Hurrah, it's that time of year again when TfL silently updates its spreadsheet of annual passenger entry/exit totals at every tube station.
As usual passenger numbers are surveyed for a typical week in autumn then multiplied up to a full year.
The data also includes DLR, Overground and Crossrail stations, but we'll get to those later.
London's ten busiest tube stations (2024)(with changes since 2023) 1) ↑1 Waterloo (77.4m) 2) ↓1 King's Cross St Pancras (77.1m) 3) Victoria (63m) 4) Tottenham Court Road (62m) 5) Liverpool Street (61m) 6) London Bridge (58m) 7) ↑2 Paddington (56m) 8) ↓1 Stratford (55m) 9) ↓1 Oxford Circus (53m) 10) Farringdon (41m)
Waterloo returns to the top of the table after three years of King's Cross dominance, although the margin is very small. Victoria manages to stay ahead of Tottenham Court Road and Liverpool Street, the latter currently Britain's busiest National Rail station. Half of the tube's Top 10 are also on the Elizabeth line. The spreadsheet confirms that this is gateline data, i.e. passengers entering or exiting the station, so interchanges are not counted and no distinction is being made regarding mode of travel. Oxford Circus remains the busiest tube-only station and Stratford is still the busiest tube station outside zone 1.
The next 10: Bond Street, Bank/Monument, Euston, Canary Wharf, Green Park, South Kensington, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Moorgate, North Greenwich
London's ten busiest tube stations outside Zone 2 (2024) 1) ↑2 Barking (18.2m) 2) ↑6 Wimbledon (17.4m) 3) ↓1 Ealing Broadway (17.1m) 4) ↓3 Wembley Park (16.5m) 5) Tottenham Hale (13.8m) 6) ↓2 Walthamstow Central (13.4m) 7) ↓1 Tooting Broadway (12.7m) 8) ↓1 Seven Sisters (12.7m) 9) ↑3 Richmond (12.0m) 10) ↑5 Upton Park (11.8m)
Barking returns to the top spot, not because Wembley Park's seen fewer passengers but because Barking's total has risen more. The top three here all have gatelines shared by tube and rail services so Wembley Park's total is more reliably tubular. Northeast London has a particularly strong showing including three stations on the Victoria line. If the list were to continue then Harrow-on-the-Hill (8.6m) would be the highest performing tube station in Zone 5 and Heathrow Terminals 2&3 (6.0m) the busiest in Zone 6.
London's ten busiest tube stations that are only on one line
Canary Wharf, North Greenwich, Vauxhall, Brixton, Camden Town, Wimbledon, Old Street, Knightsbridge, Tottenham Hale, Covent Garden
Tube stations with over 20% more passengers in 2024 than 2023
Burnt Oak, Harrow & Wealdstone, Hendon Central, Upton Park, South Ealing, Buckhurst Hill, West Ruislip, West Harrow, Barking
Tube stations with over 10% fewer passengers in 2024 than 2023
Roding Valley, Kew Gardens, Finchley Central, Hyde Park Corner, Upminster Bridge, Woodside Park, Caledonian Road, Grange Hill
n.b. Colindale and Kentish Town are both recorded as 'station closed', hence both have a passenger total of zero. Colindale was in fact only closed for six months but this included the period of the survey. Likewise Kentish Town was actually open for the very last week of 2024 but that's not included either. Technically Kentish Town must be the least used tube station last year, but I've ignored it in the table that follows.
London's 10 least busy tube stations (2024) 1) Roding Valley (172000) 2) Chigwell (307000) 3) Grange Hill (353000) 4) North Ealing (624000) 5) Theydon Bois (740000) 6) ↑4 Upminster Bridge (741000) 7) Moor Park (834000) 8) ↓2 Ruislip Gardens (861000) 9) ↑2 Ickenham (871000) 10) ↓1 Croxley (898000)
Roding Valley remains the least used station on the Underground, just like it always is. The Essex end of the Central line has a strong showing including all three stops on the Hainault shuttle, all of which had significantly fewer passengers than the previous year. North Ealing is unusually lightly used for a zone 3 station, but that's because Ealing Broadway and West Acton are close by and more useful. Only four of these ten stations lie within the Greater London boundary.
n.b. In this particular set of data Kensington (Olympia) counts as an Overground station, recording 2.3m passengers last year, whereas if you were only to count District line passengers it'd almost certainly beat Roding Valley and be the tube's least used station.
The next 10: Fairlop, South Kenton, Chesham, West Acton, West Harrow, Barkingside, West Finchley, North Wembley, Chorleywood, Northwood Hills
The least busy tube station in each zone (2024) zone 1) Regent's Park (2.3m) zone 2) Goldhawk Road (1.8m) zone 3) North Ealing (0.6m) zone 4) Roding Valley (0.2m) zone 5) Ruislip Gardens (0.9m) zone 6) Theydon Bois (0.7m) zone 7) Moor Park (0.8m) zone 8) Chalfont & Latimer (1.5m) zone 9) Chesham (1.0m)
And while we're here...
DLR Top 5: Canary Wharf (12m), Lewisham, Greenwich, Woolwich Arsenal, Cutty Sark
DLR Bottom 5: Beckton Park (0.5m), Stratford High Street, Abbey Road, Elverson Road, Blackwall
n.b. Tube stations with DLR services don't count, otherwise Bank, Stratford and Canning Town would be in the Top 5.
Beckton Park remains Tumbleweed Central after the neighbouring office development stalled. Pudding Mill Lane spent two decades in the Bottom 5 but thanks to ABBA it's no longer even in the Bottom 15.
n.b. Tube stations with Crossrail services don't count, otherwise every station from Paddington to Whitechapel would beat everything here.
Iver may be the least used Elizabeth line station but its passenger numbers are up 34% year on year.
