Junction Stations: The Key to Keeping Your Transit Network Flowing
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
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From Clapham Junction to Ostkreuz, the stations in a transit network where the tracks split apart are often among the most important. In today's video we talk about why and how to design a fantastic junction station. Enjoy!
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🎶 Conjunction, junction, what's your function?🎶 😆
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses
Construction junction, what's your function?
Ah, Saturday morning television from days of old.
A junction is a spot where two transport lines cross. It's a vital component in the manifestation of honking concerts.
A conjunction describes two celestial bodies in your horoscope sitting at roughly the same spot. Whether that's good or bad strongly depends on which bodies they are. :p
You Schoolhouse Rock!😀
RM is turning the bullying of metrolinx into an all stopping grade separated Scarborough station and Spadina up to 11 at this stage and I’m all here for it
The lack of Scarborough interchange dumbfounds me. Once there's 15 min all day service is on both lines, it'll be even more needed.
@@Mystro256how about Bloor GO with Kitchener and Milton Line & UP Express?
@@TheRandCrews Harder to fit that one in!
It doesn't need to be grade separated since the Stouffville tracks are both on the north ;) thought that would be nice!
@@RMTransit Have you written any formal letters of suggestion to Metrolinx/Ministry of Transport/City of Toronto about this? It's entirely possible that the people in charge of the GO Network decisions have not considered this, or have some other philosophy with regards to the network that they might be willing to explain, which would then offer another video idea relaying and/or criticizing the philosophy.
This also in large part applies to nationwide mainline rail networks. In Sweden, there are several small towns with big unexpectedly large railway stations because several lines cross. A good example of this is Herrljunga, a town of ~3500 with a 7 track train station
Oh absolutely, it scales down to trams as well! Of course there are some adjustments to make!
On top of the reasons you mentioned for why junction stations are important, seeing how junction stations operate is just so cool! One of my favorite junction stations is Secaucus Junction which opened in 2003, named after NJ Senator Lautenberg as he was the one who helped allocate the funds to build it! He was a big supporter of NJT and Amtrak, including Access to the Region's Core. When he passed in 2013, he was fittingly carried onto an Amtrak funeral train from Secaucus Junction en route to DC. Secaucus Junction is such an engineering marvel that was a no-brainer and has helped so many. Designing such a massive station without disrupting the active NEC and making it withstand the nearly constant vibration was such a challenge, but they took it head on. NJT buses, trains, and light-rail aren't perfect, but with how much of the state you can travel to and from, the NJT system really does punches above its weight.
Another favorite of mine is the Jamaica LIRR station. The station is located at the junction between the LIRR's three main trunk routes, its Main Line, Atlantic Branch, and Montauk Branch. Thus, all LIRR branch services except the Port Washington Branch operates through there, making operations there quite the challenge, as well as the fact besides connecting to different trains, those heading to JFK get off there for the AirTrain! Jamaica originally opened in 1836, but a new station was built in the 1910s to replace two former stations (the other station was for the South Side Railroad of LI). The station was renovated and expanded in the early 2000s in conjunction with the AirTrain terminal, adding new platforms, Jamaica Control Center, steel and glass canopy, pedestrian bridge, and elevators. Capacity improvements in the late 2010s, completed in 2021, helped Jamaica prepare for East Side Access/GCM.
Clapham Junction is really useful, having used it many times to go from Reading area to Brighton area.
Reading area to Brighton area? Wouldn’t it be faster and cheaper to travel via the North Downs Line and change at Gatwick?
@@KasabianFan44 Ticket price is the same.
@@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire
Since when? I have commuted on a similar route a few times, and the fares were cheaper purely because I was avoiding London!
@@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire
I just checked, and yeah looks like you’re right. Apparently it’s only more expensive if you go through zone 1 (£42.80 via Gatwick or via Clapham Junction, vs £49.20 via Paddington).
@@KasabianFan44 Since at least 2010. Clapham Junction isn't a London Terminal so, not via London terminals tickets are valid via Clapham Junction. On the speed point going via North Downs Can be faster. I find going via Clapham Junction is more fun because can watch trains go past.
Jamaica is one of my favorite stations, and (in my opinion) the best junction station. There’s a reason it’s the USA’s third busiest station, as it connects 9 branches to the east, and four to the west/city center with 800+ trains/day on 10 tracks with lots of cross platform transfers. It’s suffered from the “Jamaica Crawl” in the past, but that’s getting better with the ongoing improvements to the adjacent interlockings.
Jamaica is great, but you've gotta see how good Jamaica could be looking at stations in other cities ;) I wish they'd restart more through service on the Atlantic Branch!
When I was growing up in Brooklyn, I had to "change at Jamaica" to catch the Montauk train. I had to go from track 6 to track 8, using the train on track 7 from Penn Station as a bridge. The process was track 1 to 3 westbound. I used to get scared that the doors would close on the bridge train and I'd be stuck on the wrong one but it never happened. That's still better than the "up & over" transfer now that the Atlantic Branch is just a shuttle.
You’re not from Long Island if you didn’t know what the phrase “Change at Jamaica” meant.
