Twa-ts'uk-men Station

Twa-ts′uk-men Railway Station 朱雀門驛, Twa-ts′uk-men-lêk
NRC, Metro, IRRR, THSR, Airport Railway
Glass roof photographed in 1899
Location	№s 1 – 2 South Blvd. E., Kien-k'ang, 10190 Themiclesia
Elevation	51 m
Owned by	National Railway Company Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Railway Inner Region Regional Railway Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Omnibus
Operated by	NRC Kien-k'ang Metro Inner Region Regional Railway Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Omnibus Other bus operators Themiclesia Post Other postal services
Line(s)	NRC Central Junction Railway Trans-Hemithean Railway Metro Blue Line Metro Red Line Metro Green Line Metro Orange Line Metro Inner Circle Line IRRR Line 1 IRRR Line 2 IRRR Line 5 HSR Inland Main Line HSR Traverse Main Line Airport Railway
Platforms	32 island 4 side
Tracks	123
Connections	Metropolitan Omnibus taxicabs
Construction
Structure type	mixed
Depth	52 m
Platform levels	3
Parking	3232
Bicycle facilities	652
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	382
History
Opened	1857 (1857)
Rebuilt	1897
Electrified	1983
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	avg. 722,000 per diem

The Twa-ts′uk-men Station (朱雀門驛, Twa-ts′uk-men-ljêk) is a passenger and freight railway station situated in Kien-k'ang, Themiclesia. Established on the Central Junction Railway, the station now hosts National Rail, five lines of the Inner Region Regional Railway, five lines of the Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Rail, Themiclesian High Speed Rail, Airport Metro, the Metropolitan Omnibus Terminal, and a taxicab hub; furthermore, it is connected to four hotels, three underground shopping malls, six shopping centres, the Kien-k'ang Financial Centre, amongst other local edifices.

It is the largest station in Themiclesia by passenger volume and floor area (but not land area), serving over 700,000 people a day on average (est. 2015). Across its six station buildings, it possesses three storeys above ground and five below. The station is a cultural landmark, transportation hub, and commercial centre for the capital city Kien-k'ang. Much of this prosperity sprang up around the station due to its passenger traffic.

History

1857 station

Twa-ts′uk-men was originally the eastern terminus of the Kien-k'ang to Qa-pa Line that became operational in 1857. It was named for the Twa-ts′uk Gate, the city's main southern gate, roughly 500 meters to its south. The line ended there as it was an important marketplace and entrepot for the entire southern interior of Themiclesia. The station's several tracks ran roughly in the east-west direction. To the east was the Kien-k'ang Marshalling Yard, which was established in 1873 when the station's internal yard proved insufficient and expanded in 1905 to extend some 800 metres northeast from the eastern edge of the station. The yard was placed there as it was near one of the busiest docks of the Kronh Canal, through which most of the city's freight and merchandise moved before the advent of motor vehicles.

Rebuilding

As railways developed in Themiclesia, many lines were connected to the capital city by terminal stations its outskirts, mainly to its north, west, and south. However, the need to transship goods from one terminus to another resulted in congestion through the city's core. To alleviate congestion, wagons not for delivery were commanded in 1875 to traverse the city at night; however, this policy aroused protestations from denizens complaining of nocturnal noise and excess manure from "interminable streams" of wagon traffic. In 1891, the government formally entered the railway business by purchasing the National Trunk Railway, which had defaulted on its debts due to ineffective line planning. The Liberal government embraced the regulations of railways as a policy and planned a "junction railway" to address the problem posed by wagon traffic.

In the following years, the city encountered difficulty to acquire sufficient land for a railway through the centre of the city. Thus, it accepted the suggestion of Chief Engineer of Works Sang, to construct an underground railway so that the land above remained economically useful. The government paid rent while buildings stood demolished and agreed to refund taxation on the land for 99 years, thus enhancing its value. Construction work began in 1892 and terminated in 1897, resulting in a seven-mile tunnel with four tracks. This project was reported in the foreign press and billed a "radical demonstration of competence" in domestic newspapers. However, at the same time, most of the working-class tenants who had lived in the demolished buildings were hastily evicted by their landlords, under the pretext of policy; they received none of the government's compensations.

