Can we just appreciate the effort that has gone into getting this one shot, edited and uploaded on the same day the extension opened. Fantastic as always Geoff
I second that as well, well done Geoff! I'm hoping to pay a visit over there later on in the week. It must seem strange if starting from one of the two new state of the art pristine condition stations to suddenly find oneself on familiar territory from a different era (i.e. Kennington) a few minutes later...!! I had a hunch that this would open before Cross Liz Purp Rail started running through to Abbey Wood...
Currently enjoying a mini break in London. Heard on the radio this morning about the opening, instantly thought, 'Geoff's gonna be there! When will his video be out? Tomorrow?' You didn't disappoint... 14 hours! Well played, sir!
It’s sad that Celia Drummond (the original voice of the Northern Line announcements) passed away recently meaning she never had the chance to record her lines for this new extension hence why the in-carriage voice for these 2 stations sounded different yet unlikeable.
For those who don't know, she passed away recently on 21/01/2021 at 70 meaning you won't hear her voice being used for new/upcoming stations on the Northern and Jubilee lines.
so clean and shiny. What I love about the underground is the iconic tile work and artistic flair. Did you see anything that 50 years from now people are going to love and admire? Love the kinetic art. I hope the small shop spaces are uniquely enriching
@@jakehowie442 Thank you. I work for A J Wells & Sons. We're based on the Isle of Wight and we make a lot of signage for TFL, most notable vitreous enamel which is what we specialise in.
I second that it should be called Battersea Power Station Station. Am I the only person who calls London Bridge mainline, London London Bridge? Similar convention overlooked. They should be changed!
The new Nine Elms Station makes life so much easier to get into town in the mornings. Stockwell station is a nightmare between 7.30-9am, so using that line is now a joy. Great video and your enthusiasm is infectious!
Reminds me of the day back in 1968 when I got up really early and went on the new Victoria Line on it's first day of operation. Living in Ealing and being aged only 10 I couldn't make it to Walthamstow for the first train. But I was there by nine am and had a great day. All the drivers were leaving the cab doors to the carriage open so we could see the track in front. One of them let me sit in the cab for a journey. Bet they don't do that nowardays. Great day, remembered well 53 years later.
I was at this station today. The area is very clean and new looking. Geoff you have spoiled me on everything on the tube network. Thank you for helping me navigate the city of London.
If I were Banksy, I would "square"² the tube signage overnight so that they read "Battersea Power Station²". More artsy, cost efficient and less awkward sounding than "Battersea Power Station Station" at 06:09 . Thanks for another great video!
Loving the love for the extension and for Geoff's video in the comments. What a kind and supportive community. The Gemeinschaftsgefühl is strong here. ☺️
Also, about the rail map; they made the extension very wavy, which looks a bit funny! And, amazing that you could upload the video the same day it opened. Good work!
Hi Geoff for 3 years I delivered the steel from Wales to Battersea power station a d Nine elms for the apartments. I’ve been watching you for years and this is my first comment. I’m originally from Bethnal Green. The company I worked for was Maurice Hill. And the steel come from BRC in Newport Wales. Also delivered the steel rebar on my Hgv1 to Vauxhall aswell.
The new stations are like the recently opened 34th St Hudson Yards station in NYC - a huge amount more space underground compared to the older stations on the same line and lots more escalators too (in NYC most old stations don't have any escalators at all)
I used to live on Battersea Park Road back in the 90s. I often wished that Battersea was on the tube network. Got there eventually! Another brilliant video Geoff. As a transport nerd, I love you channel 🤓
So nice to have an underground station almost right a outside our door here at the Power Starion. Very spacious , very clean lines and you can see the structure ,the pillars , fully exposed . Quite dramatic in a way …..but I wish they would decorate the stations with some art , some colour. In other countries they commission artist to decorate a whole station and the results are very impressive . Massive murals, sculptures right across the platforms. Just look at the underground stations in Chile … they are amazing . For example Westminster Station has lots of giant ‘alcoves’ that could be filled with amazing things to look at rather than just accumulate dust for the next 20 years . London understand lacks vision regarding making the stations as pleasant as possible …. The only colour you find is from paid advertising. Almost as if there is ‘no need’ to make the travelling experience as exiting as possible . Let alone that it took almost 30 years of talking about to finally have some sort of pseudo air conditioning in some lines. Don’t even want to mention the horrible noises with extremely high decibels that come from the trains in the tunnels .
