Good morning!
It is day four, the purple madness continues.
I only want to see you riding
on the purple train.
And today we're doing
a deep dive and explore
of the new Farringdon Crossrail station.
And obviously to do that
I'm starting my day here at Barbican.
So look, that's the eastbound service
on the Met Circle.
This is the Hammersmith and City on the westbound
and on this westbound platform,
the abandoned platform's there,
if you turn around right there,
can you see?
Is a lift-only entrance/exit
to the Elizabeth Line.
This takes you round here,
through here,
and there is a lift!
It's a little bit secret.
If I was doing "Secrets of the Elizabeth's Line",
which I'm not,
this would be an obvious candidate
and I'm gonna want,
Uh, that one, minus three!
What's interesting about this is that
on an early edition of the Tube map,
the proposed Tube map,
Barbican had a connector block
to the Elizabeth Line,
along with Farringdon.
On the actual Tube map that's been released,
I think it's coming at this side,
Barbican has not been shown to have a connection,
but this lift as you can clearly see,
as I'm exiting now.
You can tap in on the Gate line
of Barbican Tube station
and come out here into this area.
Into Farringdon Crossrail.
Okay? So what you got back up that way
is the eastern end
of Farringdon Elizabeth Line station.
And all the signs to that do say Barbican.
The artwork on the wall, by the way,
there's a plaque, it's called Spectre.
Isn't that a Bond film?
I like that, but that takes you
to the Barbican end of Farringdon Station
there's then two gate lines,
but one ticket hall,
three escalators, and an inclinator.
No, funinculator! Travelator! Diagonal lift!
Whatever you wanna call it,
that brings you into the concourse area
where the secret lift
to Barbican tube station comes out.
And then two escalators
and another funangled lift you'd come down.
And that brings you out to here!
You'll note, here,
as we found out
at Tottenham Court Road yesterday
that you can't walk
all the way through down the middle.
That's just at Liverpool Street.
So here at Farringdon
and at Tottenham Court Road Road
this bit is kind of like blocked off.
You can walk the length of the platform.
But at Liverpool Street,
as we'll see in tomorrow's videos,
you can walk all the way down.
That's the one where there's
like 21 totems in a row.
Link to merch.
Walking along the westbound platform.
Now we all know,
as we learned in yesterday's videos,
how long the platforms are.
But I'm reliably informed that the platforms
here at Farringdon are actually the longest.
Because it's me, and I love
doing my least-used stations,
people who've been making the joke
about what's the least-used station
of the new 10 stations
out of the Elizabeth Line.
Well, I'm not sure about that yet,
but how about this?
I'm willing to gamble,
bet that the most used station
will be Farringdon.
In fact, it will go up in the
National Rail ORR statistics
because you've now got
the Underground here, and Thameslink,
and the Elizabeth Line.
So it's a good bet
that this will rise dramatically,
Farringdon station will rise dramatically,
in the ORR station statistics.
And here's a little thing on the signage here.
Can you see Farringdon,
way out that way,
gets a National Rail symbol,
for Thameslink and stuff,
and the Tube roundel for the Tube station.
But the Barbican way out down that way
doesn't get a little Tube roundel.
It's like they don't want you to know
that you can get
to Barbican Tube station
via the lift down that end!
But you can!
So at the western end,
there's a little exit passageway there,
but we'll go down this passageway here
'cause I think it leads to the same point.
I think this bit will be blocked up?
Yeah! This is like the centre part
where you can't go down, but do a 180,
you've got your 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 totems in a row.
And then the inevitable long escalators.
Sorry, just to note
that the eastbound platform is there.
Those three escalators are there,
but the lifts, two of them, a pair,
are just off of this little corridor here.
So there are two lifts
at the western entrance/exit of Farringdon Station.
(train rumbling)
Now this is a feature
that I'm just about to go and do.
The best way to connect
from Tube and Thameslink
down to Farringdon Crossrail.
But it's great when you meet someone
who I've met before.
This is Richard.
I met you on Marston Vale, right?
Right!
And you've just done what, Richard?
Because you've got a hot tip.
What's your hot tip?
Well, the hot tip is just watch the person going
into the lift here
and you can get directly
from the Thameslink platform
to the Elizabeth Line platform level
by just one lift.
Rather than what, going through
sort of gates and stairs?
No stairs, no escalators
nothing. Just one lift.
All the way down?
Correct.
Wow!
Something very, very interesting
has just occurred to me,
before I go up there.
There's steps and escalators up there,
that takes you up to the National Rail Concourse.
Northbound Thameslink is there,
so you could just go straight through
here at Farringdon from northbound Thameslink
onto the Elizabeth Line.
But I'm thinking, hang on a sec?
Thameslink goes beyond the
Oyster fare zone system.
What if you're on a paper ticket?
What if you've come from say from Bedford, whatever.
Or you've come up from say like
Gatwick or Brighton into Farringdon on a paper ticket.
There doesn't appear to be anywhere
to touch-in Oyster
to take you down to the purple train.
I think TFL are gonna have to
instal Oyster validators here.
So there's a lift there,
that's lift "D" but that's not,
there's only one,
so that's not the Tube where we're going.
What this is, is the northbound Thameslink platform
where there's this huge,
medium size purple Elizabeth Line roundel there,
which is nice.
But this, as you can see,
is where you connect
the Thameslink trains heading north.
So if you wanna go to the Elizabeth Line
on the northbound Thameslink train,
be at the back.
I think that's an eight car.
It is, because it's from St Albans.
