Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT)

African Railway Center of Excellence (ARCE)

Program: MSc in Railway Engineering (Civil Infrastructure)

Course: Railway Systems Planning and Operations Management

Assignment 1
Perform a case study on an international best practice in railway
station design, construction, operation and management.

(Kings Cross Railway Station)

Name of Student: Takunda Victor Gadza

Date of Submission: 03/02/2022

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................
Main Objective............................................................................................................................................
Specific Objectives..................................................................................................................................
Study Area...................................................................................................................................................
Chapter 2: Station Design...............................................................................................................................
Introduction................................................................................................................................................
Factors that affect the design of a Station...................................................................................................
Passengers..............................................................................................................................................
Station Accessibility................................................................................................................................
The framework of the process................................................................................................................
Kings Cross Station Siting..........................................................................................................................10
The Challenge........................................................................................................................................10
The Site.................................................................................................................................................10
Transport Stimulus................................................................................................................................11
Kings Cross Railway Station Layout.......................................................................................................12
Station Appearance...............................................................................................................................14
Chapter 3: Station Construction....................................................................................................................17
Introduction..............................................................................................................................................17
Kings Cross Station Construction...............................................................................................................17
Scope of Works for the Regeneration...................................................................................................18
Key Project Outputs..............................................................................................................................18
Chapter 4: Station Operation........................................................................................................................20
Train services.............................................................................................................................................20
London North Eastern Railway..............................................................................................................20
Govia Thameslink Railway.....................................................................................................................20
Thameslink............................................................................................................................................21
Great Northern.....................................................................................................................................21
Hull Trains.............................................................................................................................................21
Grand Central........................................................................................................................................21
Ticket Purchasing......................................................................................................................................21
Facilities at the Kings Cross Railway Station..............................................................................................22
Intermodal onward travel.........................................................................................................................23

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 Buses.....................................................................................................................................................23
Taxis......................................................................................................................................................23
Impaired mobility set down / pick up points available.........................................................................23
Passenger Assistance................................................................................................................................23
Passenger Information Systems............................................................................................................23
Chapter 5: Station Management...................................................................................................................25
Putting Passengers First............................................................................................................................25
Environmental sustainability priorities......................................................................................................26
References....................................................................................................................................................27

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 Introduction

Rail travel has increasing over the years and it has become an important integral part of people’s

lives. The railway station provides the platform for passengers to encounter railway transport and

embark on this rail travel journey. The railway station is defined as a place in the railway system

where a journey begins or ends, or where the passenger switches between modes of transport.

Therefore a station’s overall quality as a visited environment, transfer point and an integral part

of the city is crucial in attracting more public transport passengers. In order for a station to be

able accomplish its purpose it requires a large number of resources that may include a location,

funding, building materials, labour, and energy amongst other resources that are to be used

during the design, construction, operation and management of the station.

But in order to ensure the that the resources manage to achieve the purpose of the railway station

and simultaneously ensuring their use does not have a negative effect on other related or

nonrelated aspects of the society a number of internationally accepted best practices are set that

have to be adhered to. Best practices are defined as methods or techniques that has been

generally accepted as superior to any alternatives because they produces results that are superior

to those achieved by other means, or because they have become standard ways of doing things,

e.g., a standard way of complying with legal or ethical requirements. Best practices are used to

maintain quality as an alternative to mandatory legislated standards and can be based on

selfassessment or benchmarking. Therefore this case study seeks to study the implementation or

lack thereof the international best practices in the design, construction, operation and

management of the Kings Cross Railway Station in the United Kingdom.

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Main Objective

To carry out a case study on the implementation of international best practices in railway station

design, construction, operation and management at the Kings Cross Railway Station.