Overground Top 10: Liverpool Street (17m), Clapham Junction, Shepherd's Bush, Shoreditch High Street, Peckham Rye, Watford Junction, Denmark Hill, Dalston Kingsland, Hackney Central, Dalston Junction Overground Bottom 10: Emerson Park (0.3m), Headstone Lane, South Hampstead, Theobalds Grove, Hatch End, Wandsworth Road, Kilburn High Road, Penge West, South Acton, Barking Riverside
n.b. Tube stations with Overground services don't count.
Barking Riverside still being one of the ten least used Overground stations is disappointing given it's the sole station on an extension that cost £327m, but that's because they built the railway before most of the houses. All six Overground lines are represented here, with the Liberty line taking the 'least used' crown.
Taken overall, TfL's ten least used stations are Roding Valley, Chigwell, Emerson Park, Grange Hill, Headstone Lane, Beckton Park, South Hampstead, Iver, North Ealing and Theobalds Grove. That's four tube stations, four Overground stations, a DLR station and an Elizabeth line station.
As a final statistic, Roding Valley may be TfL's least used station by a country mile, but it's still busier than 45% of National Rail stations. We barely know what 'least used' means here in London.
Warrington is an old market town midway between Liverpool and Manchester. For centuries it was the lowest bridging point on the Mersey, just before the river broadens to a proper estuary, so proved an ideal place for trade and later heavy industry. In 1968 it was designated a new town and grew rapidly, though not as much as originally planned, and managed to retain enough of its former heart to still feel characterful. Today it's by far the largest town in Cheshire, boasts Britain's first IKEA and has sent Rebekah Brooks, Chris Evans and Luke Littler out into the world. According to its tourist website the main attraction is shopping, but if we take that as read what else is there in Warrington worth seeing? [Visit Warrington][30 photos]
10 things to see in Warrington
1) The Town Gates
These glittering gates were meant to grace the royal estate at Sandringham but a display error at the International Exhibition of 1862 blew that. A statue of Oliver Cromwell had been placed behind them, so when Queen Victoria came round she wasn't utterly impressed as planned but very much not amused. The disgraced gates went back to the ironworks in Coalbrookdale where they remained for 30 years until a town councillor spotted them on a business trip, bought them and set them up in front of the town hall. They remain Warrington's One Lovely Thing, now topped by the town's coat of arms rather than a royal crest.
2) The town bridge
First recorded in the 13th century, the latest 1915 incarnation is the sixth bridge on this site. It's nicely balustraded but unable to support the sheer volume of traffic so in 1986 a separate road bridge was built a tad upstream to carry everything heading south. Has the distinction of being the site of two CivilWar surrenders, end result Cromwell 1, Royalists 1.
3) The Museum and Art Gallery
Now this is more like it. Warrington has one of the oldest public libraries in England and also one of the oldest municipal museums, the two coming together in one redbrick building in 1858. To dodge the books climb the iron staircase to the first floor where an eclectic ring of galleries awaits. A teenage mummy is the centrepiece in Ethnology, beyond that a fine reflection on the town's commercial history, then a sparse but broad selection of art and photography. If anyone's written finer artbolx than "an accumulation of self-conscious fragments of process – each vying for surface dominance before the inevitable structural collapse under the weight of their own existence" I'll be surprised.
A display case in the Cabinet of Curiosities commemorates the town's most famous equine resident, Old Billy, the world's longest-lived horse (1760-1822). His taxidermied head normally resides in Bedford Museum but a concerted campaign has summoned it back to Warrington and we'll see for how long. But the best things here are the botany and geology galleries, one stacked on top of the other and both restored to their 1930s splendour thanks to a Heritage Lottery Grant. The long cabinet explaining the economic uses of plants isn't just hugely educational but a jam-packed exemplar of how we used to learn before exhibits dumbed down (The Plant as Beverage, The Plant as Dyes...), so well done Warrington. Free, daily from 10am, not Mondays or Tuesdays.
4) Warrington Market
They don't half move move their market around in this town. The medieval cornmarket shifted twice in Victorian times, then switched to a tripledecker market hall during the New Town phase in the 1960s. The latest move to a modern airy shed came in 2020, where 50 traders are now artfully crammed in front of a food court and edible offerings range from 'My Avocado' to '2 Slices Of Very Thick Toast'. Out the back is Time Square (singular), an unnecessarily large piazza with a leisure focus and the latest redevelopment zone. With the amount of hexagonal bling on the outside of its multistorey we could only be in Cheshire.
5) River of Life
In 1993 the IRA planted two bombs in litter bins in Bridge Street, one outside Boots, the other outside Argos. Two boys died in the subsequent explosions, over 50 shoppers were injured and a curvaceous stone memorial was built in their honour. It's tear-shaped with a channel of water cascading onto a copper dome embedded with schoolchildren's handprints, was paid for by the Duke of Westminster and has become a true community-created focus for remembrance.
6) The 'Skittles'
Warrington's central pedestrianised streets were brightened millennially by American designers Howard and Gay Ben Tre. They created a variety of symmetrical stone interventions but its their centrepiece that stands out, ten sleek glass columns known locally as the Skittles. It'd be more impressive if the council got round to fixing the central fountain but that remains fenced off, almost two years after its last splurt.
7) Palmyra Square
The Victorians were a lot more understated. This square is part of the quarter that survived the New Town wrecking ball and is surrounded by smart townhouses, a County Court that's now an arts centre and a concert hall that's seen performances by the Rolling Stones, Jools Holland and James. In the centre is Queen's Gardens where Victoria's canopy is all that's left of a cast iron diamond jubilee water fountain, and yes we have now reached the "you probably don't need to visit this" part of the list.
Urbex: the exploration of off-limits components of the manmade environment. Mild Urbex: venturing to little-frequented structures in a less illicit manner.
