Kings Cross Local Environment

Super station plans afoot to join Euston, St Pancras & King's Cross...

By David Millward, Transport Editor, Daily Telegraph

Published: 1:41PM GMT 30 Dec 2009

"It will be capable of handling 18 trains an hour – some of which could be double decker – into London, carrying about 20,000 passengers.

"Detailed plans for the station are contained in a report submitted to Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, by Sir David Rowlands, chairman of High Speed Two, the company set up to provide detailed plans for the network.

 

"The favoured option is understood to entail expanding Euston station, which is already due for substantial redevelopment, to the west.

But Network Rail is pushing for a "station city" – which would involve building a new terminus linking Euston, King's Cross and St Pancras."

Given Lord Adonis and Network Rail's appalling track record of managing major redevelopment programmes we dread to think what will happen next. It makes complete sense to integrate the three neighbouring stations each serving their respective geographical areas north, south and internationally. 

What will not make sense is if all the local communities whose daily lives will change radically during construction and as a result of it are once again sidelined. Network Rail lied to the King's Cross community when they committed to meeting every quarter to discuss progress over the station and then failed to do so. UInless there is real transparency and accountability guaranteed by active independent oversight, communities in North London and for hundreds of miles around will once again be victims of fait accomplis by Network Rail and their friends in Government.

Network Rail - King's Cross Station Development - Drop-in Day

This advert was spotted this in the local paper so for those of you who are either, retired, don't work, or have too much time on their hands, you might want to take this opportunity to drop in the the German Gym across from St. Pancras on Friday 4 December to meet the team behind the redevelopment of King’s Cross Station and learn more about what's taking shape.

You can drop in anytime between 10am and 5pm at the German Gymnasium, Pancras Road, London.

For those of you who are otherwise engaged with work or other tasks, you can just check out their website - www.networkrail.co.uk/kingscross.

I have to wonder if this qualifies as a "Community Event!"

Kings Cross St Pancras 'northern ticket hall' to open 29 November?

Kings Cross St Pancras underground station suffers severe overcrowding almost every work day.  The staff have to close the gates as a primitive form of crowd control to prevent a dangerous situation underground.  Kings Cross St Pancras underground will suffer from massively increased throughput when the Kings Cross railways lands devleopment comes on stream and tens of thousands of communters come to kings cross every day to work there as well as transit.  It is a worry that the underground station might never cope.

For some years TfL and others have been labouring on Britain's most expensive hole - the £300m Northern Ticket Hall under Pancras Road.  This will bring people who get off the Thameslink and Midland Mainline directly into the tube station underground.  This Northern Ticket Hall should alleviate problems overground in St Pancras removing a lot of the foot traffic in the main concourse and perhaps in capacity of the whole tube station - although the problem might just transfer to holding people in the undergrund tunnels like a pack of commuting moles (BTW what is the collective noun for moles).  It seems the northern ticket hole is nearing completion according to First Capital Connect (see below).  This site will keep an eye on what happens overground - a brand new multi hundred million pound tube station should not be overcrowded.

FCC news release follows, thanks to London Reconnections for tipping me off:

'London Underground will open a new ticket hall at King’s Cross St Pancras station on 29 November 2009.

This ticket hall will provide new access between FCC services at King’s Cross and St Pancras International and the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines at the Underground station.

For FCC passengers on both Thameslink and Great Northern route services, this will mean shorter and less congested routes to and from these Underground platforms, without lengthy walks through St Pancras International or King’s Cross stations.

Final works will be completed in 2010 and will provide step-free access to all London Underground lines served at the station.

Between FCC St Pancras International Thameslink route platforms and:

Piccadilly line: 5 mins 40 secs (currently 8 mins)

Victoria line : 7 mins (currently 8 mins)

Northern line: 5 mins 50 secs (currently 9 mins 30 secs)

Circle, Metropolitan & Hammersmith and City lines: 4 mins (route doesn’t change)

In addition, new entrances/exits at the other end of the Piccadilly, Northern and Victoria line platforms will make it easier and quicker (less congested) for passengers to access and leave these platforms.

