Morning:
13°c
Delayed: platforms for Waterloo commuters will not arrive until 2014
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor10.09.09
Commuters will have to wait until 2014 before the former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo station are adapted for suburban trains, it emerged today.
Ministers came under fire for "dithering" as the Department for Transport revealed in a Freedom of Information document that it would be years before the former Waterloo International was adapted for commuter use.
When the Eurostar terminal closed two years ago, the Government said that at least one of its five platforms would be in use by last December.
South West Trains wants to use the platforms to ease chronic overcrowding.
But Platform 20 - the main candidate for short-term use - is still not ready.
The other four platforms are also being mothballed by Government-owned National Rail at a cost of £500,000 a year.
All European trains now depart from the £800 million St Pancras station.
In response to an FoI request, the DfT issued a document stating that "National Rail is currently developing High Level Output Specification options for Waterloo Station including the track elements to serve Waterloo International Terminal.
The delivery date is expected to be 2013/14 in line with the wider HLOS programme.
"The plan is that capacity at Waterloo will be increased by lengthening platforms thereby allowing longer trains, carrying more people."
Shadow minister for London Justine Greening told the Standard: "Commuters will rightly be very angry that there is yet another delay to converting these platforms.
"It's not as if the Government didn't have any warning that Waterloo International was going to close.
"This would mean it will be seven years after the closure before people who live and work in London can see relief on their overcrowded trains.
"It begs the question - what on earth have ministers been doing all this time?"
The DfT document added that platforms at Waterloo and across the south-western network will be extended to increase capacity from eight to 10 carriage trains.
It read: "Work has been carried out on Platform 20 and option development work is now progressing on other platforms and enhancing the tracks outside the station to support the increase in capacity."
Reader views (19)
The issue is to do more with overcoming the planning laws and objections, health & safety, building regulations, risk assessments,highways accessand a hundred other 'quangocrat' petty rules that now seem to infiltrate every single thing we try and do. these huge quantity of 'new labour' non-jobs, all taxpayer funded - do nothing except create a huge paperwork burden. Only last week, i was at a large Government building, having new carpet tiles laid - after security checks, health and safety briefings and signing into a contractors visitors book - i went to open the door.....STOP a guy shouted - you need a high visibiity vest!!!! Unbelieveable!!
- Gary, wycombe
The issue is to do more with overcoming the planning laws and objections, health & safety, building regulations, risk assessments,highways accessand a hundred other 'quangocrat' petty rules that now seem to infiltrate every single thing we try and do. these huge quantity of 'new labour' non-jobs, all taxpayer funded - do nothing except create a huge paperwork burden. Only last week, i was at a large Government building, having new carpet tiles laid - after security checks, health and safety briefings and signing into a contractors visitors book - i went to open the door.....STOP a guy shouted - you need a high visibiity vest!!!! Unbelieveable!!
- Gary, wycombe
In the middle of the 19th century railways were built in many areas of the UK. These were of two gauges. The decision was taken to standardise towards the end of the century. Sadly they chose the narrow gauge over the wide goose (over 7ft) which is one of the reasons why our trains are cramped. The whole of the London to Bristol line was re-engineered in over a long weekend. Why? Firstly the project was overseen by true engineers and not so called project managers with an MBA and little experience. Secondly there was not a multi-tiered a management structure which only serves to delay decisions and raise costs. And thirdly the labourers worked hard and did not spend over half the day standing around watching others or talking on mobile phones! Brunel must be turning in his grave.
- Michael, London
"developing High Level Output Specification options|"
and when they've done that they can sort out the trains.
- Dt, Harrow, UK
Why not allow another train company to compete with Eurostar from Waterloo?
- Brian Edmonds, Farnham UK
What on earth is wrong with this country?
We gave the world railways, and seem to take from that experience the sum total of zero. How on earth are we going to cope with the Olympics?
