Monday’s Friday Reads – 19 October 2020

On By In Congestion Charge, Friday Reads, Maps

• Vision Zero best practices from London’s Congestion Charge (StreetsBlog)

• London Greenground park & nature spot tube style map (TimeOut)

• Europe’s endangered exchange-only platforms (HiddenEurope)

• MTA’s fare evasion math was way off track: review (TheCityNYC)

• How Chicago turned its waterfront airport into a park (Architecture)

• Asphalt City: How parking ate an American metropolis (StrongTowns)

And finally –

• New York Subway memorial: Van Halen Ave station (BrooklynVegan)

Check out our new section:

As well as some of our other sections:

And some of our most popular articles: 

Feel we should read something or include in a future list? Email us at [email protected].

Comments and tweets may be monitored for quality and training purposes.

Reconnections is funded largely by its community. Like what we do? Buy us a cup of coffee or visit our shop.

7 comments

  1. It’s a great shame that map in Timeout is missing the Greenway. Which might actually be the Northern Outfall Sewer, but goes link Victoria Park, Fish Island/Hackney Wick, QEOP, Abbey Mills, West Ham, Plaistow, the Memorial Rec Ground, Newham Uni Hospital all the way to Becton DLR/Asda.

  2. I enjoyed the article about exchange platforms – a variation on the theme might be the two stations at the northern end of the Hong Kong East Rail Line (Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau): as well as the frontier posts to Shenzhen, they have local exits but they are guarded by police and you cannot use them unless you are a local resident or have the right permit.

  3. @Ronnie MB

    Another exchange platform station was the Cornbrook Metrolink station in Manchester, as originally designed, to allow passengers to transfer between Metrolink lines, but didn’t allow locals access. Only an emergency exit from the platform was provided. Some years later this was rectified, to open Cornbrook to locals, with a lift. Platforms transfers are more than ever, with additional lines being added to the network. There are a few shops nearby, but no new development that I saw in my last visit in August 2018.

  5. Then there was also the long-gone phenomenon of “Ticket Platforms” – usually a short distyance outside main line termini, where incoming trains stopped for all the passengers’ tickets to be collected.
    They had no passenger access, either.
    There were several examples in London … ( And other places )
    This view of the 1879 25″ map shows the ticket platform for Waterloo East/Charing Cross, for example.
    IIRC, Wormit was the ticket platform for NBR trains to Dundee from the South – which is how the number of dead on the “diver” ( 28 / 12 / 1879 ) could be accurately known.

  6. @ Greg T – It may have been used as a ticket platform but what the map shows is Blackfriars Station on the Charing Cross Railway (as it still tells you at the entrance in Blackfriars Road)

  7. “Ticket Platforms” – again.
    Some railways used ordinary stations as such, or retained them as Ticket Platforms only, after closure, as with the “other Blackfriars” mentioned by Vince.
    However, from Wrottesley’s History of the GNR, vol II:
    From the opening of the ( 3rd ) Kings Cross Tunnel, the practice of collecting tickets form main line trains at Holloway was Transferred to Finsbury Park. In 1884, a longitudonal fence was erected along the centre of the Up Main platform, to prevent fare-dodgers from nipping out of the main line & on to the locals.
    [ Holloway was one of the WW I closures, & only it’s outer cattle dock platform now survives. ]

Comments are closed.