Wembley Central station patched up in the nick of time

Wembley Central station in June

Signs of possible work last week

Wembley Central station on Wednesday

I have been recording how the condition of Wembley Central station has deteriorated over the last few years of regeneration and speculated about whether any  improvements to the station exterior would be ready by the time of the Olympics. Well I can report that a quick patch up job hiding the exposed joints was done by Wednesday but it is far from the smart station that we were promised in the regeneration publicity. See below:

Exciting race to get Wembley Central ready for Olympics

Will it be ready for Wednesday?

The refurbishment of Wembley Central station has been dragging on for years and this blog has frequently called attention to its state of dilapidation and suggested it makes a poor Olympic gateway.

Last week suddenly scaffolding was erected on the exposed and rotting shed like structure above the station and it looked like something was happening.  Alas, yesterday afternoon  at 3pm when this photograph was taken, no work was going on.

It is possible that one of those pinkish-purplish Olympic banners that are going up all over Wembley will be strung across the façade to hide the sins beneath, or will a glossy new station sign be erected in time?

The torch procession will be coming along the High Road outside the station at 10.45am on Wednesday morning. It looks like an exciting finish - will Wembley Central station be ready in all its refurbished glory?

Fire in Central Wembley

Fire fighters have been tackling a warehouse blaze near Wembley Central station. No casualties have been reported but there are road closures to give access to emergency vehicles and for public safety,

Check out the Brent and Kilburn website for updates LINK and Harrow Observer LINK

Will Wembley Central station improvements match the dream?

Present entrance to Bakerloo and London Overground platforms

The Harrow Observer LINK reports that £2.5m is to be spent on Wembley Central Station in time for the Olympics. Regular readers will know that I have blogged regularly about the sad state of this 'allotment shed' on the modernised Central Square.

The money is to be spent on much needed access for the disabled including two lifts and a stair lift and making the toilets accessible. Two platforms will be extended to enable longer London Overground trains to stop there.

However there is no mention of improving communication between the Southern platforms which serve East Croydon-Shepherds Bush-Watford Junction and Milton Keynes route and the Bakerloo and Overground lines. At present you have to exit the station to change trains.

Present entrance to Southern train platforms

The original plans for the station were shelved when the money ran out.  The picture below shows what the new station was supposed to look like when the Central Square development was finished.

The original plan back in 2008

Squalid Gateway to Wembley 2012

Wembley will be hosting football, gymnastics and badminton for the 2012 Olympics. Spectators using Wembley Central Station will be greeted by a dilapidated station where the new lifts have been installed but have never been commissioned, destination boards don't work and platforms are flooded. The facade of the station looks like an allotment shed amidst the gleaming new development. During the May election Barry Gardiner MP claimed the credit for a 'new' station but the truth is that it has never been finished after money ran out and quarrels about responsibility between the Council, Railtrack and Transport for London were never resolved. With only a year to go urgent action needs to be taken.

The 'allotment shed' entrance

 

Destination boards don't work

 

 

The flooded Bakerloo/Overground platform

 

 

Flooded platform on the Southern East Croydon-Milton Keynes line

The exit from the Southern platforms

What new station Barry?

Barry Gardiner was busy leafleting Wembley PARK station this morning with a leaflet praising the new station at Wembley CENTRAL, which was all down to him apparently.

He claims, 'The new station has rejuvenated the whole of Wembley High Road. New homes - new shops - new jobs. All thanks to the New Station' (and Barry of course).

The problem is that there is no new station at Wembely Central - all that has happened is the old frontage has been demolished and the booking office remains in a sort of allotment shed. Regular users of the staion will know about flooded floors, destination indicators that don't work, and the occasional platform entertainment from rats - not to mention lifts that are still to be installed. There is still no platform level connection between the Bakerloo/Overground platforms and the Southern service from East Croydon to Milton Keynes.

Work on the new station was dropped when the money ran out and there is an on-going row about whose fault it is.  Perhaps as Barry claims responsibility for the new station being built, he should now admit responsibility for the fact that it hasn't.

This does make you wonder how well Barry knows his local area.  Passengers receiving the leaflets seem to have made up their minds pretty quickly about what they thought of it - dumping the leaflet when they picked up their copy of Metro.

Wembley Southern Train Link: a little more official!

Since I publicised the Wembley Central Southern Trains route north to Milton Keynes (Platform 5) and south to Shepherd's Bush, Clapham Junction and East Croydon (Platform 6), here and in a letter to the Wembley Observer, there has been an increase in passenger traffic on the routes.

In a welcome and sensible step, station staff have now posted timetables at the rather forbidding entrances to Platform 6 (Southbound) and Platform 4 (Northbound). If changing from the Bakerloo or Overground you have go through the barriers to Central Square to access the Southern/London Midland platforms.  If you find the doors locked don't worry, they are opened just before the train is due. Trains in both directions leave just past the hour up to just after 9pm on weekdays, but finish earlier on Saturdays. They do not run on Sundays.

On Wednesday February 3rd I observed passenger traffic on the trains that depart just after 4pm. I counted 10 passenger boarding s the north bound train  and 22  the south bound service.