Research Gate Ur BP 6123
Research Gate Ur BP 6123
Research Gate Ur BP 6123
1: Introduction 3
5: Bibliography 22
1: Introduction
A multi-modal interchange hub connects various public transportation networks with private
vehicles and onward connections seamlessly, whilst providing information and facilities for
entertainment and productivity. They are a crucial feature of urban developments and new city
areas. The quality of the hub will determine the present and future usage of public
transportation and the sustainability of travel. To form a hub, there should be at least two
modes of transportation, and modes may include intercity rail, regional rail, tram-trains, metros,
long-haul coaches, buses, and airplanes. It is often the centre-point of the wider
neighbourhood, and there is usually a connection with ‘feeder modes’ such as walking
• External: Providing the focal for the development of an area (transit oriented development)
consisting of high-density buildings which can improve the experience of the station and
Chen et al. (2014) state that “the interchange hub can be important in economic, social, and
competitiveness, as well as improved quality of life and well-being for residents. The
national and local transport and planning departments, to ensure the development of effective
interchange hubs”. These dimensions are shown in Figure 1. Their project studies a number of
interchange hubs in China, and Steer Davies Gleave (2011) describe a number of projects in
Figure 2: Rail passenger numbers in the China and the United Kingdom
3,000
China
United Kingdom 2,500
1,500
1,000
500
0
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Sources: Data for China (Babones, 2018) and data for United Kingdom (Office of Rail and Road,
2018).
Looking at railway passenger numbers for China and the United Kingdom shown in Figure 2, it
can be seen that they were surprisingly similar in 1997, with both making a similar increase
until the mid-2000s. This is despite the population of China being many times greater than that
of the UK, showing that rail has a much lower national modal share within China. The
development of rail transport in China and the United Kingdom has varied since the
mid-2000s, with this leading passenger numbers to become increasingly further apart.
The first high speed railway line in China opened in 2008 to connect Tianjin and Beijing, and
since this line opened the Chinese Government have spent over US $360 billion to build over
22 thousand kilometres of high speed railways, more than every other country in the world
combined (Marx, 2018). The development of railways is a main priority and the network has
been modernised and development within just one decade. This has helped support economic
growth, urbanisation, and development of industries within China, and increased demand for
other connecting modes of transportation. In comparison, the UK has only added fifty-three
stations to existing lines since 2008 (Trundle, 2018), and these are not major interchange hubs.
Figure 3 shows the spatial scope of the two systems. In China, the high speed railway network
is spread out across the entire country, with a system of eight horizontal and eight vertical
railway lines (Wang, 2016). Chen et al. (2014) say that as China “is a very large country, the
railway journey is often very lengthy. Cities also have varying cultures, economies, and climates,
hence interchange hub designs have to be very different from one another”. In the United
Kingdom, the railway lines are focussed around the capital London, in the south east of
England. Whilst most of the lines focus on serving cities within sixty minutes commute from
London, they all extend further with express services sharing the track, running to cities as far
away as in Scotland and the North (up to six hours). The main hub stations for all of these
routes are located on the outskirts of the central urban area of London. These hubs within
London are linked by the Circle line of the London Underground, one of the eleven lines of the
Figure 3: Large and medium railway interchange hubs within the two countries
China
Figure 4: Comparison of two case studies from China and the United Kingdom
Sources: Office of Rail and Road (2017), Transport for London (2017), Kone (2018), and
The King’s Cross St. Pancras railway hub in London consists of the two neighbouring national
railway stations of King’s Cross and St. Pancras International. King’s Cross station was opened in
1852, making it over 160 years old. In comparison, Shenzhen North station was opened in
2011, making it just seven years old. As the railway hubs in China are much newer, pre-existing
development has prevented them from being located in the current city centre areas, and they
are instead located on the edge of the city. In London, this was also the case to some extent,
although the railway terminuses are less far away than in China. At King’s Cross St. Pancras,
numbers of metro passengers are much higher than the number of national railway
passengers, showing that surrounding residents are business workers also use the station. At
Shenzhen North, the number of metro passengers is lower than the number of national railway
users, suggesting there are not as many developments around the station, and that many rail
users continue their journey by a mode other than the Shenzhen Metro.
Figure 5: Position of the two stations within their relative city metro systems
Sources: Travel China Guide (2017) and Transport for London (2018a).
Nevertheless, looking at the passenger numbers and regional purpose of various transport
hubs, it was determined these were very similar examples to study. They are both located at
similar positions within the city and their metro systems, at the northerly interchange point
between north-south and ring lines, and they both have recently gained or will gain cross-
border services, with St. Pancras recently gaining the Eurostar to France and Belgium, and
Shenzhen North gaining the Vibrant Express to West Kowloon in Hong Kong this year.