That Tower 18 in Chicago that you showed at 0:29 is so iconic! The Chicago Loop really is a marvel, especially for the time it was built! Two towers control entry to and exit from the Loop. Tower 12 stands at the southeastern corner, while the famous Tower 18 stands watch over the three-quarter union located at the northwestern corner, which at one time was billed as the busiest railroad interlocking in the world! The current Tower 18 was placed into service in 2010, replacing the former tower on that site that was built in 1969. The Brown Line enters at Tower 18 on the northwest corner, served by the Purple Line during weekday rush hours. The Purple Line terminates by making a full circuit clockwise around the Inner Loop, while the Brown Line terminates by making a full circuit counterclockwise around the Outer Loop.
Following the completion of a full circuit back to Tower 18, trains of these two lines return to their starting points. The Orange Line enters at Tower 12 on the southeast corner, and the Pink Line enters at Tower 18 on the northwest corner. Both terminate by traveling clockwise around the Inner Loop. The Green Line is the only line to use Loop trackage but not terminate on it. Its trains run in both directions along the Lake and Wabash sides from Tower 18 to Tower 12, connecting the Lake Street branch and the South Side Elevated.
In my opinion, this is one of the best features of the S-Bahn trunk line system in many German cities.
Every year, the Dutch railway company publishes a list of the appreciation ranking every station gets, and Lage Zwaluwe has often ranked last, including in the most recent one published very recently. This is due to the fact that it's a station serving a village of only about 4000 people that is over five kilometers away down a barren road. That, combined with the fact that the station is right next to a loud highway, makes it feel very odd and unpleasant. Because of its proximity to the highway as well as the fact that a high speed line passes it, the station features a rather high footbridge from where you can see just how empty it all is. It's also not a station that gets all that many passengers checking in or out, leaving some to wonder why it even exists, or why they don't move it a little further southeast so it's in the village of Zevenbergschen Hoek.
The fact that you published this video now just reminds me of that station and the very recent discussion surrounding it, because Lage Zwaluwe is a junction station for the lines to Breda and Roosendaal. It's definitely not the most important junction out there since Breda and Roosendaal are also connected to each other, but there are still intermediate stations between Lage Zwaluwe and Roosendaal, as well as one station between Lage Zwaluwe and Breda. That's why I suspect this station even still exists, and this video pretty much aligned with my theory perfectly.
Such stations can actually be pretty busy even just wit passengers passing through!
No not on a village of only 4000 people. I still agree with @thoomas2001 (And yes, I am dutch, and I have passed this station many times) @@RMTransit
Dovey Junction in Wales has no connection except by rail at all I belive. Just a island platform where the North Wales coast line and the South Wales coast line meet to form the line that goes through mid Wales towards England. It is literally isolated by marshland but it does allow one to continue a journey along the coast without proceeding inland to the nearest settlement with a station at Machynlleth. I suspect there are similar places around the world as lines often fork along coastlines at the mouth of some estuary and the land in many of these locations is not overly conducive to settlement as they frequently have large coastal marshes around those.
BART in the SF Bay Area has multiple junctions in Oakland to spread the transfer load. Plus, they offer cross platform transfers.
The Stouffville line trains used to stop at Danforth and Scarborough. (I used to take it from Agincourt to Danforth to go to high school.)
Only some! They should all stop! Its been a few years I think since they regularly did so!
Great video. Don't forget that people are much more likely to be comfortable transferring at a small local junction instead of the main station which can be crowded, unintuitive, uncomfortable
For sure, bringing the transfer point closer to people is so valuable!
Weeps quietly in Secaucus
This video is a perfect explanation for why the victoria line in london should stop at manor house station
No. Its not worth billions to build new platforms to save 3 minutes
Finsbury park is an established interchange with connections to the main line. Manor house just... isn't.
The few people who would actually benefit from a connection are only saving like 2 minutes, and anyway, there are tons of direct buses that run between the Vic and pic lines which are faster than the tube
Wolli Creek in Sydney was added as an afterthought after the Airport Rail Link was approved (itself only built to secure the Olympics). It allowed the construction of a huge TOD suburb.
I think a good example for a junction station with 3 outgoing branches is Altona in Hamburg. I mean it has a Branch roughly 90° to the left and right and one straight forward with two platforms. 1 for each direction and 3 lines. It also is the second most used station in Hamburg and is also a major Intercity station.
Yep it absolutely is, when I was making my Hamburg video I really enjoyed scanning around Altona!
Ah, is that why trains into Hamburg Hbf tend to continue to Altona?
@@flp322 Yes, because Hbf is a through station and Altona (for now) a stub terminal. So it is more convenient to let them end/Start in Altona. S-Bahn is a Through station though
Rennweg Station in Vienna is a very overlooked station in Vienna, however is an important junction station in Vienna as it is the last/first station to connect the main line to the branch line that connects Vienna Airport to the city and with an island platform can allow for cross platform transfers.
As a fairly regular visitor to Vienna, I see your point entirely!
As soon as you said the word junction, I just knew Clapham Junction would get a mention. Didn't expect it to get so much of a mention, but I believe it is one of Europe's, if not the world's busiest junction stations by train movements, so makes sense.
Its absolutely among the busiest, it really deserves a complete overhaul if you ask me, big new canopies and platforms etc.!
@@RMTransit Yes. There are plans for it. The platforms are a bit narrow in places, but I don't see that changing with a revamp. I think it'll only get an overhaul if they extend the Northern Line to it (which they really should). I just hope they don't completely cover it over with tower blocks and make it dark and dingy like Birmingham New Street.
check out Kalyan Junction... it serves like a thousand trains and branches of perfectly like illustrated in the video, it shows all the advantages as well as disadvantages.