Specific Objectives

1) Station design

a. Site Selection and Layout

b. Environment and Heritage protection

c. Transport Integration

2) Construction

a. Civil Construction works

b. Social Impact Assessment

3) Operation

a. Information Accessibility

b. Ticket Purchases

c. Available services

4) Management

a. Ownership

b. Organizational goals

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Study Area

King’s Cross Station is located in the city of London in the United Kingdom and is the southern

terminus for the East Coast Main line, which is one of Britain’s major railway arteries serving

cities such as Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh. It also hosts outer-suburban services to

Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The original Lewis Cubitt designed King’s

Cross Station was opened in 1852 with two platforms. By 1972, the station had 11 platforms and

British Rail built what was intended as a temporary structure at the front of the station to

accommodate the greater passenger throughput. However, by the turn of the 21st Century, it was

clear that the station needed a significant upgrade to cope with projected demand and provide a

better interchange for passengers. King’s Cross Station has been transformed with new

entrances, more space and better facilities.Work started in 2007, the stunning new Western

Concourse opened in 2012, and the original Victorian entrance was restored and opened in

2013.New underground ticket halls, new escalators and more than 300 metres of new

passageways mean changing between the different lines and services is much easier.Today over

47 million people use King’s Cross every year.

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Fig 1: Kings Cross Railway Station.

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 Chapter 2: Station Design

Introduction

Planning, designing and building station environments is a complex task, in which extensive

technical systems must work together with the surrounding environment. Many stakeholders

with different responsibilities must also work together toward common goals. The fact that

attractive stations are a success factor for rail travel is also the economic justification for the fact

that everyone working in a station environment, from the train operator to the kiosk owner,

should contribute to the whole. The end results of planning a station are the location, site layout

and appearance of the station. Factors that affect these results include the target passengers or

freight, accessibility and transport integration and the environment and heritage of possible

locations, the available technology and the standards and guidelines.

Factors that affect the design of a Station

Passengers

Passengers have different needs depending on who they are, the types of journeys they make and

how much time they spend at a station. The rising number of commuters who move through a

station as rapidly as possible must be able to be get along with leisure passengers or pensioners

who cannot find their way around equally as well and have a need for services. General

knowledge concerning the manner, in which passengers travel and their existing needs can be

acquired through surveys.

Station Accessibility

The concept of accessibility has a broad and general meaning. Making public transport accessible

entails an approach that both deals with issues on an overall planning level to locate a station

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correctly and operate it effectively, and on a detailed level to design a station environment so that

everyone can get around. This accessibility also extends to individuals with disabilities. In the

planning work, consideration must be given to how a station facility as a whole integrates with,

and connects to the surrounding environment. In this way, stations and public transport truly

become accessible, reachable and useful to all.

The framework of the process

Planning for a station, new construction or reconstruction, is based on the requirements of the

local planning and building rules and regulations and follows the formal planning process in

accordance with the law concerning the construction of railways. It is a planning system that is

based on the entire railway facility and its technical nature with all the requirements and

restrictions that the function entails. However, a station, the connection point with the

surroundings and the part of the facility that constitutes the public space have a more complex

planning prerequisite.

Whilst the railway engineering functions must be determined, a station constitutes an urban issue

and a construction issue, in which a transnational approach and more planning issues must be

accommodated than those that normally govern the purely technical railway facility. A station, as

a customer environment with strict quality criteria and as a public space in the city, requires the

interaction of many stakeholders. The municipality, public and private property owners, transport

authorities, transport operating companies, parking and taxi firms, and private traders are

examples of parties with different requirements and needs in a station environment. A successful

approach does not only involve the management of formal planning arrangements. Informal

forms of cooperation also play a major role in creating a comprehensive approach and achieving

shared objectives.

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Kings Cross Station Siting
The Challenge

King’s Cross presented a regeneration challenge. In 1996, a decision was made to finally develop

it to international standards, thus the area required a fresh identity to encourage a healthier

neighborhood and attractive destination. King’s Cross had been suffering from years of decline,

a district that had long been shunned by big business and investment. During the Victorian era it

had been a thriving industrial transport hub, but by the 1970s its distribution buildings and

warehouses had fallen to dereliction. Nightclubs and artists had moved in, and the area suffered

from a nasty reputation. By the 1980s, it was the lowest-rent area for central London offices,

with commercial stock mostly unchanged since the 19th century. The area was densely populated

with lower-income groups, council tenants, and local enterprises. Fortunately due to the

regeneration scheme, a new and fresh identity is successfully taking root. As a result, King’s

Cross has won an array of awards, and praise from London mayor Boris Johnson. King’s Cross

has also become an exemplar of place-making practice within the U.K. real estate community.