Shenzhen North is the interchange between Line 4 and Line 5 of the Shenzhen Metro, and
King’s Cross St. Pancras is the interchange between the Northern, Piccadilly, and Victoria lines
as well as the sub-surface lines of the London Underground. Both stations also serve a large
number of urban and regional bus routes. National railway services at Shenzhen North are
operated by a variety of divisions such as China Railway Guangzhou Group and China Railway
Shanghai Group, and metro services operated are operated by both Shenzhen Metro and
Hong Kong MTR’s Shenzhen subsidiary. National railway services at King’s Cross and St.
Pancras consist of various operators including Virgin Trains East Coast, Thameslink,
King’s Cross
St. Pancras
The interior layout of Shenzhen North and King’s Cross St. Pancras vary considerable from one
another. At Shenzhen North, a layered approach is used with train services running from the
middle level, with arrivals on the level below this, and the departures hall on the level above
this. At King’s Cross St. Pancras arriving and departing passengers are not separated, and ticket
checks take place on the train rather than at the station. The exception is Eurostar services
where a security check is conducted and passengers must travel on a specific train, as is the
case with China Railway Highspeed (CRH) services. King’s Cross station has shops and
restaurants positioned alongside the platforms, and St. Pancras station has these positioned on
the lower level, with train services above. At Shenzhen North, shops and restaurants are
provided on the third floor but are only accessible to departing passengers. In London, local
residents and workers can also make use of the shops and restaurants. Connections are good
at both stations to buses and taxis with these being integrated into the station concourses. In
London, the Santander Cycles bicycle hire is provided at King’s Cross St. Pancras, and in
Shenzhen people can make use of app-based bicycle hire schemes such as Mobike and Ofo.
Studies were conducted of the experience at each railway station, with additional information
being referenced. At Shenzhen North, it was found to be confusing have an airport-style design
with inability to access certain areas of the station, for example shops and restaurants in the
departures concourse when in arriving at the station. There are issues with the required waiting
time for the security and ticket checks, with passengers having to allow up to 2 hours at peak
times. Transfers between trains take much longer with this design as passengers have to pass
through checkpoints multiple times. There is a lack of through ticketing between China
Railways and other transport modes, and interchange is indirect and takes a long time. There is
a lack of entertainment available at the stations with Wi-Fi being unreliable, and shops being
limited in variety, meaning there is little to do whilst waiting. The hub can experience extreme
congestion levels. Due to the queues, passengers have to sit in areas without proper seating.
Passengers have to arrive early as they are aware of the queues, which causes even more
congestion. Information and signage is lacking, and some is incorrect. Although the station is
comparatively very new, cleanliness and maintenance has fallen behind giving an outdated feel
to the station.
At King’s Cross St. Pancras, the layout of the station was much clearer representing natural
desire lines, although would not be acceptable in China where they believe it necessary to
security scan all passengers and their baggage. There are mixed-use spaces with clear decision
points, and arriving and departing passengers are not segregated. Movement around the
station was much easier with wide and clear passageways. Some minor issues where
passengers crowd around information monitors causing natural pathways to be blocked. There
was also issues with people blocking access to the metro due to overcrowding around ticket
machines. Lifts were not clearly marked and passengers still had to use steps to access them
due to the age of the station. Signs across the interchange hub are very inconsistent. Steer
Davies Gleave (2010) found that the “Eurostar gateway to ‘The Street’ regularly causes severe
obstruction / bottlenecks and pedestrian collisions” with no specific area for meeting people or
signs immediately visible. Transport for London (2018b) says that “the open, bright design,
general cleanliness and high-end retail outlets of St. Pancras International create a positive
sense of arrival for passengers and have resulted in the station acting as a destination in its
own right”.
3.4: Wayfinding and signage
Figure 8: Standard signage and signage guidelines from the two cities
Shenzhen North
Sources: Photo taken by the author and layouts from Asian Development Bank (2015).
Sources: Photo taken by Wright (2013) and layouts from Network Rail (2011).
Figure 8 shows the standard signage seen and the signage guidelines from the two cities. In
China, “signage in new interchange hubs is subject to national design standards, making these
places easy to negotiate for passengers” (Asian Development Bank, 2015). However, issues
were present in both cities as seen in Figure 7. At Shenzhen North, there were many issues with
signs being spelt incorrectly in English or where the English translation varied from the Chinese
translation (e.g. Chinese saying North and English saying South) making navigation very
confusing. Some signs were outdated, for example referring to the Longhua metro line when it
has been known as Line 4 since 2010. At King’s Cross St. Pancras, there were also issues with
electronics not working, and private operators such as Thameslink not following the standards.