A very nice example of the network shown at 2:20 is Kettering Station in the Uk, as someone from the town of Corby, i have used this station many times and ever since the opening of the new East Middland Railway (EMR) connect service between Corby and London you can see how the train company has used this new EMU, commuter service to allow them to only stop all their trains from further North such as Sheffield of Nottingham at Ketterign and then powering on to London bypassing Luton, Bedford and Wellingborough in the process. Even some 'local' northen services such as ones that stop at small towns such as Market Harbour (24,000 people) become non stop to London following Kettering as all intermated stops are served by the connect service. The timetabling also helps, when going North and chaning at kettering usally only have to wait 6 minutes max for next train (well i mean when theres no strikes!!!).
A great example of the importance of junction stations:
In Melbourne, the southeastern portion of the rail network is formed by the lines Pakenham & Cranbourne (usually just treated as one line because they branch pretty far out from the city), the Frankston, and the Sandringham. Frankston and Pakenham/Cranbourne junction (although not physically, they run as two sets of parallel track) at Caulfield, and the Frankston, Pakenham/Cranbourne and Sandringham lines all join up at South Yarra.
Soon, the Cranbourne/Pakenham, the busiest line(s) on the network, will be getting their own dedicated tunnel under the city (it's planned to open next year). There was a huge debate - lots of politics which I don't care to get into - about where the line should go underground. Ultimately, they decided to put the tunnel entrance before South Yarra station; tantalizingly close, it's just around the bend from the station entrance. In doing so they've removed the connection with the Sandringham line. Originally, if you were on the Cranbourne Line, you'd transfer to the Sandrigham directly at South Yarra. Soon, you'll have to change trains at Caulfield to the Frankston line to then transfer at South Yarra. What was once an easy trip now entails changing lines for a four stop journey just to change lines again. With Melbourne being notorious for train line closures, this has added another point of failure to your journey. If the Frankston line is down there is now no way to South Yarra by train (from the southeastern corridor) without making a lengthy backtrack from the city.
A little extra context for people who are still interested: After the connection at Cauilfield, the Frankston and Cran/Pak lines have a pretty strange stopping pattern. As mentioned, both lines run parallel as two sets of track all the way through the CBD, although the Cran/Pak usually enters the city loop. Between Caulfield and South Yarra, the Cran/Pak runs express through Malvern, Armadale, Toorak, and Hawksburn, while the Frankston stops. Both lines have platforms at all stations on this segment. If you were getting on at, say, Toorak, you'd take a Frankston train to South Yarra to access the Cran/Pak running into the city loop. With the new section of tunnel opening, suddenly the passengers at these stations have no way of accessing it without backtracking (yuck) all the way to Caulfield before changing and coming back the way they came all just to access the tunnel. Of course the easiest fix would be to have the Cran/Pak stop at Hawksburn, to allow these passengers to access the tunnel.
A final point: South Yarra also has a great interchange with various tram lines which run into the Southbank area, which has no heavy rail. I've used it multiple times to change to trams when I'm travelling around the King's Way/St Kilda Road area. A decision to remove a junction that has weakened the network in the area significantly.
We'll see how it goes once it opens, but I suspect it will sometimes be better to change at Flinders/Town Hall. Especially in off-peak periods.
@@OriginalPiMan which will mean backtracking a significant distance and also having to do a particularly lengthy interchange in the city
@@tspoon772
Not saying it's a good solution; just that it may end up being the fastest solution sometimes.
@@OriginalPiMan I still think changing at Caulfield will be faster, but if the franga is closed, flinders street becomes the best option.
Also one the cards is they reverse the pattern and Frankston does the express while the Cranbourne does the local.
I live in Dortmund, Germany and here the entire Stadtbahn (light rail) system was redesigned from regular trams to be based on only three junction stations. Most of the network is located above ground, except for three tunnels in the city center. There are three stations creating a triangle of tunnels. This allows us to reach every station on the network with max 1 transfer. In total there are 8 lines with 11 branches, since some lines only branch off on one end.
Of course there are also commuter trains (S-Bahn) and regional trains, which are sometimes very helpful to reach a destination that isn't connected to the Stadtbahn system. There is also the H-Bahn (suspension rail), which is fully automated and connects the South and North Campus of the university with each other, as well as one S-Bahn line that runs pretty much through the entire Ruhr area. Because of the valley in the middle, I think that this type of rail actually makes sense and isn't just a gimmick. I mean, it was opened almost 40 years and still runs pretty smoothly
This is one of the frustrating things about the MBTA red line. JFK/Umass is the last stop to transfer between Ashmont and Braintree trains, but it’s WAYY farther north than the junction. There’s even a station only served by Ashmont trains after JFK, but it’s still before the junction. This makes it so transferring from branch to branch is really slow, and a bus is much faster in most cases.
Sydney has strange interchange stations. Sure we have Redfern and Strathfield, great junction stations, but then Granville has been demoted from a major junction station, once carrying express services to a minor junction station, carrying at most rapid services. Whilst it was built as a junction station, the express (T1 Western Lines) are so busy by Granville that the planners decided not to make it more crammed as to conserve what little peak time capacity there still is. Trains run every 3 mins on the express line (best for Sydney Trains) on peak hours and are over capacity then. So backtracking is sometimes necessary if you want to take the express and limited express services from Parramatta
I was waiting for the discussion on Berlin, when you mentioned Ostkreuz, where the public transport network has a lot of junctions. My favourite in Berlin is probably Wuhletal, since it is the only station where the underground and suburban rail networks directly intersect for a cross platform change between the U5 and the S5. It's a shame in Berlin that we seemed to forget about this convenience. The U3 extension has finally been approved to reach the S1 line, but they will not build the new underground station underneath the existing suburban rail station. Therefore, the estimated 12000 daily riders would have to transfer by walking across an entire square!