Mild Urbex - Warrington Transporter Bridge
A transporter bridge is a mighty metal structure once used to carry goods and vehicles across navigable waterways. Fewer than a dozen remain globally of which three are in the UK. Middlesbrough's closed in 2019 for safety reasons, although thankfully I went in 2017 so have had the joy of a suspended crossing. Newport's is currently closed for renovation and should be reopening to the public at some point along with a new visitor centre. And finally there's Warrington's, the world's last surviving rail transporter bridge which was once used to carry chemicals across the River Mersey. It last shuttled in the 1960s and is now on the Heritage At Risk register but you can still visit, stare and admire if you know how to get there. And that's a proper peculiar mild urbex adventure.
In 1814 Joseph Crosfield opened a soapworks on a significant bend in the Mersey close to Warrington town centre which eventually developed into Bank Quay, a chemicals-based industrial site. 100 years later (under the ownership of Brunner, Mond & Company) a cement plant opened on the opposite site of the river, and the transporter bridge was completed in 1916 to allow the finished product to be whisked away onto the wider rail network. In 1940 the bridge was converted for road vehicles, in 1953 it was strengthened to carry heavier loads and in 1964 ICI closed it after adding a normal bridge a short way upstream. It's been quietly decaying ever since.
But seeing it is hard because one side is screened by an industrial complex and the other is an inaccessible peninsula. That enormous blue blockage is the former Unilever detergent factory where the manufacture of Persil Automatic ended in 2020, and low down to the left is Warrington Bank Quay station, a principal stop on the West Coast Main Line. There's no obvious way through, indeed it might look intractable, but the Friends of Warrington Transporter Bridge have kindly explained how to do it on their website with full photographic directions. There are two routes, both doable with a side dose of "seriously? wow", and you can't ask for better mild urbex than that. [Google map]
Route 1: Through the chemical works(½ mile)
For this you need to head west out of Warrington town centre and cross over the mainline along Liverpool Road. The defensive industrial perimeter is strong, with an electronic gate where I had to wait for a large tanker to pass and a private turnstile that definitely wouldn't let you out again. But if you continue to a tall pink building painted with an eye, a cobbled backroad bears off towards lock-ups and a self-storage centre where an open level crossing leads to the dark side. It feels awkward being here, but look to the left and a narrow alleyway squeezes between the railway and a long wall of stacked containers. I'm not sure I'd have risked it if the Friends of Warrington Transporter Bridge hadn't put up a sign saying public footpath, and spotted a waymarker for the long distance Mersey Way toppled alongside.
At the far end of the curve a loudspeaker suddenly kicks into action with a warning that you're about to enter an operational chemical facility, which would have been most unnerving had the website not pre-warned me this was going to happen. The announcement also tells you to follow the green line on the ground and definitely not stray off the path, as do several notices along the way. The painted stripe ducks beneath a tangle of pipework, then follows the edge of the railway tracks towards a large cluster of silos where the silver tanker I'd seen earlier was piping its caustic load. As I continued across the site several hard-hatted employees emerged from a grey shed while a forklift driver stacked bags of something silica-based into a trailer. This is not normal territory for a permissive path.
The green line then steers you over to the riverbank where the path continues outside a protective fence and the bridge finally comes into view. It has a fabulous latticed silhouette, ideal for emblazoning on a t-shirt, and the bend means you can briefly see it side-on. The bridge is 103m long with a span of 61 m, and crosses 27m above the grey waters of the Mersey at high tide. Best of all if you continuealongthe bank for a couple more minutes you can stand right underneath where the rails once continued and stare up at the symmetrical steelwork above your head. I got the whole place to myself and there's no reason why you shouldn't too, given how remote this is. Or you could have arrived up the path from the opposite direction...
Route 2: From Warrington Bank Quay station(¾ mile)
Exiting the station there's no indication where the staircase at the end of the taxi rank goes, no signage whatsoever. But if you're tempted up, as you should be if you want to see the transporter bridge, you enter a Ballardian passageway that feels more like walking through a narrow overgrown cage. People sitting on platform 1 looking down through the railings may well wonder what on earth you're doing. After a bit of isolated up and down, definitely not recommended after dark, the path emerges onto a sideshoot of Slutchers Lane that has no pavement, so be careful. You could of course have walked in straight from the top of the lane, or indeed driven, but where would be the mild urbex in that?
The lane passes a slew of sidings and then bends underneath the mainline through a choice of 3 low brick arches. Take care because traffic heading through to the repair shops, e-karting circuit and cheerleading workshop on the other side won't be expecting pedestrians. Expect a really poor first glimpse of the bridge between two sheds, then bear off by the RSPCA rescue centre to follow the edge of a surprisingly rural field. You could continue to the tiny car park at the far end but trust me, the grass path is a decent short-cut. Aim for the telegraph poles on the far side where a gravel path slopes down to riverbank level, then immediately doubles back to pass beneath the replacement bridge that led to the transporter bridge being closed. I hope the four office chairs in the mud are a temporary feature.
A wonky (and potentially muddy) slope then ascends to a wooded fringe which the FoWTB website insists is overrun with giant hogweed, hence unwise to follow. Thankfully someone's been out since with a strimmer and cut everything back, leaving a decent path above the high water mark that's finally easy to follow. I must have timed my visit for the immediate aftermath of an autumnal wind event because a full harvest of apples was spread across the path. And here we are back at the transporterbridge again, not so easily viewed from this side thanks to persistent vegetation but nothing's stopping you from exiting via the alternative, clearer, industrial route. As I said there are fuller access details on the FoWTB website, or you can get the general idea from the 15 photos I've uploaded to Flickr.
Britain's two other transporter bridges may be easier to see but if you want an intriguing short hike with a frisson of mild urbex, Warrington's abandoned hulk is the chef's kiss at the end of a proper mini adventure.
