The first entrance at Battersea Power Station station opened in September 2021.
The second opened yesterday.
(it had to wait until they'd finished building the office block on top)
The newentrance connects directly to ElectricBoulevard, the retail canyon which funnels shoppers direct into the power station. Previously everyone emerged beside the main road and had to follow a less significant path at street level. Now you have a choice. [8 photos]
If alighting from a train everything's the same until you emerge through the ticket barriers, which means everything I'm about to describe is outside the gateline and freely accessible. The first change is the signage on the wall which now clearly suggests that if you want the Power Station you should turn right.
🠈 Prospect Park 🠈 New Covent Garden Market 🠈 Buses
The Power Station 🠊 Electric Boulevard shops 🠊 Battersea Park Station 🠊 Battersea Pier 🠊 Taxis 🠊
So far most people are still turning left through familiarity. Anyone turning up for the first time, however, is likely to turn right because that's where all the interesting stuff is. I'll tell you later whether that's a good move.
Ahead is a bank of escalators the same width as the bank that's been whisking passengers out of the other side of the station for four years. Passengers' ability to escape has been doubled overnight. Alongside is a lift, so double the number of lifts too.
At the top of the escalators is an airy atrium with glass at street level, which we're still below at this point. Don't expect to see any TfL staff up here, they're all down in the gateline area and this is very much an outer passageway. All the arrows point right but there is a tempting passageway off to the left which thus far remains closed. It leads to an arched subway from the power station days and will eventually exit into Stewarts Road on the Savona Estate, hopefully next year. Typical, the exit for the existing residents gets opened last, with all the shops and developmental priorities having taken precedence.
To the right you soon emerge into Electric Boulevard, a wiggly piazza lined by offices, doors to apartments and a snake of sleek retail units. One of the nearest sells French cars and is called 'rnlt' while most of the far side is occupied by fashion retailer Zara, because this is not a destination for those with a slim wallet. As for the jacketed member of staff lingering outside the station entrance they'll be in the employ of the Power Station, not TfL, as a reminder that this tube extension was built for commercial gain rather than public need. Everything you see around you makes this distinction very clear.
But is it the fastest way to the shops? Well no, as it turns out, as I discovered when I did a quick experiment. I used the new exit to walk to the Power Station and it took one minute to reach the outside world, then another three minutes to reach the lower floor of BPS. Then I used the old exit to walk to the Power Station and it took one minute to reach the outside world, then another three minutes to reach the ground floor of BPS. It's four minutes whichever way you go, so don't be swayed by the arrows, go whichever way you like.
Put another way, if you're returning to the tube station from the Power Station, aim for the old exit if you're on the upper floor and aim for the new exit if you're on the lower floor. You can thank me later.
It was interesting that TfL's press release focused on this being a new step-free entrance, not just a new entrance.
The new entrance in fact improves access for everyone, mobility-impaired or not, so is more a fresh choice than an accessibility gamechanger. Battersea Power Station has been a step-free station for the last four years so nothing's fundamentally changed. Indeed this emphasis feels somewhat of a smokescreen to cover the fact that the roll-out of step-free stations continues to go very slowly, this because all the low-hanging fruit has already been plucked.
The press release includes this reminder of a Mayoral policy which I think deserves statistical unpicking.
Knightsbridge brought the tube's step-free percentage to 93/272=34.2%. The only other station destined to become step-free this year is Colindale (94/272=34.6%), the only station due next year is Northolt (95/272=34.9%) and the only station that could possibly complete in 2027 is Leyton (96/272=35.3%). When 2028 rolls round we'll only be at 35%, still way off the target of 50%.
The press release also includes details of further stations where step-free design work is underway...
Re-starting design work: Burnt Oak (35.7%) Starting concept design work: Alperton, Arnos Grove, Eastcote, Finchley Road, West Hampstead, White City (37.9%)
...and the latest Programmes and Investment Committee agenda reveals what's coming next...
Feasibility studies underway: Colliers Wood, Tooting Broadway (38.6%) Additional studies in progress: Croxley, East Finchley, Neasden, Northwood, Turnham Green (40.4%)
That's potentially 110 step-free tube stations if every project on the drawing board proves viable, gets funded and is built. But it's nowhere near the 136 stations the Mayor needs to be step-free by 2030, it's still 26 short. Unless a magic money tree is shaken and an additional two dozen brilliant design solutions present themselves, 50% is never going to happen. That target needs amending, not repeating, because it's fundamentally unattainable.
