's not a nudge nudge wink wink scenario, it's the Law!!