Venture down into Crossrail via its lifts and you'll soon discover that every subterranean level has its own negative number. I was sufficiently intrigued to try to discover what all these negative numbers are, and then to try to shuffle them into some kind of order.
Perhaps the easiest place to make sense of the negative is at Canary Wharf where cutaway diagrams have been provided with every level numbered.
The station was created within a former dock so is essentially a series of long thin layers. The Roof Garden on top is Level One, the platforms at the bottom are Level Minus Five and various shops, spaces and services are stacked inbetween. The cutaway diagram doesn't show Level Minus Five because the public lifts don't go down that far, only to Level Minus Four where the gatelines are. Level Minus Three is best avoided unless you need the toilet or want to get trapped in a catacomb of unnecessary shops.
In case you thought this was too straightforward, it turns out that ground level isn't Level Zero, it's Level Minus One. The Canary Wharf estate was deliberately designed with street level above ground and pedestrian facilities underneath, because that's how they do things in wintry Canada, hence all Crossrail's levels are numbered one lower than you'd expect. Try not to let that confuse you as you exit.
Woolwich station only has street level and platform level so should be a simple numerical set-up. But whereas street level is indeed Level Zero, the lift display confirms that the platforms are somehow on Level Minus Three, suggesting two hidden intermediate levels for staff and/or engineers only.
Woolwich 0 Street level ← entrance/gateline -3 Platform ← trains
The newly-rejigged Whitechapel station has complicated layering threaded through by several lifts. This time the numbering is more grounded, with the sole lift up from street level confirming this to be Level Zero. From the elevated Ticket Hall (Level One) you can then get a lift down to the Underground (Level Minus Two), the long passage above the Overground (Level Minus Three) or the Overground itself (Level Minus Four). Where Level Minus One went I'm not sure.
n.b. this means the hilarious Whitechapel anecdote about 'the Underground going over the Overground' now has an associated mathematical expression, namely -2 > -4
To reach Crossrail you need the entirely separate lift bypassing the escalators from Level Minus Three to Level Minus Seven. Access is also possible at Level Minus Four, although you have to be careful not to get into the Emergency Lift opposite which for some reason is welcomingly unlocked. I had to help a lost pensioner out of it yesterday... but I digress.
Whitechapel 1 Ticket hall → gateline 0 Street level → entrance -2 District and H&C lines -3 concourse above the Overground -4 Overground -7Platform ← trains
The Liverpool Street end of Liverpool Street station is numerically straightforward. The top levels are connected via two incline lifts, then a separate vertical shaft whisks you down seven(!) levels to the end of the purple platform. Simple.
Liverpool Street 0 Broadgate → entrance
-1 Ticket hall → gateline -2 Mezzanine -9Platform ← trains
The Moorgate end is messier thanks to multiple sprawling connections. The lift down from the new ticket hall has buttons labelled -1 and -1M, the former for the Underground and the latter for everything else. Minus One M is an alphanumeric peculiarity leading to an exclusive mezzanine passage overlooking the main escalator.
This connects to a lift down to Level Minus Eight and Level Minus Nine (flashing past Minus Four and Minus Six along the way, which have no button access but are 'link passages' according to the electronic display). Minus Eight turns out to be the Northern line corridor, after which you have to ascend to Minus Seven, and Minus Nine is for the Crossrail platform. Minus Nine's sticker has fallen off, which isn't helping anybody.
Moorgate 0 Street Level→ entrance/gateline -1 Circle, Metropolitan and H&C lines -1M mezzanine passage -7 Northern line -8 passage to Northern line -9Platform ← trains
The Farringdon end of Farringdon station is really simple thanks to a single all-through lift. Level Zero is the ticket hall, Level Minus One is for Thameslink and Level Minus Six is Crossrail. Technically the Underground is also on Level Minus One but lift users have to go via Level Zero to get there. Although the escalators lead down from the northbound Thameslink platform, for geometric reasons the lift is attached to the southbound platform instead.
Street level at the Barbican end is 'G' rather than '0', for no readily explainable reason. Descent here requires two incline lifts with an intermediate concourse at Level Minus Three. The 'secret' lift to Barbican's Underground platform links Minus Three to Minus One which is entirely numerically consistent. But this lift also includes positive labels for a Bin Room on Level Zero, a Switch Room on Level Minus Five and a Refuge Point on Level Minus Six, and these buttons don't light up so best not drag them into the equation.
Farringdon/Barbican 0/G Street level → entrance -1 Circle, Metropolitan and H&C lines -3 intermediate concourse -6Platform ← trains
Tottenham Court Road has nine different lifts so is a veritable maze of step-free connections. Two of these lifts are at the Dean Street end, one from Level Zero to Level Minus Two and the other from Level Minus Two to Level Minus Four. An exclusive passage with an escalator view connects the two lifts and is quite the experience.
Where things get messy and much less consistent is at the tube station end. Here the ticket hall is Minus One, Crossrail is Minus Four and so is a completely separate interchange level, while the Central and Northern lines are completely separate Minus Fives. Getting from Minus Four (purple) to Minus Five (red) takes at least three lifts so is not recommended. Minus Three exists only as an unlit button in the Dean Street lift.
Tottenham Court Road 0 Street level → Dean St gateline -1 Main ticket hall → main gateline -2 'Mid level' -4Platform/'Interchange level' -5 Central line/Northern line
My head was bursting with inconsistent negatives by this point, and Paddington just made things worse. All its levels are negative, even the one at street level alongside Eastbourne Terrace which inexplicably is Level Minus One. Main access from the mainline station is Level Minus Two, which also doesn't feel right, and then the ticket hall is Level Minus Four.
Switch lifts and the Crossrail platforms become Level Minus Five, then switch again and the start of the Bakerloo line passageway is Level Minus Seven. But the other end of this passageway is somehow Level Minus Three - easily the most inconsistent numbering I discovered on my travels - and if you ascend to the Bakerloo line itself that's another Level Minus Two. Had I been seeking a logical arithmetical system for labelling Crossrail's levels, Paddington rather blew that theory out of the water.
Paddington -1 Eastbourne Terrace -2 mainline entrance/Bakerloo line -3 passage to Bakerloo line -4 ticket hall → gateline -5Platform ← trains -7 passage to Bakerloo line
In summary, the Crossrail platforms are numbered Minus Three at Woolwich, Minus Four at Tottenham Court Road, Minus Five at Canary Wharf and Paddington, Minus Six at Farringdon, Minus Seven at Whitechapel and Minus Nine at Liverpool Street.
And whilst there may be no useful reason to know this, nor to try to unravel the numbering of all the other levels, it was unexpectedly interesting exploring all the hidden backways of the Crossrail system. I discovered passages I didn't know existed, pressed buttons I probably shouldn't have been allowed to press, discovered some lifts are busy and others hardly used, and developed a fresh respect for everyone who has to use these occasionally tortuous routes around our stations. If you're able-bodied enough to be able to use the escalators instead, look at all the negative kerfuffle you're avoiding.
