OVERGROUND INTERCHANGES: Ideas for improved interchange between the London Overground Richmond-Stratford Line and other Underground or National Rail lines. Click on the numbers on the map or scroll down for more information.

1 Interchange with the Hounslow loop line. Not much point because all destinations served by these trains can be reached from Richmond. Also, the crossover point is in a residential district close to stations on both lines. Click here for map.

2 Interchange with the Piccadilly Line and the Ealing Broadway branch of the District Line at a new Chiswick Park station. These lines are carried on two separate bridges, one for both eastbound tracks and one for both westbound tracks. As platforms could not be located on the bridges, the LU platforms of the new Chiswick Park station would be located to the east of them, only about 200m further west of the existing Chiswick Park station. 

The new station would be approached from an eastern entrance close to where the Underground lines cross over Bollo Lane, and also a western entrance close to the Overground platforms. The northern entrance to the Chiswick Park office development, currently used as construction access and pedestrian access only is right next to the western entrance of my proposed interchange station. This development, on the site of the former bus works, consists primarily of offices, with some retail supporting the office buildings. The as-yet undeveloped north part of this site could be developed with a far greater proportion of shops, and also some residential and community uses, therefore providing greater passenger numbers at the new interchange station.

In order not to increase the number of stops the already long journey from Central London to Heathrow, Piccadilly Line trains could cease stopping at Acton Town, however this would not be popular as Piccadilly Line trains are about three times as frequent as District Line trains at this station, and also offer a faster journey to central London. Click here for map.

This is the bridge that ironically carries two Underground lines over the Overground.

3 Interchange with the Great Western main line and the Central Line at a new North Acton station. This would provide an opportunity for Overground passengers to interchange with fast trains to Paddington, Maidenhead, and Heathrow Airport in addition to all Central Line destinations.

There would be some issues with locating an interchange here. For one, it is in an industrial area, and unless the workshops and warehouses are relocated elsewhere and the site redeveloped for commercial and residential use, the station will not attract many passengers. On the other hand, the existing North Acton station manages to stay open despite being in the middle of an industrial area. Click here for map. Click here for map.

4 Interchange with National Rail services at Willesden Junction. Interchange is already provided with the Bakerloo Line and Overground services to Euston, Watford junction and Clapham Junction. If platforms were built on the National Rail lines, this would provide an opportunity for Overground passengers to access more frequent connections to Clapham Junction, faster service to Watford Junction, and direct services to exciting places such as Tring.

Let’s face it, Willesden Junction station is a bit of a dive. Because it’s surrounded by railway lines on all sides, access is via the desolate station approach, and an even more desolate footpath connection the station to Harrow Road. There is a considerable amount of vacant land in the vicinity, but mostly in small plots with no pedestrian or road access. Therefore any development of the site would involve building over some of the railway lines and providing through access from both sides. Such a development could provide a mixture of residential, retail and office accommodation. Click here for map.

5 Improved interchange at West Hampstead. This station is shown on standard tube maps as an interchange between Overground, the Thameslink route and the Jubilee Line. In reality, there are three separate stations, and getting between them involves climbing stairs and crossing streets. Hardly practical if you’re trying to get to Luton or Gatwick Airport and you’re carrying luggage. Also, the Metropolitan Line and National Rail Chiltern line pass straight through West Hampstead, on tracks parallel to the Jubilee Line.

Although there are plans to improve access to all three stations, a comprehensive above-ground interchange would not be feasible as it would involve demolition of buildings and various other kinds of chaos. A more feasible proposal would be a pedestrian tunnel with lifts and stairs up to all platforms, allowing passengers to interchange without going through ticket barriers, and also relieving pedestrian congestion on the streets above.

The interchange could be made a much more important one by constructing platforms on the Metropolitan Line (possibly replacing Finchley Road as the interchange between the Metropolitan and Jubilee Lines) and Chiltern line (which currently has no stations between Marylebone and Harrow-on-the hill). Click here for map.

6 Interchange with Edgware Branch of Northern Line. Somewhere deep beneath Hampstead village, the tunnel carrying the Overground crosses over (or perhaps under) the Edgware branch of the Northern Line. While an interchange here would be useful, the engineering challenge of building an all-new subterranean station on existing railway lines would be immense, especially as the Overground tracks also carry diesel-powered freight trains. 

A slightly more feasible proposal would be a pedestrian tunnel connecting Hampstead Heath station with Belsize Park on the Northern Line, with an exit directly into the Royal Free Hospital. These stations are quite close together on the map, and the platforms are probably at similar elevations, but walking from one to the other involves an indirect route with lots of steep gradients!

7 Interchange with Thameslink. The Overground crosses the Thameslink route again between Gospel Oak and Kentish Town West. There’s not much point in building an interchange here because there is already an interchange between these two lines at West Hampstead, which could be much improved (see above).

This map shows a short railway line, currently only used by freight trains, connecting the Gospel Oak – Barking line to the Thameslink route. Use could be made of this by directing trains to/from Barking over this line and terminating them at West Hampstead instead of Gospel Oak, greatly improving the connectivity of this service.

8 Interchange with the Northern Line. Camden Road station is very close to Camden Town, the interchange point between the branches of the Northern Line. Currently, an interchange between Camden Road and Camden Town would involve a walk up Camden Road, crossing some busy roads along the way.

There are currently plans to redevelop Camden Town station. The primary aim is to reduce overcrowding in the interchange tunnels and at the street level entrance. As part of this redevelopment work, a pedestrian tunnel could be built linking the two stations. As this tunnel would need to cross under the Regents Canal, it would have to be fairly deep, perhaps at a similar level to the deep tube tunnels. Rather than boring a tunnel all the way between the two stations, a second entrance to Camden Town station could be built roughly on the site of Camden Market, with lifts linking platform level with street level and a walkway running at rooftop level to Camden Road station. Click here for map.

9 Kings Cross North. The Overground passes surprisingly close to Kings Cross / St. Pancras, probably the country’s most important transport interchange. It’s not quite close enough to provide a direct interchange, but an interchange could be provided with the Piccadilly Line and East Coast Main Line suburban services. This new station could also provide direct access to the former railway lands north of Kings Cross that are currently being redeveloped.

An interchange with the Thameslink line would not be as useful because there is already an interchange between these two lines at West Hampstead, which could be much improved (see above). Click here for map.

10 Highbury & Islington. This is one of the few true interchange points on the Overground, linking with the Victoria Line and the Moorgate to Welwyn/Hertford/Letchworth National Rail services. The trouble is, the services that normally run between Finsbury Park and Moorgate are redirected to Kings Cross at evenings and weekends. Not only is this confusing for people who don’t use this service regularly, but it also makes the North London Line difficult to access from large swathes of North London. Extending Moorgate services to evenings and weekends would greatly improve access to the Overground without spending any money whatsoever on infrastructure.

11 Interchange with National Rail at Hackney. Hackney Central on the Overground is very close to Hackney Downs on the Liverpool Street to Enfield/Chingford/Hertford/Cheshunt National Rail line, but it's quite a walk from one to the other. Moving both stations, or possibly only Hackney Central station, would provide a useful interchange. Click here for map.