They like their modernstatues in Liverpool, 20th century icons you can walk round, stand beside and take a selfie with. The best-known to rail travellers are this pair at the entrance to Lime Street station.
These are comedian Ken Dodd and MP Bessie Braddock. He lived in Knotty Ash and she was the MP for Liverpool Exchange. He's holding a tickling stick while Dicky Mint the Diddyman pokes out from his bag. She's holding an egg because she was the politician responsible for putting the lion standard mark on British eggs. The double statue is called Chance Meeting - apparently the pair sometimes travelled down to London on the train together. It's by Tom Murphy and was unveiled by Ken on 11 June 2009.
This is another Tom Murphy double statue and can be found outside Primark on Church Street. The rotund pair are brothers John and Cecil Moores, of whom Sir John is the best known. In the 1920s he and two friends founded Littlewoods football pools, which made him a millionaire, followed by an empire of mail order catalogues and department stores which made him richer still. In 1960 he became chairman of Everton football club and handed the reins of Littlewoods to Cecil (who had long been managing the Pools side of the business). The statue was unveiled by their sons in 1996... outside Littlewoods, of course.
This chap is Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, and was unveiled in 2022 on the 55th anniversary of his death. It's located on Whitechapel, the street where the Brian was the manager of a record shop called NEMS when he signed the group after seeing them perform at the Cavern Club. The shop's long gone, one of several buildings demolished to create a larger store for American retailer Forever 21 (now occupied by Next). Head up Mathew Street to the site of The Cavern and you'll also find statues of John Lennon and Cilla Black, but I only had time for a 20 minute walkabout between trains so didn't get that far, nor to the Fab Four themselves down at the Pier Head, sorry.
This blog has readers all across London, I know that, but does it have readers all across the country? Let's see if we can find one from every ceremonial county in England. Stake your claim, first come first served!
CUMBRIA Stuart C, CA12
DURHAM MatthewP, DH1
TYNE AND WEAR ChrisB, NE2
NORTHUMBERLAND John Woodman, NE68
LANCASHIRE John H, BB7
WEST YORKSHIRE Sam B, LS28
NORTH YORKSHIRE Bruce, TS11
EAST YORKSHIRE ChrisM, HU16
MERSEYSIDE Mark, L8
GREATER MANCHESTER DavidC, M4
SOUTH YORKSHIRE VeeJayEm, S6
LINCOLNSHIRE David Woodman, PE4
CHESHIRE Steve B, CH4
STAFFORDSHIRE Ewan James, ST3
DERBYSHIRE DB83, DE22
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Jean, NG3
SHROPSHIRE Al, TF4
WEST MIDLANDS Peter B, CV5
LEICESTERSHIRE Sarah, LE7
RUTLAND
HEREFORDSHIRE BarryD, HR5
WORCESTERSHIRE Steve Green, WR14
WARWICKSHIRE Rob Gullen, CV37
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Steve, NN13
GLOUCESTERSHIRE Alan P, BS35
BEDFORDSHIRE Stuart, MK43
CAMBRIDGESHIRE Huw, CB4
NORFOLK DGD, NR17
OXFORDSHIRE Mark, OX4
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE James, HP20
HERTFORDSHIRE Frank F, AL7
SUFFOLK Jessica, IP11
BRISTOL Stewart, BS8
BERKSHIRE Andy V, RG6
GREATER LONDON diamond geezer, E3
ESSEX THC, CM2
SOMERSET Herned, TA1
WILTSHIRE Jc97, SN12
CITY OF LONDON Paul S, EC2Y
KENT CG, TN9
DEVON cjw714, EX1
HAMPSHIRE Malcolm Redsell, SO41
SURREY Mike, KT17
EAST SUSSEX Rob, BN1
CORNWALL Alan S, TR16
DORSET Neil, BH15
ISLE OF WIGHT SAM, PO33
WEST SUSSEX Marc, RH16
Say hello and name your county.
Please include the first part of your postcode with your comment.
Can we get all 48, and how long will it take?
(sorry Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the rest of the world... another day!)
Question: Agatha Christie wrote a famous whodunnit called 'The 4.50 from Paddington'. Is there still a 4.50 from Paddington and where does it go?
Answer: The only timetabled 4.50 from Paddington is a GWR service to Didcot Parkway.
Question: Where was Christie's fictional train going?
Answer:The 4.50 from Paddington was the seventh Miss Marple mystery, tucked between A Pocket Full of Rye and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, and was published in November 1957. In chapter 1 we learn that the train is "the 4.50 for Brackhampton, Milchester, Waverton, Carvil Junction, Roxeter and stations to Chadmouth", all of which are fictional locations. In the book Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy spies a strangulation aboard a passing train but only Miss Marple believes her, until a woman's body is eventually found in a sarcophagus at a country house beside the railway. The plot hinges on inheritance and arsenic poisoning, and eventually the act of choking on a fish bone uncovers the murderer.
Question: So where was the murder?
The incident in the adjacent carriage occurs about eight minutes before the train reaches Brackhampton, where a member of platform staff announces it as the 5.38. This places the murder around 5.30, approximately 40 minutes after leaving Paddington. We know that this is the Great Western mainline because Miss Marple has to eliminate "the Welsh express for Cardiff, Newport and Swansea" from her enquiries.
I've tracked down a 1956timetable for trains on this line which suggests mainline trains out of Paddington reached Reading after about 40 minutes, suggesting 'Brackhampton' was either Reading or a town just beyond. That would place the murder somewhere between Twyford and Pangbourne. It's hard to be more accurate, especially given the "considerable curve" referenced in the book does not exist. It'd be nice to think that the murder took place close to Wallingford where Agatha lived at the time but that's a tad far for a steam train to have reached in 40 minutes. It's highly likely she was making the whole thing up, including various temporal and geographical inaccuracies. There is no 4.50 from Paddington in the timetable.