We've been to London over the weekend, and I remembered this will open soon, and when I checked that the exact opening is Monday morning, only a few hours later we left London I was a bit disappointed. But thanks to Geoff I could be a part of this opening for a little at least. Amazing video as usual and it's great you got it into Trending.
It's carnival time in Battersea! Beautiful video. I didn't get down until later in the morning and I wasn't expecting the throng and the athmosphere. Battersea Power Station station is really splendid: well up to Jubilee Line Extension standards. In the end, I ran out of time and didn't get to use Nine Elms. Going back later in the week to show a friend. I always look forward to your videos and I am old enough to have travelled on first day of Victoria Line phase 1!
Oh hi, Geoff! It was an absolute treat to show up in the backgrounds of some of your shots, as well as in the group photo near the end. I wish I could have been with everyone else in Battersea, but ended up with the rarer honour of being among the first to take a train from Nine Elms (I think I was the fourth to enter the station), mainly because my parents live nextdoor to it. Best part was when my dad came along too, and actually used the extension for his evening commute that same day. We'll probably never know who was the _first_ commuter to use the new stations, but whoever it is probably knows who they are (wasn't my dad though - he got home and went back to sleep, before taking the Victoria Line that morning).
Brilliant video, that is how you open two new station with a fan fare and people singing! Was thinking about popping down myself but was busy myself on the day, but when I pop down to London, I head on a tube train to Battersea Power Station Station.
Someday I will come back to London and I'll make sure to visit Battersea Power Station... Station. You are so lucky to have a transit system that is still building and modernizing.
Impressed both at the two new stations and the speed with which Geoff got this video edited and uploaded, nice work. However, I don't think Paul Weller intended Going Underground to be a happy, jaunty singalong about riding the tube lines...
There's one more place that will be named really awkwardly: the warehouse, well, the space within/near the tube station where they 'make' the 630VDC from the big kilovolts of the normal power network. Its name would be Battersea Power Station Station Power Station.
The extension looks really good. It will make life easier for locals and for people getting to the Battersea area, just like the Jubilee Line extension did for the Docklands Bermondsey and Canning Town. Hopefully the planned extension of the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham will be next in line despite TFL's financial situation.
There was in fact a Tube challenge attempt (or at least a version without Heathrow T4) taking place yesterday! I saw two people attempting it getting off from the Piccadilly line at Kings Cross St Pancras yesterday, and they confirmed that they were indeed attempting the Tube challenge.
In Sydney and the surrounding regions the trains aren't great ("Not great, not terrible" - a respectable but unexceptional 3.6 stars) but we do have the benefit that, unlike London, they are universally affordable, and even the outermost lines of the intercity network out into the Blue Mountains, the Illawarra and Hunter Valley run pretty much 24/7, have decent air con (mostly.... looking at you, V sets) and clean, well kept stations. I'm always absolutely shocked and gutted and how expensive transport is in London (and England in general). It feels very much like a for-profit enterprise rather than a public service, trains and stations desperately need a deep clean. That said, this extension looks like a step in the right direction, and London desperately needs some good news and fresh investment, so it's good to see :)
@@lmlmd2714 Apples and Oranges, the National Rail network is nothing like TFL. The UK performed a leap-into-the-dark rail privatisation experiment decades ago (thankfully being quietly put down during the pandemic and there is a good youtube video on why no other country has yet bothered to copy it), so yes networks were franchised out to rail operators and so of course the winning companies squeezed out the profits, many lines (ie London commuter and Inter-City business lines) were cash-cows for state-owned foreign companies (wonder where Dutch, Italian and Germany etc get their rail fare subsidies from ;). However also during this time Network Rail paid by the British tax payer and subsidied by station retail invested record amounts in upgrading rail infrastructure, so these expensive tickets werent completely