Northern Line Battersea Extension - Opened September 20 2021

[MikeWh]

Announcements and signage at Kennington is abysmal.

 

[Titfield]

But outsourcing the design posters and maps is no excuse for allowing errors like that to actually appear in public

Surely someone is responsible for hiring "Acme design and printing" to produce them, telling them what to do, and verifying that it is correct before being put up in stations etc

Printers print what they are sent to print. They do not carry out checks though in fairness in a past life I have had a printer ring to double check an instruction.

Printers usually have a procedure by which the person placing the order confirms in writing that the artwork is good to go and that the printer is not responsible for any errors etc.

It is essential that when an artwork / design comes back to the person who asked for it to be created, that it it is proof read with a fine toothcomb by at least two people to ensure that it is correct but even then sometimes errors creep through.

Proof reading takes time and is not a task to be taken lightly.

 

[pdeaves]

fine toothcomb

fine-toothed comb, please (is a toothcomb like a toothbrush for people without many teeth? )

Proof reading takes time

evidently...

 

[Titfield]

fine-toothed comb, please (is a toothcomb like a toothbrush for people without many teeth? )

evidently...

 

[birchesgreen]

Proof reading takes time and is not a task to be taken lightly.

Indeed but is unfortunately one of those things which management types think is easy and can be scrimped on. I get "proofed" stuff sent to me all the time which is riddled by errors and typos. Proofing does not mean just do a Microsoft Word spell check though that seems to be what some "proofers" get away with.

Anyway this is one of my hobby horses so i'll stop now.

 

[rebmcr]

Printers print what they are sent to print. They do not carry out checks though in fairness in a past life I have had a printer ring to double check an instruction.

Printers usually have a procedure by which the person placing the order confirms in writing that the artwork is good to go and that the printer is not responsible for any errors etc.

It is essential that when an artwork / design comes back to the person who asked for it to be created, that it it is proof read with a fine toothcomb by at least two people to ensure that it is correct but even then sometimes errors creep through.

Proof reading takes time and is not a task to be taken lightly.

Not always.

 

[Mikey C]

Printers print what they are sent to print. They do not carry out checks though in fairness in a past life I have had a printer ring to double check an instruction.

Printers usually have a procedure by which the person placing the order confirms in writing that the artwork is good to go and that the printer is not responsible for any errors etc.

It is essential that when an artwork / design comes back to the person who asked for it to be created, that it it is proof read with a fine toothcomb by at least two people to ensure that it is correct but even then sometimes errors creep through.

Proof reading takes time and is not a task to be taken lightly.

I'm not blaming the printers, I'm blaming the people who sent this rubbish to them in the first place without noticing the errors.

Proof reading in this case is hardly a massive and time consuming job. It's a TWO station extension, so all you need to check are
a) Are the names correct, and
b) Are the stations in the right order.

Both things which they've managed to get wrong

 

[Hadders]

I popped down to the two new stations to take a look.

Couldn’t help noticing a poster displayed at Nine Elms telling passengers that off peak travel to Zones 1 only costs £2.50.

The small print does say ‘Fare stated is the adult pay as you go journey from Zone 2 into Zone 1 on Tube, DLR, London Overground and TfL Rail services.’

This is a bit of a faux-pas. Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station are both in Zone 1 and there is no off peak fare to travel in Zone 1. The Zone 1 fare at anytime is £2.40 so this poster really shouldn’t be displayed at a Zone 1 station.

 

[capitalconnect]

I wonder who the new voice is for these new automated announcements. It sounds like the same person who has been replacing Emma Hignett on some of the Ibus recordings. There is a video online of a new voice saying "Streatham Station" on the 159 bus and this voice does sound very similar to that. It could possibly be Sarah Parnell doing the announcements on the new extension as there are some similarities. Although if it is Sarah Parnell her voice on the Northern Line extension is a bit different to the other lines. So who knows who this voice is.

 

[peri]

Is there anything worth seeing from these new stations?
Or is a quick bus to another station in order?

 

[SynthD]

The small amount of open riverfront is nice, but unless you’re going to the park or pier it can wait for more of it to open up.

 

[Bayum]

What’s the line speed between Kennington and Nine Elms? Seems pretty zippy from videos I’ve seen.

 

[bramling]

What’s the line speed between Kennington and Nine Elms? Seems pretty zippy from videos I’ve seen.

It will be 60 mph, however the Northern has been running with a line-wide TSR of 50 mph for many years due to rolling stock issues. There has been work going on to lift this, not sure if they actually have though.

 

[WesternBiker]

Is there anything worth seeing from these new stations?
Or is a quick bus to another station in order?

I travelled on the line today: Battersea Dogs' Home or the American Embassy are about the most exciting things (in other words, not much yet, and for the Embassy you're better off going to Nine Elms). Here's a copy of the 'station area' poster at Battersea Power Station.

 

[Lifelong]

View attachment 102907

I travelled on the line today: Battersea Dogs' Home or the American Embassy are about the most exciting things (in other words, not much yet, and for the Embassy you're better off going to Nine Elms). Here's a copy of the 'station area' poster at Battersea Power Station.

