World record attempt: The Overground Orbital Loop Your time to beat: 1 hour 40 minutes 40 seconds
It's been dubbed the M25 of rail, somewhat over-grandly, as it doesn't even nudge as far as the North Circular. But the Overground's southernextension does make possible an orbit of the capital, via only two trains, interchanging at Highbury & Islington and Clapham Junction. Which yesterday laid open the possibility of grabbing a Guinness World Record for the fastest Overground circumnavigation of London before any of the usual TubeChallengers nipped in first. I prepared myself mentally and physically for this daunting task, even attempting a dummy run (which ended in failure). But I held out against the pressure, and I'm pleased to report that my 100-minute journey was a complete prize-winning success. Reckon you could beat that? Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.
0:00 Highbury & Islington
It's important to start your orbit correctly, so beware. Trains bound for Clapham Junction now depart from two completely different platforms, so check the Next Train Indicator in the ticket hall for "via Willesden Junction" and "via Canada Water". On my visit both were departing within a minute of one another, but I'd consulted my timetables and decided that heading clockwise would obtain the optimum time. A glance at the newly-updated map on the carriage wall suggests that Clapham Junction isn't far away, but that's not so. Some graphic designer has stretched and condensed the Overground diagram into a long rectangle, wildly off-balance, so it now bears absolutely no relation to reality. Out west it's mostly white space, while to the east five lines are stacked on top of one another, so all you can really do is count the stops to your destination. In this case, thirty-three.
0:05 Dalston Junction
My fellow passengers are dressed like gnomes and Sirdar knitting patterns, because it's cold out. With Shoreditch approaching several are also sporting beards and bright red trousers, even the occasional bear-faced woolly hat, and nobody blinks. The guy sitting opposite me sports can-sized headphones blaring angry rap, but thankfully his phone can't multi-task so when he switches to games mode the racket ceases.
0:13 Whitechapel
By now we have one bike aboard, and two gentlemen lugging a huge wrapped plastic cylinder from an East End wholesalers. It being Sunday there's plenty of room for both, and no need for any prospective Overground Orbiter to feel anxious.
0:20 Canada Water
With the opening of the Clapham Junction extension, the East London Line now splits into four (count them, four) different southern branches. That explains why so many passengers at Canada Water stay rooted to the platform, not wanting to join us on the journey west. Up to fifteen minutes wait for them, an instant departure for us.
0:22 Surrey Quays
Beyond Surrey Quays station we do the new thing, and swing round fresh tracks to dive under the old. A keen trainspotter-gent has settled into a seat close to mine, his body twisted round so he can watch out of the awkwardly-placed window. He points his camera to capture various chunks of infrastructure, and also the green earthwork ridge built on Bridgehouse Meadows to shield residents beyond from noise. At the approach to the former South London line we halt at a red signal - indeed I think it'll be rare to exit this stretch in either direction without an unscheduled wait.
0:27 Queens Road Peckham
All the way from Surrey Quays an inebriated bloke has been bellowing semi-coherently into his phone. He spoke first to his sister, telling her he'll soon be at New Cross, before she handed the call over. "Kevin you're my big brother you mean the world to me," he said, before adding (somewhat defensively) "But I showed Pam the receipt!" My trainspotting neighbour is fizzing with anger at the intrusion, muttering retorts under his breath, but to no avail. That's until our rowdy passenger notices we've stopped in Peckham, not New Cross, and is not impressed. "You're having a laugh!" he cries, then adds an expletive as he staggers to the door. The new Overground extension's taken at least one SE Londoner by surprise.
0:30 Peckham Rye
And then another. "This is really nice," says a rugged football-type in matching top and trainers. "Look, the carriage goes all the way down, this is so cool." They've not seen trains as modern as this in Peckham for years.
0:33 Denmark Hill
For the best view, make sure you're sitting on the lefthand side of the carriage overlooking the centre of town. You'll see nothing in the station cutting, but as the land rises up there's a fine panorama past the Shard to the distant Gherkin and City cluster. And stay alert later too, else you might miss the aerial pass over the heart of Brixton market at clocktower level. This platform-free flyover's no use whatsoever to those shopping down below, although travelling non-stop is of course perfect for maintaining world record breaking pace.
0:38 Clapham High Street
A posse of amateur photographers are milling on the island platform, with large lenses and tripods, to capture our train as it pulls to a halt. Another enthusiast is aboard my carriage, wandering over to the open doors to take an iPhone snap of the station roundel, then returning to his seat. He doesn't notice, but his behaviour earns quizzical stares and a "what the hell is he doing?" from some of the more ordinary passengers aboard.
0:39 Wandsworth Road This station and the preceding station have been wrested overnight from the clutches of Southern railways and are now the property of London Overground. Yesterday afternoon the old station signs were cut down, and now there are benches and shelters and even freshly-branded platform numbers. Two members of Overground staff are aboard the train carrying poster timetables rolled up in tubes, and here they alight to hang four more in frames on the northbound platform. It's all happening at Wandsworth Road, in a way it hasn't done here for decades.
The next curve previously saw only one train a day, the Parliamentary service, but now it's getting four an hour. Past the back of the bus garage, past the coffee-roasting warehouse, past umpteen other commercial premises squished into the gaps between swirling viaducts. Our line of attack is underneath the tracks from Waterloo, and all seems set for a fast time until the train grinds to a halt above Latchmere Road. I've ridden this way twice and it happens every time, a lengthy pause at a red signal while the driver waits for the next eastbound service to evacuate the platform ahead. And then our westbound train edges forward like an arthritic snail, making no attempt whatsoever to exceed 10mph, limping apologetically into Clapham Junction with total disregard for connecting passengers. "There's my train," one lady told me with a sigh. "I've missed it now."
0:46 Clapham Junction
For the potential Overground Orbiter, this is where records are won or lost. Time it wrong and the next Stratford service will be pulling out from the adjacent platform. Time it badly and the next train's only for Willesden Junction, with all the inefficiencies an additional change brings. I arrived with nine minutes to wait, which was enough time to pace up newly-opened Platform 2 to see what exciting facilities there might be. Not many, to be honest, and only one Next Train Indicator (which is utterly appallingly positioned for anyone approaching from Platform 1). Platform 1 is still where it's at, because people are much keener to cross the river than they are to go to Clapham or Peckham. Whereas every train on the new line boasted loads of spare seats, my Stratford-bound train was already rammed and I found only one place to sit right down at the far end. World record attempt phase 2 begins here.
0:55 Clapham Junction
1:16 Willesden Junction
1:30 Gospel Oak
To think, this section of the Overground once used to be exciting. Now it's a choked artery, taking south Londoners to the football and north Londoners home from Westfield. Everyone's polite, everyone's well dressed, or at least that's how they seemed on a pre-Christmas Sunday. Maybe I caught the boring train, or maybe there really is far more of interest going on to the south and east of town. Hurry now, the clock is ticking.