However, the fact that junctions often involve shared tracks, I would argue can often be a disadvantage. For example, delays on one line tend to create delays on all the other lines. In Berlin, this becomes especially problematic for the lines that use the north south tunnel S-Bahn line. It's better now than in the past, but for example, the S25 line is still single track along much of its northern length and a small part of its southern length. Therefore, any delay in the tunnel caused by any of the lines compounds delays on the S25, which must run perfectly to its timetable to be able to run trains both directions on its single-track portions. When there is a delay of more than 2 minutes, trains either have to wait at stations or they sometimes are completely cancelled.
Sydenham Station in Sydney is a shoulder, shoulder station and is a great place finally developing the density and services it deserves 👍
Clapham Junction had a really major development when London Orbirail (The Outer Circle) was completed. This made significant changes in journey planning. As it simplified cross London journeys
Thank you Reece for an excellent video! The various graphics/maps are extremely helpful.
At 1:17, you mentioned Clapham Junction Station. In South Korea, a similar example that come to mind is Cheonan. Here, the Janghang Line/Seoul Subway Line 1 is already spliting off of the Gyeongbu Line. But, that separation causes long transfers, and even confusion for passengers heading towards Seoul on regular rail services.
Great video! In metro junction stations, it's quite common to need very compact layouts, and many junction stations end up being stacked. La Fourche in Paris, Can Tries | Gornal in Barcelona...
I really like the graphics shown in this video, great stuff reece!
Perth station in Scotland is on my commute and it’s also a great junction station
This seems so obvious I could t imagine there are places not doing this. Then I remembered the Red Line in my city, Boston. The Braintree Branch doesn’t stop at the first station it gets to, Savin Hill.
A suggestion for a future video: different payment methods and how they can encourage or discourage transit usage.
I was recently in Sydney and Melbourne and there was a stark difference. In Sydney I could just tap my credit card on and off the train or tram. Easy peasy.
In Melbourne I had to find a 7-11, buy a card and preload it with an estimated amount id need for the week and hope I didn’t go over and need a reload. There was an app to help manage it but it was for android only.
Needless to say I used the transit way more in Sydney over Melbourne. In Melbourne I ended up using Uber in many cases where I would have used the tram if payment would have been easier.
That doesn't need a whole video
I think he went over these on article talking about a universally accepted fare system, tapped on credit cards
I’d be interested in what different fare systems exist around the world. There may be some innovative ideas out there (beyond free transit)
Thanks for a very interesting video with wonderful graphics to help understand your points even more!
Your explanation of network capacity using pipes was fantastic Reece! I think I’ll come back and show this video to my students once we’re finally up to Graph Theory again!
Great video,keep it up
Brilliant video sir!
Hi Reece, I don’t know if anyone has made this request yet because I usually watch on Nebula, but I‘d love a video on the transit system of Nürnberg/Nuremberg Germany. It has a great transit system for a city of roughly 500k residents with Bus, Tram, U- and S-Bahn as well as great intercity connections. In my opinion, the city can be a great role model for similarly sized and even bigger cities!
Good stuff. In Copenhagen where I'm from we have some decent stuff here with junction stations. Just 2 months ago a new station opened on the Copenhagen S-train at the north end of the A line called "Favrholm. One stop away from the terminus in Hillerød, its built where a local branch line from Hundested joins the corridor up to Hillerød, making it a defacto junction station. Its also timed in a way so passengers coming from Hundested now can get off at Favrholm and get an earlier S-train departure to Copenhagen, saving them 10 minutes on their journey.
Though we do also have a few cases where things dont work out. Specifically with Jægersborg station and the Nærum line. The Nærum line is a short branch line running between Jægersborg and Nærum every 10-20 minutes. However only local S-trains on the E-line stop at Jægersborg, with both Express and local S-trains on the A and E lines stopping one stop north at Lyngby, which is a much larger station and centre of commerce and activity, as well as transfers to other transit services. The branch line actually used to go to Lyngby back when it was originally built, however when the S-trains were built out in the 1930's, the line was rerouted to Jægersborg. The reason given was that Jægersborg, which was a brand new station for the S-train corridor's opening, was one stop closer to Copenhagen and would therefore make the journey faster for people going to and from downtown Copenhagen for their commute. But that of course backfires now since Jægersborg aint a satellite centre of the metropolis, while Lyngby which it used to serve is.
Stouffville and Lakeshore East line trains did stop at Scarborough and Danforth GO pre-pandemic
I've written some examples of shoulder stations in the corresponding video, though I've listed mostly junction stations. Even then, Mainz-Römisches Theater is a good example of a shoulder station (since it borders the Altstadt whereas the main station is closer to Neustadt) which also is a good junction station (since trains are diverging there to Ludwigshafen or Frankfurt) and are served by almost every regional train (the exceptions being regularly the RE to Ludwigshafen/Mannheim and individual cases at rush hour).
In fact, junction stations in Germany are so important that they're typically served by all almost regional trains including RE trains which would have had otherwise skipped the station. One local example: Bischofsheim is otherwise a fairly insignificant town but since trains do diverge between Frankfurt and Darmstadt, it is served by most regional trains including RE2/3 (with only isolated exceptions at rush hour).