Just to properly confuse things, the book was very nearly published as 'The 4.54 from Paddington' but the title was changed at the last minute. This confirms Christie's intricate plotting didn't stretch as far as accurate timings, so I apologise for wasting your time discussing the above.
They didn't have blogs or the internet forty years ago, so here are 31 things I didn't digitally publish at the time. To help you get your bearings I was 20 and October was the start of my third year at university. I apologise for skipping September which would have included tea at the Royal Festival Hall, sandwiches on the ramparts of Southsea Castle and a bar of chocolate atop Mount Snowdon.
Tue 1: It's the warmest October day on record (29.4°C in Cambridgeshire) [a record that won't be broken until 2011]. Our nextdoor neighbour cuts his hand on some glass and my Mum drives him to hospital to get five stitches. Wed 2: Sausages and beans for tea. My brother rings from Portsmouth and we hear how his first week at university is going. His landlady is due to give birth soon. Thu 3: Spend the day (between 7am and 7pm) making a list of every record played on Radio 1 to see if I can unpick how the playlist works. Stevie Wonder's Part Time Lover and Billy Idol's Rebel Yell must be 'A List' because they're played four times, roughly 3 hours apart. Scritti Politti's Perfect Way breaks the pattern with two plays within 1½ hours. Exactly one third of the 147 records are oldies. Fri 4: The tabloids are busy exposing the private life of former Blue Peter presenter Michael Sundin and full of salacious details about Rock Hudson who's just died from an AIDS-related illness. 1985 was not a tolerant year. Sat 5: Fish fingers for lunch, inspired by it being the 30th birthday of the fish finger this week. Saturday evening TV includes The Tripods (series 2 episode 5 - Will and Fritz arrive at the City of Gold) and the Late Late Breakfast Show (Noel Edmonds hosts a mower-based Lawn Prix). Sun 6: A special roast beef dinner (with grandmother present) before I head back to university. A bottle of wine is opened (or probably unscrewed, given how infrequently we had a bottle). There are significant riots at Broadwater Farm in Tottenham. Mon 7: Head into Watford to buy a new kettle. Then present it to Mum and Dad as a 24th wedding anniversary present [which means I get to take the old one with me to university]
Tue 8: Mum drives me back to university with Dad crammed in the back between the boxes. I have a brilliant room this year because I was near the top of the accommodation ballot. Someone has already been in and filled my cupboard with balloons. By the end of the day they'll be hanging from my ceiling by static. Wed 9: I forgot to bring a tea strainer. My pigeonhole is already full of careers-based communications, because it turns out that's what the third year is all about. Everyone comes round to my room to watch the last ever episode of Minder (and inevitably pop all the balloons). Thu 10: Pick up my grant cheque for the term. [I know people are amazed/shocked/appalled that students used to get paid to go to university, rather than being indebted, but £339 to tide you over until Christmas wasn't exactly generous] Fri 11: Two years ago as freshers we were all invited to a small subject-based drinks do to meet our fellow students. This year it's my job to host the event, mainly because my room's got the best balcony. I've stocked up on sherry, beer and Twiglets. I've chosen Scritti Politti's Cupid and Psyche for the background music in an attempt to confirm how cool I am. [mostly successfully] Sat 12: Continue my hunt for a tea strainer. Selfridges don't have any, nor Argos, and Debenhams have sold out. Eventually track one down in Boswells for 95p. It's the Freshers Disco tonight so head down once it's got started. An excellent playlist including You Spin Me Round and Uncertain Smile. Even Iris the cleaner joins in on the dancefloor. Sun 13: I've already had 86 visitors to my room this year, not just because I have a great balcony but because I have a busy kettle and a rare portable TV. I've got room 41 this year, so I've been busy and made this colourful graphic to stick on my front door.
Mon 14: Lectures restart, except one's been cancelled so instead four of us go off and sign up for a course to learn Fortran. It's not our subject but computers are the future. Buy some vinegar and Smarties in the basement Co-op. Spend the evening playing The Great Game of Britain and listening to short wave radio. Tue 15: College bills this term are £194, leaving £145 for all remaining fripperies. Nip to Our Price and buy the new Depeche Mode singles album (£6), also some more coffee because the way my room's become a hotbed of socialising means I'm going to need it. Wed 16: The biochemist in the room nextdoor comes round to complain about the noise. [There'll be sixteen more such complaints before the end of the year, including "Can you be a bit quieter doing that please?", "How many times do I have to tell you?" and "WILL YOU SHUT UP OR BLOODY PLAY SOMEWHERE ELSE?!"] Sorry Julie. Thu 17: Lectures in the morning, additional computer course in the afternoon, struggling with early coursework in the evening, bed at 1.45am. Fri 18: I have a friend who was also high on the accommodation ballot and selected room 43 after I picked room 41. She keeps knocking on the door and coming round, and perhaps I'm just socially magnetic or perhaps she's chronically lonely but the obvious objective conclusion is that she's interested and hopes I am too. I'm not, which means it could be a very long year. Sat 19: A friend from not-university comes round, admires the unique decor in my room and says he's changed his name. We go in search of a pub but it's Saturday evening and they're all packed so we end up in Wimpy. Hideous mistake. [I'll never see him again and he now lives in New Zealand]
Sun 20: I'm missing my Dad's birthday. [I claimed at the time to be too busy to ring, but I see I had time for a water balloon fight on the balcony so belated apologies]. Mon 21: A bit late in the year for wasps isn't it? A letter arrives from my brother saying his course is going well although the economics lectures are stuff he already knows. He's already been to a couple of football matches and the landlady's had her baby. Tue 22: Some enterprising second years are producing a weekly newssheet and posting it up in toilets around the college. I reckon I could do a good spoof of that, so I find a sheet of A3 paper and make a start. Wed 23: Buy a pack of Woodland Happy Families because that'll be quite the game to play over mugs of communal coffee. At the Fortran course I'm starting to make friends with students in the year below as well as learning how to do a bubblesort. Thu 24: I'm still counting visitors to my room and have created a certificate to mark milestone totals, in part to make the point to my neighbourly stalker that she's coming round too often. She is not pleased to receive the '200th visitor' certificate, which joins a collection including 1st, 3rd, 10th and 111th. Fri 25: Finish off my spoof newssheet and stick it up in our top floor toilet. Biochemist Tim says it would be hilarious if I stuck it up in all the toilets around college in place of the real one, and perhaps it would.
