Brent Cross West passes platform tests

Progressing towards its autumn opening, Brent Cross West station has passed a range of safety and technical tests, with Thameslink trains successfully arriving and departing on overnight trial runs over the past two weeks.

The essential testing ranged from safe boarding, alighting and dispatch from the platforms to on-board passenger information displays, with the station name added to arrival announcements and route diagrams.

Brent Cross West is being built by a Barnet Council-led development partnership, in association with Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to serve the fast-growing area of Northwest London. It will provide a new stop between Cricklewood and Hendon on the Midland Main Line. Thameslink will manage the new station and operate its services of up to eight trains per hour.

The tests were conducted jointly by GTR’s station project team and the ASLEF union’s Health and Safety representatives.

Tom Causebrook, GTR’s Infrastructure Project manager, said: “Our testing focussed on ensuring that the station’s platforms are safe for passengers and staff. Included in the checklist were making sure trains stopped at the right points, the mechanisms for selective door opening worked correctly, our drivers have good visibility along the platforms, and passenger announcements on the trains’ information screens are at the right times. We’re delighted that the results are really positive.”

“I would like to say a big thank you to all the ASLEF reps who have helped with the testing and also to the train planning team who’ve arranged the test trains for us.

“Now we’re looking forward to further elements of the station being completed so that our staff can move in and do their station-specific training, ready for the autumn opening.”

Councillor Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council, said: "The new Brent Cross West station is fundamental to our plans to transform the local area, creating thousands of new jobs and much-needed new housing. It’s great to see the platforms pass GTR’s safety and operational tests – another vital milestone for this ambitious project.”

Gary Walsh, Network Rail’s East Midlands Route Director, said: “It is great to see that the new Brent Cross West station has passed GTR’s essential testing of the platforms, which will allow passenger trains to stop at the station safely.

“The brand-new station is another example of the significant investment taking place on the Midland Main Line and will unlock new travel opportunities for passengers, with vital connections to destinations such as Brighton, Luton, and London St. Pancras. We’re looking forward to the station opening this autumn.”

ends

Editors’ notes

This week’s testing programme included the following elements:

Brent Cross West station

Brent Cross West will be London’s newest main line station on its opening, expected in autumn this year.

The four-platform station covers around 7,000 square metres and sits on the Midland Main Line between Cricklewood and Hendon. It will connect passengers from central London to Brent Cross in as little as 12 minutes, with up to eight Thameslink services an hour at peak times. It will also be able to accommodate the planned West London Orbital (WLO) line in future, which will provide additional cross-London services.

The Brent Cross West station programme is being led by Barnet Council, built by VolkerFitzpatrick, and project managed by Mace with Network Rail a key programme partner.

A fundamental part of the ambitious Brent Cross Cricklewood Regeneration Programme, the new station will provide the gateway to north London’s new park town, Brent Cross Town, which alone will deliver 6,700 new homes and create workspace for 25,000 jobs.