wasted, however this is largely playing catch as it should have been happening in the 1970s and 1980s. Transport for London, TFL is a public body that does not make a profit for shareholders, any profit is put back into the system. The far larger transport system in London is its bus network which offers cheap 24 hour transport for low paid workers, you can travel right across London with multiple changes for £2, the ageing Underground network and extensions of deep-level lines is far more expensive to maintain than modern cut-n-cover built networks hence the higher costs. TFL does not get any subsidy for operational costs while the relatively new position of Mayor of London has very little fund-raising powers compared to most city-level administrations in other countries while project borrowing always has to go through central government (Department of Transport) which can be anatognisitic or supportive depending on political compatibility (currently there is more political capital to appear less London-centric and to cancel big projects), so basically unless voters in other parts of the UK think that they would like to pay more tax to subsidise London underground fares (unlikely), TFL is going to largely rely on fare income (an archilles heel revealed by the pandemic Lockdown). These two stations and line extenstion were mostly funded by the Malaysian goverment owned property development of Battersea Power Station and property developers in Nine Elms (even the US Government!), so thanks rich people buying small apartments and tax payers of the US and Malaysia! The obvious win-win answer would be to give more fund raising powers to the London Mayor and remove them from local authorities to reduce the tax burden on companies and population and to enable lower borrowing costs, but that would require that to even be on the radar of national politics for it to be contemplated but currently there are multiple bigger fish to fry.
As much as I like seeing new routes/stations opened , meanwhile up north we’ve had all our overtime cut and many are leaving the industry. (Railway trackman )
Geoff once again digs out little details you don't really have to know but he makes you feel you do, e.g. matching the different generation switchgear at Kennington or the planned independent coffee shop at Battersea PS. Normally, as someone who lives over a hundred miles from the capital and very rarely goes there, I find videos extolling the latest bit of multi-million pound high-tech investment in London to be a bit tedious but once again Geoff ushers you along on a tide of enthusiasm.
I like seeing it and like visiting, and I don't begrudge Londoners their transport infrastructure, just wish the rest of us could benefit from similar investment where we live.
Extensions are always good and this is reminding me of the the tube extension of the blue metro line that they are currently building here in Stockholm, Sweden I think it will be like 10 new staions on the blue but one branch of the green will be converted into being of the blue line instead. They will also add a new line with at least 4 stations on it.
I saw the story on the news this morning that BPS had opened at 05:30 and that 100 people ran in to catch the first service... at which point I started my countdown to Geoff's video. 😃
Fantastic video as always sir, had the massive pleasure of meeting you today during a cheeky lunch break. Hope you like the new stations, we are very proud of them! ☺️
1:10 - "I don't know if it's going up the Charing Cross branch or the Bank branch"... I thought the trains on the new branch can only go up the Charing Cross branch?
If only - on to Clapham Junction, Central Wandsworth, East Putney, Roehampton, Kingston University, Kingston. A dream since childhood to cover the inner A3 spine. I'm in my seventies now so I will never live to see it.
I really liked the behind the scenes info from last Thursday, BPS is an impressive station, with built in scope for expansion. A massive contrast with some of the horribly cramped stations elsewhere on the line, such as Clapham Common and Clapham North with their horrendous narrow island platforms.
Great video and cannot wait to visit the two new stations on the Northern line extension soon! Both do look like the platforms at Canada Water, Canary Wharf and North Greenwich (kinda). Jubilee line vibes right there!
Little cameo from Andy Byford near the end there. Any chance we could get him on the channel for a brief interview? That'd make for some fascinating content.
Can we just appreciate the effort that has gone into getting this one shot, edited and uploaded on the same day the extension opened. Fantastic as always Geoff
thanks Mark, humbly appreciated. it takes a lot of work for sure! thank you.
