please empty your brain below

On a related subject, am I the only person who thinks that the number of people who will be getting off westbound trains in the cramped H & C platforms at Paddington is an even worse problem for the teacupped circle than changing at Edgware Road? I remember the truly dangerous conditions in that area a few months back when there was engineering work between High Street Ken/Earl's Court and Edgware Road.

I don't know if others agree this will be a worse problem than Edgware Road. Certainly many in TfL including the man at the very top are aware of the potential additional strain on the H&C platforms. Despite budgetary constraints TfL are keen to press ahead with improvements to the H&C station. Trouble is there are a lot of planned improvements at Padddington which are inter-related so how quickly it gets done partly depends on other parties - notably Crossrail.

As far as these 'new' interchanges are concerned, I'm guessing that they're not free. That is, if you change from the Circle to the Bakerloo line at Edgware Road, you will have to cross the gateline at each station and hence, if you're on Oyster Pay As You Go, you'll be charged for two fares. Same would apply for the H&C at Paddington, I imagine.


PS, I subscribed to you RSS feed a few weeks back to help satiate my geeky interest in the Underground. Slightly coincidentally, you have linked to one of my Edgware Road photos in this post!

The list of Out Of Station Interchanges obtained with a FOIA request last year don't specifically include interchange between the subsurface and Bakerloo stations at Edgware Road. However, given it's now been blobbed, I'd expect it to be one, and would be an awkward bugger at the ticket desk demanding a refund if I was double-charged.

I *think* it was an OOSI before, but can't actually remember what I was charged when I changed there for a laugh once. It wasn't much of a laugh either.

Incidentally, today I've discovered that it's possible to change between the two Hammersmith stations via the station cafe for a sit-down fryup, tea, and glance at the paper, and it still count as one journey. Handy that.

Annotation like this (for Canary Wharf) might have been helpful:
http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/lt...47.8&
by=1464.95


I see, however, that the two Canary Wharf stations have re-merged to a single blob on the 09-09 map.

Tim - The old Canary Wharf layout was hideous and illegible. The new one is clean, crisp and under-informative. It seems you can't win with blobs at certain interchanges. But I much preferred Edgware Road the way it was.

I suppose the logic is that prior to the extended circle no-one in their right mind would change at Edgware Road to/from the Bakerloo line when you could conveniently change a Baker Street. However now that trains will start and terminate from Edgware Road it would possibly make sense for some people to change here rather than have to change trains an additional time. Not knowing Edgware Road stations, I am not arguing in favour or against - just pointing out the probable reason why they decided to change it.

As a Paddington user, I am quite fond of the H&C. Overground train comes in first-class end first, and down in the cheap carriages I alight right by the stairs up to the far-end gallery which leads to the nice quiet H&C platform. The wait isn't longer than the hike to the near-end tube station, particularly if you would have had to queue through the platform gates.

Returning to Paddington that way is also golden, if you get in the carriage that stops by the stairs, otherwise the crush is unpleasant. And will be worse if there are fewer trains in total heading west along the northern part of the Circle.

And you didn't mention the Platform 8 ramp which runs besides the stairs, just slightly offset so that some tourists still carry their luggage on the steps. Or the Platform 10 steps, if you happen to come in there and you have the courage to swim against the tide flooding to the conventional end. Or the bridge from that end out to the new canalside development if you have time to kill.

The map in the 'T-cup leaflet' has another treatment of Edgware Rd, the Bakerloo station has reverted to a 'non-interchange', and the Bakerloo line is now above the H&C/Circle. Same as the current ATOC London Connections map.

Much clearer - at least as far as Edgware Rd is concerned...











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