(bright music)
Lovely day. (workers talking indistinctly)
So it's a lovely tranquil morning
here at Farringdon Station, where the works
for the platform's -6 levels down below are taking place
and people are just walking past
without even realising that it's going on.
We're gonna go in and have a look at the exits.
This is just one of many open days
that Crossrail/TFL Elizabeth Line are doing
as they preview all the stations,
and for me the most exciting part
has been previously, at Custom House and Canary Wharf,
they gave away Oyster wallets.
Now, it's the World Cup at the moment,
and I'm thinking if I'm gonna collect all 10 Oyster wallets,
it's a bit like when people used to collect
Panini football stickers for the World Cup.
So instead of collecting Russia 2018 World Cup stickers,
I'm gonna be collecting all the Oyster wallets.
I'm very excited.
I could see on this table down here
the thing that I really came for, and I'm pleased to say
there's a whole table of Oyster wallets.
That's all I'm here for.
How many can I have? How many can I have?
As many as you like. There's two for a start.
There's two. What's your name?
Nigel. Nigel, let me come in close.
Nigel, my worry is that as the railway gets handed over
to TFL, will TFL keep producing Oyster wallets
or is this a Crossrail thing only?
At the moment, this is just a Crossrail thing,
but what TFL do...
But if I don't complete the set of Oyster wallets,
this is really gonna upset me.
It's gonna cause you a lot of pain, isn't it?
No, it is! It's really gonna-
I need to complete the set.
Well, have a word with Adam and he'll make sure
that he'll give me all the ones that you need.
You've said that, it's on camera,
okay, right. Yeah. (laughs)
(bright music)
On to the platforms.
So, I can see some platform edge doors here.
I can see a purple roundel there.
Morning.
We're in a Concourse between, we're at the western end.
There are some escalators there, but interestingly,
there's a lot of purple.
And here's another thing, someone said this the other day,
they sent a picture of it to me,
they went, "Did you realise, Geoff,
the platforms at Custom House are A and B.
Are they all gonna be lettered?"
I can tell you now, we've just had it confirmed,
that on the nine core stations in the middle,
so from Paddington down to, is it Woolwich, yeah,
the eastbound platforms on all
the Crossrail Elizabeth Line stations are gonna be
platform A and the westbound platforms
are all gonna be lettered platform B,
so they're all letters.
There's a lot of purple.
Here's 20 seconds of purple signage.
(bright music) ♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
(man talking indistinctly)
I like the purple.
(man laughs) They're laughing at me.
What? I like the purple colour.
It's my favourite thing about-
Please stop touching.
Sorry. Fingerprints.
What? Will you have to clean it if I get it dirty?
I will. I'll be there brushing it off.
Just seen that here, so from platform B,
the westbound platform, they've already put in on the map
that it's going to Terminal 5.
Now don't forget that the line opens in stages
and they're gonna have to put some sticker over that,
because when it opens in December 2018,
trains aren't going to be running through to Terminal 5,
so expect this to be blocked over until December 2019
and then the line will be running to Terminal 5.
But they've obviously put it in
so that they don't have to put the sign in twice,
but expect it there to be like a little sticker there.
On the westbound platform, eastbound platform,
that's platform A, trains going that way,
there is a legible London poster.
It says here, Farringdon exit, Barbican exit,
and I can show you here that the Farringdon exit
is within Farringdon Station and the Barbican exit over here
it's on the corner, got to get this right,
of Long lane and Lindsey Street,
one way in, one way out at the eastern end
and the other one is on the corner of Hayne Street.
And there's also then the lift to Barbican,
but basically it's here at the eastern end
and it's here at the western end.
I feel like we should go and have a look
and see where the exits are in real life.
(bright music)
Okay, I'm in the Farringdon end, the western end.
Bear with me, this is slightly confusing.
We'll try and get our orientation here.
There was a shot, here it is again,
of some escalators down at the western end
of Elizabeth Line.
These here are the tops of those escalators.
They come through to here.
And then you're into the main ticket hall here.
Now, let me just make sure I've got my shot here.
These escalators here then go up
and that goes to the main,
what they call the integrated ticket office,
which is the National Rail, the existing ticket office
and gateline for Farringdon National Rail Station.
And you'll come in and there's a wall up there
and then you come down some escalators.
But then off to this side that then goes through
to platform 4 at Farringdon,
just making sure I've got that right, yes I have,
and that is the Thameslink.
That takes you, platform 4,
is the northbound Thameslink platform
here at Farringdon Station.
Got that?
(bright music) ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
Do you remember Andy? You probably don't.
He had a beard back then. Did you have a beard?
I did have a beard.
Andy was the man to show me about the incline lift
when I came here before.
Andy's back. What happened to the beard?
Beard's gone. (Geoff wheezes)
Beard's gone.
Were they shaved off by the diamonds?
The diamonds, see, we've got them all in now.
Why are you so excited by the diamonds?
Well diamonds, just look at them.
This is Simon Periton's artwork that's come in.
Once they're back-lit, they'll be beautiful.
So you've got these and the ceiling as well,
so it all ties in together.
So this is the artwork at the west end ticket office here,
but for those that haven't made the correlation,
could you explain the correlation
about diamonds at Farringdon?