Yes! Well done 👍🏻 excellent work
I second that as well, well done Geoff! I'm hoping to pay a visit over there later on in the week. It must seem strange if starting from one of the two new state of the art pristine condition stations to suddenly find oneself on familiar territory from a different era (i.e. Kennington) a few minutes later...!! I had a hunch that this would open before Cross Liz Purp Rail started running through to Abbey Wood...
And the extra effort of getting a mask with matching moquette!! Geoff doesnt do things by halves
10th on tending!
Currently enjoying a mini break in London. Heard on the radio this morning about the opening, instantly thought, 'Geoff's gonna be there! When will his video be out? Tomorrow?' You didn't disappoint... 14 hours! Well played, sir!
But who was really hoping for a same day drop! I know I checked lol
It’s sad that Celia Drummond (the original voice of the Northern Line announcements) passed away recently meaning she never had the chance to record her lines for this new extension hence why the in-carriage voice for these 2 stations sounded different yet unlikeable.
Damn, I noticed the voice being different, didn't know she died though. RIP
RIP Celia.
For those who don't know, she passed away recently on 21/01/2021 at 70 meaning you won't hear her voice being used for new/upcoming stations on the Northern and Jubilee lines.
@@NiXnipe I'm sure with today's technology they can sample her voice and synthesise the new station names :-) RIP a much loved voice...
69th like LOL
Hi Geoff, I Was In Your Video! I’m The Little Boy Who You Took A Photo With At The Roundel! Lovely Meeting You! Thanks For The Autograph!
So sweet to see your video as well man! Keep doing what you love good luck to you!
@@hartstukken awww thanks!
Can I have the timestamp
@@harshalhosany2 9:44
@@winstonsmith2079 that’s not me
so clean and shiny. What I love about the underground is the iconic tile work and artistic flair. Did you see anything that 50 years from now people are going to love and admire? Love the kinetic art. I hope the small shop spaces are uniquely enriching
Jay Foreman now needs to rewrite his Tube Stations Song because of this.
probably he won't rewrite it
@@ElTipoEspañol Maybe to you, but not to me!
Just plonk it on the end before Bank in his long list. Job done
I've worked on the signage artwork for this project for the last few years. It's wonderful seeing it all in place and open.
What signage did you do? All of it
@@jakehowie442 All of the vitreous enamel signs, the illuminated signs and much of the vinyl signs
Good job man, you work for a design and signage company then?
@@jakehowie442 Thank you. I work for A J Wells & Sons. We're based on the Isle of Wight and we make a lot of signage for TFL, most notable vitreous enamel which is what we specialise in.
That’s really cool, British manufacturing and not based in London. Y’all must look at your work every time you walk pass
It’s great to see the London Underground network and it’s stations growing and getting better!
Yep, it just grows all the time lol
Well the battersea power station need to sort their lifts out because they’re no good for people in wheelchairs. They aren’t big enough
@@unforgettableflower613 fair point, but they’ll probably implement that at a later date like usual
What a city under ground and above ground the greatest in the world and still getting better
I second that it should be called Battersea Power Station Station. Am I the only person who calls London Bridge mainline, London London Bridge? Similar convention overlooked. They should be changed!
London London Bridge Bridge?
Its official name is Battersea Power Station Underground Station
@Timothy no maybe more like Battersea Power Station Northern Line Station officially the name of it
@@ce_1upp No, thats the OFFICIAL name. You can check TfL's single fare finder if you want
Everything looks so clean and so fresh. Thanks for the video Geoff
So fresh and so clean, clean
The transports nerds/enthusiasts population was well represented.
Love the song/music at the end -- great job by TFL to include.
The new Nine Elms Station makes life so much easier to get into town in the mornings. Stockwell station is a nightmare between 7.30-9am, so using that line is now a joy. Great video and your enthusiasm is infectious!
Reminds me of the day back in 1968 when I got up really early and went on the new Victoria Line on it's first day of operation. Living in Ealing and being aged only 10 I couldn't make it to Walthamstow for the first train. But I was there by nine am and had a great day. All the drivers were leaving the cab doors to the carriage open so we could see the track in front. One of them let me sit in the cab for a journey. Bet they don't do that nowardays. Great day, remembered well 53 years later.