1:40:40 Highbury & Islington
And finally, with one eye on my stopwatch and another on the button by the door, I'm back at my starting point. A different platform this time, but the Overground has carried me around the heart of London and brought me home. And it's done so in one hundred minutes and forty seconds, which must be a world-beating time because the line's only been open for a few hours. If Guinness would like to send round the certificate and the champagne, I can start the celebrations. Obviously I remain slightly nervous that one of you could whisk the record from my grasp. Check the timetables carefully and you might find a changeover at Clapham Junction quicker than nine minutes, or decide that a different starting point or direction of rotation could make the crucial difference. But I'm counting on the fact that this 360 degree circumnavigation of the capital is an entirely pointless journey*, so who'd want to try to attempt it, even now the Overground makes it possible. No, the world record is surely mine, unless of course you know better.
* What's particularly pointless about orbiting the Overground is that there's a much quicker way from one side of London to the other. Forget the choice of two Overground trains from Highbury & Islington to Clapham Junction and take the direct route instead. That's the Victoria line from H&I to Victoria or Vauxhall, then a mainline train to Clapham Junction. It's only non-obvious to most people because the latter journey isn't on the tube map. Hide these rail links away and nobody thinks to use them, whereas the appearance of the new Overground route on the tube map is sure to boost passenger numbers.
Highbury & Islington → Canada Water → Clapham Junction 46 minutes
Clapham Junction → Willesden Junction → Highbury & Islington 45 minutes
Highbury & Islington → Vauxhall → Clapham Junction 23 minutes
The headlamps shining down the tunnel looked unfamiliar. A brighter white than usual, sharper, less soft. And as the alien train curved into the platform, suspicions were confirmed. A Hammersmith & City line service, for sure, but nothing that East London's passengers had ever seen before. This was one of those new-fangled Metropolitan-style trains, the flash ones with the low-slung floors, but with only seven carriages rather than the usual eight. It glided quietly to a halt, in an atypically 21st century manner, then a klaxon blared as the doors welcomed its first customers inside.
Sunday morning saw the debut eastern outing for the Hammersmith & City line's new S7 Stock. They've run as far as Moorgate before, but never beyond to Barking in passenger service. We're more used to rolling stock from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and certainly nothing that looks like it was designed with modern accessibility needs in mind. There's just been the one train so far, shuttling out to Barking and back amidst a horde of more bog-standard vehicles. But as 2013 passes we'll see more of these rolling out week by week on the H&C until eventually the whole of the old guard has been imperceptibly swept away. TfL's publicity describes these new carriages as "more spacious", for which read fewer seats. Not that there are that many seats on the current C Stock, but greater floor space will allow significantly more commuter cattle aboard during the rush hour. They're also longer, a full 16 metres extra, so they don't stop embarrassingly short at the rear of platforms forcing would-be passengers to jog forward to embark.
This pioneering train wasn't at all busy, as you might expect before dawn on a Sunday, so those of us on board spread out through the carriages without the need for strap-hanging. Bright orange letters rolled along the scrolling display, much larger than we're used to, and the disembodied voice successfully negotiated its first attempt at pronouncing Plaistow. We'd picked up several more souls by Barking, where off they surged, unaware they'd just ridden an inaugural service. Few will have noticed the nucleus of TfL officials by the driver's cab, nudged into position by an over-eager photographer, smiling because they knew the future had arrived.
As the doors closed automatically to keep in the heat, those arriving for the return journey seemed uncertain what to do. Should they press the button for re-entry, was that now a possibility, or was the train already locked for departure? They'll get the hang of it before long. Within four years every train on the sub-surface lines will operate like this, as the Circle then the District swaps its old carriages for new. Shining halogen headlamps onto a platform near you soon.
TfL line & station openings 2005: DLR opens from Canning Town to King George V 2006: (the last non-event year) 2007: London Overground launched, Langdon Park station opens 2008: Heathrow Terminal 5 station opens, Wood Lane station opens, Shepherds Bush station opens 2009: DLR extends from King George V to Woolwich Arsenal, Imperial Wharf station opens 2010: East London Line reopens as part of the Overground 2011: East London Line extends to Highbury & Islington, DLR opens from Stratford International to Canning Town 2012: Cablecar opens, Overground extends from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction (7:11am) 2013: (nothing scheduled) 2014: (further tumbleweed) 2015: (still nothing for Boris to open) 2016: Croxley Rail Link opens (probably) 2017: (nothing scheduled) 2018: Crossrail opens (hopefully) 2019: Northern line extended to Battersea (maybe)
If you like quirky London and/or shopping
✵ Visit Eel Pie Island: Normally this private island on the Thames refuses visitors. But twice a year (in the summer and in the run-up to Christmas) they open up the footbridge from Twickenham and let the public inside. In particular you're invited to the island's boatyard, a proper working boatyard no less, and the two dozen artists' studios beyond. Here you'll find the artists themselves hoping to sell you some of their wares, including mosaics, ceramics, pottery and some caricature Christmas cards, plus some warming drinks in case you're very cold. It's a fascinating place to visit, at least once in your life, and you might get some presents bought too. [Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am-6.30pm]
If you like space ✵ Look inside the European Space Expo: A geodesic dome has popped up on Horseguards Parade, temporarily, housing an exhibition about the European Space Programme. There are 12 touchscreens to explore, covering all aspects of supra-atmospheric scientific endeavour. But don't think astronauts and space travel, because that's all old school. Instead the ESA does a lot with satellites, specifically networks of satellites looking down upon us. They've developed a system called Galileo, and a satnav system called EGNOS, which'll offer far more accurate positioning than your bogstandard GPS. It'll allow surveyors to pinpoint boundaries better, and geocachers to find hidden treasure quicker, and farmers to herd cattle using virtual electric fencing. If you thought space was exciting, think again - today it's primed to support job creation and economic growth. There's not much at the expo a website couldn't deliver, but it beats fighting the crowds on Oxford Street. [Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm, free]
If you're local to Bow
✵ Return to Roman Road Saturday Market: After Mary Portas's minor revamp, keep E3's main shopping street on your radar. Although I note that the street food vendors brought in last month have already started vanishing (two are off to Silicon Roundabout this morning), so Bow's clearly peaked.
✵ Hit the Carmelite Christmas Market: The Bow Arts Gallery is holding a craft fair today up the alley opposite Bow Church. They're promising "affordable art works and seasonal treats from Bow Arts artists", plus there'll be coffee and hot edibles from the Carmelite Cafe. I do hope some of you locals are actually using this extremely well hidden eaterie, otherwise Bow's gentrification is on the skids before it's even started. [11am-4pm, this Saturday and next]
If you're in southeast London
✵ Catch an old bus in Bromley: The single decker RF bus is 60 years old this year, and there have been several special services and anniversary road runs to celebrate. This Sunday it's the turn of the 227 from Chislehurst to Crystal Palace, plus a variety of other routes in and around Bromley. If you're in Orpington, Petts Wood, Shirley, Coney Hall, Eltham, Grove Park or thereabouts watch out for the vintage vehicles from about 10.30 onwards. [Sunday, free]
If you can't keep away from trains
✵ Go watch some steam trains: Ian has the details. [Saturday]
✵ Hunt down the new tube map: They're out there, I've got one. And they're on the TfL website, now with added Overground South. Given that no new stations or line extensions are due over the next three years, this could be the last new tube map until 2016.