Somehow, the French managed to re-engineer their entire metro system, at night, without disrupting commuter traffic, for less than it cost us to refurb three stations. I suggest the entire government and civil service with any responsibility for transport (and maybe healthcare too, come to think of it) resign and be replaced by their French counterparts.
- Helene Davidson, London
It is not just a case of knocking through to make access and driving trains in. The tracks were configured for the Eurostar to bypass the main lines in to Waterloo so integrating those platforms into the wider SWT Waterloo network is not simple.
Very annoying for commuters to look out at empty platforms and tracks which would certainly ease congestion if they were to be used but surely it is better to get it right in the long term as part of a big redevelopment of the station than to waste money doing a temporary fix, only to re-do it all again when NR and SWT are ready to run longer trains throughout their network.
Ralph is correct, people are not going to be happy but Dug is also correct in pointing out that there is more to the problem than just driving trains in. It is a shame that the media do not present the full argument and choose to produce an article that will understandably provoke outrage. No more than we have come to expect though, I suppose !
- Chris, London
The only thing this Government gets right is INCOMPETENCE INCOMPETENCE INCOMPETENCE.
And Dug, what part of, those railway tracks will be out of action for up to SEVEN years, are you quite happy with?
- Ralph, London
And yet eveything connected with the dreaded Olympics is bang on time.Funny that.
- Steve, London
Its a South London sort of thing.The tube the buses and the trains, all useless. Why would Waterloo be any different.
- Mr S.Port, London
Just another example of this country's pathetic public transport system lacking any strategy or direction. I lived in Berlin in the early 1990s and observed whole swathes of former East German railways being upgraded in very little time.
The construction of Berlin's magnificent "Hauptbahnhof" (main station) was completed in less time than it will have taken the UK to bring these already constructed platforms at Waterloo into service. One can only shake the head in disbelief.
- John Cochrane, Leatherhead, UK
Get a grip. The whole of Waterloo is in the middle of a major development that may well see the entire passenger concourse moved down a level to the current basement. The usual wingers posting comments about broken Britain are the exact same people who would complain if work was carried out in haste now and had to be reversed at great expense five years down the line.
Read a little, get a little information, and then comment.
- Dug, uk
Ed- Comparisions with China are specious. In order to build its new rail lines, that nation has a huge workforce on subsistence wages. Remember - it's a undemocratic dictatorship. If you can have six men to lay a single sleeper and pay them all peanuts to do it, you're going to be able to finish your railway a great deal faster.
- Richard, London UK
The usual disgraceful pontification delays from the Department of Transport. It needs an urgent shake up where it looks at passenger interests first, then gets down to commercial detail, not the other way round as it is at the moment.
- Paul B, London
The Victorians would have built an entire railway or canal system in the same time as it takes someone to change a few points outside Waterloo.
But I suppose for the mandarins across the river, the longer it takes, and the more complicated they make it, the safer their jobs and the more important they become.
- George, London
It's pointless extending the platforms unless you also have longer trains, and to do that those switches need moving further out and to top it all the signaling system has to be capable of handling the longer trains and these other changes. As the FOI response doesn't appear to cover these issues I suspect they'll still be arguing which colour to paint it all in 2014.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
What a disgrace. Only today there is a news article about China building 42 new high speed rail lines and trains which run at 310mph. Those will be built by 2012! Its GDP/capita, despite growing rapidly, is only a fraction of ours.
And we can't even sort out 5 platforms in that time frame. Our proposed high speed rail (which is just one line from London to Scotland at only 200mph) won't be built for another 20-30 years. By that time it will be totally obsolete (200mph for trains are not exaclty a breakthrough either!)
- Ed, London
Under Crash Gordon's "government" the whole country's infrastructure is falling apart what is he doing with all those tax increases but line the pockets of labourites?!??
- Georgie, Islington, London
Personally i think they should of just continued to run Eurostar services out of waterloo, but expanded to other destinations in Europe. The cost to reconvert the platforms and the time taken is simply not worth it.
- Rob, London