There might be an exception when a more significant station preceeds a junction station which is what happened with Gau-Algesheim, a junction stations which is skipped since it follows the more significant Ingelheim (which is IMO a fairly justified case of skipping a junction station) as well as cases where junction stations are logical but are missing or served by only one type of train (Offenbach Ost is a notable offender) or junction stations which don't function as junction stations (Groß Gerau-Dornberg where no regional train drives between Mainz and Biblis, though it is located on a busy intercity line and reduces conflicts).
In Berlin Gesundbrunnen is a special junction. Two lines cross, but you have 2 platforms parallel and when you want to change coming from north south line to circum line to east south or from the circum line towards south west to north south line, you can remain on the same platform.
In Berlin they abandoned subway stations. When they built the U9 it was crossing the subway line to Krumme Lanke, the existing station wasn't close enough, so it was abandoned and replaced by Spichernstrasse. When the U5 was extended to Hauptbahnhof, the station Französische Strasse was also abandoned and replaced by "Unter den Linden".
In some cases you have a longer walk to change the line, it's Stadtmitte and Hallesches Tor.
S-Bahn station Ostkreuz initially had platforms for all trains, also trains that turns left and right, but these platforms weren't used frequently, so they abandoned them. It's easier, when people wo want to go to Ostkreuz change the train in Treptower Park or Warschauer Strasse.
Since you're mentioning Berlin Ostkreuz so much, it's worth mentioning that its junction is a relatively new one. Until a few years ago, the S-Bahn flyover was located just east of Ostbahnhof. This made taking the S-Bahn from Warschauer Straße and Ostkreuz a PITA to use.
When taking an inbound train from Warschauer Straße (which at the time didn't have a real station building, just some metal staircases to the platforms) I often saw the inbound S-Bahn arriving at one of the platforms, so I ran down, and I missed it by a few seconds. So I ran back upstairs and down to the other platform, and missed the tS-Bahn there as well.
Moving the flyover east of Ostkreuz, where the lines actually split, improved the situation dramatically.
Broadway Junction is one that could be so much better and is ripe for redesign with the IBX right beneath it
The one next to the bridge to the north of southbank
Brás station in Sao Paulo ia a great example of a junction station servicing the eastbound rail lines. It was originally 2 separate railway stations, but they were connected between themselves and to a metro line some time ago. Now it services lines 3, 10, 11, 12 and 13 and not only that, is close to one of the most important shopping areas in Brazil, just outside the city center.
Sorry you didn't mention Montreal's REM -- Although it provides access to the airport from downtown, from either the northern (Deux Montagnes) line or the West Island line, one would have to go all the way to Bois Franc, get off, go downstairs, traverse the tunnel, and walk back upstairs (with your luggage) to get the airport train. A junction station or even just a cross-platform transfer at Bois Franc would have made it do-able. As it is, I'll still be taking an Uber to the airport (from the West Island) even after the REM opens (and I have a monthly pass for transport including the REM.)
In Manchester, I'd say Deansgate, it's just before a multiple branch points, connecting Manchester Pic and Vic together (caused controversy as it crossed the first railway bridge, Stephenson's bridge), as well as another split (nearer the station) and there's a bridge to metrolink lines (with a bidirectional platform, currently used as the Airport line bay platform), only down side is not all express services stop there.
Bart uses this any opertunity they get. MacArthur, Lake Merritt, Daly city, Bayfair, And probably some more I just can't name right now.
Calgary's trains converge downtown. To connect we have to cross roads. They are really close thankfully. So are some major bus stops
You should make a video about Bilbao's transport system, in northern Spain, which has a tram line, 2 heavy metro lines and some suburban rail (or Euskotren) lines. It is such an interesting system, and the fourth in size here in Spain
Clapham Junction is now so (in)famous that it's entered the British vernacular as a metaphor for a very busy place with a complicated layout. I think it's also Europe's busiest station in terms of train movements and the approach to it alone is wider than most (British) motorways.
Thinking about Rosslyn Station in Arlington, it feels like there should be a redesign to make the transfers a little smoother for cross-branch transfers. Even if it stays split level, it could do Blue on one level and Orange/Silver on another? It might make the station a little more seamless
→ The Berlin S-Bahn with its Ostkreuz station (which is shown several times here) doesn't have any "Express service" in the city center. (There is actually an "express S-Bahn" line S3X, but it just runs on one of the branches (S3), and doesn't even overtake the normal trains, so you don't save much time.) There are some more regional lines which run in parallel, though, and which fulfill some of the express functions, and with the rebuild of the Ostkreuz station they added stops for these trains there (some lines from the outside terminating here, some going through towards the city center). (Though I normally wouldn't switch from S-Bahn to the regional trains inside the city center - they don't offer much speed advantage there, and come less often. They get better for the suburban part, or e.g. when you want to go to the airport.)
→ The Ostkreuz station is actually a combination of a junction station in the east-west direction with a intersection station, as the Ringbahn also crosses there. And I think there is more traffic changing between the ringbahn and the east-west lines than traffic from east continuing east on the other branch.
I would like to think of strathfield and Gelnfield as great junctions here in sydney, strathfield has been ab important junction for much of the sydney trains history for trains heading north to hornsby and newcastle and all the services that travel west. Glenfield has also been a perfect model for a junction station since the south west rail link to leppington opened with flying crossovers and cross platform interchanges with trains on the T2 and T8 lines arriving and departing at relatively the same time both northbound and southbound. It is a major stop for people wanting to travel from campbelltown to liverpool which are the two main population hubs in the south west sydney region.