The Site

To select a site a number of options have to be assessed that involves the following factors; a.

Location and availability of land

b. Accessibility

c. Type of Building

d. Cost

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King’s Cross was built in inner-city land in central London that made it easily accessible. Before

development began, the site consisted of disused buildings, railway sidings, warehouses, and

contaminated land, as well as a variety of historic buildings, structures, and surfaces that had

survived the site’s former existence as a Victorian townscape. The south half of the site was

densely occupied with structures from the transport hub, including gasworks, gasholders,

railways, and storage and interchange buildings. This transport hub supports 63 million

passengers a year and offers access to six London Underground lines, two national mainline

train stations, and an international high-speed rail connecting Eurostar passengers to Paris in just

over two hours.The Regent’s Canal runs east to west through the middle of the site, and the

Camley Street Natural Park, an urban nature reserve, lies within the area alongside the western

bank of the canal. Although the site’s boundaries do not include either, the developer has always

aspired to engage positively with these neighbours, adopting a “blurred boundary” approach that

complements the King’s Cross public realm and green-space offering.

Transport Stimulus

The potential to align the transport accessibility of King’s Cross with a vibrant scheme had long

been recognised. Various planning policies for large-scale redevelopment of the area had

surfaced in the decades leading up to the master plan that is materialized. However, the decision

in 1996 to move Britain’s first highspeed railway, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, from London

Waterloo rail station to St. Pancras which is near the site, that provided the catalyst for

landowners LCR and Exel (now DHL) to develop the site.

The landowners were also encouraged by the major implications of upgrades and restoration of

the Underground stations and national mainline stations on the site that were set to be complete

by 2007. They realised that any proposal needed to respond to and accommodate the large

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numbers of people who would be using the new international interchange. “More than 63 million

passengers would pass through the combined King’s Cross–St. Pancras interchange by 2022.

King’s Cross, as a place, must be attractive to them. It must also be safe, easy to understand, and

easy to navigate,” outlined the landowners and Argent in a 2001 consultation document.

Kings Cross Railway Station Layout

The station is in the London Borough of Camden and is next door to the British Library. Two

other major stations, St Pancras and Euston are within walking distance. King’s Cross has 11

platforms; the original building houses platforms one to eight, while a second is home to the

remaining three. Services from the station run to northern England and Scotland, serving major

cities including Cambridge, Dundee, Leeds, Peterborough, Hull, Doncaster, York, Newcastle,

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. The station is served by six London Underground

metro routes: the Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria and Circle

lines. The new ticket hall has 10 new escalators, six new step-free access lifts, and 300m of new

tunnels linking the ticket hall to the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria line platforms. The Great

Northern Hotel is adjacent to the terminal. The hotel, also designed by Lewis Cubitt, was opened

in May 1854. There is a luggage storage facility opposite the station at the entrance of Euston

road.

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Fig 2: A Kings Cross Station platform.

Fig 3: Kings Cross Station Layout.

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Fig 4: An ariel view of the Kings Cross Railway Station.

Station Appearance

The redevelopment project involves replacing the arched roof of the station, building a

semicircular concourse and demolishing the existing one-storey extension. The new concourse is

designed to be three times the size of the existing concourse and will integrate shops and

restaurants. The total size of the station was increased to from 2,000m² to 8,000m².The new hall

replaced the commercial area and East Coast ticket office. The concourse provides greater access

between the terminal’s intercity and suburban sections. It will improve access to London

Underground, Thameslink and Eurostar services from the nearby St Pancras station. A third

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ticket hall was opened in November 2009 to ease the passenger traffic and reduce waiting times.

The roof of the station, which was completely restored, is 105ft-wide and 800ft-long. It includes

two vaults of clear arch construction. The pillars supporting the roof were initially laminated

timber but later replaced with steel.

Fig 5: A picture of travellers awaiting in the station building.

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Fig 6: Night time appearance of the station.