Between FCC King’s Cross platforms 9, 10 & 11 and:

Piccadilly line: 4 mins 30 secs (currently 6 mins – or up to 11 mins if station entrance temporarily closed in the morning rush hour)

Victoria line: 6 mins (no change – but currently can be up to 11 mins if station entrance temporarily closed in the morning rush hour)

Northern line: 4 mins 40 secs (currently 7 mins – or up to 12 mins if station entrance temporarily closed in the morning rush hour)

Circle, Metropolitan & Hammersmith and City lines: 6 mins 30 secs (currently 7 mins 30 secs – or up to 12 mins 30 secs if station entrance temporarily closed in the morning rush hour)

In addition, new entrances/exits at the other end of the Piccadilly, Northern and Victoria line platforms will make it easier and quicker (less congested) for passengers to access and leave these platforms.

Kings Cross Square - sort it out

The front of Kings Cross station is a shabby, embarrassing space that lets the whole area down.

The windy concrete apron is most people's main encounter with Kings Cross. The polluted dismal expanse is haunted by drifts of litter, fag ends, smokers, the odd nutter and huddles of people waiting for things, many of them legal.

The whole place is sterilised by the pending refurbishment of Kings Cross station - nothing will happen to Kings Cross Square until 2013. The authorities seem to be prepared to let it rot in the meantime.  Committed residents like Sean Murray put huge energy into making small improvements which even then get thwarted by the council. Railway stations in third world countries are better than this. 

Responsibility is diffuse - the square is in Camden, the land is mostly owned by Network Rail. TfL has a stake with the tube and the arterial roads and odd bits of infrastructure that pop up. Closure of the East side of the station means that Islington people will have to walk across the square to get to the entrance in Camden.

Camden has been pretty dismissive of Islington resident's concerns throughout the planning process for Kings Cross.  Islington Council has to be consulted as the boundary runs along one side of the square.  The security authorities will have a big say. 

Against this background the odds of the development meeting the needs of residents and transitors is slim. Overall, this has 'car crash' written all over it.

As proof, one only has to look at how badly Network Rail and Camden have been handling an architectural competion to design a new square for 2013. Beset by delay Network Rail and others skirt around the issue whenever it comes up.  I asked Network Rail's normally helpful PR for an update a month or two ago but he didn't return my email. I suspect they are planning a giant statue of Iain Croucher with rivet hammer and a rail and bit like the Kiss in St Pancras, but a touch more Stalinist and made of gold.  The square has a budget of £6 million, whereas Network Rail have overspent by an incompetent £40million on their own platinum plated, mink lined offices in the Eastern Range that bring no benefit to the travelling public.

But whatever cockups are going on with the competition, teams of architects are beavering away on concepts without talking to the community that live next to and use the square.  The whole thing is wrong.   The magnificent backdrop of Cubitt's utilitarian station next to Gilbert Scotts high gothic folly of St Pancras requires the very best.  We could have something as wonderful as I M Pei's pyramid at the Louvre to access the tube.  But a this rate we'll get some decking, a shed and a cast concrete Venus-at-her-toilet fountain.  How can we get some concerted cross border action to shock this project out of the mire? Suggestions welcome in the comments.

Kings Cross square stubbornly scruffy

Sean Muray of Albion Buildings is making small steps to get the shabby square at the front of Kings Cross improved. He has done great job to get bins installed, only to be removed by the council.  Sean writes:

'The stubbornly scruffy part of King's Cross CAN be improved - well almost!

After many, many calls and e-mails this week we have finally got litter bins located next to the bus stops outside the front of King's Cross station. One step in helping to make this stubbornly scruffy part of our community a more pleasant place to pass through. However by Friday October 30th evening the bins had gone! We suspect this is either Network Rail and/or the British Transport police preventing bins to be located here. I am investigating, meanwhile feel free to support the bin campaign by filling in the form on the Camden website [Link updated 2 Nov] and quoting ref 5443854

'I would also welcome any thoughts on how we can encourage Network Rail - who are responsible for most of the paved area in front of the station - to manage better the smoking pollution when you approach the entrance to the tube - it's horrible!