The old building of Twa-ts′uk-men Station was demolished to make way for the tunnels, and a new building was erected as the jewel of one of the most expensive projects in modern history. The new building, completed in 1897, included a spacious concourse spanned by steel girders and glass roofs. With a floor area of 268,000 square feet and more underground, it was the largest building in Themiclesia and more than half of the size of Anglia's Crystal Palace. There were nine underground platforms when the station opened, though more were added later in its history. The underground levels were spanned by brick vaults reinforced with steel ties.

Because the Central Junction Railway was meant to connect the major railway lines around Kien-k'ang, the underground tunnels were built to accommodate the largest rolling stock then in use, found on the very new National Trunk Railway, which ran with coaches 14 ft tall and 10 ft 6 in wide; most Themiclesian coaches were between 12 and 13 ft tall, and 9 ft and 9 ft 6 in wide. Due to government consolidation of railways in the late 1890s and continuing into the 1920s, most improved and new lines were re-gauged to be consistent with the tunnels. Though considered generous by 1890s standards, the tunnels became the proverbial bottle-neck when it came to large freight in the Pan-Septentrion War and beyond.

The original terminal served both passengers and goods trains, but the terminal rebuilt in 1897 was dedicated to passenger traffic. Freight trains were instead diverted to the northeast side of the station, where a new goods station was built.

Early 20th century

In 1902, the first line of the Metropolitan Railway opened. Its station nearest to Twa-ts′uk-men was not initially connected to it and sat across South Boulevard. In 1904, the Sub-urban Railway's line entered service, on the south side of the station, west of the freight terminal. Metropolitan and Urban were competitors who sought to entice travellers emerging from the inter-city railway terminus, and over one-third of their initial lines were parallel to each other. In 1903, Metropolitan obtained the rights to open a tunnel into the mezzanine level and therein to build a ticketing office, and this was also done by Sub-urban as soon as their line reached the station in 1904.

In 1910, the station was augmented by two new platform with two tracks each. While passenger trains were usually assembled and maintained in the yard between the passenger and freight sides, the new passenger platform forced the staff platforms south, where maintenance work took place. The assembly of some trains was thus moved to Tl′ang-qrum Station, where a more spacious yard was still available.

Late 20th century

In 1947, the Kien-k'ang Metro resurrected pre-war plans to expand its network with two additional lines under the existing track level. The Orange and Green lines entered construction in 1950 and became operational at Twa-ts′uk-men in late 1952 and mid-1954 respectively. To pursue integration and accommodate ticketing operations on a sub-mezzanine, the lines were dug at an unprecedented depth of 17 metres beneath the NRC's tracks. As buildings stood above the exposed roof of the existing mezzanine, the sub-mezzanine, roughly at 12 m under the NRC level, was designed to connect both new lines and avoid the now-buried tracks of the Blue and Red lines. Additionally, there was considerable commercial space in the new level that would belong to the Kien-k'ang Metro. The sub-mezzanine level was the first true underground level of the station, as the NRC's track level was technically at ground level.

The addition of the Themiclesian High Speed Rail presented a challenge to the NRC. One plan called for replacing the switching yard that was still in use with HSR platforms, and another required digging a new tunnel under both the NRC and Metro platforms. The former plan was originally preferred, though operational difficulties so implied (the HSR sharing the four-track tunnel with conventional services) compelled the NRC to elect the latter plan. Work began in 1960 and was complete by 1963 amidst public concern. The HSR's ticketing operation required an extension to the sub-mezzanine level owned by the Kien-k'ang Metro. The interior of the new area was decorated by the HSR's architect E. E. Ericson, who otherwise was responsible for new constructions along the road. Reportedly, Ericson disliked working with the cramped and inflexible spaces underground.

The 60s also saw the opening of the underground shopping malls that ran under the roads bounding the station's infrastructure, bridging commercial establishments and opening into the mezzanines. A company jointly owned by the adjoining department stores initially owned these malls that catered to fast-paced purchases. It was thought that instead of waiting in the concourse, passengers could shop while in transit. Shoppers going from one department store to another could also stay within an enclosed space rather than emerging onto street level, where the presence of taxicabs and busses might lure them away; though that lure also existed with the underground malls opening into the Metro system, it was thought passenger traffic would more than offset this problem. The NRC was endeared to this plan as it provided more exits and reduced traffic at concourse level, which was short of seating space.

