Brixton Tube Station; Can somebody fill me in?!

[bluestreak]

i thought it was finished and that was the final look. is bozo planning on cutting the refurb budget to the underground i wonder? his voters want less closures. can we assume that it won't be funded in the next few years?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

The tube station is Brixton's Sistine Chapel. The ceiling will only be done when Michelangelo is reincarnated and learns how to paint again. The glory that is Brixton tube station will then be known across the entire world.

Either that or they should get the hell on with putting up whatever shitty white-painted metal panels they've had sitting in a yard for ten years (assuming they haven't rusted away) and at least get rid of the third world underground feel.

They really are taking a bogglingly long time about it. How long did it take to get to the moon once the project was started? I'm pretty sure brixton tube station has already topped that.

I bet if this was a tube station in Westminster or Kensington it'd have been finished years ago

 

[Brainaddict]

I bet if this was a tube station in Westminster or Kensington it'd have been finished years ago

I'm pretty sure it would have taken them less time to build the new Westminster station - and the building on top - than it has to refurbish Brixton.

 

[laptop]

the third world underground feel.

The Kolkata Metro is very shiny





Brussels, that's what it reminds me of. Not finished.

And the moment they do finish it, you'll know gentrification is complete. It'll be a nasty architectural memorial to 80s aspirational architecture. Like Canary Wharf.


But wait.

The Ordnance Survey say if your wheelie bin stays in the same place long enough they'll put it on the map, or something like that. The same should apply to buildings. Slap a preservation order on Brixton Tube the way it is now! Call English Heritage and the 20th Century Society! Start a petition!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I'm pretty sure it would have taken them less time to build the new Westminster station - and the building on top - than it has to refurbish Brixton.

yeah, but Portcullis House was a bit of a fuck-up wasn't it. Maybe Brixton Station when it's finished will be perfect








































I doubt it though

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Lang posted this in October 2003 when Brixton was going to be shut for 3 weeks to remove asbestos



"by end of 2004 we will have completed the congestion relief project in the station and installed an additional escalator and 2 MIP lifts" [MIP = mobility impaired persons???]
Revisiting the same site today, and clicking on Brixton tells us:

By 2007 we will have modernised the station
By 2007 we will have Introduced Station Accesibility Projects
By 2007 we will have Modernised lifts
By 2007 we will have Modernised escalators "

er, when exactly did those lifts actually become operational?

 

[mysterybadger]

1 year and 2 months short of 10 years

Blimus...that's quite a long time to go between refurbishments. Some of the stuff will be past its renewal date before it's even been installed. Not that there seems to be anything happening at all.

On the positive side, I'm sure having to be home by 10pm is doing us all the world of good.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

On the positive side, I'm sure having to be home by 10pm is doing us all the world of good.

 

[Chairman Meow]

How the fuck can it take the best part of a decade to fix a couple of escalators and slap a bit of paint on? Entire civilisations have risen and fallen in less time! I can't believe they're still dicking about with it - the last time I was in Brixton would have been around 2003 and it was totally fucked then!

 

[Gixxer1000]

You noticed how all the contractors hang round outside the station waiting for it to close, near all the dealers. I reckon they get so stoned that fuck all gets done.

 

[Crispy]

Oh, and is the rear entrance ever going to be useable?

 

[Brainaddict]

I wrote to tfl a while back about the tube station and they've finally answered - in some detail, yet without really explaining how it could have taken so long. They give an end date though. Well, sort of...

Thank you for writing to us about the ongoing works at Brixton station. I’m sorry for the inconvenience that is being caused by the length of these.

The works at the station are divided into two phrases - the congestion relief project and the station modernisation.

These projects, undertaken by our contractor Metronet, are huge and require detailed planning, which does take time. Our aim is to improve the service we provide to our customers and your patience is appreciated.

The works at Brixton started in 2001 with the congestion relief project. This consisted of:
• Widening the entrance stairwells and reducing their gradient
• Increasing the entrance stairwells from two to three
• Installing two new lifts – one from the street to the ticket hall and one from there to the platforms.

A new arcade was also built, as was a staff accommodation block at Electra House.

During this project, asbestos was discovered in the ticket hall, leading to a two week closure of the station, and so a hold up to other works, while it was safely removed. There was another hold up when the lift shaft flooded, following roadworks outside (and unconnected to) the station. However, this phase of the work was completed in 2006.

Now we’ve started the modernisation of the rest of the station, admittedly a little later than expected. On the other hand, time and money has been saved because a new support and fixing arrangement for the cable management system and ceiling panelling has been agreed and manufactured in the meantime.

The completion of the modernisation of Brixton Tube station is planned for the end of 2008.

However, it’s perhaps worth pointing out there may be some disruption beyond that. As part of the upgrade of the whole Victoria line, there is a train crew accommodation block being built at platform level at Brixton. This should be completed late 2009.