✵ Ride a new train to Barking: The Metropolitan line's already got its new S-Stock trains, and now they're being rolled out on the Hammersmith and City line too. So far the shiny 7-car trains have taken passengers no further east than Moorgate, but this Sunday one nudges out to Barking and back, three times. The timetable, if you're interested, is HMS 0706/BKG 0807, BKG 0815/HMS 0914, HMS 0925/BKG 1027, BKG 1035/HMS 1134, HMS 1146/BKG 1247, BKG 1255/HMS 1354 (then to depot).
When the new Overground extension opens, many stations on the existing South London line will lose their direct services to London. Like so.
Number of trains per hour(eastbound)
this week
next week
South Bermondsey
6 → London Br
4 → London Br
Queens Rd Peckham
6 → London Br
4 → London Br, 4 → Canada W
Peckham Rye
6 → London Br
4 → London Br, 4 → Canada W
Denmark Hill
2 → London Br
0 → London Br, 4 → Canada W
Clapham High Street
2 → London Br
0 → London Br, 4 → Canada W
Wandsworth Road
2 → London Br
0 → London Br, 4 → Canada W
Battersea Park
4 → London Br
2 → London Br
All of the Overground stations, coloured orange, see an increase in the number of trains. What changes is where they go. Queens Road Peckham and Peckham Rye see fewer trains to London Bridge, while the stations further west suddenly see none. If you want to go via Canada Water, great. But if you want to head to the City, the direct route is closed. Actually that's not a problem from Clapham High Street because you could always take the Northern line instead, and it's quicker and more frequent. But anyone in Denmark Hill, sorry, journey times to London Bridge increase by 50%.
» This redirection is important for the future of London Bridge station, which needs to have fewer terminating trains while it's being fundamentally rejigged over the next few years for Thameslink. Removing the South London line makes space for a sequence of platforms to be closed as part of a rolling programme, which is going to get painful, but by 2018 should have paid off big time.
Number of trains per hour(westbound)
this week
next week
Battersea Park
10 → Victoria
8 → Victoria
Wandsworth Road
2 → Victoria
0 → Victoria, 4 → Clapham Jn
Clapham High Street
2 → Victoria
0 → Victoria, 4 → Clapham Jn
Denmark Hill
4 → Victoria
2 → Victoria, 4 → Clapham Jn
Peckham Rye
4 → Victoria
2 → Victoria, 4 → Clapham Jn
Queens Rd Peckham
2 → Victoria
0 → Victoria, 4 → Clapham Jn
South Bermondsey
2 → Victoria
0 → Victoria
All of the Overground stations, coloured orange, see an increase in the number of trains. What changes is where they go. Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye see fewer trains to Victoria, while all other stations suddenly see none. If you want to go via Clapham Junction, great. But if you want to head to the West End, the direct route is closed. Actually that's not a problem from Clapham High Street because you could always take the Northern and Victoria lines instead, which isn't much slower, and services are more frequent. But anyone in Queens Road Peckham, sorry, journey times to Victoria increase by 50%. And from Wandsworth Road there'll be no inbound services at all, despite several whizzing by on the fast tracks.
» The Southwark Rail Users' Group aren't happy. They don't want services from the Peckham area to Victoria to be reduced, and are particularly annoyed that there'll no longer be any direct trains on Sundays or after 7:30pm on weekdays. Read about the issue in much more detail on their website, and take a look at what the new local rail map looks like.
The new London Overground southern extension is a great step forward for many, but a retrograde disconnect for others.
Clapham Junction → 1.7 miles → Wandsworth Road → 0.4 miles → Clapham High Street → 2 miles → Denmark Hill → 0.9 miles → Peckham Rye → 0.6 miles → Queens Road Peckham → 1.5 miles → Surrey Quays
That's six gaps, half of which are 1½ miles or more. In comparison, on the Overground between Willesden Junction and Stratford there are 17 gaps, none of which are over 1½ miles, and only one of which is over a mile.
The longest of these gaps - the dash through Brixton - has been in existence for decades. But the two other long gaps will be created this weekend as a consequence of diverting the ends of the South London line to create the Overground. Residents of East Battersea will have to walk further to get a better service. Meanwhile the decision not to build a station at Surrey Canal Road means locals will now find fewer trains on their doorstep, not more. And OK, so none of these long gaps are insurmountable on foot, and London doesn't have a bottomless transport budget. But if you want to create a truly accessible rail network, it helps if your trains stop regularly along the way.
Clapham High Street Opened: 25 August 1862 (as 'Clapham') Renamed: Clapham & North Stockwell; Clapham Road & N Stockwell; Clapham & N Stockwell; Clapham; Clapham High Street
The original station buildings are Grade II listed, a complex mixture of Tudor and Gothic-style brickwork, except they're now flats. The current station is bleak and uninteresting, accessed by subway, and nowhere joyous to linger. In recent years Clapham High Street's passenger numbers have been pitifully low, fewer than for all but one of the stations on the Underground, so it'll be interesting to see how that picks up.
» After a two-mile gap between stations, the next gap's less than half a mile. By backroad the route follows Victorian terraces, again with ornately decorated frontages of the kind that make estate agents salivate. The bridge over the railway on Larkhall Rise isn't very strong so vehicle access is restricted, but it is an idealvantagepoint. Hello if you were the bloke standing here with a camera on Sunday afternoon watching the trains go by (and probably waiting for me and my camera to go away). A brisk walk down the hill gets you to the next station before you know it.
Wandsworth Road Opened: 1 March 1863 Wandsworth Road suffers from being a little station on a big line. Most services bypass this minor halt, whizzing to and from Victoria which is where the great majority of people want to go. The former ticket hall is now a locksmiths, and there's little else in the way of infrastructure apart from a Victorian footbridge parachuted in from Mitcham. Wandsworth Road's another passenger vacuum, even less well used than Clapham High Street, because who'd want to come here when trains are so infrequent? Although this has been a very popular station for transport geeks seeking to ride the daily ghost train to/from Kensington Olympia. For several years Network Rail have been forced to run a service along the otherwise unscheduled curve round to Clapham Junction, but that ends its run tomorrow. From Sunday the Overground will head that way four times an hour, and a new ghost train will be needed across the viaduct to Battersea Park. It's there in the new Overground timetable... the 2232 from Highbury and Islington continues each weekday to Battersea Park (arrives 2359), while a separate train runs the reverse journey each morning at 0618. If you're interested.
