London's railway infrastructure usually takes an age to construct. The Jubilee line extension was first proposed in the 1970s but not completed until 1999. Crossrail's been on the drawing board for yonks but can't possibly be finished before 2017. And the "Thameslink 2000" project, initiated in 1991, was so woefully optimistically named that it probably ought to be rebranded "Thameslink 2015-ish". So it's a minor miracle to be reporting on a station successfully knocked down, rebuilt and reopened in nigh record time, all within the same calendar year. Welcome to Nu-Shepherd'sBush.
It was only back in February that the good people of W12 were barred from their local Central line station and forced to make alternative tube travel arrangements. A demolition team moved in to raze the original station building to the ground, and tear out the escalators, and rip all the tiles off the platform walls. Gutting, it was. Progress below ground could be viewed every time you passed through the station on a non-stopping train (what a mess, they'll never be finished in time), while above ground a shiny glass/metal box rapidly appeared at the pointy end of Shepherd's Bush Green. Eight months flat from start to finish. And the station reopened yesterday lunchtime.
When I boarded a Central line train at Bank just before noon yesterday, my destination station was still closed. But by the time we departed Notting Hill Gate our driver was able to announce that "Shepherd's Bush station is open", much to the unexpected delight of certain passengers on board. And so it was that a few of us stepped out onto a freshly-reopened station, untouched by public footstep since February, and ventured forth round the curving platform towards the way out. Blimey it looked different [photo]. Last time I was here there was diagonal tiling in a clashing combination of red and green - quite characterful but rather gloomy. And suddenly the tiling had become very white, almost clinical, topped off by columns of inoffensive navy blue. Worth a complaint to the heritage watchdog, maybe... except that white/blue is actually the original design, and red/green merely a mid 80s refurb aberration.
Onward up the platform, past a next train indicator as yet unable to detect the next train, and a trio of TfL operatives discussing CCTV blackspots. When they disappeared through an alcove [photo] to inspect the eastbound platform, I suddenly had the entire westbound to myself, and slowed down to enjoy the subterranean isolation. Things seemed a bit more familiar on the staircase and along the curvingmid-level passageway, although again rather whiter than before. And then smoothly upwards on the refurbished escalators, whose non-urgent upgrade had been completed without additional inconvenience to passengers while the station was closed. No adverts yet, neither here nor down below, which I made the most of but which won't last.
And then the greatest transformation. Where previously there'd been a traditional ticket hall with decoration and clutter, I emerged instead into a giant glass box. Wholly unnecessarily big, to be honest, unless station bosses have plans to position a symphony orchestra at the top of the escalators to serenade passengers, or maybe hang an aeroplane or two from the ceiling.
There were scores of TfL operatives in fluorescent jackets standing around beyond the line of ticket gates - temporarily (no doubt) to supervise the handover from construction to operation. Lots more open space too (sufficient to add a gospel choir and helicopter as required), and finally a choice of exits to the street [photo]. I watched as a rail replacement bus trundled past, rendered suddenly unnecessary by the station's reopening. And then I attempted to change trains.
There's another brand new station here, Shepherd's Bush on the Overground, just 100m away across a not-yet busy road. This branch line halt was originally scheduled to open in 2005, but lack of funding, political argument and contractor incompetence delayed the official opening to last Sunday. It's yet another giant glass box, presumably because giant glass boxes are easy and cheap, and because the kind of architectural excellence seen on the Jubilee line extension is now a thing of the past.
"Hello," I said to one of the two men in the bright cosy ticket office. "Sorry, we're closed," he replied. Brilliant. The station's only been open a week, but TfL shut it down all weekend for engineering work. Still, no great loss. This station boasts one of the most pathetic services of any TfL station - one train every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday, and "between one and two trains per hour on Sundays". Not somewhere you'd ever want to turn up on the off-chance without a timetable. Still, at least its platforms are wheelchair accessible, which is more than can be said for the newly refurbished Central line station opposite. Providing step-free access on a Victorian transit system is a logistical nightmare, and not even tens of millions of pounds can sort that in eight months flat.
And why has Shepherd's Bush station been rebuilt so very rapidly? One reason - shopping. Europe's largest in-town shopping centre opens nextdoor at the end of the month, and developers Westfield have contributed 85% of the finance to get these infrastructure improvements delivered. Without the imminent arrival of department stores, coffee shops and luxury retail brand outlets, the good people of Shepherd's Bush would have had to make do with the same old transport opportunities for several years to come. Hell, Westfield London is scheduled to be so financially magnetic that there's yet another brand new station - WoodLane - opening on its north flank next Sunday. It still looks a bit of a mess at the moment, and the shopping centre is similarly incomplete, but never underestimate the power of shopping to make things happen. Even at a time of recession, it's purchasing power that's driving W12's new golden age of transport connectivity.
London's railway infrastructure usually takes an age to construct. The Jubilee line extension was first proposed in the 1970s but not completed until 1999. Crossrail's been on the drawing board for yonks but can't possibly be finished before 2017. And the "Thameslink 2000" project, initiated in 1991, was so woefully optimistically named that it probably ought to be rebranded "Thameslink 2015-ish". So it's a minor miracle to be reporting on a station successfully knocked down, rebuilt and reopened in nigh record time, all within the same calendar year. Welcome to Nu-Shepherd's Bush.
When I boarded a Central line train at Bank just before noon yesterday, my destination station was still closed. But by the time we departed Notting Hill Gate our driver was able to announce that "Shepherd's Bush station is open", much to the unexpected delight of certain passengers on board. And so it was that a few of us stepped out onto a freshly-reopened station, untouched by public footstep since February, and ventured forth round the curving platform towards the way out. Blimey it looked different [photo]. Last time I was here there was diagonal tiling in a clashing combination of red and green - quite characterful but rather gloomy. And suddenly the tiling had become very white, almost clinical, topped off by columns of inoffensive navy blue. Worth a complaint to the heritage watchdog, maybe... except that white/blue is actually the original design, and red/green merely a mid 80s refurb aberration.
And then the greatest transformation. Where previously there'd been a traditional ticket hall with decoration and clutter, I emerged instead into a giant glass box. Wholly unnecessarily big, to be honest, unless station bosses have plans to position a symphony orchestra at the top of the escalators to serenade passengers, or maybe hang an aeroplane or two from the ceiling.
There's another brand new station here, Shepherd's Bush on the Overground, just 100m away across a not-yet busy road. This branch line halt was originally scheduled to open in 2005, but lack of funding, political argument and contractor incompetence delayed the official opening to last Sunday. It's yet another giant glass box, presumably because giant glass boxes are easy and cheap, and because the kind of architectural excellence seen on the Jubilee line extension is now a thing of the past.