See diamonds, we've got Hatton Gardens across the road
that actually links in with the station
within the community.
So for here, when you want to come out at Farringdon end,
you look for diamonds. Think diamonds.
Think diamonds. What's at the eastern end?
If you look at the east, you've got a coffered ceiling,
so then you're at the Barbican end.
And if you then want to be at the other end
where you see diamonds, you've got then half a kilometre
to walk or you come out at the lift.
So this is the layout of the new Farringdon Station,
the new platforms having the main entrance
at the western end, which link up with the Thameslink
and the tube, and the eastern end of the platforms
exiting to street level and a lift up to
the westbound platform of Barbican tube station as well.
Changing between the new platforms and the tube
at Farringdon will involve going
via the Thameslink platforms or,
as has even been suggested, it might be quicker
to exit Farringdon at the National Rail gateline,
cross the street, and reenter Farringdon Station
at the tube gateline.
We'll only find out for sure what's quicker when it opens.
So we're back outside.
I think Andy is meant to be working,
but I've just said to him, "Andy, come with me,"
so Andy's come with me, thanks Andy.
So we're at the main National Rail Station.
They call this the integrated ticket office,
is that correct?
Integrated ticket hall, yes. Integrated ticket hall.
So this is the wall, the wall here,
we were the other side of that wall,
but the interesting news that you've just told me...
Got to face the camera. Sorry.
Is that they're actually gonna extend the gateline,
is that correct? Yes.
So this gateline here is gonna be extended further, right?
Yes, you get the gateline extended out
and then there's a balcony, a glazed balcony,
so you actually look out over the diamond ceiling
and up down to the ticket hall
and up down to where you can then go round
and down the escalates to the Elizabeth Line
Can you show me the other entrance,
the Barbican eastern end?
Can you lead the way? We'll head this way.
Let's lead the way. Let's do
a speed-it-up section. (bright music)
Where are we?
This is Grand Avenue, Smithfield Market.
Yeah, we're in Smithfield.
So we're cutting through Smithfield...
Through Grand Avenue.
So the platforms are beneath us right now?
Yes. So when you're in
Smithfield Market, the smell...
(bright music)
I don't know why I've not been here sooner.
Off-camera, Andy went, "This is my baby
that I've spent four and a half years digging."
This is it, okay.
I'm gonna turn around so you can see it like this.
So it's in between, name the two streets again.
So that's... Hayne Street.
Hayne Street, and? This is Lindsey Street.
And it's basically taking up a little block, as it were.
London doesn't really do blocks like the Americans do,
but here at Farringdon, there is like a little block
that you've taken over and that's where the ticket hall is.
What can you tell us about the ticket hall?
So the ticket hall, we've got all the glazing up now.
So it's two story basement at this side,
seven story shaft at the other side
that we excavated down to,
and then we've built all the way up from the bottom,
built up to plus three to get all the ventilation in,
and then we're putting the finishes in.
You can just see the gate,
the barcode Farringdon gate over there,
and then we've got all the glazing in.
Glazing then links us into the market.
So if you look at the wrought iron
around the market windows, that's what's represented
in the glazing that goes around the ticket hall.
And then how far away is Barbican tube station?
That's just another, what, 30 seconds walk down there.
So, use the western end...
This is the important thing.
People want to know which end of the train to get out at.
So the Farringdon entrance is at the western end.
Yes. This is the eastern end,
and then you'd use this if you were more wanting
the Barbican/Smithfield Market end,
right? Yep, yep, yes.
Yes? Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes! Yes, Geoff, yes. Yes.
(bright music)
So, oh, turn around.
So, I've come to Barbican tube
on the westbound sub-surface platform.
You can see here the telltale blue hoardings,
which means one thing, yeah, this is the lift.
This is gonna be the other way in and out
of Farringdon Crossrail Station.
So at the eastern end, what happens if you're at
the eastern end of a Crossrail Elizabeth Line train,
you'll come up escalators or an incline lift.
You'll go from -6 to -3, like a mezzanine -3 level,
and there you'll see some artwork which isn't the diamonds.
So what Andy was saying to me is that if you don't see
the diamonds, you know you're not at the western end.
So at that point, you've got a choice,
if you're at the wrong end, to turn around and go back
or keep on going.
From that -3 level, there's then other escalators
and another incline lift which then take you up
to that ticket hall which we just saw,
or, at that point there, there's a sneaky little corridor,
which would bring you down to a lift,
a regular lift, not an incline lift, a regular lift,
which would bring you out here to the westbound platform
at Barbican Station.
So if you find that you've wanted to be at the western end,
at the Farringdon end, and you came out the wrong exit
by mistake, hilariously, here's what you can do.
You could be on a Crossrail Elizabeth Line train,
come through to Farringdon Station,
exit out the eastern end, come up here
to Barbican tube, and then do what I'm about to do,
and that's get the tube one stop west back to Farringdon.
Is it quicker to walk or is it quicker to get
the tube one stop to be maybe back at the entrance/exit
that you wanted to be at?
This is the thing with the Crossrail Elizabeth Line.
Trains are really long, do not be at the wrong end.
Here's my train.
(bright music)