» And after a tiny gap, another very long one. It's a mile and a half to Clapham Junction as the crow flies, but nearer two by rail. For my walk I attempted the latter, although it's very hard to get close to the railway around here, at least for any significant distance, because the peripheral areas are full of warehouses and light industry. Abutting the viaduct north of Wandsworth Road is HeathbrookPark, the designated leisure space for residents of the Westbury Estate. I was amazed to see its acres entirely empty on Sunday, not a child in the playspace, not a dog defecating in the long grass, nobody. I know it's winter but, really, can two towerblockfuls really all be inside watching boxsets?
Beyond the bustle of Queenstown Road (the street, not the station) lies the ShaftesburyEstate. Built by the Artizans, Labourers and General Dwelling Company in the 1870s, it covered 40 acres with basic but beautifully proportioned terrace houses. The estate's tree-lined avenues were designed as living space for the working man, whereas today you need to be a little further up the social scale to enjoy living in this extremely desirably corner of Battersea. EversleighRoad is aligned with the railway embankment, screening it completely bar a single gap for a footbridge (then subway) across the mainline to Waterloo. Only beyond Latchmere Road does the tone of the neighbourhood descend, traversing the manic car park outside a 24-hour Asda to the maelstrom of Clapham Junction.
Clapham Junction Opened: 2 March 1863
I've made it at last, all the way from southeast London to southwest, to the busiest station in Britain. It was only named Clapham Junction out of snobbishness, because neighbouring Battersea had a much less desirable reputation than distant Cla'ham. I've already explained the changes being made here to accommodate Overground South, and I can report that (as of Sunday) things still weren't anywhere near ready. A new staircase was/is being added, parallel to the old, down from the overbridge. Gaggles of hi-vis-blokes were/are busy tweaking platform 2, hanging things from the canopy, flattening surfaces, dangling from scaffolding, all the essentials. It'll look orangier next Sunday, and a lot fuller, as dignitaries and the over-keen assemble to see off the first train. What I walked in four hours it'll cover in just under 30 minutes, and the outer orbital will be complete.
Denmark Hill
Conveniently situated for Kings College Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital, which are on the doorstep. Not quite so conveniently located for the centre of Camberwell, which is half a mile away. One day someone'll build a station in Camberwell. Until then, this'll have to do.
» Across the main road is RuskinPark, named after the Victorian art critic who once lived nearby, but moved out when the arrival of the railway destroyed his peace. It's a marvellous feature-packed park, with a frogpond, a restored bandstand and some semi-formal gardens to explore. Not at its most welcoming in December, obviously, but the small chalet cafe by the paddling pool is open, and the park is is probably the nicest stretch of the entire eight mile walk. Even the bridge beneath the railway on Cambria Road is a little special, with mosaics of fantastical marine creatures embedded in the brickwork.
Loughborough Junction Opened: October 1864
Here we go with the first station along this stretch where the Overground doesn't stop. Which is strange, because Loughborough is a proper Junction with criss-crossing railway lines, but entirely lacks a passenger interchange. There used to be platforms on the linking spurs but they closed more than eighty years ago, and now only the north-south services stop. Locals can catch a direct train to Luton, but they'll never get to Peckham no matter how long they wait. The crucial point where Thameslink crosses the South London line is a bit too far away from the existing station, so there's little chance of investment being found to replace a recycling centre and jerk chicken grill with a useful commuter link. And so the Overground rolls on.
East Brixton Opened: 13 August 1866 (as Loughborough Park) Closed: 5 January 1976
There wasn't always a two mile gap on the South London line between Denmark Hill and Clapham High Street. There used to be a station approximately halfway inbetween, a little to the west of Loughborough Junction, a little to the east of Brixton town centre. East Brixton station was located by the bridge across Barrington Road, with wooden platforms supported on pillars alongside the viaduct, a bit like a seaside pier. All was well until the 1970s when the Victoria line sucked its passenger traffic away, and a decision was taken to close the station in 1976. Sounds short-sighted now, but who'd have guessed bright orange trains would be rolling through four decades later and people might actually want to catch them? All that's left today is a single arch of ornate brickwork, alongside a house whose owner must be sorely hoping nobody ever attempts a rebuild. And so the Overground rolls on.
» For a while the railway shadows Coldharbour Lane, one of Brixton's oldest streets. And yet it was almost destroyed to make way for an urban motorway, that's Ringway 1, the inner London orbital proposed in the 1960s. GLC planners decided that their new dual carriageway should precisely follow the railway, which would have meant the South Cross Route running in parallel with the South London Line all the way from Peckham to Battersea. A heck of a lot of demolition work would have been required, peaking with the completeredevelopment of Brixton town centre to make way for a concrete highway six storeys off the ground. Public opinion disagreed, thank God, and this act of community desecration never quite transpired. But Southwyck House (opposite East Brixton station) was built when the project was still very much alive, which is why this austere block of flats doubles up as a soundproof barrier.
Brixton Opened: 1862
Brixton's a most peculiar station, and not just because it boasts three bronzepassengers. Three separate Victorian viaducts thread through the town centre, two from Loughborough Junction and one from Herne Hill. But only trains on the latter line have platforms. Everything else sails either straight through or right over the top, even though this is a major centre of population. Adding new platforms to the highest line would cost many tens of millions and cause major disruption to the market below, so is extremely unlikely to happen. And that's a shame, because for Brixton residents the Overground extension is an entirely wasted opportunity. They'll get four trains an hour that won't stop, with both of the adjacent stations a mile distant. One of the rail bridges even crosses Brixton Road just three shops along from the Victoria line terminus, but you can forget interchanging here because joined-up thinking is too expensive. And so the Overground rolls on.
» Ferndale Road starts inauspiciously, ducking off the main drag and veering underneath the railway. But blimey it improves. A 1929 councilestate makes way for some City of London almshouses arranged round the perimeter of an expansive lawn. And then the Victorian terraces start, in brick and terracotta, each with a sculpted face at the centre of the arch above the porch. You can feel Brixton slowly ebbing away as the influence of Clapham takes hold, more the realm of bubbly young professionals than market shoppers. It's a lengthy street, with a single footbridge over the railway halfway along, and ending up with a gloriously ornate nameplate courtesy of builder Joseph George Jennings.
Clapham High Street Opened: 25 August 1862
Finally, after two miles of rolling on, trains on the Overground extension will actually stop. Clapham High Street is another listed station, although it was closed last weekend so I only got to watch workmen sprucing up the outside which wasn't very pretty at all. Good news, there is a proper interchange here, with Clapham North on the Northern line just a couple of minutes walk away. Clapham's an Overground winner, in the same way that Brixton's an Overground loser. Did I mention there's a two mile gap between stations? It's a damned long walk.
