In message
Tom Anderson wrote:

On Tue, 16 Nov 2004, Neil Williams wrote:

On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 21:37:06 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

I suspect customs etc at Waterloo will be mothballed rather than
removed, because they will want somewhere to offload Johnny Foreigner
if an incident closes the Stratford / St Pancras line.

Kensington Olympia?

Okay, i give up. Why are there customs and immigration facilities at
Kensington Olympia?


because they will want somewhere to offload Johnny Foreigner if an incident
closes Waterloo.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

--- Colin Rosenstiel said:

(Theo Markettos) wrote:

What were platforms 20-24 used for before construction of the
Eurostar terminal?

There were only 2 platforms, 20 and 21. There were also some
sidings and the lift used for access to the Waterloo and City Line.


Are you sure? IIRC there were for platforms (18-21) but when they were
demolished, two new Southampton line platforms were opened up in the
centre of the station, to make up for it, and the Windsor lines --
including the platform numbers -- were shifted along to make room. (I'm
not putting this into words very well, but it makes sense if you think
about it.)

On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 09:47:12 -0000, Solar Penguin wrote:

--- Colin Rosenstiel said:

(Theo Markettos) wrote:

What were platforms 20-24 used for before construction of the
Eurostar terminal?

There were only 2 platforms, 20 and 21. There were also some
sidings and the lift used for access to the Waterloo and City Line.


Are you sure? IIRC there were for platforms (18-21) but when they were
demolished, two new Southampton line platforms were opened up in the
centre of the station, to make up for it, and the Windsor lines --
including the platform numbers -- were shifted along to make room. (I'm
not putting this into words very well, but it makes sense if you think
about it.)

What we really need is someone like Clive to popup with an ASCII
diagram of before and after.

David

"Nev Arthur" wrote in
message ...
"Tom Anderson" wrote
Okay, i give up. Why are there customs and immigration
facilities at
Kensington Olympia?

They're in the huts and other buildings on the Northbound
platform at Kensington. They were there as a contingency plan,
but so far I think, never used.

Wouldn't like 24 coaches of angry visitors getting onto the 3tph district
service from Kenny - then most of them would change at Earls Court for
district or Picadilly - argh!

It's easy to jump over the wall onto the district line too.

--
Everything above is the personal opinion of the author, and nothing to do
with where he works and all that lovely disclaimery stuff.
Posted in his lunch hour too.

In article ,
Solar Penguin wrote:

Are you sure? IIRC there were for platforms (18-21) but when they were
demolished, two new Southampton line platforms were opened up in the
centre of the station, to make up for it, and the Windsor lines --
including the platform numbers -- were shifted along to make room. (I'm
not putting this into words very well, but it makes sense if you think
about it.)

There were at least four platforms - two side ones (with a wall between
them and the new trainshed, I presume the same wall that's still there
now) and one island platform. Like the E* platforms today, the outer
parts were on quite a curve, and bore the painted markings "MIND THE GAP".

I always wanted to alter it to "MIND THE HAP" and photograph one of the
nx2HAPs which frequented that side for many years.

Nick
--
http://www.leverton.org/ ... So express yourself ...

Back in May this year I was in a EuroStar train from Paris to London which
appeared to get lost.

At any rate we eventually went in to Kensington Olympia. The carriage doors
remained locked and a tannoy voice said that nobody could get out there
because we had to go thru to Waterloo for Customs and Immigration.

That was bull**** because of course we had done both French and British
Customs at the Gare du Nord in Paris.

After about half an hour of hanging around Olympia we eventually went to
Waterloo. The train did not have to reverse en route.

Once at Waterloo there were no further immigration or Customs checks.
"Matthew" wrote in message
...


Is there a direct link from Eurostar to Olympia, without reversing at
Waterloo?


Marc.

When the rail link opens, it'll be via the North London Line.

"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
...

After about half an hour of hanging around Olympia we eventually went to
Waterloo. The train did not have to reverse en route.

You would have definitely reversed at Kensington Olympia. There is no other
way back to Waterloo.

The route that would have been taken from Brixton would have involved
diverging left across Factory Junction, at Wandsworth Road, rather than
continuing over Stewarts Lane flyover, then dropping under the Victoria and
Waterloo lines to gain the northbound West London line at Latchmere
Junctions, then continuing to Olympia. From Olympia the train would have
reversed to Latchmere No. 3 Junction before taking the curve to join the
South Western main line to Waterloo at West London Junction, rejoining the
normal route just after the Stewarts Lane flyover trails in.

Martin Whelton wrote:

A great shame trains are not going to run into Waterloo. For an extra
journey time of 20 mins the benefits are more then made up when you
consider the extra amount of time it will take to get to St Pancras.
When completed St Pancras will be a superb building, but to withdraw
service from Waterloo could potentially lead to lost revenue as people
from South West London decide on Heathrow as an easier option.

Yes, the railways may lose a small amount of revenue by closing
Waterloo International. But the additional cost of maintaining and
serving two international terminal stations in London would be far
higher than the revenue that will be lost from the few passengers who
will defect to air travel or other means.

It is about the best use of limited resources. Most passengers will be
content to use SPI or Stratford or Ebbsfleet or Ashford for their
Eurostar travels, and while it would be more convenient for some
passengers if trains did continue to serve Waterloo, there is no
justifiable case for doing so.

--
Stevie D
\\\\\ ///// Bringing dating agencies to the
\\\\\\\__X__/////// common hedgehog since 2001 - "HedgeHugs"
___\\\\\\\'/ \'///////_____________________________________________

Colin Wilson wrote:

Back in May this year I was in a EuroStar train from Paris to London which
appeared to get lost.

At any rate we eventually went in to Kensington Olympia. The carriage doors
remained locked and a tannoy voice said that nobody could get out there
because we had to go thru to Waterloo for Customs and Immigration.

That was bull**** because of course we had done both French and British
Customs at the Gare du Nord in Paris.

You went through British Immigration at the Gare du Nord but not British
Customs.

--
John Ray, London UK.

"Stevie D" wrote in message
news
Martin Whelton wrote:

A great shame trains are not going to run into Waterloo. For an extra
journey time of 20 mins the benefits are more then made up when you
consider the extra amount of time it will take to get to St Pancras.
When completed St Pancras will be a superb building, but to withdraw
service from Waterloo could potentially lead to lost revenue as people
from South West London decide on Heathrow as an easier option.

Yes, the railways may lose a small amount of revenue by closing
Waterloo International. But the additional cost of maintaining and
serving two international terminal stations in London would be far
higher than the revenue that will be lost from the few passengers who
will defect to air travel or other means.

It is about the best use of limited resources. Most passengers will be
content to use SPI or Stratford or Ebbsfleet or Ashford for their
Eurostar travels, and while it would be more convenient for some
passengers if trains did continue to serve Waterloo, there is no
justifiable case for doing so.

Your argument defies logic; how can it be demonstrated that there are not
enough resources to maintain services to Waterloo and yet open not one but
three new station to replace it? I don't know where E* passengers originate
from but it is a good bet that a large proportion of them are in direct rail
communication with Waterloo. It is these passengers who, if there is a
regional airport close by, will desert E* simply because their current
relatively seamless journey would be extended by at least half an hour and
involve enduring travel on one of the worst underground lines.
There is another matter which has not been noted in this discussion large
sums have been invested in infrastructure to get E* to Waterloo the most
recent being the relaying of the line on the Gravesend West branch to
Longfield and the burrowing junction at Shortlands. Whilst the latter has a
general use why should the other capital investments be wasted?
MJW