'One final thing: a Taxi office popped up above the KFC at the top of Gray's Inn Rd some months ago. Our main concern is the external flashing amber lights they use to attract business - a real blight on an area desperately trying to regenerate.

'Camden have confirmed the Taxi office are trading from residential premises and have ignored repeated requests to take down the signs. The concern is now going to the planning committee for enforcement. Your support to prevent this blot on the landscape is appreciated by e-mailing the planning office at Patrick.Oldfield@Camden.gov.uk and saying something like -

Patrick, re ref EN09/0535. Can I register my concern at the use of external illuminated and flashing signage at the Gray's Inn Rd Taxi office. Please ensure the planning committee are aware of my concern that planning laws have been disregarded for so long and we expect enforcement action without delay.'

Now, does anyone have Banksy's mobile number?!

Click on the image below to enlarge this excellent letter from Cllr Paul Braithwaite of LB Camden to the Islington Tribune.

Emily of Islington spearheads community concerns

Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, has taken the case made by community campaigners against the so-called business case study for Battlebridge Crossing (aka the Wharfdale Road bridge) directly to LB Islington.

In a letter to the Islington and Camden press campaigners put the case that the study, commissioned by LB Islington, was contracted to a transport consultancy (Colin Buchanan) with a vested interest in its outcome. Further, the study was of such a poor standard that it should never have seen the light of day, let alone having been funded from the public purse.

Emily Thornberry has taken up the cause with LB Islington Chief Executive John Foster; she says:

"I agree that any piece of work commissioned with public money should provide good value and I share concerns that this exercise may have been flawed. I would be grateful for your comments."

At present LB islington plans to discuss the flawed report with Network Rail at September's West Area Planning Committee. We have asked whether this discussion should go ahead at all. 

Until a real business case is made for the bridge, using the increasing number of red herring type reports and studies can only assist developers with their refusal to fund a much needed business and community asset for Camden, Islington, Transport for London, Network Rail, Eurostar, the Government.... (the list goes on).

Kings Cross - over budget, running late, unfinished today and in 1852

It's a railway project over budget, the Chairman is grovelling to shareholders for extra money, it's weeks late, the project is accused of extravagance it has to open without ceremony in an unfinished building.  Sound familiar? Well it's 1852 and the Kings Cross project is in crisis.

In this wonderful report of a shareholders meeting in August 1852 two months before opening the Director is jeered as he refers to reports of extravagance in the construction of the Kings Cross station on the site of the old Smallpox Hospital.  It is hard to compare historic costs, but the station then was projected to cost £250million in modern terms (using share of GDP which is appropriate for a large infrastructure project). 

In today's Kings Cross the Directors passed without demur an astonishingly inept £30 million budget over run for the refurbishment of the Eastern Range offices alone.  At the same time as they said they could not afford a few millions for a community bridge.  It's worth noting that this is Network Rail overspending public money by 100% in creating offices for its own staff.

The British Library has digitised huge quantities of C19th newspapers.  After wrestling with their poor website and paying £10 for the privilege I was able to dig out these cuts from a remarkable collection (copyright remains with them).

The station opened two weeks late, unfinished with a train of parliamentarians and was then illuminated in a giant light show.  Sounds very similar to the opening of St Pancras International (declaration - I was on the special train then with Stephan).

Down, But Not Out! The Saga of Our Footbridge Over the Tracks Continues.

For some time there has been an ongoing campaign led by local resident Sophie Talbot to stop Network Rail's closure of the rear entrance to King's Cross station without providing alternative, easy access to the new station entrance that will be moved.  While there has been cross party support for local resident's desires to see the alternative route in the form of a new foot/cycle bridge over the tracks at the end of the station, most of the energy of the campaign has been due to Sophie.

Whilethe rear exitt has now been closed, the battle for alternate, easy access is still not over!  For those of you following the campaign butwho haven't seen Sophie's latest "assault" on the "powers that be" at Network Rail that was published in this past issue of the Islington Tribune, I have re-printed it below.

Please read it as it explains in a nutshell what this campaign is all about and is another testament to a hard working local resident - fighting for something that will really benefit the local area.  We all owe her our support...