Queens Road Peckham
British Rail rebuilt the station in 1977, wiping away the timber platforms and replacing them with a single island platform. Now deemed "of no historic or architectural merit."
» The CossallEstate nestles up against the curve of the South London Line, mainly because nothing else really wants to be here. It's not a bad estate as these things go, mostly long low-rise blocks, although a bit of a maze to negotiate. If you find the right path you can follow the Kirkwood Nature Reserve along the foot of the embankment, a linear woodland created on the site of a row of terraced houses. I missed that, and got to listen to some child playing Happy Birthday on the recorder (out-of tune) instead. Ducking beneath lofty arches leads to almost the centre of Peckham, where the Hand Car Wash in Copeland Road already has its Christmas tree up. Rye Lane is the main shopping street round here, a deep Victorian canyon filled by buses midweek, blessedly free on Sundays. Most of the stores near the station are small non-chain outlets, ideal for fruit and veg and getting your hair done (but with no sign of Del Boy or Desmond's).
Peckham Rye Opened: 1 December 1865
This is a fine station, architecturally, designed by Charles Henry Driver (who's also responsible for Abbey Mills Pumping Station, the London Bridge trainshed and Estação da Luz railway terminus in Sao Paulo). He plumped for a three-storey edifice in French Renaissance style, which would look marvellous from the street had not a 1930s shopping arcade been dumped in front of it in the 1930s. There are tentative plans to reclaim the station forecourt as a town square for Peckham, and to reopen the grand waiting room on the first floor as a meeting space or restaurant. Grade II listed, obviously, deservedly.
» And then the landscape changes. This railside walk's been all commercial and housing estates so far, but here it switches to desirable residential. Holly Grove is charming - a period terrace opposite well-kept gardens, and even the occasional topiary peacock. You'll find no fried chicken outlets on the corner with Bellenden Road, only a single understated Indian restaurant. Next along is Warwick Gardens - a triangular park where tiny dogs frolic while their owners cluster round and smile and chatter. If there is such a thing as a 'class' map of London, several contours have just been crossed.
There are genuine contours here too, as the land rises up on a spur between the former Peck and Earl's Sluice rivers. There would have been excellent views from here down across the Thames basin, now all but obscured apart from the occasional glimpse down arrow-straight avenues. By now the railway is in cutting, even dipping into tunnel beyond Camberwell Grove. Gorgeous street, this, but alas not in this section. The Overground's next station lies ahead, overshadowed by a building that's a cross between a cathedral and a water tower. This is William Booth College, the nerve centre of the Salvation Army's training operation. Access to the top is via one of the oldest lifts in London, then a series of increasingly tiny spiral staircases (an Open House treat only, but the viewisfantastic).
Denmark Hill Opened: 1865
Unquestionably the new Overground's finest station, described by English Heritage as "a rare and unusually complete example of a Victorian suburban station". Part of this is an illusion - the station was part-destroyed by fire in 1980 and then restored. But the rebuild was meticulous, and the polychromatic brickwork still looks a treat. OK, so the former ticket hall is now a pub, with entrance to the platforms through a lesser vestibule. And OK, so an accessible footbridge being installed, so much of the exterior is currently sheathed in ugly scaffolding. But if you're ever riding the new line in search of something to admire, this is the station at which to alight.
Next Sunday the London Overground extends a tentacle across south London. A new link branches out from Surrey Quays towards Clapham Junction, of which only a mile is fresh track, and all the rest is existing railway. Most of this is the existing Inner South London Line, a horseshoe service linking London Bridge and Victoria which runs for the very last time this Saturday. I fancied a last trip over the weekend, except the entire line was closed for final upgrade purposes, so a rail replacement bus was running instead. And nobody likes riding those, so I walked eight miles along the new alignment instead...
Surrey Quays Opened: Deptford Road 7 December 1869 Renamed: Surrey Docks 17 July 1911; Surrey Quays 24 October 1989
Very much a two-era station, this. The platforms have pillars and some original ornate ironwork, while above ground is a modern brick box with a glass ticket hall. The station's also a significant branching point. North of here, from Sunday, sixteen trains an hour. South of here, in contrast, three separate lines diverge and frequencies are considerably less.
» To walk the line to Clapham Junction take the Rotherhithe Old Road, then carefully cross the New into the SilwoodEstate. Ahead on the left a large right-angled pipe crosses the railway - a remnant of the local lost river, the Earl's Sluice - which is also responsible for the wiggly border between Southwark and Lewisham hereabouts. A proper footbridge follows, constructed specially in Overground orange, immediately before the new railway'sbranching-offpoint. The long row of prefabs alongside this curve is home to the East London Line Infrastructure Facility (i.e. contractor HQ), and also to the Phase 2 Project offices. They'll be working hard to make sure Sunday's transition goes smoothly, and they'll have a grandstand view of the first official train.
Beyond the junction the line cuts beneath one, two, three separate railway viaducts. These are the lines splaying out from London Bridge, and they divide up the area into unlovely barriered segments. The next cut-through along - Bolina Road - is one of the most oppressive streets in inner London, but the new Overground link provides an alternative for those on foot or two wheels. A refreshed footpath runs between brick arches immediately alongside the railway - the only place along the new Overground where you can get right up beside the tracks, but there was nothing to see this weekend.
On the opposite side of the tracks is the SELCHP, the "South East London Combined Heat and Power" energy recovery facility. Its chimney is visible for miles around, belching steam high into the sky, while the fans arrayed beneath look like a full set of rocket boosters. Beyond the next arch is the very best view of the new track, at the point where it rises up from ground level to spend most of its next few miles on raised viaducts. And a mere ballkick over the fence to the right, that's The Den, home to Millwall Football Club. Closest to the line is the Dockers Stand, plus the Ticket Office, and on match days the surrounding streets are heaving. A new station right here might ease post-game transport problems and provide a major boost for the area alongside.
Surrey Canal Road Opened: 9 December 2012 (sorry, no) Cancelled: 2009
Plans for the East London Line Extension Phase 2b have long included a new station at Surrey Canal Road. It's close to Millwall's ground, and fills in a geographical gap skipped by Overground trains to New Cross and New Cross Gate. But alas no. Funding wasn't found when the rest of the new line got the green light, following a lengthy argument with government, and for lack of £7m the station was scrapped. TfL readjusted their plans to provide passive provision, so the viaduct includes space beneath for a passenger entrance (which is clearly seen from the road). A developer has sincestepped in with the money, as part of a major regeneration scheme hereabouts, but that came too late to get this station built for 2012. Maybe 2015. Until then there's a mile and a half's gap between stations (or a very long walk).