To add on there are also many great junction stations within Sydney such as wolli creek, Sydenham, Granville, Hornsby, etc that all work fabulously and have seen a lot of development around them, not only are they ideal for passengers but they are also ideal for being a destination with multiple services running through them.
As you mentioned with Scarborough Station in the east, Bloor Station in the west would also work as a junction station if the Milton line was added to it.
Continuing the Berlin theme... The Nikolassee S-Bahn station is similar to Clapham Junction in that it's really two separate stations on two separate diverging lines connected by a pedestrian walkway.
I used to live very close to Clapham Junction. I found it to be a wonderful location. It is actually in Battersea but they called it Clapham Junction because at the time it was being created Battersea had a terrible reputation. Quite different today.
Would you ever do some videos on Irish rail infrastructure? There's some cool developments in the works at the moment and we're planning a metro system in Dublin which could be worth a look at?
I've also seen junction stations placed behind the split. The two lines are split already and both on the one and the other line there are platforms. The small station Regensburg-Prüfening in Regensburg City, Germany, is such a station, however it's definetly not of greater importance for travel from one branch onto another branch. The platforms on both branches are like 60 m / 200 ft apart from each other, with an allot settlement in between
An even better example is Bad Kreuznach where the inner platforms of both branches are physically connected to each other almost right after the lines split.
I'd argue Seamer Station in North Yorkshire is a great example of a more rural junction station.
Trains from Scarborough split at Seamer, continuing west to York, or south to Bridlington and Hull. The station itself is a simple 2-sided island.
Though the services are only hourly, they're mostly timed so inbound from York arrives into Seamer a few minutes before the outbound to Brid & Hull, and vice versa. It works really well, and I sometime prefer transferring there much more than other more urban stations.
In the UK, things are mixed in this regard. Many junctions, such as those in London (eg Clapham Junction and Stratford), major nodes on the national network (eg Crewe and York), and smaller junctions on commuter or regional rail lines (eg Guildford and Salisbury) are incredibly well connected places [or at least relative to the wider areas they serve]. A small town like Westbury (pop. 16,000) or even Castle Cary (pop. 2,000) can have a surprisingly good rail service being at a junction.
What I will say is that some of the outer London junction stations are badly equipped for the passenger count they receive, even though many of the passengers are regular commuters who know where they're going. Highbury & Islington is a slog between Underground / Great Northern and Overground Lines (with no step free access); Stratford is crowded, difficult to navigate owing to the bisecting DLR line to Stratford International, and lacking in things like food and beverage options; and Clapham Junction has a narrow subway and curved platforms which make accessibility a pain.
Whitechapel is an increasingly important junction - it always had the East London Line (to be the Windrush line) and District / H&C, but now benefits from easy access between the two Elizabeth Line eastern branches where you go cross platform to 'reverse' direction.
Some junctions are the main limiting factor terms of capacity / frequency. For example, a flying junction south of Woking Station has been long mooted but has never happened. At present an up train from the Portsmouth Direct Line often has to wait - either for a down train towards Basingstoke to clear, or for an up train heading towards platform 2 from the same direction. And Woking is a good example of where local services terminate (often on platform 3, a bay platform) and allow interchange to fast trains (most, but not all, stop there)
Of course, there are some places lines cross without interchanges (much of the Gospel Oak to Barking line, to be the Suffragette line; as well as oddities on the National Rail network with separate stations for perpendicular lines such as in Warrington and Dorking.
Of course, one place with a junction but no station which deserves a station is Royal Wootton Bassett! It once had a station, but to get there you would have to go to Swindon and catch a bus (which, from the Bristol direction, means a lengthy back-track)
We only have 1 tiny train station at the very edge of the city for antrak. We are getting 1 downtown soon with ACE so that'll be nice since it's just off the freeway instead of like 10+ miles away from everything. Unfortunately it's only a few commuter trains a day so not really useful for getting around the city, it's only from getting from the central valley tontge rich cities out West where all the jobs are at.
The most underrated one on the Sydney and intercity network is probably Bombo. It's near Kiama on the South Coast and is the closest station to a beach on the entire network. It has 45 passengers daily on average,
Lovely explainer but I often miss Asian examples, especially Central line of Mumbai Suburbans with Kalyan Junction was an excellent point of reference, showed both advantages and disadvantages. Hope someday we get a video on that
Thats why I included Shinagawa!
I am surprised you did not talk about the Red-Purple-Brown Line corridor of the Chicago Transit Authority, and specifically Belmont and Fullerton stops.
Here in Israel, we have an interesting situation where all four of Tel Aviv's stations are like one large Junction - the whole country's intercity rail was built in a fashion where basically every single service line passes through every single one of Tel Aviv's four stations and so you can get from any one of them to everywhere in the entire country. As you can imagine, this weird design has causes some insane capacity headaches for Israeli Railways, and now almost every project they are building is attempting to fix this - the two largest projects right now are an eastern railway bypassing Tel Aviv, and another Railway connecting the south to Jerusalem without passing through Tel Aviv. The capacity issues are a problem, but one upside is that if you wish to travel between one of Tel Aviv's four stations, something which I often do, you get a pretty insane almost every 5 minute frequency of trains, which is allows you to use the system like a weird metro to hop across the city
You should make a video about the south wales metro
I wish valley stream in New york was a proper junction station with a new Babylon line platform. This would make intra Nassau trips so much easier. I don't know why this hasn't been done yet
I agree that Scarborough GO should be a junction station as you state, and adding to that, I would like to see Danforth GO also connected to the Stouffville GO service as well, not just Lakeshore East!
