New Brent Cross West (Thameslink) station

[jon0844]

Lovely station and the new park on the east side looks great, but whatever way you choose to walk to the shopping centre it is awful. Roads and pavements built in an era where car was seen as king and to hell with anyone else - very American like.

I thankfully haven't had to drive on the A406 or M1 there in decades and it was a eye opener being on foot for the first time. If only they could knock it all down and start again. Station is absolutely the nicest thing there right now.

 

[James H]

I took the tube to Brent Cross, walked to the shopping centre, did some shopping, then walked to Brent Cross West to get the train home.

Fair to say the pedestrian experience on both sides of the shopping centre was shockingly poor.

 

[MikeWM]

I took the tube to Brent Cross, walked to the shopping centre, did some shopping, then walked to Brent Cross West to get the train home.

Fair to say the pedestrian experience on both sides of the shopping centre was shockingly poor.

The new station would have been very convenient indeed for the Cineworld at Staples Corner, but unfortunately that closed in 2016.

Assuming it hasn't changed much since I was last in the area, probably 5 or 6 years ago, I have to agree that the provision for pedestrians is utterly appalling all around that area - from Brent Cross tube to the shopping centre to Staples Corner. As I recall the last time I went to the shopping centre I went to Hendon instead, which is further as the crow flies than either the tube station or the new station, but probably quicker on foot nevertheless.

Maybe I'll take a look at the new station this weekend, but I can't imagine I'll feel the need to explore the area much.

 

[W-on-Sea]

I'm fairly sure the station was not intended to be used as a means of accessing Brent Cross Shopping Centre - agreed, the walk is horrible, worse even than that from Brent Cross tube, which is largely a weird 1970s overgrown concrete up-and-down dystopian ramble under and around main roads and railways, too. Really this new station's purpose will fall into place when the new development on the eastern side is complete. (I'd not sure I'd have called it "Brent Cross West" - it seems this was a compromise, as the developers of the adjacent site to the east wanted it to be "Brent Cross Town"). It's more "North Cricklewood" around here, at least as traditional bus destinations (e.g. Clitterhouse Crescent) go, but even the evident partial gentrification of Cricklewood itself hasn't allowed that name to be taken up here.

 

[MikeWM]

I'm fairly sure the station was not intended to be used as a means of accessing Brent Cross Shopping Centre

One hopes not, as my impression is that it has largely become redundant since the opening of the public-transport-friendly Westfields in Shepherds Bush and Stratford. It felt very tired and on its last legs last time I was there -though as mentioned, that was about 5-6 years ago, it may have improved again.

 

[James H]

It's not too bad on the inside at the moment. The exterior and the environs are very dated though.

 

[Mikey C]

I'm fairly sure the station was not intended to be used as a means of accessing Brent Cross Shopping Centre - agreed, the walk is horrible, worse even than that from Brent Cross tube, which is largely a weird 1970s overgrown concrete up-and-down dystopian ramble under and around main roads and railways, too. Really this new station's purpose will fall into place when the new development on the eastern side is complete. (I'd not sure I'd have called it "Brent Cross West" - it seems this was a compromise, as the developers of the adjacent site to the east wanted it to be "Brent Cross Town"). It's more "North Cricklewood" around here, at least as traditional bus destinations (e.g. Clitterhouse Crescent) go, but even the evident partial gentrification of Cricklewood itself hasn't allowed that name to be taken up here.

As part of the Brent Cross Town project there will be improved access to Brent Cross shopping centre with a "living bridge" across the North Circular.

 

[Thirteen]

Brent Cross Shopping Centre's redevelopment plans were put on hold in 2018, I think it does need a Westfield style transformation though because it is very dated compared to newer sites.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Brent Cross was , of course , pretty much the very first American style shopping mall in the UK , so 40+ years old. When new , it was a very great attraction. Bit like fast food joints of the Pizza and Burger variety ...