Nine Elms is very solidly residential (or in the process of being residential ie built); I guess that’s the point of the station. Re Battersea, depends on how long you have and what you want to do…there are some bars (and 1 microbrewery) on site but I’d agree not exciting. But turn left and you have Battersea Park and the Thames Path for a long long way if you want…

 

[capitalconnect]

Another thing i noticed today is that the automated announcements on the platforms at both Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms were either broken or switched off. I spent time at both stations and no automated announcements announcing the next trains played at all. Very poor considering these are brand new stations that just opened. You would think they would have sorted this before opening.

 

[iamthekareem]

Does anyone have an indication of the distances between Battersea/Nine Elms/Kennington?

 

[johncrossley]

Why does Mill Hill East now get a through service at the same time as the opening of the extension? Will there be enough trains when the extension gets a more frequent service?

 

[Dstock7080]

Does anyone have an indication of the distances between Battersea/Nine Elms/Kennington?

Kennington and Nine Elms 2.10
Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station 1.04 3.14km

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-september-20-2021.145238/page-3#post-5296958

 

[GodAtum]

Stupid question, but why didn't they bother putting in platform doors in a new station, seems a missed opportunity?

 

[74A]

Why does Mill Hill East now get a through service at the same time as the opening of the extension? Will there be enough trains when the extension gets a more frequent service?

I assume its to maintain the service in the central section. No new stock has been provided so maintain the same frequency you have to turn round services earlier.

 

[rebmcr]

Stupid question, but why didn't they bother putting in platform doors in a new station, seems a missed opportunity?

The ‘95 Stock are almost 30yr and additional Northern trains have been mentioned, so fitting PEDs at two stations without knowing the door configuration would be wasteful

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-opened-september-20-2021.145238/post-5315935

 

[Ianno87]

Lovely that it's all opened now (and looking forward to having a visit), I just wish Social Media would drop the "Battersea Power Station station" joke, because YES WE GET IT NOW!

 

[WesternBiker]

Nine Elms is very solidly residential (or in the process of being residential ie built); I guess that’s the point of the station. Re Battersea, depends on how long you have and what you want to do…there are some bars (and 1 microbrewery) on site but I’d agree not exciting. But turn left and you have Battersea Park and the Thames Path for a long long way if you want…

I've just noticed - the route diagram at Kennington depicting the line has the river boat symbol at Battersea Power Station, so that's another thing one could do...

 

[Cdd89]

It shouldn’t be a surprise, but using the line made me realise that it’s really not all that near to the power station, is it! Even when the new cut through opens it’s a fair walk.

 

[Ianno87]

Just watching Geoff Marshall's video, and according to the TfL rep interviewed a few minutes in, the service levels will increase to 12tph to/from BPS during the Bank blockade next year, then be "reviewed" after that.

 

[bramling]

View attachment 102907

I travelled on the line today: Battersea Dogs' Home or the American Embassy are about the most exciting things (in other words, not much yet). Here's a copy of the 'station area' poster at Battersea Power Station.

There’s very little around there - though this will probably change as time goes on.

Why does Mill Hill East now get a through service at the same time as the opening of the extension? Will there be enough trains when the extension gets a more frequent service?

I think ditching the Mill Hill shuttle essentially saves a train, as one train in every few goes there in lieu of Barnet. This will go some way to serving Battersea without increasing the off-peak requirement too much.

The through Mill Hill service is also possibly partly a spin-off of all the money spent on resignalling and the like - now the Northern is generally fairly reliable, the rationale for the shuttle goes away a little. Elements of the past have thus been able to reappear. Time will tell if this is the right decision, but if it isn’t … they still need to run Battersea without any extra trains.

 

[Mikey C]

There’s very little around there - though this will probably change as time goes on.



I think ditching the Mill Hill shuttle essentially saves a train, as one train in every few goes there in lieu of Barnet. This will go some way to serving Battersea without increasing the off-peak requirement too much.

The through Mill Hill service is also possibly partly a spin-off of all the money spent on resignalling and the like - now the Northern is generally fairly reliable, the rationale for the shuttle goes away a little. Elements of the past have thus been able to reappear. Time will tell if this is the right decision, but if it isn’t … they still need to run Battersea without any extra trains.

Presumably it also means a worse service for High Barnet branch customers?

Unlike the Edgware branch, which has seen large amounts of new flats built around Colindale, the High Barnet branch hasn't seen the same level of new housing?

 

[bramling]

Presumably it also means a worse service for High Barnet branch customers?

Unlike the Edgware branch, which has seen large amounts of new flats built around Colindale, the High Barnet branch hasn't seen the same level of new housing?

Yes a good point. Barnet loses one train in every five IIRC.

Colindale is certainly getting busier, but I’d say the Barnet branch is still, for now at least, the busier of the two.

 

[Warrior2852]

The updated London Rail and Tube map is out now as well, the Nine Elms-Battersea section is more simple, without the downward drop it has for Battersea on the regular Tube map. The Kennington-Nine Elms section however, has become somewhat more convoluted having to go around Vauxhall, which has been pushed upwards into what would be the path of a straight line from Kennington. Also the gap between the Charing Cross and Bank parts of Kennington is even bigger than the one on the regular Tube Map!