Inbound and outbound are so confusing for non-North Americans. It does not tell you in what direction the train is going unless you know what one considers 'home'.
Usually it's refering to the city center
@@nicolasblume1046In my (European) country, the cities are much smaller than in North America and most trains don’t terminate at Central Station, but go through the bigger city to another smaller city or town. So inbound or outbound is hardly a topic. Almost all trains are through traffic, also because there isn’t much space for big shunting yards in the city center.
The really interesting junction stations IMO are ones like Olten in Switzerland and Zwolle, Schiphol, and Leiden in the Netherlands. These are stations where scheduling services and connections is the most interesting.
Take a look at the mess of Crewe station in the UK and the capacity issues around on the wcml
The truth is, the hesitation to adding all-service junction stations because "it will add too much time" is really silly. With modern, high-acceleration EMU's and high-performance European (electric!) locomotives (SBB re450's/re455's galore!), you only add 90-150 seconds per stop, which is not really that much. That's taking your express average speed from 100kmh to 92-95kmh, which may sound big since "oOoO duh number looks smaller now, now its super slow!" but oftentimes, you can count on one hand how many more minutes you add when you make 2 or 3 extra stops. Its really not that much when you weigh the benefits and drawbacks of such important stations.
I think the reason why Stouffville line trains skip Scarborough is because the time penalty per stop is much longer, I imagine something around ~180 seconds (but that's probably conservative), since those crappy diesels take SOOOOO long to accelerate. Which goes to show, that having such crappy performance trains closes SOOO many doors to your network, not just with not being able to have more stations, having much MUCH lower frequency per track (15tph per american mainline track is pathetic, 24tph should be a MINIMUM, though with a mix of EMU's and electric loco-hauled trains per track, I've calculated up to 32 is possible [20 loco and 12 EMU, at most, in service its probably more like 50-50 loco-to-EMU, but most likely 40-60 loco-to-EMU], anyways, more than TWICE what most north american tracks are capable of!), or, the most evident, much MUCH lower average speeds, but also cases like this; avoiding such critical transfer stations because they add too much time to your trips. Basically, crappy trains (the diesel locos in this case) really restricts what a network like GO can do. I'm basically adding on to what you always say, but it doesn't hurt to say it more and build advocacy!
Off-topic, speaking of crappy diesels and train upgrades, I really hope GO gets a big order from Stadler, consisting of many locos from one of their amazing locomotive platforms (I really like the euro6000's and euro9000's), a bunch of good old FLIRTs, and maybe a few KISS's, because why not! The economies of scale would be good with one manufacturer, and the best service type is mix of both locomotive-hauled express service and EMU local service!
One junction station in London that is very definitely missing is around Acton / Old Oak Common.
The Central, Elizabeth, and Mildmay (formerly North London) lines all cross pretty close together without a station present. The Elizabeth Line meets the Central at Ealing Broadway, so that isn't such a big deal, but there are no good connections between either of them and the Overground network.
I suggest we call it Acton Junction, because Acton needs more stations 😉.
Well there is Willseden Junction, and Old Oak Common is being built right now, plus there will be a couple of additional Overground stations built soon, so should get better in the future.
I was just in Vancouver last week and I dont understand why Waterfront Station (Expo Line and Canada Line) are not connected within Fare Paid Zone. I just find it ridiculous that you need to tap out and then tap in when changing lines. The seabus is only connected via Expo Line but still not fare integrated. I think Waterfront Station is underrated with Translink.
What if there are two junctions only a few miles apart? Reading is a junction station with lines going in 4 directions. But not far from there is Didcote where the line to Oxford splits off. But those trains don't stop there, they bypass the station.
I'm curious what you think about Secaucus Junction which is located where NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line crosses their Main Line.
The main thing Secaucus Jct accomplishes is that the Pt. Jervis, Bergen County, Main Line and Pascack Valley have an easier way to get to midtown at NY Penn than the PATH or NY Waterway Ferry from Hoboken and that all trains can access the Meadowlands shuttle.
With the comment about junction stations, what are your opinions on the QueensLink proposal's idea? Rego Park - 63rd Drive station is the current planned junction station with the IND Queens Boulevard Line and the extension of the IND Rockaway Line to Rego Park via the Rockaway Beach Branch. Rego Park is currently a local only station and is planned to remain such during all current proposals. However, the nearby Woodhaven Boulevard - Queens Center station, also currently a local only station, is proposed to be converted into an express station to allow for transfers as it takes advantage of bellmouths for express conversion and because Woodhaven Boulevard is a major bus hub (multiple bus routes along Woodhaven terminate at that station). Basically, I'm wondering what your thoughts on moving the local-express interchange to a location nearby, but not at, the junction station if it has better connections to feeder service.
Broadway Junction is a massive piece of infrastructure, mostly because it’s also next to a storage yard. There’s the A and C underground, and then above ground, the J and ABOVE that the L. The one thing it’s missing: disabled access.
you need to tag this as a drinking game! ...everytime the word junction is said...