Bad news of course for adjacent traditional shopping centers such as Wembley - which took a serious hit as a result.

 

[Thirteen]

Brent Cross was , of course , pretty much the very first American style shopping mall in the UK , so 40+ years old. When new , it was a very great attraction. Bit like fast food joints of the Pizza and Burger variety ...

Bad news of course for adjacent traditional shopping centers such as Wembley - which took a serious hit as a result.

Wembley eventually got the Designer Outlet which attracts a lot of visitors.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Hendon and Neasden have certainly never recovered from Brent Cross's arrival.

 

[jon0844]

I'm fairly sure the station was not intended to be used as a means of accessing Brent Cross Shopping Centre - agreed, the walk is horrible, worse even than that from Brent Cross tube, which is largely a weird 1970s overgrown concrete up-and-down dystopian ramble under and around main roads and railways, too. Really this new station's purpose will fall into place when the new development on the eastern side is complete. (I'd not sure I'd have called it "Brent Cross West" - it seems this was a compromise, as the developers of the adjacent site to the east wanted it to be "Brent Cross Town"). It's more "North Cricklewood" around here, at least as traditional bus destinations (e.g. Clitterhouse Crescent) go, but even the evident partial gentrification of Cricklewood itself hasn't allowed that name to be taken up here.

I totally get that it wasn't built for the shopping centre (and I've seen all the comments from people who thought it was, and even moan that the track wasn't moved in its entirety so it would somehow stop right outside) but I am sure the shopping centre is keen to attract more custom now it's so quick to get to from London (just two or three stops from St Pancras, so much faster than the tube). Obviously the smart move is to take a bus, although I wasn't sure exactly where the bus went from - it wasn't just outside as the stops on the east side were out of use. It seemed to require a walk to Staples Corner, and the signage to walk to the town is through the Brent Cross Town development - which looks great, but this station is too big and fancy just to serve that when it's all built.

I assume a lot of residents from other flats and homes will be using it. I arrived before the end of the morning peak and as I exited the station there was just one other person going out and one coming in (who had his paper ticket rejected as it was an off peak ticket). Later, there were more people taking photos and video.

It's good that we can build stations in advance of demand, as with Meridian Water, though. It will absolutely help the developers fill the flats with ease.

 

[eh_oh]

On another note, not that I am complaining, but I have noticed that the on-train announcement when departing BCZ northbound does not play "We will be calling at Hendon, Mill Hill Broadway, etc", it just goes straight to "the next station will be Hendon" which is odd, especially as the exact announcment would have played before 10/12/2023 at Cricklewood, so it's not as if they have to record a new one

 

[davews]

Well I was sort of working out a plan for Thursday or Friday to combine a trip on the 701 which may or may not run and a visit to Brent Cross West followed by a walk to somewhere nice. I guess the last option is out....

 

[PGAT]

On another note, not that I am complaining, but I have noticed that the on-train announcement when departing BCZ northbound does not play "We will be calling at Hendon, Mill Hill Broadway, etc", it just goes straight to "the next station will be Hendon" which is odd, especially as the exact announcment would have played before 10/12/2023 at Cricklewood, so it's not as if they have to record a new one

They do that when there's a short distance between two stations

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Wembley eventually got the Designer Outlet which attracts a lot of visitors.

Very impressive it is too - along with massive residential development.......

 

[Edvid]

Obviously the smart move is to take a bus, although I wasn't sure exactly where the bus went from - it wasn't just outside as the stops on the east side were out of use.

It's currently expected the 189 will be rerouted to serve the eastern entrance (Arbour Street) early next year. Until then there are two options - walk along Parkview Avenue to the Claremont Way stop for the 102/189/C11, or (from the western entrance (Geron Way)) walk through the adjacent retail park and cross the A5 to get the 266 from the Humber Road stop.