» It should be possible to walk ahead alongside the railway through Bridgehouse Meadows, but not at the moment. This grassy triangle has been used as a worksite while the new rail link's been built, so dogs from the local estate have had to relieve themselves elsewhere for a few years. The path south from Surrey Canal Road is still sealed off, whereas workmen were busy this weekend up the end of Rollins Street attempting to ready the entrance for reopening. In the meantime a less pleasant diversion via Ilderton Road is required. This is the street of choice for many a pentecostal church, where on Sundays the men and boys wear smart suits and the ladies sport dazzling wrapped millinery. The new railway links to the existing South London line just south of Hornshay Street, where there's an actual Wheelshunters Club (which I think is still open, despite threat of closure).
Old Kent Road Opened: 13 July 1866 Closed: 1 January 1917
The new Overground link follows the alignment of a former railway, unused in almost a century. You'd expect a station on the Old Kent Road to have been really busy, but the tram service to central London was so good that the train service proved unnecessary. The platforms were just to the south of the bridge, between the A2 and the sports pitches, but today no trace remains. There are no plans for a grand reopening either, sorry, because the site's too close to the next station down the line to be economically viable.
» Onward through yet another semi-modern estate. Some of these back right up to the railway, but a long stretch is taken up by light industrial units in the arches along Station Passage. It's amazing how large Network Rail's portfolio of under-railway rentals is, especially along the South London Line - here we find arches 93-132. Three from the far end, tucked back almost out of sight from passers-by, is the entrance to...
Queens Road Peckham Opened: 13 August 1866
QRP is the first station on the Overground extension after Surrey Quays - five minutes by train, considerably longer on foot. And if you thought that was a long gap, sorry, there's much longer to come.
» Ian's been visiting this stretch of the line too - report here, photos here.
It's been six months since the Greenway was last open. The stretch alongside the Olympic Stadium, that is, sealed off for security reasons as the Games approached and sealed off since while various bits of infrastructure were dismantled. A December deadline for reopening was set, and met, as the gates at each end were finally unlocked yesterday morning. And did Londoners rush back inside? Not exactly.
The Greenway's best accessed from a passageway alongside Pudding Mill station. This zigzags beneath the railway arches, just as before, except the blue walls have been repainted a mustardy yellow to signify a new chapter in the Park's evolution. The path opens out beside the cylindrical Pumping Station, and then a familiar sight - a pair of security guards await to guide you across the service road. Trucks and vans and sightseeing tours pass this way, so best not dash across before they've given their smiling say-so. And then up the main ramp, same as ever, and you're back in the heart of history again.
Time for a good stare. The Olympic Stadium has been stripped of its wrap, but the ring of purple pods is still intact around the perimeter. The area in front is a huge expanse of tarmac, again devoid of Gamestime services, and in front of that a zigzag of fencing to keep those on the Park's perimeter loop road at bay. It looks much tidier than it ever was over the five years of construction, which is more than can be said for the land on the other side of the Greenway. This used to be the warm-up track, a green and pleasant land where athletes flexed and jogged, but that's been replaced by an ugly pile of rubble. It's an astonishingly retrograde transformation, from track and field to heaps of bricks, but needs must when there's a whole new urban quarter to be developed.
There's little in the way of vegetation on the approach to the View Tube, but that's because it's winter. Six months away from the public gaze has helped the grass recover, and a local gardening group has been in to prune back the roses. The row of lime green containers is empty, the London 2012 shop having long ago packed up and moved out. Step to the edge of the railings to look down over Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park South, such as it is, which isn't much yet. But for the high level panorama you need to head inside the ViewTube, because yay, it's open again.
And it's bigger. The walkway along the edge of View Tube has been replaced by a conservatory, on decking, containing seats and tables. The windows might steam up obscuring the view, but when the place is busy you're now far more likely to find somewhere to sit. What's not yet obvious, or wasn't when I visited, is that the stack of containers contains a cafe in the first place. There's no sign, no "we serve coffee here", not even a marker on the door you're supposed to use to enter. Neither is there a sign at the foot of the stairs announcing the presence of a viewing platform, nor that you really are allowed to walk through the classroom to access it. Cameras at the ready for the Stadium, the Orbit, the Aquatic Centre, and the remnants of the walkway from the Greenway Gate into the Olympic Park.
Big news on the ground floor - the cafe's changed hands. A new post-Olympic contract was up for grabs, and the folks from Hackney Wick have been replaced by fresh blood from Stratford High Street. The owners of the Moka Mia Cafe (that's Liliana, Mario and David) threw together a bid and were more than surprised to win. They were only allowed into the premises on Friday afternoon, and worked manically into the evening and early morning to get the kitchen fitted out and the drinks machine plumbed in. Good news, they succeeded, and a tempting array of baked goodies awaited the first day's visitors. The menu at Moka East will extend later as the place becomes established, but breakfast butties, cakes and freshly-filled sandwiches are already up for grabs. I had a friendly chat with the Italian owners and a tasty cup of hand-sprinkled hot chocolate, plus the privilege of being one of their inaugural customers.
It'll take a while for Londoners to notice that they're allowed back inside this corner of the Olympic Park again. The Greenway was almost empty on my visit, bar a few wise pedestrians and the occasional cyclist pleased to have regained access to their direct shortcut. It was so quiet that I got to watch a robin hopping undisturbed along the edge of the verge, and further flocks of birds enjoying the shelter of this green stripe, at least until the first coach party of the day stomped by and disturbed the lot. The gate on the ramp down to the River Lea hadn't yet been unlocked, but the former Victoria Gate security concourse was fully accessible. Although workmen had cleared almost everything from this bleak space, one small magenta sign reading Discreet search area (Zone de fouille discrète) had been left stuffed in a corner of the fence. It's not there now - I wonder who took it home with them?
So, to summarise, the Greenway between Hackney Wick and Pudding Mill Lane is open again, and should remain so. The View Tube and its cafe are open again, with the prospect of an additional linear viewing gallery being constructed over the next few months. You'll not be able to wander into the adjacent park until Easter 2014, although you can book a bus tour round the site if you like. What's yet to be proven is whether the Greenway view is still the draw it was before the Games, but hopefully you'll want to come back and see how the place looks now, now that you finally can.
The world's ending in three weeks, remember. That's according to the MayanLongCount - the timekeeping system of an ancient central American civilisation - which is scheduled to terminate after a 5125 year cycle when the calendar reaches 13.0.0.0.0. Doomsday is confirmed as Friday21December2012, with the grand snuffing-out scheduled to coincide with the winter solstice at 11.12am GMT.
On this date the Earth as we know it is to be destroyed by catastrophic earthquakes, or maybe the magnetic poles will reverse, or maybe there'll be a cosmic hyperspatial breakthrough, or maybe the Chosen will ascend to Heaven, or maybe every living thing on Earth will be translated into the 6th dimension, or maybe our planet will be hit by The Third Comet, or maybe the Solar System will enter a top secret photon belt, or perhaps a unexpected supernova will engulf us all in a ball of gravitational fire. Nobody knows precisely how the world will end, but end it must, and we're all doomed.