Montreal doesn't really have junction stations (the only one I can think of right now is Montréal-Ouest) but when the REM gets built, Bois-Franc will be a junction between the three branches, and it's kind of unfortunate that it's being built so far up the line compared to where the junction actually is. An infill station near Félix-Leclerc street or even Camille street would make transfers between the branches a bit easier.
Hell with Bois Franc being a Junction, the Metro is so close in being a two stop station extension away from it.
@@TheRandCrews True! I really hope they build that after the blue line extension (unless PSE or PSO comes first)
Clapham Junction is the busiest station in London and one of the busiest in the world.
That shows how a junction is important in a railway network
I just came here from building my own transit system in roblox.
This video will be helpful for that.
Thank you!
are you using wider angle camera in this for your talking heads
If they had to build a junction they should avoid having northbound tracks use portions of the southbound tracks and vise versa but rather have rails cross over the other. So trains dont have to wait for the other train to cross first, especially if u use it a lot because it eats into your time. (Dat timing im @ lougheed in vancouver commenting, which does share tracks)
Massive amounts of Berlin B-roll 😀
Just imagine how much more amazing the 7 line would be if it was extended to Secasus Junction.
Four-way junctions are also important, as instead of connecting two branches and the mainline, they connect two main lines . In Athens there's one railway only and of course several with 2 metro lines or a metro line and a mainline. The mainline junction is heavily underused, because of bad planning and slow construction, but also because of the crisis that bankrupted the railways. The railway to patras is almost definitely delayed to the next decade, by which time the station will be 20 years old with most platforms unopened, although it could become an interchange of trains to Central Athens and Piraeus (from there there are ships to the islands), Thessaloniki and Northern Greece (and Balkan neighbours), Patras and the Peloponnese , and the airport, connecting to the islands as well as the rest of the world.
"If two railway lines cross each other, you expect a station."
Every junction in the Philippines: Haha, you have been fooled! There's 2 of us now!!!!
0:19 what is a shoulder station? I tried looking it up on google but couldn't find anything
Secondary main stations within a metro area "supporting" the main central hub, where most trains call.
How do you feel about... let's call them 2stations1junction? E.g. Sete Rios and Campolide in Lisbon.
Why is Metrolinx only having one line stop at the planned King/Liberty Village stop when three lines use the line?
The biggest example of a missed junction station is Canterbury where two mainlines cross without an interchange
Kent's railway history is also funny. Its basically duplicated lines from 2 rival companies.
@@Mgameing123 and it's given us a very good almost entirely electric network. Canterbury interchange is sorely needed
@@oldtechnobodycaresabout To be fair your right. A Canterbury Interchange would be easy to build as there is just fields where it would be. One interchange we truly need though is West Hampstead.
@@Mgameing123 it would be and has been considered basically since they were built. It just hasn't been built even though it has so much potential
@@oldtechnobodycaresabout Typical Britain always overseeing good interchanges. The best temporary solution would be a shutle bus between the 2 stations.
5:18 why are some important switches for the perfect junction omitted?
?
@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710 doble crossovers at both splitting tracks would enable a lot more useful maneuvers
@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710 even more switches would enable reversing trains
@@LeZylox not really necessary
@@LeZylox few systems have a need to do that regularly and trains can already do that in that diagram
According to what you say, all Caltrain services should be stopping at Santa Clara, Diridon, and Tamien, as Santa Clara is the first point of contact with CC and ACE, Diridon is the first point of contact with VTA’s green line, Greyhound, and the coast starlight, and Tamien is the first point of contact with the VTA blue line. But the truth is that the baby bullet only serves Diridon, which is not ideal for commuters trying to make a transfer approaching from the north or south. I’d like Caltrans to implement a new service schedule that converts the Gilroy/Salinas services to a baby bullet schedule north of Diridon and have baby bullets serving Diridon stop at Santa Clara. Also recommend sharing the sleek new rolling stock from ACE for the baby bullets and selling the current diesels to some 3rd world country in Africa, South America, or Southern Asia.
Many African, South American and Asian train systems use much newer trains than the US, so I don't know why they'd want your sh*t
@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710 it’s better reusing these locomotives for places that really need them. Doesn’t need to be a transit line in an urban area. It can be a rural service that connects to much needed services.
The title of the video is quite confusing: it's not about underrated train stations, but just about how junction stations work. I think you should tell it us differently or just rename the title. But to be honest, it’s very interesting!
I think Strathfield or Blacktown would’ve been a better example for Sydney but that’s ok lolol
Reece is biased towards Chatswood I agree…but I can’t blame him because it’s a very well-developed transport hub and it has great food on top and all around the train station.
It also reminds me a bit of a mini Berlin Hauptbahnhof architecture-wise and he made a video gushing over it
Yeah. A junction implies a physical connection between the tracks of two or more routes (assuming they are of the same gauge). Although I'm sure there are plenty of junctions around the world where this doesn't actually occur. Chatswood would qualify as a basic junction during the Sydney Trains Epping to Chatswood era. Now it would just be an interchange with the Metro. Sydenham won't be a junction for the Bankstown Line soon, but a Metro interchange. Redfern would have to be considered a junction station, and also Granville (downgraded to lesser importance), Glenfield, Hornsby, Lidcombe, even Cabramatta, although I don't think too many people use it as an interchange.
Remember to try to watch the live stream tomorrow everybody😅
9 pm England time for me 😮
? Aren't rall major ststion junctions to 4 or more directions ..? 🤔