Euston Station in London is set to open its new taxi rank on Sunday 7 April.
As the station is being amended to incorporate the new HS2 line in future years, many adjustments have to be undertaken, and the first of those has been creating a new taxi rank that has been built outside the station.
Mace Dragados joint venture (MDjv), HS2's station construction partner, constructed a new rank that reserves up to 36 spaces exclusively for Black Cabs.
Furthermore, they installed new overhead canopies and information points, and enhanced pedestrian crossings by widening the junction.
Additionally, they have installed 120 new cycle spaces to improve storage for people's bicycles as they commute around London by bike.
Along with this, they have also added a splash of colour by planting new trees and creating flowerbeds, enhancing the passenger experience before the cab takes you on your way across London.
To offer a smooth and trouble-free transition between train and taxi, they built the new rank in the former Euston Square Gardens East at the front of the bus station adjacent to Euston Road.
The Assisted Travel Lounge is still unchanged in its original place in Euston Square Gardens West.
For those that require assistance to or from train or taxi, staff will remain on hand to assist. Private hire vehicles will also continue to drop off passengers here.
I'm delighted that the new taxi rank will open later this week, part of our wider investment in upgrading Euston station. Teams from across the railway have worked closely together on this much needed upgrade and passengers can now have more comfortable journeys to and from the station.
Gareth Parry, Euston station manager at Network Rail
As part of our preparatory works for a future HS2 terminus at Euston, we have relocated the current taxi rank. The new facility has been created to improve the passenger experience, with new plants and greenery, brightly coloured canopies, new seating and bicycle parking.”
Nick Jones, HS2 Ltd's Head of Delivery for Euston station
How many decades will it take the ‘new trees’ to reach the size of the beautiful mature trees felled in Euston Square Gardens?
It seems it will be impossible to enter the new rank from the west because of the traffic restrictions and Camden council’s refusal to change them
Re Mr Bolton – I wholeheartedly agree. From experience it also seems so inexplicable that “man” at railway stations cannot design escalators wide enough to enable passengers to carry suitcases with them, rather than – in front or behind on the escalator “steps” with instability.
They used to be in a nice dry convienient underground parking area where customers didn’t have to walk a long walk from the station in pouring rain – so excuse me for not being “wowed” by this pathetic development as “better”.