Be at the back
of a northbound Thameslink train
to be right by this
way in here, to the Elizabeth Line.
If you're on the southbound side
you're pretty much gonna come in over there.
And then you walk up and over the steps,
be at the front,
go through the ticket hall
and then down the steps.
But what I wanna do really importantly
is how to change from the Tube
to the purple train.
So I'm outside both the Tube station
and the Nation Rail/Elizabeth Line station
here at Farringdon.
And remember there's no toilets on the trains
but there's plenty of loos around here at Farringdon.
And this is interesting.
'Cause from here, you can cross
from the tube across this paved area here
to the National Rail/Liz line Station.
And the reason why that is relevant is,
because I think, and I'm gonna test it now.
That is the official change route
between the Tube and the Elizabeth Line.
But I'm not gonna do it myself,
instead, my friend, Louie
Hey!
When did we last do a video? In uh?
In Berlin. In Berlin!
In 2018. Yeah!
Yeah, point to the corner
"When Geoff met Louie",
but also, hilariously,
you got on the national BBC News on Tuesday,
'cause you were on
the first train with me, Abbey Wood,
but you got interviewed?
A transport line
in a city like London, opening.
It probably won't happen
again in my lifetime.
You were on the Nine O'clock News, or something?
I was on the news before you,
I was on the morning news, I think,
BBC News at One.
And like the web video they also did.
So everybody was like, "You're on the news!"
Are you happy to see how long,
how convoluted, by following the official signage,
it takes to change from the Tube
to the Elizabeth Line here at Farringdon?
I think we are gonna bring a lot of
you know, pro skills and interchanging
(Geoff laughing)
here to people today.
Well, you're good 'cause people
often ask how I know you!
But you used to used to work
for Citymapper right, years ago?
And TFL.
And then you had a stint at TFL.
Who do you work for now? Exactly!
I work for AppyParking
which helps you find...
Are you plugging, what?
I'm plugging. I'm plugging.
(Geoff laughing)
Which helps you understand
all the parking rules around you.
But also "Hi" to all my friends
and former colleagues at Citymapper and TFL.
I might edit that bit out.
Oh c'mon!
Oh! I'll leave it in!
Right. Let's go and tap in.
(train rumbling)
Right? So imagine you just got off that train
and you wanted to go
from Farringdon Tube station
to the purple train
and you're gonna follow the official signage.
Let's go.
Off you go.
So there there's the first sign there.
Right?
I have to go out!
I have to go, you know.
One minute already.
(sensor beeping)
This is fun.
Uh-huh?
Curved separators.
Yeah!
And now to the typical architectural feature!
The transition from the station specific design
here on the walls
to the cladding, grey cladding
that you see on
all the core Elizabeth Line stations.
On the left, Geoff.
(both laughing)
How are we doing for time?
2:37!
I really love the totems!
Like, it's such a cool design feature.
So yeah! We're roughly 3:30,
'cause we stopped to chat here,
but we were, you know, within walking.
We had the station, the platforms on sight.
And have you seen
the magnificent cross-passage
which is just this wide cross-passage?
Oh no, I have not.
With nothing else going on.
It's just an enormous cavernous cross-passage.
That takes you just from platform to another?
Just from platform to platform!
Yeah! Yeah!
All right!
Oh, I'm gonna dip down as well.
Welcome to the floor, Louie!
Okay, I'll do it for you.
First time I do that.
We'll get the next train.
Thanks for walking the connection.
My pleasure.
I feel that it's a classic case of TFL.
Like at other Tube stations.
They want to direct passenger flows
in a certain direction.
Yeah, crowd control!
And all that, which is obviously
the sensible, correct thing to do.
But we all know that,
like other Tube stations,
like at King's Cross or Oxford Circus,
you know, if you go against the signs,
there might be a quicker way.
And I suspect here at Farringdon,
it's probably quicker to go from Tube
via the Thameslink platforms
down to the Liz Line platforms.
Yeah, 'cause then you get
onto that escalator we arrived on
you don't have to tap-out
and then back in.
But as a bigger point of view,
this is the fascinating thing,
that we're all now discovering
over the next few weeks which is,
well, where are the shortcuts?
Where are the passageways?
And there'll be conversations
in pubs and dinner parties
all over London where people go
"Oh no, if you get off the back
and then you go down that corridor
then there's a thing through to there."
And that's what's now gonna...
We have to learn and remap.
We've gotta learn and remap
it all in our heads!
How's your, remapping going?
I totally went to the wrong end
of the train this morning.
Well done! Yeah!
So yeah, having to...
Where at, where was that?
Tottenham Court Road, to get off at Farringdon,
I was like, yeah,
I mixed it up in my head.
You know, I was like 180 degrees wrong.
And I got confused
cause I forgot at White Chapel.
There's no entrance/exit at the eastern end.
And I was at the back.
There's only the one
way in and out of White Chapel
and I had to walk the entire length of the platform.
So anyway, look a trains...
250 metres!
I know. Which also takes three minutes.
A train's just come in!
So we'll have a shot of us leaving on a train.
Exactly.
Let's get the purple train. Cool!
(train beeping)
You sir, give us a wave.
Thank you! Cheers mate!
Could you say "Thanks for watching"
"Press subscribe" and all that?
Thanks for watching!
Press subscribe!
Hit that bell!
You know, all of the typical sing and dance.
Thanks Lou!
Bye everyone.
See ya!
(train beeping)
This is the train to Paddington.
Next station, Tottenham Court Road.