Please contact me again if you need any help in the future.

 

[PacificOcean]

From the quote above:

"

Now we’ve started the modernisation of the rest of the station, admittedly a little later than expected. On the other hand, time and money has been saved because a new support and fixing arrangement for the cable management system and ceiling panelling has been agreed and manufactured in the meantime."

A little later than expexcted? Why wasn't the "new arrangement for cable management system and ceiling panelling" sorted before they started in 2001?

I haven't been to Brixton since 2005 - I can't believe this is still going on!

 

[Gramsci]

It's hardly unusual though is it. You only have to see how long it takes to get roadworks/pavement works done in Lambeth.

If Westminster Council dug a hole up in Whitehall one day, it would be gone the next. You'd swear you'd imagined it Why can't they get those guys to come and repair our pavements/roads

Actually the road in Whitehall has been dug up for ages.They are building "anti terror attack" walls.The road next to the Houses of Parliament was closed for ages and narrowed to build more barriers to protect our rulers.

Dont think its westminsters fault its the Government.

Also the area around the US embassy has been in a almost constant road works as they keep changing the "security" defences.

That and the constant improvement works on the Brixton underground were/are doing my head in sometimes.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Actually the road in Whitehall has been dug up for ages.They are building "anti terror attack" walls.The road next to the Houses of Parliament was closed for ages and narrowed to build more barriers to protect our rulers.

Dont think its westminsters fault its the Government.

Also the area around the US embassy has been in a almost constant road works as they keep changing the "security" defences.

That and the constant improvement works on the Brixton underground were/are doing my head in sometimes.

ah yes, but what I mean is if the gas board/Thames Water are digging a hole, it's dug up, repaired and filled in overnight. I worked in Whitehall long enough to see it happen often and each morning I'd return to work wondering if I'd dreamt there was a hole there the night before

 

[Crispy]

Robills was bought by Lambeth Council in March 1999. Work on the new tube entrance would have started soon after. So how long is that?

So, it looks like the big 10 will be soon upon us

 

[ovaltina]

Maybe a tenth anniversary Tube Refurb party would be good. People could come dressed in hard hats and construction helmets!

 

[Andy the Don]

Maybe a tenth anniversary Tube Refurb party would be good. People could come dressed in hard hats and construction helmets!

With the current PPP/financial problems with the tube system I think Brixton tube is going to remain as it is for the foreseeable future. I still cannot see why they removed the false ceiling panels after they had installed them.. Still the classical music is very nice and should be piped throughout the network including the trains.

 

[PacificOcean]

With the current PPP/financial problems with the tube system I think Brixton tube is going to remain as it is for the foreseeable future. I still cannot see why they removed the false ceiling panels after they had installed them.. Still the classical music is very nice and should be piped throughout the network including the trains.

Apparently, piped music makes Hoodies less aggressive.

 

[Andy the Don]

Apparently, piped music makes Hoodies less aggressive.

Same with me, crawl up the escalator and the sound of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet reaches my ears and I feel relaxed..

 

[TitanSound]

Until some joker replaces the classical music with "Speed Garage Anthems 108" and a massacre ensues....

 

[quimcunx]

It would be an interesting social experiment and well worth a few lives being lost in the name of science.

 

[ovaltina]

Until some joker replaces the classical music with "Speed Garage Anthems 108" and a massacre ensues....

I'd pay to see that. Do you think they keep the record player in that glass shed thing before the barriers, like in One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest?

 

[ajdown]

Apparently, piped music makes Hoodies less aggressive.

I thought it was just meant to stop them hanging around, because they don't like actual music, just noise?

 

[laptop]

Is it maybe time to get Listed Building status slapped on the works?

The half-built state of the station is an essential part of the identity of this vibrant and diverse part of London. Furthermore, if finished, the station would be a yuppie-magnet monstrosity. We therefore recommend that the Secretary of State...

 

[Giles]

I thought it was just meant to stop them hanging around, because they don't like actual music, just noise?

That's what I thought. Rather than any peace-enhancing qualities of the classical music itself. It works by making it tooooo uncool for gangs of potential or actual troublemakers to want to hang around in hearing....

Giles..

 

[honto]

I always think going down the escalator to Ride of the Valkyries feels quite dramatic and exciting, like a descent into hell.

 

[Bob]

I'd pay to see that. Do you think they keep the record player in that glass shed thing before the barriers, like in One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest?

Ah it's a DJ booth.

 

[bluestreak]

I always think going down the escalator to Ride of the Valkyries feels quite dramatic and exciting, like a descent into hell.

Yep, it's a right treat when I get one of my favourites.

 

[jakejb79]

Brixton Tube Station

Before the refurbishment of Brixton station began i understand there was a shortcut through to Electric lane, are there any plans to re-open this or will it remain boarded up?