Dear Islington Tribune and Camden New Journal,

I read with interest the article in the Islington Tribune this week about our campaign approaching Prince Charles for his support. I’d like to explain in a little more detail why it has come to this and why it’s the last hope for the Camden and Islington communities that make up the King’s Cross/Somers Town area.

Our community is calling for a bridge across the rear of the station giving access to the new western concourse for those commuting from Islington, linking King’s Cross to the east and Somers Town to the west and putting the final piece in the jigsaw for an Angel to Marylebone cycling and walking route. King’s Cross Central developers, Argent, are under a duty to site the western end of this bridge only if work starts on it by 2012. If we miss that deadline, we lose the bridge – possibly forever.

Last year Network Rail undertook a feasibility study carried out by the Arup company. This said a bridge was not feasible. We pointed out that the Arup study did not look at the bridge we were calling for but at different bridge altogether – one that everyone had previously agreed wouldn’t be feasible. We said the Arup study was therefore a waste of money.

To throw good money after bad, LB Camden employed another company, Colin Buchanan, to assess the validity of the Arup study. Buchanan’s ignored the point that Network Rail and Arup had looked at the wrong bridge and told LB Camden that the bridge was not feasible. This let Network Rail and LB Camden planners off the hook as, no matter what the community said they could always quote both the Arup study and the Buchanan report. Follow so far? It gets worse!

Next chapter in this tale of chucking public money at consultants producing shoddy work is the King’s Cross Movement and Open Space consultation – one of far too many studies taking place here (King’s Cross is all reports and no action). Who should LB Islington employ to do this? Colin Buchanan. At a community consultation feedback event Buchanan’s work was trashed by those attending. Their work was short-sighted, unimaginative and once again ignored comments made by the community.

Chapter Four: Buchanan’s prove their lack of worth. In which planning officers at LB Islington once again employ Buchanan’s to develop the business case for what is being called the Wharfdale Road Bridge – our bridge. By this time, who knows how much Buchanan’s have pocketed in public funds; whatever the amount the additional £30k they were paid for this piece of work goes to show that money for old rope is a good business to go into, especially if you have a ‘good working relationship’ with council officers who are going to keep chucking council tax payers money at you. Why? Here goes:

1. Conflict of interest. Buchanan’s had a vested interest in its conclusions coming out against a bridge. If it did anything other than that, their approval of the flawed Arup report for Network Rail and LB Camden would be untenable. Buchanan’s should never have been appointed for this project.

2. Validity and reliability. Buchanan’s state in the business case study that the data they present has not been verified; because of this it can only fail to meet basic reliability or validity measures. As Buchanan’s say in the report: "It should be noted and is expressly stated that no independent verification of any of the documents or information supplied to Colin Buchanan and Partners Limited has been made." The report is littered with subjective judgements none of which are referenced by any research material, other reports, interviews, surveys or other appropriate data.

3. Poor quality research methodology. At the outset the report states "Colin Buchanan has been commissioned by Islington Council to produce a business case for the ‘Wharfdale Road Bridge’. Anyone who has ever prepared a business case to do anything knows the idea is to provide evidence backing up the case. It isn’t a feasibility study; it isn’t an open piece of research. It seems neither Buchanan’s nor our council officers understand basic research principles.

4. Incomplete context. No mention is made of the local historical or current context, instead the report focuses on King’s Cross Central and changes to the transport system. The bridge was part of our community until the 1920s. No-one has been able to say why it was destroyed; the community wants it back.

5. Highly questionable assumptions. The researchers base their conclusions on their own subjective assumptions throughout without backing them up with any source material other than their own. Not so much an attempt at objectivity; more a stitch up.

6. Wrong catchment area. The immediate catchment area for the Wharfdale Road bridge stretches as far as north as the Maiden Lane Estate, as far west as Somers Town and as far east as Penton Road. The catchment area used by Buchanan’s bears no resemblance to this; it concentrates on a tiny area and then narrows that down to a minuscule area south of the Regent’s Canal immediately surrounding Battlebridge Basin. It maybe that the consultants are aware that the person most publicly linked with the campaign lives in those few streets and are cynically manipulating this fact to belittle the campaign; it certainly seems odd that the report reads like they’ve written it just for me and my immediate neighbours – bless!