The fact you got this recoded, edited and uploaded in one day is amazing Geoff! Thankyou!
I was at this station today. The area is very clean and new looking. Geoff you have spoiled me on everything on the tube network. Thank you for helping me navigate the city of London.
If I were Banksy, I would "square"² the tube signage overnight so that they read "Battersea Power Station²". More artsy, cost efficient and less awkward sounding than "Battersea Power Station Station" at 06:09 . Thanks for another great video!
Nice
What an excellent vlog to watch of the opening of the two new stations for the Northen Line.
Great Video - So glad that the platforms don't have those horrible, thick barriers to block off the line.
Christmas has come early, vicariously, via Geoff's Northern Line adventure.
Loving the love for the extension and for Geoff's video in the comments. What a kind and supportive community. The Gemeinschaftsgefühl is strong here. ☺️
The nice people of the world sometimes get together and have fun. This is just lovely.
The new stations are so cool. It doesn’t feel dingy.
Only takes one good night out to fill it with piss sick and booze! 😂🤣😂
Yet
@@arghjayem Halloween is coming soon.
@@lukewest7216 Ah! Forgot about that.
@Cian MacGana I never said that. I love the London Underground but there are stations that could do with better lighting and enlarged spaces.
Geoff Marshall THE Supreme Tube You Tuber ...his enthusiasm ,knowledge and style are utterly addictive and infectious.
Eric Morecambe would have had fun with 'Battersea Power Station Station' like he used to with 'Liverpool Station Street'!
Your commitment to a topic I never knew I cared about is amazing. Just discovered your channel and concurrently watching All Stations. Thankyou🙏🏾
Reading twitter the last 24 hours and the only thing I could think about was "when is Geoff going to upload it!!!"
People still read twitter?
@@mattevans4377 Yes, I was camping this video to be the first viewer and Twitter had all the progress updates
Oh, cool. That will be more convenient to reach to a place where you desire when there are more new station established. Thanks for sharing.
Also, about the rail map; they made the extension very wavy, which looks a bit funny! And, amazing that you could upload the video the same day it opened. Good work!
I don't understand the reason for the bend in the line on the tube map.
Hi Geoff for 3 years I delivered the steel from Wales to Battersea power station a d Nine elms for the apartments. I’ve been watching you for years and this is my first comment. I’m originally from Bethnal Green. The company I worked for was Maurice Hill. And the steel come from BRC in Newport Wales. Also delivered the steel rebar on my Hgv1 to Vauxhall aswell.
The new stations are like the recently opened 34th St Hudson Yards station in NYC - a huge amount more space underground compared to the older stations on the same line and lots more escalators too (in NYC most old stations don't have any escalators at all)
Would be good to see Geoff cover NY. I loved his U-bahn video.
Or all the new stations on 2nd avenue on the upper east side… now if they’d only build the rest of the 2nd avenue line.
i actually live in nyc and ive seen both the 34th St Hudson Yards station and the 2nd avenue subway!
@@alanlittle4589 usa has travel restrictions atm, maybe soon
'in NYC most old stations don't have any escalators at all ...'. There are lots of stairs, some very steep - I'm looking at you Kosciuszko Street 😬
The cinematography in this video is so good
Thank you Geoff for all your amazing videos, I love them!
Best video ever?? Tough call but it's up there for sure! Well done Geoff, loved every second.
Great video! Looking forward to exploring the two new stations soon. Hopefully will have my new t-shirts by then too!
I love seeing how advanced London is over my home town Melbourne in Aus, it’s brilliant!