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 Chapter 3: Station Construction

Introduction

The initial investments in railway construction are massive and long construction periods are

always required. Therefore, it is difficult for modern private companies to assume the risks in of

investing in infrastructure aiming to recover the capital with. In addition, railway construction

comprises of various specialized skills. So usually in most countries this endeavor is taken upon

by governments. To successfully create the systems that ultimately provide safe, secure railway

transportation, organizations with comprehensive technical capacity must manage all aspects to

properly exhibit each specialized skill, including accounting, contracts, land, civil engineering,

tracks, electricity, buildings and machinery. (Davenne, 2019)

Kings Cross Station Construction

King's Cross station was designed by Lewis Cubitt in 1852 and was the largest single-span

structure in Europe. The roof is 105ft wide by 800ft long and was originally supported by

laminated timber. However, this was subsequently replaced by steel. (Durant, 2010). In 2006,

planning permission was granted to redevelop the station and regenerate the surrounding areas,

totaling some 8 million sq. ft. The development included simplifying the layout of tracks leading

to this iconic station, improving reliability by making it easier for trains to arrive and leave. It

saw the replacement of the track, signaling and overhead line equipment across the one-and-ahalf

miles on the approach to the station.

The development also included a variety of uses such as a new University and a large amount of

public space straddling Regent's Canal. Arguably, this regeneration created one of the most
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significant changes to London in 300 years. (Littlefield, 2012) (King's Cross Central Limited

Partnership, 2012). The core challenge of the project was to bring the station into the 21st

century and provide a future-roof transport hub suitable for an ever growing city, whilst retaining

the original features of the grade I listed building.

Scope of Works for the Regeneration

• This complicated redevelopment involved:

• Constructing a 1,700 tonne geodesic steel and glass dome over the top of a London

Underground ticket hall.

• Reconstruction of platforms 1 and 8 and shortening of platforms 5 to 8 to enlarge the

concourse.

• A new glass footbridge and escalators serving platforms 1 to 8.

• A new 12 car platform (300m).

• 4,000 m² of refurbished office space.

• 20,000 m² of renewed main shed roof.

• 2,500m² of photovoltaic panels to generate 10% of the station’s power needs.

All this had to proceed without impacting normal station operations.

Key Project Outputs

The main objective of the project was to provide station capacity to handle projected peak hour

passenger demand within a more attractive retail and transport interchange environment. The

main outputs were:

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 • A new western concourse, four times the size of the existing one from 2,000m² to

8,000m².

• Wider range and quality of commercial outlets better interchange with London.

Underground and St Pancras International Station.

• Renewed main shed roof to provide better lighting.

Chapter 4: Station Operation

The station hosts services on inter-city routes to the East of England, Yorkshire, North East

England and eastern and northern Scotland, connecting to major cities and towns such as

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Cambridge, Peterborough, Hull, Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford, York, Middlesbrough, Sunderland,

Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. Since June 2018, these major routes

have been under government control, taking over from Stagecoach and Virgin.

Train services
Six train operating companies run services from King's Cross:

London North Eastern Railway

London North Eastern Railway operates high speed inter-city services along the East Coast Main

Line.] The standard off-peak service pattern is as follows:

• 1tph (fast service) to Edinburgh Waverley via Newcastle

• 1tph (semi-fast service) to Edinburgh Waverley or Newcastle calling at most stations on

route.

• 2tph to Leeds, of which 1tp2h is extended further into West Yorkshire.  1tph to

Lincoln or York (alternating)

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway operates outer-suburban services to North London, Hertfordshire,

Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk.

Thameslink

 2tph to Cambridge (stopping service)

Great Northern

 2tph to Cambridge (express services) extended to Ely or Kings Lynn (alternating)

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Peak times 2tph to Peterborough via Stevenage (express services)

Hull Trains

Hull Trains operates daily inter-city services to Hull and a limited weekday service to Beverley

via the East Coast Main Line. Unlike other train companies in FirstGroup, Hull Trains operates

under an open-access arrangement and is not a franchised train operating company.

Grand Central

Grand Central operates inter-city services to Bradford and Sunderland along the East Coast Main

Line and is an open-access operator. On 23 May 2010 it began services to Bradford Interchange

via Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield, Pontefract and Doncaster which had originally been

due to begin in December 2009.

On Monday-Friday, there are 4 trains per day to Bradford Interchange (of which 2 will call at

Pontefract Monkhill) and 5 trains per day to Sunderland.