BCZ is directly served by the 316 on Geron Way (the stop/terminus is right opposite Flip Out a little northwest of it), but that goes to Westfield London instead.

I walked between BCZ and the shopping centre both via Tempelhof Avenue and the Staples Corner gyratory (including having to pass through tyre shop premises underneath the MML!) on my visit; it's possible for a skilled photographer passing through the latter to disguise the 'defaced' greenery as not lying within a motorway-linked gyratory in the first place.

 

[Meerkat]

Why are the letters and symbols so much smaller than the various white signs have space for?
it’s bad enough they are the plain, indistinct, new style without being too small.

 

[Bald Rick]

Just stopped there. Prime Morning peak train. For a bit of fun I bet myself a mince pie that no more than 8 people would be waiting to board. I won (4).

 

[Sunil_P]

Definitive set of pics (just 74!!) uploaded to Wikipedia:

Search media - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

Just stopped there. Prime Morning peak train. For a bit of fun I bet myself a mince pie that no more than 8 people would be waiting to board. I won (4).

Yeah it was VERY quiet on Monday afternoon!

 

[brewer85]

I took a detour on my Friday evening commute to see Brent Cross West. There were just two of us alighting at ~6.15pm. Despite having seen the photos and blogs/vlogs, nothing really prepared me for the impressive scale of the station - it's vast!!

The oyster app records my journey ending at "Unknown"

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I took a detour on my Friday evening commute to see Brent Cross West. There were just two of us alighting at ~6.15pm. Despite having seen the photos and blogs/vlogs, nothing really prepared me for the impressive scale of the station - it's vast!!

The oyster app records my journey ending at "Unknown"

Indeed i went last Wednesday only me and my son got off but isn't it great that we still have that Metroland philosophy that the Metropolitan had a century ago build the station and the people will come and we aren't making the DLR mistake of constantly having to rebuild it.

 

[mr_jrt]

One thing I was wondering about was the passive provision for WLO platforms on the Hendon lines. Has the footbridge got overt big ol' blanking panels above where those platforms would go?

 

[Edvid]

No. The WLO platform(s) would be connected to the paid-side concourse by a separate footbridge, I believe.

 

[43066]

Just stopped there. Prime Morning peak train. For a bit of fun I bet myself a mince pie that no more than 8 people would be waiting to board. I won (4).

No great surprise there. The surrounding area is basically part building site part wasteland! No doubt numbers will increase substantially once new flows to and from the shopping centre establish themselves, and given how many monstrosities blocks of flats are being built locally.

I gather the cement works behind CWD depot is closing, to be turned into yet more flats.

 

[dk1]

No great surprise there. The surrounding area is basically part building site part wasteland! No doubt numbers will increase substantially once new flows to and from the shopping centre establish themselves, and given how many monstrosities blocks of flats are being built locally.

I gather the cement works behind CWD depot is closing, to be turned into yet more flats.

Yes it’s the catalyst for further growth. Build it and they come

 

[43066]

Yes it’s the catalyst for further growth. Build it and they come

Indeed. Hard to imagine anyone ever describing Brent Cross as a “Field of Dreams”, though!

 

[zwk500]

Indeed. Hard to imagine anyone ever describing Brent Cross as a “Field of Dreams”, though!

No but given London's housing market at the moment, people will take whatever's going. If anything it's nice to see a station being built before the houses, rather than being stuck in seemingly endless delays.

 

[dk1]

Indeed. Hard to imagine anyone ever describing Brent Cross as a “Field of Dreams”, though!

Very true lol. Not been to that shopping centre for many moons but will early in the new year if only to give the station a go.

 

[43066]

No but given London's housing market at the moment, people will take whatever's going. If anything it's nice to see a station being built before the houses, rather than being stuck in seemingly endless delays.

Yes indeed. The whole area is an armpit and has long been in need of redevelopment.

Nice prices, though. Not much change from half a million for studio flats in the nearby “Brent Cross Town” development.

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