For those of you who have had… the misfortune of going through London Euston Station – you’ll fully know of “The Euston Rush”.
Euston Station Exterior – Image, Network Rail
Those who have not experienced it – in simple terms – Euston station has an extremely bad habit of leaving the announcement of which platform any train is going to depart from until 10 to 15 minutes before departure. The net result is something a sea of humanity rushing to a train.
Here’s a perfect example, when heading for a London Northwestern Railway service… people were running for a service when boarding was called… on a SUNDAY.
Euston has not helped itself in recent times, with the old departures board removed, to be replaced with an advertising hoarding and smaller screens on multiple stands, resulting in further crowding.
Now, Network Rail and its train operating partners are introducing a trial of earlier boarding of Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway train services to improve passengers’ experience at Euston station and significantly reduce instances of the ‘Euston rush’.
The announcement comes just weeks after Network Rail and the Department for Transport announced a five-point plan to deliver a better passenger experience at the station, with Transport Secretary Louise Haigh tasking the station’s teams to look again at how Euston works on a day-to-day basis and make immediate improvements where possible.
From Monday 28 October:
- Around 40% of Avanti West Coast services will be boarded 20 minutes before departure, with more services being added in the weeks ahead to the majority of services (around 55%) in the run-up to Christmas.
- ‘Continuous boarding’ of London Northwestern Railway’s Birmingham services was introduced on 21 October is also here to stay where passengers are invited onto platforms to await their service as soon as the preceding service has departed.
The speeding up of passenger boarding and improved flows through the station have been made possible by the collaboration between Network Rail and the train operating companies to simplify cross-industry operational processes.
While the future of the advertising board remains under review, rail industry partners discussed its potential to be used for passenger information. Other actions being explored include making all the information desks more visible together in one place, the further expansion of concourse waiting space and a full review of all station signage.
In Quotes
Gary Walsh, director for Network Rail’s West Coast South route, said:
“Getting passengers to their services in good time is at the heart of our improvements at Euston, and today’s changes will tackle that issue head-on. Taking quick and effective action is at the core of our five-point plan which I’m pleased to say is starting to deliver for our passengers at London Euston station.”
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, said:
“I am pleased to see immediate improvements being made at Euston Station to reduce the risk of overcrowding, drive up standards and deliver a better experience for passengers.
“For too long, Euston station simply has not been good enough. That’s why I have tasked Network Rail and operators with delivering a clear plan to alleviate some of the issues passengers are facing while we work on a long-term solution for the station.”
Cheryl Fox, interim customer experience director at Avanti West Coast, said:
“We know the travelling experience for our customers at Euston has fallen below the standards they should rightly expect. This is why we welcome any steps to make improvements. We will continue to work alongside Network Rail as well as our partners on this trial and other measures, with the aim of making journeys at the station more comfortable for those travelling on the West Coast main line.”
Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director for London Northwestern Railway, said:
“We are pleased to be working together with Network Rail and other train operators to improve the travelling experience for our customers at Euston. We’ll be monitoring the impact of these changes closely as we continue working with partners to make the process of boarding trains smoother across the station.”
There’s only one way to fix the Euston problem
So far, everything we’ve seen is very much “sticking plaster work” as opposed to addressing some of the bigger issues – namely the flow of information to passengers as well as timing.
There’s also the massive issue of Euston itself. It’s been long overdue for something to happen to it – be it the arrival of HS2 or some other hope and dream.
Network Rail calls it “Regeneration”. I call it getting the wrecking ball in, making the space a lot more accessible and creating the extra space so desperately needed to improve the area overall.
Simply put – the space isn’t suitable for purpose, with poor passenger flows and poorer information.
When I travelled through there in the past – it was worse, with the main concourse cluttered with shops. Those have been mostly removed to create more space – but even then – it’s still a hot mess on most normal days, and a disaster when something goes wrong. Given that Euston serves the terminus of the West Coast Main Line – it often does,
Something radical will need to be done to change the Euston passenger experience.
Because it’s poor – to say the least.
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