Ticket Purchasing

• Tickets can be purchased at the station. The station remains open until the last train

depart.

• There are accessible ticket machines at this station.

• Collection of pre-purchased tickets

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Facilities at the Kings Cross Railway Station

• Accessible car park equipment, wheelchair users may require assistance using car park

equipment at this station

• ATM Machines

• Bureau de Change

• First class Lounge

• Pay phones and public telephones

• Public Wi-Fi

• Refreshment facilities

• Shops

• Toilets

• Baby changing facilities

• Showers

• Trolleys

• Type of shops available

Cafes, bars, kiosks, restaurants, delicatessens, confectioners, groceries, food and drink to

eat in or take away, clothes, stationery, flowers, photo processing, mobile phones, bureau

de change, shoe repairs, key cutting, Pharmacy and prescriptions, optician, fitness, health

and beauty services.

Intermodal onward travel

Buses
There are bus stops in streets surrounding the station on Euston Road, Goods Way and York

Way.

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Taxis
Accessible taxis are located at the taxi rank situated on Pancras Road just outside of the station.

The taxi rank is located outside the station on Pancras Road. There is a help point at the taxi rank

that can be used to request disability assistance. All London Black Cabs can accommodate

wheelchair passengers without wheelchair users having to leave their wheelchair.

Impaired mobility set down / pick up points available

• There are 3 disabled spaces with 1 hour parking outside Kings Cross station on Pancras

road. There is a help point there that can be used to request disability assistance from

these spaces.

• There is a Disabled Meeting Point on the station concourse (near the Customer

Information desk) where disabled passengers coming into the station can be picked up.

Passenger Assistance

Passenger Information Systems

• Information available from staff at the Rail Information Point is located in the centre of

the Main Concourse.

• Departure screens, Announcements, Arrival screens

• Customer help points are available at the platforms and at the taxi rank as well as using

the rail information point at the centre of the main concourse.

Customer Services

Disability assistance is available to and from platforms, the car park and the taxi rank. You can

request this from the Kings Cross Information Point in the centre of the Main Concourse, station

help points or from any member of staff. It is preferred if disabled assistance is booked 24hours

in advance by using the following numbers of your relevant train operator.

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Left luggage and Lost Property are held by an Excess Baggage Company.

Chapter 5: Station Management

The Kings Cross Railway station is owned and managed by Network Rail. Network Rail owns,

operates and develops Britain's railway infrastructures; that is 20,000 miles of track, 30,000

bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run

20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train

operating companies. The Vision of Network Rail is putting the passengers first their Purpose is

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to get people and goods where they need to be and to support their country's economic

prosperity. Their role is to run a safe, reliable and efficient railway, serving customers and

communities.

Putting Passengers First

Network Rail is changing how it operates. They are pushing devolution further, making routes

more responsive to local needs and cutting through red tape and bureaucracy. Their new

structure enables them to be more responsive to the needs of train operators, passengers and

freight users by bringing people closer to those we serve. They have created 14 routes which are

supported by five Network Rail regions, each led by a managing director. The five Network Rail

regions are Eastern, North West & Central, Scotland's Railway, Southern and Wales & Western.

These five regions were formed in June 2019 and have the budget and capability to take on more

responsibility from other parts of the business. The routes are responsible for operations,

maintenance and minor renewals, including the day-to-day delivery of train performance and the

relationship with their local train operating companies.

Environmental sustainability priorities

Network Rail focuses on four areas that will make the most of the positive impact rail can have

to the lives of passengers, society and the economy while minimizing any negative impact on the

natural environment.

1. Low-emission railway

2. Helping plants and wildlife flourish

3. A reliable railway service that is resilient to climate change

4. Recycling and reusing everything

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 References

Davenne, F., 2019. Railway Stations: Boosting the stations, Paris: International Union of

Railways (UIC.)

Arup, 2012. Fast Facts.

Arup, 2012. Kings SCross tation.

Durant, S., 2010. Victorian Railway Stations.

King's Cross Central Limited Partnership, 2012. The Development.

King's Cross Central Limited Partnership, 2012Who's Developing King's Cross.

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Littlefield, D., 2012. London (Re) Generation., Architectural Design82(1), pp. 32-35.

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