I used to live on Battersea Park Road back in the 90s. I often wished that Battersea was on the tube network. Got there eventually! Another brilliant video Geoff. As a transport nerd, I love you channel 🤓
Fantastic, informative, interesting and I want to ride on those trains now. Thank you Geoff for showing us these wonderful stations x
So nice to have an underground station almost right a outside our door here at the Power Starion. Very spacious , very clean lines and you can see the structure ,the pillars , fully exposed . Quite dramatic in a way …..but I wish they would decorate the stations with some art , some colour. In other countries they commission artist to decorate a whole station and the results are very impressive . Massive murals, sculptures right across the platforms. Just look at the underground stations in Chile … they are amazing . For example Westminster Station has lots of giant ‘alcoves’ that could be filled with amazing things to look at rather than just accumulate dust for the next 20 years . London understand lacks vision regarding making the stations as pleasant as possible …. The only colour you find is from paid advertising. Almost as if there is ‘no need’ to make the travelling experience as exiting as possible . Let alone that it took almost 30 years of talking about to finally have some sort of pseudo air conditioning in some lines. Don’t even want to mention the horrible noises with extremely high decibels that come from the trains in the tunnels .
It was very nice meeting you Geoff, thank you for including us in your video :)
My pleasure! :-)
We've been to London over the weekend, and I remembered this will open soon, and when I checked that the exact opening is Monday morning, only a few hours later we left London I was a bit disappointed. But thanks to Geoff I could be a part of this opening for a little at least. Amazing video as usual and it's great you got it into Trending.
It's carnival time in Battersea! Beautiful video. I didn't get down until later in the morning and I wasn't expecting the throng and the athmosphere. Battersea Power Station station is really splendid: well up to Jubilee Line Extension standards. In the end, I ran out of time and didn't get to use Nine Elms. Going back later in the week to show a friend. I always look forward to your videos and I am old enough to have travelled on first day of Victoria Line phase 1!
Oh hi, Geoff! It was an absolute treat to show up in the backgrounds of some of your shots, as well as in the group photo near the end. I wish I could have been with everyone else in Battersea, but ended up with the rarer honour of being among the first to take a train from Nine Elms (I think I was the fourth to enter the station), mainly because my parents live nextdoor to it. Best part was when my dad came along too, and actually used the extension for his evening commute that same day.
We'll probably never know who was the _first_ commuter to use the new stations, but whoever it is probably knows who they are (wasn't my dad though - he got home and went back to sleep, before taking the Victoria Line that morning).
It’s good to see all of the fellow nerds come together in one place smiling from ear to ear, lovely stuff
Nice one Geoff. Impressed with the quick turnaround on the editing! Top job!
Brilliant video, that is how you open two new station with a fan fare and people singing! Was thinking about popping down myself but was busy myself on the day, but when I pop down to London, I head on a tube train to Battersea Power Station Station.
jay foreman will have to update the underground stations song
Yeah, I asked him about it at his concert in Cambridge yesterday
@@hesterclapp9717 what did he say?
Thank you Geoff for this concise overview and for all your great work.
I intend a trip down there very soon…
I must admit I'm quite looking forward to visiting Station Power Battersea Battersea.
Battersea is a lovely area of London, made even easier now with the opening of the Station, Station. Can't wait to catch my first train there
The one we have been waiting for!
Just need the Elizabeth Line To open, And Jay Foreman’s New LU Song! Well good luck with that 👍
Someday I will come back to London and I'll make sure to visit Battersea Power Station... Station. You are so lucky to have a transit system that is still building and modernizing.
Battersea Power Station Station Station
Hey
Would that be like the ticket station at Battersea Power Station Station?
Absolutely lovely video can’t wait to get to London and have a visit to Battersea Power Station Station 👍 thanks Geoff
Impressed both at the two new stations and the speed with which Geoff got this video edited and uploaded, nice work. However, I don't think Paul Weller intended Going Underground to be a happy, jaunty singalong about riding the tube lines...
I love your passion, it makes me so happy to see you happy
There's one more place that will be named really awkwardly: the warehouse, well, the space within/near the tube station where they 'make' the 630VDC from the big kilovolts of the normal power network. Its name would be Battersea Power Station Station Power Station.
Just got back from my visit - over and above anything else it was lovely to see so many fellow enthusiasts out and about at the two stations!
It is great to see the extension open! The stations are nice.
It looks like a great atmosphere. It's great to see more stations south of the river.