Figure 9 shows the maximum desired walking time from various kinds of stations along a
public transport corridor. At a multi-modal interchange hub, passengers would expect to walk
10 minutes or a radius of 800 metres. This would be the catchment area of a transit oriented
development (TOD) linked to the hub. High density housing and businesses should be
provided to both improve the vibrancy of the interchange, as well as improving its viability by
providing more passengers. There should be a mix of land uses and variation of attractions and
type of business in order to attract people throughout the day, and make the area more
liveable and sustainable. Multi-modal hubs have a higher degree of accessibility meaning they
will attract a wide variety of trips within the 800 metre catchment radius. In this area,
comfortable and safe facilities to move around and connect with the public transportation
should be provided, including for cyclists and pedestrians. This will increase the number of
people using the hub and the public transportation provided. Routes should be provided “that
follow desire lines to encourage walking and cycling, by providing well overlooked routes
bordered by active frontages (i.e. rather than back streets and passages), good paving, lighting
and signing. Street layouts should form a well connected hierarchy and avoid cul-de-sacs for all
but the very smallest developments within the Transport Development Zone” (London Borough
of Hillingdon, 2006).
The interchange hub design principles are shown in Figure 10, demonstrating these features
which should be provided, such as segregated bus and bicycle lanes, signalised crossings,
well-lit streets, bus stops with shelters and real-time information, signage and wayfinding, trees,
bicycle racks, and covered areas to wait for taxis and vehicle drop-offs. Point 7 in the Figure
shows a large public space, as is commonly found at large multi-modal interchange hubs within
China. This allows space to wait outside, as well as providing a sense of place and identity.
Direct sight lines are visible around the area, and pedestrian connections are attractive and
wide.
Figure 11 shows the East Square located at Shenzhen North railway station. The designers
(AUBE, 2017) say that it helps passengers “feel the spirit of Shenzhen and have a unique and
unforgettable impression about the city”. It combines the transportation hub with "urban
recreational space, commercial leisure space, and ecological forest space” creating a multi-
dimensional space instead of a more simple station square, allowing it to become a popular
open space and centre for the surrounding developments. The design is humanised and
promotes efficient access to transportation through shade corridors, and “a wide expanse of
forests which echo the climate in Shenzhen”. It is divided into the east and west with miniature
landmarks to create a sense of belonging for people from throughout China. A large rock
forms a sculpture, and forests are placed in a sunken courtyard representing a traditional
Chinese garden.
Figure 12 shows the Western Concourse at King’s Cross station in London. It was added later to
provide extra space to the existing station, improve waiting facilities, and link King’s Cross
station to St. Pancras station (Chen et al., 2014). It also has social benefits providing the feel of
a gateway to the city from the train services. The original brick design of the station which was
originally hidden has been uncovered, providing historical interest. Five buildings have also
been restored and linked into the station contrasting with the unique glass and steel roof, of
which the design is modelled on the canopy of tree providing shade to the passengers.
Passengers can choose to access platforms from the existing entrances to the station, or enter
and wait in the new concourse. It is located directly about the London Underground station,
allowing much faster links to metro services, as well as to trains, taxis, and buses from St.
Pancras station. It also serves as an architectural access to the new transit oriented
developments around the station, as an addition to the new plaza at King’s Cross Square
(Frearson, 2012).
Before Renovation
Problems to be solved
Too narrow concourse
Ticket Gate
1 for high passenger
traffic
passage
Insufficient
2 number of toilets
4
1 Ticket Gate
3 No elevator & escalator
Toilets
2
Ticket Gate 3
New Elevators
Whilst the example of the Western Concourse at King’s Cross station shows improvements that
can be achieved with space available, I have decided to add a final example of Omiya station
in Japan to show changes that can made without taking any additional land. This station has
concourses that were too narrow for the passenger traffic, no elevators or escalators, and an
insufficient amount of toilets and commercial space. By decking over more of the railway track,
the concourse was made 4,500 square metres larger, and these crucial facilities could be
Other improvements that could be made at a lower cost to the hubs studied include for
Shenzhen North providing incentives to develop the land around the station so it is no longer
so isolated, updating signage so it is no longer outdated and work with the metro operators to
ensure future changes are known in advance, and improve the quality and consistence of
English language translations. At King’s Cross St. Pancras, operators should work to increase
the reliability of electronic information, and private operators should ensure their signage
meets the consistent format agreed by Network Rail. In the future, China should consider not
segregating levels of the station so facilities can be enjoyed by the wider community, although
this would come at the expense of some negation to the security of the hub.
5: Bibliography
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