The giant overhead advertising boards at Euston are to be shut down immediately as part of a major review into overcrowding at the station.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has ordered Network Rail to declutter the station concourse and make changes to the way it handles train announcements after growing concern about the risk of “dangerous” incidents.
It comes only days after London TravelWatch, the passenger watchdog, called for a safety review as a matter of urgency, saying that when services were disrupted “the station really struggles to cope, with high levels of overcrowding putting passengers in danger.”
Network Rail and the Department for Transport announced a “five-point plan” on Friday that “aims to improve the functioning of Euston station and deliver a better passenger experience”, pending longer-term design changes.
The statement admitted the mainline station, which was built in the 1960s, “is in major need of overhaul and has led to some very uncomfortable and unpleasant conditions for passengers”.
Ms Haigh said: “For too long, Euston station simply hasn’t been good enough for passengers.
"That's why I've tasked Network Rail with coming up with a clear plan to immediately improve conditions for passengers. This includes a shutdown of the advertising boards from today to review their use.
"We know Euston needs a permanent solution and are working hard to agree this – but these immediate steps will help to alleviate some of the issues the station has been facing.”
Gary Walsh, Network Rail’s route director for West Coast South, said: “Passengers haven’t received the experience they deserve at Euston recently and we need to do better.
“Our five-point plan will help improve things for passengers in the short term by creating more space, providing better passenger information, and working as an industry to improve the reliability of train services on the West Coast Main Line.”
Euston is the UK’s 10th busiest station, with more than 31 million entries or exits a year. Up to 40 trains an hour arrive or depart during peak periods.
But longstanding issues about the lack of platforms mean passengers are held on the concourse – and then face a stampede down the ramps as they battle to board their train on time.
Network Rail turned off its main departure board at Euston two years ago and replaced it with two ranks of “floating” departure screens, in a bid to ease passenger flows.
The main board was then replaced with giant advertising screens which only appear to have further antagonised already stressed passengers.
The old arrivals and departure board was located above the entrance to the platforms.
Passengers awaiting a train now have to check for information on two banks of V-shaped boards that “float” above their heads as they wait on the concourse.
The new V-shaped departure boards, which cost £1.5m to install, were introduced after “computer modelling” suggested they would ease “people flow” at the station.
Ahead of Ms Haigh’s announcement on Friday, Gareth Dennis, a rail engineer and prominent commentator on the industry, who lost his job after raising concerns about safety at Euston, told Times Radio: “The main challenge at Euston is that it was a station built in the 1960s, it was very modern but it was designed to deal with the number of passengers in the late Sixties, not in the 2020s.
“When it’s working perfectly – when we have all the trains working – it just about manages. As soon as you have disruption, as soon as you have delays, late trains, hundreds if not thousands of passengers are building up on the platform.
“That overcrowding becomes a problem, particularly for disabled passengers… it is extremely unpleasant if not unsafe.”
Mr Dennis said the problems were exacerbated because Euston had too few platforms for the number of trains using the station – meaning trains “pop in at any platform”.
Euston is easily the worst station in London. Why is the massive screen just for adverts?? I just want to know what platform my train is going from pic.twitter.com/9Cq9w4Q300
— Rachael Burford (@RachaelBurford) September 29, 2024
Another issue was the increasing number of passengers using advance tickets – meaning they can only travel on a specific train, creating huge stress if the platform is announced with only minutes before the departure time.
Ms Haigh wants to “get a grip on overcrowding” at Euston. Senior managers at Network Rail have been summoned to a meeting next week.
According to Network Rail, the five-point plan involves:
- Reviewing passenger information provision and circulation, including a shutdown and review of the use of overhead advertising boards
- A review on how passengers are invited to, and board services, especially during disruption
- Creating more concourse space and alleviating pinch-points, which will include more, and upgraded, toilet provision
- Unifying station operation during disruption to ensure a holistic approach is taken for the benefit of all passengers
- Driving up the reliability of both the infrastructure and train services to reduce disruptive events being experienced at the station
In addition, operators including Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains will be asked to “look again at how the station works on a day-to-day basis and to make immediate improvements wherever possible”.
Longstanding plans to redevelop Euston station are unfunded – with uncertainty about whether the HS2 high-speed route will ever arrive at a new adjacent station at Euston adding to the delays.
Network Rail said it was continuing to work with rail industry partners and passenger groups to “explore plans and funding options for a major upgrade of the existing station in the long term”.
It added: “This is to deliver a brand-new station concourse that’s fit for the future, brighter, and offers much better facilities to passengers.”