7. No mention of bus commuters. A great many Londoners mix bus, tube and rail journeys when travelling. In King’s Cross there is a very large number of people travelling to and fro the station by bus and then transferring to the tube or train. The King’s Cross gyratory system results in those people travelling from the north east of the station being a high proportion of potential bridge users, some of whom are active in this campaign. Strange that Buchanan’s – supposedly experts in transport – seem blissfully unaware of this.

8. Incorrect assumptions about cyclists. The report limits itself to a very small number of cyclists that may use the bridge. No mention is made of cyclists wanting a throughway in order to avoid the A501. No mention is made of the campaign for an Angel to Marylebone cycle route. Access through the middle of St Pancras Station is played down; assuming cyclists would not want to dismount at this point. An entirely negative subjective view has been taken of any benefit to cyclists.

9. Economic measures. The body of the report uses only economic measures and even those are incorrect. No business case can be developed without the inclusion of a range of social and environmental measures as well as economic ones.

10. Assumed cost. The cost used in the report for the bridge is totally unreliable. No report of any kind should base conclusions on a stab in the dark.

11. Cost benefit ratio. A table showing the cost benefit of the bridge contains invalid and unreliable data. No statements based on it should be taken seriously; yet it is this table that is used by Buchanan’s to draw its conclusions.

12. Quick appraisal. Again, a table giving a quickie appraisal is littered with unsubstantiated subjective judgements. For example, the environmental impact of the bridge on air quality is given as neutral. Yet the A501 is one of the most dangerous high emission zones in the country. Part of the aims for the bridge is to enable cyclists and pedestrians to avoid having to use the A501. Odd that Buchanan’s haven’t noticed this.

The conclusions drawn by the Buchanan business case study are badly misinformed. Were I the commissioning officer I would return the report to the consultants because of its poor quality.

I keep being embarrassed that folk working in a field so closely related to mine (as an organisation development consultant) can produce such shoddy work and get paid for it from the public purse.

Given the performance of Network Rail, LB Camden and LB Islington officers and the consultants they keep employing we asked the Mayor’s transport adviser and head of Transport for London, Kulveer Ranger for help. After all, King’s Cross St Pancras is a strategic issue of regional importance. He said TfL would do ‘all in their power’ to make the bridge happen. Unfortunately, that stops short of fully funding it.

So we asked central Government to intervene. After all, the design of what is Europe’s fastest growing transport hub must be of national importance. Lord Adonis, minister responsible for rail said it is a local issue for LB Camden to deal with and not one for the Government.

What can we do now? We have the backing of local and regional politicians from all four major parties. Even that can’t cut through the morass of regulation, complicated relationships between developers and consultants and closed pots of money guarded by planners. Given the complete failure of local democracy to hold sway, in compete desperation we are writing to Prince Charles. It’s not a publicity stunt; we just don’t know what else to do.

Yours,

Sophie Talbot
King’s Cross resident and commuter

I hope this letter stimulates some "comment" from our local politicians on what action we, the electorate, can now take to continue putting pressure on Network Rail.  Am I labouring under some misunderstanding - when the government took over Railtrack private investors didn't that mean that it was going to be run for the benefit of the public?  And, are they not US!

English Heritage and King's Cross

Friday 15 May TV viewing BBC2 (9-10PM)

Chris F. of Albert Dock brought this to my attention and I thought it was worth passing on.  The last episode in the the English Heritage programme on BBC2 this Friday night will be about the re-development of King's Cross Station.

According to the blurb on TV Guide online,

Full Steam Ahead Chronicling the battle of wills involved in the restoration of London's King's Cross station and adjacent goods yard - the biggest infrastructure project in Europe. English Heritage case officer Clare Brady takes on the architects, engineers and developers trying to modernise the Grade I listed building.

For a review of the English Heritage Series go here.

In the Sunday Times Culture section it also mentioned the programme under "Pick of the Day" and referred to the "passenger bridge," however I think this was referring to the bridge inside the building rather than the one that local residents are fighting for that would like the East side of the Station to the new entrance on the West side...but who knows, maybe the campaign got some unexpected publicity.