The extension looks really good. It will make life easier for locals and for people getting to the Battersea area, just like the Jubilee Line extension did for the Docklands Bermondsey and Canning Town. Hopefully the planned extension of the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham will be next in line despite TFL's financial situation.
That won't happen till the line gets new trains which will be around 2030
Thank you for this excellent video - superbly filmed and rapidly edited! I look forward to going to Battersea Power Station Station!
There was in fact a Tube challenge attempt (or at least a version without Heathrow T4) taking place yesterday! I saw two people attempting it getting off from the Piccadilly line at Kings Cross St Pancras yesterday, and they confirmed that they were indeed attempting the Tube challenge.
Great information. Thank you for sharing this video.
I envy you guys. You have a fantastic transit system! Something the rest of us could and should aspire to. Great job on the video Geoff!
In Sydney and the surrounding regions the trains aren't great ("Not great, not terrible" - a respectable but unexceptional 3.6 stars) but we do have the benefit that, unlike London, they are universally affordable, and even the outermost lines of the intercity network out into the Blue Mountains, the Illawarra and Hunter Valley run pretty much 24/7, have decent air con (mostly.... looking at you, V sets) and clean, well kept stations. I'm always absolutely shocked and gutted and how expensive transport is in London (and England in general). It feels very much like a for-profit enterprise rather than a public service, trains and stations desperately need a deep clean. That said, this extension looks like a step in the right direction, and London desperately needs some good news and fresh investment, so it's good to see :)
@@lmlmd2714 Apples and Oranges, the National Rail network is nothing like TFL. The UK performed a leap-into-the-dark rail privatisation experiment decades ago (thankfully being quietly put down during the pandemic and there is a good youtube video on why no other country has yet bothered to copy it), so yes networks were franchised out to rail operators and so of course the winning companies squeezed out the profits, many lines (ie London commuter and Inter-City business lines) were cash-cows for state-owned foreign companies (wonder where Dutch, Italian and Germany etc get their rail fare subsidies from ;). However also during this time Network Rail paid by the British tax payer and subsidied by station retail invested record amounts in upgrading rail infrastructure, so these expensive tickets werent completely wasted, however this is largely playing catch as it should have been happening in the 1970s and 1980s.
Transport for London, TFL is a public body that does not make a profit for shareholders, any profit is put back into the system. The far larger transport system in London is its bus network which offers cheap 24 hour transport for low paid workers, you can travel right across London with multiple changes for £2, the ageing Underground network and extensions of deep-level lines is far more expensive to maintain than modern cut-n-cover built networks hence the higher costs. TFL does not get any subsidy for operational costs while the relatively new position of Mayor of London has very little fund-raising powers compared to most city-level administrations in other countries while project borrowing always has to go through central government (Department of Transport) which can be anatognisitic or supportive depending on political compatibility (currently there is more political capital to appear less London-centric and to cancel big projects), so basically unless voters in other parts of the UK think that they would like to pay more tax to subsidise London underground fares (unlikely), TFL is going to largely rely on fare income (an archilles heel revealed by the pandemic Lockdown).
These two stations and line extenstion were mostly funded by the Malaysian goverment owned property development of Battersea Power Station and property developers in Nine Elms (even the US Government!), so thanks rich people buying small apartments and tax payers of the US and Malaysia!
The obvious win-win answer would be to give more fund raising powers to the London Mayor and remove them from local authorities to reduce the tax burden on companies and population and to enable lower borrowing costs, but that would require that to even be on the radar of national politics for it to be contemplated but currently there are multiple bigger fish to fry.
Brilliant. And everyone is having so much fun.
As much as I like seeing new routes/stations opened , meanwhile up north we’ve had all our overtime cut and many are leaving the industry. (Railway trackman )
So lucky to have such beautiful trains
Geoff saying ‘Battersea Power Station Station’. Hilarious 😂
Geoff has also said Station Power Station Battersea Station Underground Station
Very inviting stations, well illustrated in your videos. Loved your Station-Station effect ;-)
Geoff once again digs out little details you don't really have to know but he makes you feel you do, e.g. matching the different generation switchgear at Kennington or the planned independent coffee shop at Battersea PS. Normally, as someone who lives over a hundred miles from the capital and very rarely goes there, I find videos extolling the latest bit of multi-million pound high-tech investment in London to be a bit tedious but once again Geoff ushers you along on a tide of enthusiasm.