It therefore comes as some surprise to see the population of the world continuing their lives as normal. Various participatory events are planned for humanity's final evening, and wild overnight parties the day before, but surely that's leaving things too late? With only a limited amount of consciousness remaining, you'd think more people would be taking the opportunity to make their final twenty days as enjoyable as possible.
I'm taking the week before The End Of Everything off work. It seemed wise. I've booked in under cover of "needing time to prepare for Christmas", but that's clearly hogwash because Christmas is cancelled. The last thing I want is to be stuck commuting into the office as the prophecies unravel. I have no plans to be at the photocopier when the first meteors hit, or firing off a final email as London topples into a pit of boiling lava. There are so many more things on my list of "Things To Do Before I Die", none of which are best served by being in an office.
There are chunks of Scotland I haven't seen yet, and I've always fancied Berlin, and New Zealand would be a great place to be when Armageddon hits. That might require me to waste 5% of my remaining time on a long haul plane flight, but at least the ticket would be one-way. Even better it'd be summer when I arrived, rather than having to live out my final days in an Arctic blast. If I don't use my life savings soon they'll all be wasted, so why not squander them now on excess hedonism and luxury travel?
I should probably go out and buy the biggest TV entertainment system I can afford, so long as pre-Christmas delivery is guaranteed. I should fill my trolley at the supermarket with all the most fattening and sugary provisions I can carry, because I'll never get obese and I'll never have to face the dental consequences. And I should tell all the people I secretly fancy what I really think of them, and the people I truly loathe how much I'm looking forward to their demise, with no fear of long term embarrassment. These Last Days can be golden days if I adopt a properly decadent mentality.
I think it would make sense to take the whole of the next fortnight off work as well. I probably don't need to ring in and tell them, because the worst they can do is sack me, and where's the problem with that? Instead I can swan around for three weeks like I'm on extended holiday, doing whatever the hell I like. Maybe I could persuade you to the same, given that you've got nothing to lose. 2013 might be a non-starter, but the remainder of 2012 could be the time of your life.
However, I'd rather you didn't all skive off work immediately, if that's OK. If you deliver goods to my local supermarket I'd prefer it if you completed a few more shifts so that my fridge doesn't run empty. If you work in public transport I'd rather you fulfilled all your remaining duties to enable me to get about. If your job's in public health I need you to carry on tending to the sick otherwise I risk some godawful epidemic taking me out before my allotted time. And if you work for an electricity company I'd be obliged if you stayed at your post until the bitter end, otherwise a lot of what I'm planning to enjoy won't work.
But eventually, obviously, it's all going to get a bit grim. Once everyone finally twigs that there's no point in carrying on a normal life, society will swiftly unravel. The lights will go out, our heating will fail, the internet will cease to function and the police will collapse under the pressure of widespread insurrection. When arson goes unchallenged, when murder has no repercussions, that's when the whole "end of the world" thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But that's OK, because all the sensible people will be on a far-flung beach by then, feasting on champagne and chocolates as the comet strikes.
OK, so you might end up looking extremely foolish if this long-standing prophecy turns out to be untrue. But not as wretched as you'll feel if you continue with your mundane lives for the next three weeks and then suddenly the world ends. Your last thoughts will be of all those better things you could have been doing, indeed could be doing right now.
I'm a year late with this one. But do you know why a cablecar was built where it was?
Events were set in motion in 2008 when the Mayor decided not to pursue plans for the Thames Gateway Bridge, but instead decided to investigate the provision of alternative river crossings for pedestrians and cyclists. TfL produced a 61 page business case, and this recommended that a cablecar be built between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks. A Freedom of Information request released the report into the public domain last November, and you can read the whole lot (bar some financial detail) if you like. Alternatively, here's the report's conclusion with some commentary.
This report has reviewed the need for improved cross-river connectivity in east London, and found that:
• The strategic plans for London envisage a high level of new development in east London, including areas close to the River Thames in Tower Hamlets, Greenwich and Newham;
One reason that the cablecar's been built is forward planning. The three aforementioned boroughs are due to grow in population by more than 20% by 2031, with a lot of that additional housing near the riverside. A new crossing would be really useful. But one connection could only link two of these three boroughs, and in what follows, the Isle of Dogs misses out.
• Investment in rail links has provided many new opportunities to access regeneration areas in the east London, but the Greenwich Peninsula in particular is forecast to host significant development but is dependent on a single rail station and line;
• A new link to the Royal Docks would provide much greater resilience to the Greenwich Peninsula, encouraging investment to bring new jobs and homes to the area, and would link two areas of potential complementary growth.
A key issue was resilience. By rail there's currently only one way across the Thames from North Greenwich, and that's the Jubilee line. When this goes wrong the only way across the river is by boat or by 108 bus, and these services can't handle large numbers of passengers. Another link would allow visitors to escape the O2 more easily, and also make people more likely to live and work here. The Royal Docks got the nod over the Isle of Dogs because this would create a completely new connection, rather than simply duplicating the underground. It might also help create a cross-river entertainment destination and development zone.
A range of potential options has been considered to address the need for improved crossings, and a cable car has the potential to provide a new crossing from the Greenwich Peninsula, which meets the geographic constraints at a much lower cost than a footbridge, and would deliver pedestrians and cyclists to the area around Royal Victoria, which provides opportunities for complementary development linking the leisure hubs of the O2 Arena and ExCeL.
Five different options for a new river crossing were reviewed, in some depth.
1) Do nothing: This would have been OK for a few years, but would have restricted local development in the longer term. 2) New/improved passenger ferries: A ferry link from the western banks of North Greenwich to the eastern side of Canary Wharf would be much more direct than the existing Clipper service, but there'd be a long grim walk at each end. Future development will change this, so TfL didn't rule the idea out completely. 3) New foot/cycle bridges: A new bridge sounds like a great idea, but would be very expensive to build because the Thames is a working river and around here it's very wide. A 50m-high permanent bridge would require expensive lifts or escalators. A low level lifting bridge would need regular lengthy closures. A transporter bridge would have high maintenance costs. TfL could have made this a toll bridge to help recover funding, but that would have deterred most people from using it. A bridge option was not recommended. 4) New cable car: "It could traverse the Thames without the need for a long and heavy structure such as a bridge deck, allowing cost savings; it could link the key attractors more directly without the need for pedestrians to follow a long walk through industrial areas; it is an attractive proposition to seek commercial sponsorship and raise advertising revenue; and it would be possible to charge passengers for its use, thus making a contribution to maintenance and operating costs." 5) Amphibian bus service: Seriously, that was option five. But with the need to use existing slipways, the route would be circuitous and slow, hence a very unattractive alternative to the Jubilee line. Again, not recommended.
So the cable car option won out, being direct and relatively cheap. But where to build it? Nine different alignments were considered in an attempt to find an alignment that avoided existing or future residential development. Some passed too close to people's windows. Some would have required oversailing of buildings, requiring land rights to be acquired (at a cost) in case an emergency evacuation was ever required. Two landed too far away from a station on the northern side. In the end only one route was acceptable, the route that was built, and future development in Silvertown will be tweaked to leave a clear line underneath.