Sat 26: Walk home in the dark from The Fishes after several pints of cider, seemingly stepping on the odd hedgehog. Develop hiccups half an hour from home. [it was a nightmare] Sun 27: The extra hour in bed is very welcome. Captain Scarlet is being repeated on ITV. We're all struggling somewhat with the latest batch of questions that have to be handed in tomorrow. And the 225th certificate. Mon 28: Watch the total eclipse of the moon from my balcony. Dad's sent a letter saying he got slippers and gloves for his birthday, my card arrived a day late and he enjoyed the special trip round the Ascot Road sorting office. Tue 29: One of my subject options this term is proving embarrassingly hard, another is thankfully more doable. Hang 22 cardboard bats around my room for Hallowe'en [still got them, they still go up]. Jim'll Fix It are filming across the street, hence some really bright lighting. Wed 30: All the cleaners come round to see my bats. I'm making good social progress with the second years and am invited to a party on Saturday. And the 250th certificate. Thu 31: OK, I photocopy lots of spoof newssheets and go round all the toilets in college swapping them for the latest edition. It might have looked a bit strange but I think I got away with it. [Spoiler - it did not go down well.] Spend the evening working by Hallowe'en candlelight [unaware there's an official letter of complaint in my pigeon hole saying "the editors are a little upset, would it be possible to have this week's copies back..."]
The first entrance at Battersea Power Station station opened in September 2021.
The second opened yesterday.
(it had to wait until they'd finished building the office block on top)
The newentrance connects directly to ElectricBoulevard, the retail canyon which funnels shoppers direct into the power station. Previously everyone emerged beside the main road and had to follow a less significant path at street level. Now you have a choice. [8 photos]
If alighting from a train everything's the same until you emerge through the ticket barriers, which means everything I'm about to describe is outside the gateline and freely accessible. The first change is the signage on the wall which now clearly suggests that if you want the Power Station you should turn right.
🠈 Prospect Park 🠈 New Covent Garden Market 🠈 Buses
The Power Station 🠊 Electric Boulevard shops 🠊 Battersea Park Station 🠊 Battersea Pier 🠊 Taxis 🠊
So far most people are still turning left through familiarity. Anyone turning up for the first time, however, is likely to turn right because that's where all the interesting stuff is. I'll tell you later whether that's a good move.
Ahead is a bank of escalators the same width as the bank that's been whisking passengers out of the other side of the station for four years. Passengers' ability to escape has been doubled overnight. Alongside is a lift, so double the number of lifts too.
At the top of the escalators is an airy atrium with glass at street level, which we're still below at this point. Don't expect to see any TfL staff up here, they're all down in the gateline area and this is very much an outer passageway. All the arrows point right but there is a tempting passageway off to the left which thus far remains closed. It leads to an arched subway from the power station days and will eventually exit into Stewarts Road on the Savona Estate, hopefully next year. Typical, the exit for the existing residents gets opened last, with all the shops and developmental priorities having taken precedence.
To the right you soon emerge into Electric Boulevard, a wiggly piazza lined by offices, doors to apartments and a snake of sleek retail units. One of the nearest sells French cars and is called 'rnlt' while most of the far side is occupied by fashion retailer Zara, because this is not a destination for those with a slim wallet. As for the jacketed member of staff lingering outside the station entrance they'll be in the employ of the Power Station, not TfL, as a reminder that this tube extension was built for commercial gain rather than public need. Everything you see around you makes this distinction very clear.
But is it the fastest way to the shops? Well no, as it turns out, as I discovered when I did a quick experiment. I used the new exit to walk to the Power Station and it took one minute to reach the outside world, then another three minutes to reach the lower floor of BPS. Then I used the old exit to walk to the Power Station and it took one minute to reach the outside world, then another three minutes to reach the ground floor of BPS. It's four minutes whichever way you go, so don't be swayed by the arrows, go whichever way you like.
Put another way, if you're returning to the tube station from the Power Station, aim for the old exit if you're on the upper floor and aim for the new exit if you're on the lower floor. You can thank me later.
It was interesting that TfL's press release focused on this being a new step-free entrance, not just a new entrance.
The new entrance in fact improves access for everyone, mobility-impaired or not, so is more a fresh choice than an accessibility gamechanger. Battersea Power Station has been a step-free station for the last four years so nothing's fundamentally changed. Indeed this emphasis feels somewhat of a smokescreen to cover the fact that the roll-out of step-free stations continues to go very slowly, this because all the low-hanging fruit has already been plucked.
The press release includes this reminder of a Mayoral policy which I think deserves statistical unpicking.
Knightsbridge brought the tube's step-free percentage to 93/272=34.2%. The only other station destined to become step-free this year is Colindale (94/272=34.6%), the only station due next year is Northolt (95/272=34.9%) and the only station that could possibly complete in 2027 is Leyton (96/272=35.3%). When 2028 rolls round we'll only be at 35%, still way off the target of 50%.
The press release includes details of further stations where step-free design work is underway...
Re-starting design work: Burnt Oak (35.7%) Starting concept design work: Alperton, Arnos Grove, Eastcote, Finchley Road, West Hampstead, White City (37.9%)
The latest Programmes and Investment Committee agenda reveals what's already in the pipeline...
