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Monday 1st March The blue portakabins behind the blue wall are now fully illuminated. Tuesday 2nd March A new blue wall has appeared halfway down the westbound platform, floor to ceiling, dividing off a short portion of platform space. Wednesday 3rd March The new blue wall is about seven metres long. It makes the platform half as wide. Thursday 4th March As suddenly as it arrived, the blue wall on the platform has completely vanished. Friday 5th March Behind where the blue wall used to be, the paint is still peeling off the platform wall just as badly as before. Saturday 6th March Meanwhile, back outside the station, the lamps on the original blue wall are now illuminated. Sunday 7th March A new sign on the blue wall apologises to the public for any inconvenience caused. To be honest, not enough inconvenience has been caused yet. Monday 8th March A sign on the blue wall warns passers-by that they are being recorded on CCTV. No cameras are visible. Tuesday 9th March The first graffiti has appeared on the blue wall. It's big, it's silver, and it displays all the artistic merit of a two-year-old. Wednesday 10th March The public information plan finally kicks in as homebound commuters get to 'Meet The Managers'. Or more likely not meet them. It is announced that Bow Road station will be closing between 10pm and 6am every night from Monday 15th March until early 2005. Thursday 11th March A poster has gone up on a board in the ticket hall with full details of the early closure of the station from next week. The board is currently facing towards the excess fare window, not towards the ticket barriers which might have made it easier to read. Friday 12th March Another new blue wall has appeared, this time along the west end of the eastbound platform. The new blue wall is approximately 48 panels long. Saturday 13th March All visitors are asked to report to the site office. I'm tempted, but I have yet to comply. Sunday 14th March Another sign demands that safety helmets and safety footwear must be worn. Again, I have yet to comply. |
Wednesday 9th February One year on, the wooden panelling on the overbridge is finally restored and fully painted (in white). Thursday 10th February The window frames and woodwork on the front of the station building have been repainted (again in white). Friday 11th February A large wooden frame has been constructed inside the recess just inside the ticket hall on the left behind the green door. Saturday 12th February A tall thin rectangular block has been erected to the left of the ticket machine in the ticket hall. It too has been wrapped in sheeting and sealed with tape. Sunday 13th February A gap in the sheeting reveals that the rear of the block is yellow, but the rest appears to be grey. Monday 14th February Beside the new tall block, to the left of the ticket machine, a new wardrobe-sized recess has been opened up. Tuesday 15th February New cameras and loudspeakers have started to be installed above the two stairwells, exactly where the grey stickers placed three months ago said they would be. Wednesday 16th February The top part of the white sheeting covering the scaffolding on the passenger bridge has been lowered, giving a daylight view for the first time in six months. Thursday 17th February The tall block in the ticket hall that was to the right of the new recess has now been moved to the left of the new recess. There are four small plastered circles where the block was previously attached to the wrong bit of wall. Friday 18th February The four plaster circles have been painted over, so you'd (almost) never know they were there. Saturday 19th February The smell of wet paint is in the air, again, although it's not immediately obvious precisely where. Sunday 20th February A lot of discarded scaffolding is piled high inside the grey metal fencing outside the front of the station. Monday 21st February White metallic covering has appeared on the walls behind the eastern end of the longest blue wall on the westbound platform. Tuesday 22nd February A sign has been affixed to the wall above the tall block in the ticket hall, but covered by sheeting and taped up so that you can't possibly read it. Wednesday 23rd February Two white-framed glass globes have appeared above the westbound stairwell, and three above the eastbound stairwell. An egg-shaped bulb lies at the centre of each. These new light fittings look very odd and extremely out of place. Meanwhile, at the foot of the westbound stairwell, a short section of blue wall has been removed to reveal an old door repainted grey. Thursday 24th February The large wooden panel just inside the ticket hall has been removed, to reveal a huge sheet of glass behind which is a never-before seen (empty) room. Friday 25th February The green doors at the front of the station have been repainted, green. |
Saturday 26th February While the station is closed for the weekend, workmen are fitting another globe light at the foot of the westbound stairwell. |
Sunday 27th February Two more mysterious tall blocks are being installed, this time spaced out along the new white wall along the eastbound platform. |
Monday 28th February Following the latest weekend closure, I spy the following: The floors in the ticket hall and across the top of the stairwells have been sort-of concreted. A new sign on the wall at the south end of the ticket hall reads District and Hammersmith & City lines → Six new wiry-metal benches have been installed along the eastbound platform. Each has four seats and two yellow armrests. |
Tuesday 1st March All five globes above the westbound stairwell and all three globes above the eastbound stairwell are now illuminated. |
Wednesday 2nd March (report from Mr Kim) The "curfew" has been lifted!!! Without a single word of publicity, as far as I can see, Bow Road station is open til 'close of traffic' (to use the official parlance). I was told this earlier in the week by a Bow Bells' 'regular', and last night at Mile End, decided to stay on board the train and 'chance it'. Sure enough, again without any announcement, the train slowed to a halt on the EB at Bow Road and the doors magically opened, allowing a number of surprised people to jump up at the last minute and get off! (Thanks Mr Kim) |
Thursday 3rd March A sixteen-panel section of new white wall has been revealed on the westbound platform, just to the west of the foot of the stairwell. |
Friday 4th March A further four panels have been revealed, along with another twenty at the western end of the westbound platform. |
Saturday 5th March The remainder of the longest blue wall on the eastbound platform has been removed, so that a white wall now runs all the way from the stairwell to the far end of the platform. |
Sunday 6th March One new panel on the white wall close to the foot of the eastbound stairwell shows a diagrammatic map of the stations on the District line to the east of the station. |
Monday 7th March The new striplights above the west end of the eastbound platform are now illuminated. About two thirds of them are working. |
Tuesday 8th March Workmen are busy fitting out the new room behind the large pane of glass in the ticket hall. On the far white wall there's a heater, a loudspeaker, a lot of cables and a (not yet functional) digital clock. |
Wednesday 9th March A new layer of flooring has been laid across the passage joining the top of the two stairwells, stuck down by strips of yellow and black tape. |
Thursday 10th March A photo booth has been installed in the alcove beside the ticket machine in the ticket hall. |
Friday 11th March All of the posters and signs have been removed from the remaining section of blue wall in the middle of the westbound platform. |
Saturday 12th March The remaining section of blue wall in the middle of the westbound platform has been removed, revealing a new stretch of white panels along the indented triangular platform wall. |
Sunday 13th March Each new white panel had a small green numbered sticker to ensure that workmen assembled everything in the right order. For example, the westernmost roundel on the westbound platform is still labelled EC PCPTO-DVI 62.1 50432. |
Monday 14th March The remaining scaffolding across the front and side of the station building has been dismantled, leaving just a few supporting poles across the overbridge. |
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