Changes at West Hampstead station

Two documents explain changes this autumn and winter at West Hampstead:

Changes at West Hampstead this autumn and winter 2011

Maps showing how the station will change

The big picture

A new station will open in December 2011 at West Hampstead which will improve access to the First Capital Connect Thameslink route train service. It will ease congestion and boost capacity for increased use in the future. It will link to a new wider footbridge with lifts to all platforms that have themselves been lengthened to accommodate 50% longer 12-carriage trains that enter service in 2018.

The benefits are:

• A new station building
• Greater capacity
• Less congestion
• Two entrances instead of one
• A second, wider footbridge with lifts to all platforms, suitable for people with disabilities
• Fully gated station area, safer and more secure
• Platforms for longer 12-carriage train (arriving in 2018)
• A better interchange with London Overground and London Underground
• Supports regeneration of the neighbourhood

What happens on 14 November?

The existing original station entrance at West Hampstead closes temporarily on 14 November for work to begin on a new ticket gate enclosure. Passengers will be asked to enter the station through an entrance beside the new station development in Iverson Road.

The work site hoarding line here will be pulled back to the line of the row of trees to create a pavement 2.5m wide along Iverson Road from the junction with West End Lane.

This new entrance will lead on to the new footbridge, which is considerably wider than today’s footbridge and will help ease congestion. The old footbridge will stay open to allow people to interchange between platforms 2/3 and 4 but the stairs from platform 1 will be closed because the worksite for the new ticket gate enclosure will straddle the top of that staircase.

*Update: The original footbridge has been closed because some people tried to use it to continue to reach the Black Path exit across the work site. However, the opportunity has been taken to repaint the old bridge.

Please note:

• lifts on the new footbridge will not come into operation until the new station building is completed in December as the building will house equipment to supply the lifts’ power and communication systems;
• the temporary closure of the existing entrance will separate the existing ticket office from the station entrance for four weeks until the new station and ticket office opens in December. However, there will be two ticket machines at the Iverson Road entrance and staff will be available there at all times during normal ticket office hours with portable machines to sell people the full range of tickets. There will also be good signposting to the new station entrance.

What happens on 12 December?

Four weeks later, on 12 December, the new station on Iverson Road will open along with the public area in front of the station (it will be brought into use over the weekend along with lifts in the new footbridge. The ticket office staff will relocate to the new building and the old ticket office will close. When the station is manned, passengers will pass through ticket gates inside the new building to reach the footbridge.

What happens in January?

In mid January the new gateline enclosure will open above platform 1, reopening the original entrance so that the station will have two permanent entrances and exits, and work will be complete.

Questions and answers

Why is the existing entrance closing temporarily?

It has to close (on 14 November) to allow a new concrete deck to be built at the top of the embankment for the new ticket gate enclosure.

Why can’t the new ticket gates wait until the new station opens so that people don’t have to walk back to the old ticket office to buy a ticket?

During consultation people made it clear that they wanted to keep the existing entrance but we need to install gates and that takes time. We don’t want to delay their installation and the reopening of the existing entrance any longer than we have to. We’ll have two ticket machines at the Iverson Road entrance and revenue staff available there at all times the ticket office is open to help people buy their tickets.

Will there be a ticket machine at the original entrance once it reopens in mid January?

Yes. A new ticket machine will be installed at the original entrance. Together with the two ticket machines at the new station building, there will be three machines in total where there were previously only two.

Why can’t people on platform 1 use the old footbridge to interchange with the other platforms?

Because the worksite for the new ticket gate enclosure above straddles the top of the staircase.

Why are the staircases from platforms 2/3 and 4 still open?

These staircases can be kept open during the work to build new a gateline. They will ease congestion and speed evacuation of the station if there is an emergency.

Why can’t the lifts be brought into use when the footbridge opens?

They can’t be brought into use until the station, which houses the power and communications required, is finished.

Why can’t you open the full width of pavement in Iverson Road at the same time as you open the temporary entrance there, on 14 November?

Because there will still be work going on behind the work site hoardings. However, the hoardings along Iverson Road will be taken back to the line of the row of trees to provide a footpath 2.5m wide until the full pavement is opened four weeks later along with the new station building.

What times of the day will the new station building open?

The ticket office hours will remain the same as today – 0615-1930 Mon-Fri; 0645-2000 Saturday and 0740-1715 Sunday. Outside these hours, people will access the platforms via the night entrance alongside the building, which will also be the temporary entrance from 14 November – 12 December.

Will I still be able to use my Oyster card?

Yes. There will be two validators to touch in and out on at the Iverson Road night entrance beside the new station as well as Oyster readers on the new permanent ticket gates inside the station and at the existing entrance once the ticket gate enclosure there is complete.