I like seeing it and like visiting, and I don't begrudge Londoners their transport infrastructure, just wish the rest of us could benefit from similar investment where we live.
Great stuff Geoff. Love that postcard by Neil. Fantastic work. I shall now have to christen it myself. An excuse to have a poke around I guess 😜
I can't help but be disappointed that there was no flying pig between the smokestacks at the Battersea Power Station.
it's only a matter of time. Enough tourists just need to ask for it.
Missing London, missing the Northern Line. Lovely video Geoff, thank you.
Extensions are always good and this is reminding me of the the tube extension of the blue metro line that they are currently building here in Stockholm, Sweden I think it will be like 10 new staions on the blue but one branch of the green will be converted into being of the blue line instead.
They will also add a new line with at least 4 stations on it.
?
@@gregjalepeno6769 I am Swedish and seeing those extensions in London, UK reminded me of the extentions here in Stockholm, Sweden
Well done 👍
Thanks for the video
Battersea resident !!
This station looks so nice!
Thanks for this Geoff. Love your channel.
Can’t wait to see Geoff do a tube challenge with the new stops!
Something about that made me feel really happy! Thanks Geoff.
I saw the story on the news this morning that BPS had opened at 05:30 and that 100 people ran in to catch the first service... at which point I started my countdown to Geoff's video. 😃
Like the train driver/signallers weren't order to wait for the press and everyone else, imagine the headlines if the train had left without them!
Fantastic video as always sir, had the massive pleasure of meeting you today during a cheeky lunch break. Hope you like the new stations, we are very proud of them! ☺️
1:10 - "I don't know if it's going up the Charing Cross branch or the Bank branch"... I thought the trains on the new branch can only go up the Charing Cross branch?
He didn't quite realize that at that moment
You're right, the Bank branch is not connected to the Battersea branch
That's a 5am brain
I just had a ride on the extension and it’s great! Love the design.
If only - on to Clapham Junction, Central Wandsworth, East Putney, Roehampton, Kingston University, Kingston. A dream since childhood to cover the inner A3 spine. I'm in my seventies now so I will never live to see it.
Honestly- these videos are so happy! Geeky and proud!! I love them.
I really liked the behind the scenes info from last Thursday, BPS is an impressive station, with built in scope for expansion. A massive contrast with some of the horribly cramped stations elsewhere on the line, such as Clapham Common and Clapham North with their horrendous narrow island platforms.
I like the narrow island platforms, its unique but tbh im 6'6 and dyspraxic so standing there is a bit scary sometimes
Nice to know that we can still do this sort of thing in this country
Only officially open when Geoff’s video is down loaded 😀
Very impressive. I visited both stations today 👍
I read about this in the news and thought, "Geoff will make a video quite soon".
Yes Geoff, it was lovely to meet you!!
Nice escalators 🔥
Also props for making sure the bit of The Jam got edited in. As always Geoff 🎖
Just "Battersea Power" on its own would be a perfectly fine name.
Exactly. "Battersea Power Station station" just sounds wrong.
I'd rather it be called Battersea Park as it's very close to the railway station of the same name
It will probably get the moniker "station station".
Battersea Power sounds even siller.
My choice would have been 'Battersea Riverside'.
Great video and cannot wait to visit the two new stations on the Northern line extension soon! Both do look like the platforms at Canada Water, Canary Wharf and North Greenwich (kinda). Jubilee line vibes right there!
Little cameo from Andy Byford near the end there. Any chance we could get him on the channel for a brief interview? That'd make for some fascinating content.
I thought all new stations would have the safety barriers. So happy that I can now take the tube all the way to Battersea Park,
Hi Geoff how was it I might go there this weekend looks amazing hope you enjoyed your day
Nice work Geoff, very informative and interesting reminds me a bit of the Metro in New York, the new 72nd street station.