Furthermore, a cable car would be an innovative scheme offering a spectacular view of London’s Docklands, and is likely to provide a point of interest for those already visiting the O2 Arena and ExCeL, making these more attractive destinations for events. In addition, it is likely to attract some new visitors to the area, who would be likely to visit other local attractions; this would create new secondary jobs in the local area.
The business case forecasts 1.3 million visitors riding the cable car in 2013 - 90% of them as an addition to their day out, and 10% as the main focus of their visit. I suspect the latter percentage will turn out to be an underestimate. In contrast it predicts 678,000 public transport users, suggesting that tourists will outnumber genuine passengers by two to one. That makes a total demand of about 2 million passengers a year, rising to 2.6 million by 2021. The initial forecast equates to around 5500 passengers a day, or just under 40000 passengers a week.... which, interestingly, is pretty much what the cablecar is delivering at the moment.
In its first year of operation the report predicts 930 pedestrian trips per day, each saving an average of six minutes compared to the tube/DLR trip they would have made otherwise. The equivalent total for cyclists is 670 trips per day, but with a much greater time saving (28 minutes) because it's so far from North Greenwich to the nearest foot tunnel. Added together that's the equivalent of 120 public transport users per hour, or two every minute.
The cost of the cable car is significantly less than a footbridge, and its ability to attract users who are visiting the O2 Arena or ExCeL, or especially to visit the cable car, allows revenues from these visitors to contribute to scheme costs. It is also likely to attract secondary revenue from sponsorship opportunities, due to its innovative nature and high profile location on the Rover Thames.
Genuine spelling mistake, that.
The central case has a Benefit:Cost Ratio of 2.7:1, delivering transport benefits (captured within this business case) and wider economic benefits (which are not captured within this ratio).
That's a pretty good ratio, and that's what will have encouraged TfL to construct the cablecar. We can't identify all the costs because part of the report has been redacted, plus this is an 18-month-old planning document and therefore likely to be inaccurate. But the numbers didn't rely on sponsorship. "A conservative assumption has been made that TfL would be responsible for the full capital costs." Emirates' funding is seemingly a bonus, not a necessity.
Given the uncertainties around demand and impacts, the scheme impacts should be monitored, and the operations and fare structures kept under review, to ensure that the right balance is maintained between delivering local benefits and providing overall value for money for TfL.
Let's hope this last paragraph is heeded, and somebody reviews the fare structure downwards or allows those with Travelcards to ride for free. But the business case suggests that's not going to happen. Passenger numbers may be low, but they're very much in line with forecasts which always expected that this would be the case. Bosses hoped the new link would be "in local transport terms, equivalent to the number of passengers using the DLR to/from Beckton." And so it's turned out, even if it's curious tourists who are making up the numbers rather than pedestrians and cyclists. If the cablecar looks mostly empty, that's because it was always planned that way.
0:00 Highbury & Islington
0:27 Queens Road Peckham
0:46 Clapham Junction
✵ Look inside the European Space Expo: A geodesic dome has popped up on Horseguards Parade, temporarily, housing an exhibition about the European Space Programme. There are 12 touchscreens to explore, covering all aspects of supra-atmospheric scientific endeavour. But don't think astronauts and space travel, because that's all old school. Instead the ESA does a lot with satellites, specifically networks of satellites looking down upon us. They've developed a system called Galileo, and a satnav system called EGNOS, which'll offer far more accurate positioning than your bogstandard GPS. It'll allow surveyors to pinpoint boundaries better, and geocachers to find hidden treasure quicker, and farmers to herd cattle using virtual electric fencing. If you thought space was exciting, think again - today it's primed to support job creation and economic growth. There's not much at the expo a website couldn't deliver, but it beats fighting the crowds on Oxford Street. [Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm, free]
Wandsworth Road
Loughborough Junction
East Brixton
Brixton
Peckham Rye
There are genuine contours here too, as the land rises up on a spur between the former Peck and Earl's Sluice rivers. There would have been excellent views from here down across the Thames basin, now all but obscured apart from the occasional glimpse down arrow-straight avenues. By now the railway is in cutting, even dipping into tunnel beyond Camberwell Grove. Gorgeous street, this, but alas not in this section. The Overground's next station lies ahead, overshadowed by a building that's a cross between a cathedral and a water tower. This is William Booth College, the nerve centre of the Salvation Army's training operation. Access to the top is via one of the oldest lifts in London, then a series of increasingly tiny spiral staircases (an Open House treat only, but the view is fantastic).
Beyond the junction the line cuts beneath one, two, three separate railway viaducts. These are the lines splaying out from London Bridge, and they divide up the area into unlovely barriered segments. The next cut-through along - Bolina Road - is one of the most oppressive streets in inner London, but the new Overground link provides an alternative for those on foot or two wheels. A refreshed footpath runs between brick arches immediately alongside the railway - the only place along the new Overground where you can get right up beside the tracks, but there was nothing to see this weekend.
Surrey Canal Road
Old Kent Road
It's been six months since the Greenway was last open. The stretch alongside the Olympic Stadium, that is, sealed off for security reasons as the Games approached and sealed off since while various bits of infrastructure were dismantled. A December deadline for reopening was set, and met, as the gates at each end were finally unlocked yesterday morning. And did Londoners rush back inside? Not exactly.
Time for a good stare. The Olympic Stadium has been stripped of its wrap, but the ring of purple pods is still intact around the perimeter. The area in front is a huge expanse of tarmac, again devoid of Gamestime services, and in front of that a zigzag of fencing to keep those on the Park's perimeter loop road at bay. It looks much tidier than it ever was over the five years of construction, which is more than can be said for the land on the other side of the Greenway. This used to be the warm-up track, a green and pleasant land where athletes flexed and jogged, but that's been replaced by an ugly pile of rubble. It's an astonishingly retrograde transformation, from track and field to heaps of bricks, but needs must when there's a whole new urban quarter to be developed.
Big news on the ground floor - the cafe's changed hands. A new post-Olympic contract was up for grabs, and the folks from Hackney Wick have been replaced by fresh blood from Stratford High Street. The owners of the Moka Mia Cafe (that's Liliana, Mario and David) threw together a bid and were more than surprised to win. They were only allowed into the premises on Friday afternoon, and worked manically into the evening and early morning to get the kitchen fitted out and the drinks machine plumbed in. Good news, they succeeded, and a tempting array of baked goodies awaited the first day's visitors. The menu at Moka East will extend later as the place becomes established, but breakfast butties, cakes and freshly-filled sandwiches are already up for grabs. I had a friendly chat with the Italian owners and a tasty cup of hand-sprinkled hot chocolate, plus the privilege of being one of their inaugural customers.
I'm a year late with this one. But do you know why a cablecar was built where it was?