Feasibility studies underway: Colliers Wood, Tooting Broadway (38.6%) Additional studies in progress: Croxley, East Finchley, Neasden, Northwood, Turnham Green (40.4%)
And a nigh-invisible announcement last week added the following...
Shortlisted for feasibility studies: Becontree, Blackhorse Road, Canons Park, Dagenham East, East Putney, Edgware Road (H&C), Hatton Cross, Hornchurch, Kentish Town, Plaistow, Putney Bridge, Ruislip, Snaresbrook, South Harrow, Upton Park, Willesden Green, Wood Green (45.2%)
That's potentially 127 step-free tube stations if every project on the drawing board proves viable, gets funded and is built. But it's wildly optimistic in the current economic climate and it's not the 136 stations the Mayor needs to be step-free by 2030, it's still nine short. Unless a magic money tree is shaken and dozens of brilliant design solutions present themselves, 50% is never going to happen. That target needs amending, not repeating, because it's fundamentally unattainable.
45 Squared 35) QUEEN SQUARE, WC1
Borough of Camden, 150m×40m
The Queen in question is Queen Anne, the Square built soon after her death so named in her honour. It's in Bloomsbury close to Russell Square station, but tucked one street back from the main drag so generally unvisited. It's also exceptionally oblong, almost four times as long as it is wide, and over the years has become increasingly surrounded by all things medical. As is so often the case the 'square' was originally built on the very edge of London, and in this case took advantage of the fact. Tall terraces of elegant townhouses were built along three sides with the northern edge left empty so that residents could enjoy the vista across Conduit Fields. This scenic gap lasted until the end of the 18th century when Upper Guilford Street got in the way, but a sense of long distance perspective somehow lingers.
At the southern end of the Square is a paved area that's actually square with a fine lamplit water pump at its centre, this very early Victorian. Four bollards and a ring of cobbles surround it, these originally to keep vehicles at bay because the paving slabs beyond are relatively recent. It no longer dispenses water but the Mayor has kindly provided a plastic water fountain with a blue droplet on top which looks jarringly out of place. The most recent addition is a new timber hut for Queen's Coffee, unshuttered in the last few days, although the art on the back featuring a Grenadier Guard and a seated child is gratingly twee and I'd stick with a pastry round the front. For a finer work of art, look out for the Snoopy and Woodstock postbox topper on the corner with Great Ormond Street.
In the southeastern corner is the church of St George The Martyr, in Wren-like Queen Anne style, although the tower and outer frontage are later additions. Its chief claims to fame are that it's where Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath got married, this because at the time it was his parish church, also two centuries earlier its rector was William Stukeley, the antiquarian who did a lot of the early investigations at Stonehenge. Normally you can step inside as far as a cosy cafe carved out of one corner but I turned up as Morning Service was getting underway so couldn't peer much further than the glass doors. It's quite the classical space.
A few of the original houses remain, as proudly Georgian as you'd expect, of which the finest may be number 6 where the front door of the Art Workers Guild is framed by two monogrammed lamps. But there's also a lot of later replacement, all tall, be it brick, terracotta, concrete or glass. And if you read the nameplates a heck of a lot of that is medical, including the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Sight And Sound Centre (Supported By Premier Inn). Brains feature a lot, and have done ever since George III stayed privately on Queen Square with his mental health specialist Dr Willis. The busy National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery now overlooks the entirety of the eastern flank.
The finest feature is probably the central garden, a long shrubbery-bound space with grass, flowerbeds, umpteen benches and even more pigeons. The benches are particularly popular with medical staff taking a break mid-shift, and much more pleasant than your average smokers' hangout. In opposite corners are the utterly contrasting statues of Lord Wolfson, businessman and philanthropist, and Sam, a cat. The statue of a queen watches over everything from one end, long believed to be Queen Anne for nominal reasons, but the plaque underneath says it's now thought to be Queen Charlotte. I particularly liked the floral urn celebrating Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee with a verse by Larkin on one side and a verse by Hughes on the other. It's all queens in Queen Square.
It's a well-ish known fact that the longest journey on the Underground is from West Ruislip to Epping. It's 34 miles (or 55km) long. But that's not entirely within Greater London, it exits the capital just beyond Woodford.
So I wondered... what's the longest train journey in London?
definition: the longest regular train/tube service starting and finishing in London and remaining within London at all times
I've measured the official length of several train journeys and I reckon the longest are as follows...
Those services run throughout the day. The following run only rarely.
London's longest occasional train journeys 55.9km: Gidea Park → Heathrow Terminal 4 † 49.0km: Abbey Wood → Heathrow Terminal 5 ‡ 47.9km: Charing Cross → Slade Green → Cannon Street ¶ 47.6km: Hainault → West Ruislip §
† Only one train a day makes this 34¾ mile journey, the 0525 from Gidea Park (Sundays excepted). All other Gidea Park services go no further than Paddington.
‡ Only one train a day makes this journey, the 0534 from Abbey Wood (Sundays excepted). Other Abbey Wood services go to T4 rather than T5.
¶ Only one train a day makes this journey, the 0606 from Charing Cross (weekdays). Other loopy services start and finish at Cannon Street.
§ Only a handful of trains before 7am make this journey. At other times Hainault trains go to Ealing Broadway and Epping trains follow the West Ruislip branch.
Alternatively, what if you define longest journey by time rather than distance?
n.b. timings are approximate, give or take a minute or two, because timetables vary.
n.b. Gidea Park - Heathrow Terminal 4 does not make this list, it takes 1h 17m.
So Cockfosters - Uxbridge is London's longest regular train journey, whichever way you measure it. But if you ever wanted to make a video entitled 'I made London's longest train journey' you'd need to be at Gidea Park at 5.25am to catch the only through train to Heathrow Airport.
n.b. I may have overlooked something here, or mismeasured something, or mistimed something, so I invite the readership army of rail pedants to point this out.
