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The Northern Line is now even more sprawling. Two new underground stations – Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms – opened their doors this morning. And while everyone loves a good tube line update, it’s particularly exciting for south Londoners. It’s no longer going to take a short lifetime to get into central.
We can confirm that the new stations are definitely needed: it took two trains, one bus, and a bit of Google-mapping to get to Battersea from the Time Out office. In the new station, there were lots of gleaming escalators and it all felt very clean and futuristic, like a sort of tinfoil Tardis for commuters. Take a look at some of these behind-the-scenes pics to see it for yourself:
And it’s not just a pretty (grey) face. ‘The tunnels here are a lot wider than your traditional tubes,’ said Jonathan Cooper, senior project manager. ‘We’ve got a one-metre walkway on one side, which means you don’t get so much air being pushed through, so it’s safer. Accessibility wise, it’s got step-free access at either end of the platforms up to the ticket hall and then out through the main entrance.’
Construction on the Zone 1 Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms stops began in 2015. The development cost £1 billion, supported around 1,000 jobs and is projected to host eight million journeys per year. Damn.
The opening of the Northern line tube extension comes ahead of the new Elizabeth line, launching in the first half of 2022. Now that’s a whole lot of digging.
There’s a street party in Battersea to mark the opening of its new tube stations.
Wimbledon’s rainbow crossing is back and better than ever.