And one of those three 'most promising' new town sites is in north London, so I've been to Crews Hill to see what's there and how it might change forever.
Crews Hill is probably best known for its garden centres of which there are unexpectedly many, several of them on the large side. These green hubs have also attracted patio merchants, cladding specialists, commercial greenhouses and numerous other horticultural hangers-on, all covering a substantial area which could perhaps be defined as brownfield. Elsewhere are paddocks rather than productive fields, a few scattered homes and the inevitable golf course, all with a conveniently central station 40 minutes from central London. The local council call it "low value land" and have already drawn up detailed plans for substantial transformation. New town status would only turbocharge the lot.
This is the most northern corner of north London, bumped up against the orbital collar of the M25. The motorway has already despoiled the northern edge of the site and protects the Hertfordshire flank from negative visual impact. The Moorgate-Stevenage railway divides the site in two, so the plan is to place most of the new housing to the east and most of the recreational land to the west. To either side are two of London's less spoiled rivers, the Turkey Brook and Cuffley Brook, both pencilled in as 'ecology corridors' rather than housing arteries. Hence Enfield's current blueprint is for an urban centre near the station and four constituent neighbourhoods - Cattlegate, Kings Oak, Owls Hall and The Meadows.
Crews Hill is the 10th least used station in Greater London, such is the paucity of existing housing hereabouts. It lies on the Hertford Loop railway line, two stations beyond Enfield Chase at a reasonable commuting distance from the City. It's a very lowly station, just two platforms and some stairs down to a car park that doesn't stretch to twenty vehicles, all ungated and entirely unstaffed. It could quite easily be upgraded into something step-free, but would require more than the existing half-hourly train service to justify a new town. There's talk of bringing these Great Northern lines under TfL control, likely under the Overground umbrella, but don't expect anything like that any time soon.
This is CATTLEGATE(red on the map)
It's the best known part of Crews Hill, the road with all the garden centres, the neighbourhood name arising because that's called Cattlegate Road. It's currently somewhere people who need compost and a new shed drive to, then get sucked into the additional opportunities to buy rattan furniture, rose bushes, plaster statues, turf, double glazing, carpets, tropical fish and industrial strength Christmas lights. Throw in a meal at Redwood Bistro or The Plough and you can make a day of it, maybe even go for a Thai massage or get some tattoos done. However nigh all of this is destined to be swept away to create Cattlegate, other than the large Edwardian pub, scattering innumerable small businesses to the winds in favour of urban scale high density development. A few existing cottages should survive, in the same way that you still find nucleated Victorian throwbacks in the heart of Harlow New Town, but North London's retired gardeners will need to find somewhere else to source their bedding plants.
This is KINGS OAK(pink on the map)
It's a separate neighbourhood slotting into the southern end of the site along the existing spine road, and named after former King's Oak Farm. I don't think a motel is planned. Instead the proposal is for mid-density townhouses amid woodland elements, plus a new secondary school on the other side of Theobalds Park Road round the back of the Whitewebbs Museum of Transport. What disappears are more existing businesses but on a larger scale, including an industrial estate, a premium flower importer, a metal recycler and an equestrian centre of 25 years standing. If you're tasked with buying up land on which to build housing, the larger the existing plots the better. One thing that doesn't disappear is the woody field round the back of the mega-greehouses which instead becomes a new park. Also safe is the thin loop of formerly-isolated bungalows where the 456 bus turns round, suddenly destined to form an anachronistic blockage sandwiched between acres of modern infill.
This is OWLS WOOD(purple on the map)
It's due to be a low-density neighbourhood adjacent to the station on land that's currently undeveloped Green Belt. It'll smother 60 acres of paddocks created by Baron Matthews of Southgate, a Thatcherite tycoon who was the proprietor of the Daily Express and had a penchant for thoroughbred racing. He lived in Owl's Hall, the Italianate Regency mansion at the top of the slope whose estate was nibbled away by the M25, and which may now look down on a swathe of eco-rooftops. Also being gobbled up is Crews Hill Golf Course, a vintage 18 holer, although only the clubhouse and car park are destined for housing and the fairways instead become Cattlegate Park, the chief local recreational space. Intriguingly two sprawling detached piles near the station look to be safe, whereas by evicting a couple of well-off families at least 200 station-adjacent flats could easily be slotted in. The Enfield Society would be aghast however things fall.
This is THE MEADOWS(green on the map)
It's the smallest of the proposed districts and also the least originally named, meadows being its current state. The new neighnbourhood would bear off Burnt Farm Ride, London's northernmost country lane, which grinds to a halt at the M25 so you'd think would be pretty quiet. Not so, it's busy with trucks and vans heading to various employment hotspots hidden amidst the paddocks, including a solar panel factory and hubs for haulage, skip hire and body repair. Enfield's plans include retaining a larger industrial stripe between The Meadows and the M25, also sneaking in a sports pitch or two, and all within easy walking distance of the new town's main coffee-fuelled piazza. Of all the existing parcels of land this is the one that most screams "how could they even be thinking of building on that?", only to turn one's head and think "oh, I see someone already has."
Enfield Council's plans for Crews Hill are already reasonably advanced, even if they can't possibly continue unless a Green Belt exemption is granted. They also have their sights on Chase Park close to Oakwood tube station, where the despoilation of fields would potentially be considerably worse. I wrote about the possible impact on the slopes overlooking the Merryhills Brook back in 2022. But the ultimate impact hereabouts may be considerably worse. Enfield have only proposed a total of 9000 homes across Crews Hill and Chase Park, whereas the government's New Towns Taskforce reckons there may be room for 21,000 if the two projects are expanded and merged to full new town status. It's all about priorities, because if we want new houses for the 21st century they have to be built somewhere, and these proposals are no worse than the plague of building that created the outer suburbs in the first half of the 20th.