In 1969, the Inner Region Regional Railway was privatized and relocated its services to a new platform layer further below that of the Metro Orange and Green lines. These new platforms were located under the eastern approach of the NRC tracks. A further lobby was constructed above the three roughly-parallel regional lines. To distinguish this lobby, where ticketing and other IRRR offices were located, from the sub-mezzanine level (which was so named after its completion in 1952), the newer lobby was called the lower mezzanine. In 1970 they were renamed to B1 and B2 respectively, in an early effort to ease the infamous confusion that would later characterize the station; however, this change was not positively received, as discussed below. A new building was erected adjoining the luggage terminal east of the concourse to represent the IRRR's autonomous operation, though it could be accessed from was simply called the "new station" by locals.

The newest service at the station arrived in the 70s and 80s. An airport railway was planned in 1974 and completed in 1979 to connect the city to the Kien-k'ang International Airport, some 70 km away and actually located in Ram-ling County, so that arrivals had an option other than a bus ride along the frequently-congested highway. Its two platform were located under those of the Metro Blue line. Another building, called "new station south" was erected over the mezzanine level (as a stand-alone terminus) for the Airport Railway. It was hoped traffic might be separated from the existing network, but under public pressure that service was made accessible from both the sub-mezzanine and an extension of the lower mezzanine, which provided access to the bus stations and the concourse building. The 1969 station was then disambiguated as "new station north".

The Metro Circle line was completed in 1985 with its platform parallel and partly under the HSR service. It opened into the South Mall (from which transit to the other services was possible) and initially had no street-level exits. The abandoned roundhouse was converted into a railway museum in 1986.

Structure

Street level

The main passenger concourse is a 420-metre long, 65-meter wide concourse spanned by a glass roof, long side in the east-west direction. The main entrance is situated on the north side, roughly at its centre, though access points dot its perimeter. The concourse houses one portion of National Rail's ticketing office, and restaurants, bookstalls, and other small shops exist along the elongated building.

Mezzanine

The mezzanine level is directly below the concourse and extends some 300 metres past its southern side. The southwestern corner of the mezzanine is taken up by a bus terminal, into which a spur from the western overpass extends. The bus terminal is divided into two sections along the spur, the northern part thereof serving routes southbound, and the southern part northbound. Both sections accept departing and arriving passengers. Urban busses are not distinguished from long-distance busses The open area of the level is not as long as the concourse, but it extends further south. Beyond its two sides on the east and west, there is parking space. The northern half of the mazzanine houses the ticketing windows of the NRC, which also provide HSR tickets.

Ground level

The ground level lies under the mezzanine. There are 14 island platforms (Platform 2 through 15) and 2 side platforms (Platform 1 and 16), with a total of 36 tracks.

• Platform 1 is a side platform on the north end and the widest platform. It is not currently in use except by royal trains and reception ceremonies. It was formerly used for services on the Trans-Hemithean Railway.
• Platforms 2, 3, and 4 are used by trains for Rak and Stui the Inland Main Line.
• Platform 5 is used by trains for K′an and Nek.
• Platform 6 is used by trains for Lreng.
• Platform 7 and 8 are used by trains for Krunk on the Central Main Line.
• Platform 9 and 10 are used by trains for Mgraq, Ngang, and Lwai.
• Platform 11, 12, and 13 are used by trains for Rim, via the Traverse Main Line.
• Platform 14 is used by trains for Sat.
• Platform 15 is used by IRRR Line 1.
• Platform 16 is reserved for goods, mail, and charter trains.

The freight station no longer accepts freight, but to it are still sent luggage, mail, and parcels. It connects to the National Post building. As charter trains frequently depart from the southern platforms, tourist groups usually assemble here for ease of identification. There are breezeways from the freight terminal connected to the mezzanine.

To the north of the NRC tracks and directly beneath the road above, the Blue Mall is situated on this level. This mall is most noted for its selection of restaurants providing casual dining. Opposite the freight station, Underground Mall №2 is found, parallel to №1. As the south side of the station has been rejuvenated from a largely industrial area into one of leisure and fashion, №2 hosts a variety of fashion apparel stores.

Platforms for Metro Blue and Red lines are found on this level. The tracks of both services are considered to be on ground level even though they are below the natural ground level, since they are accessed through the mezzanine level like the National Rail track level. The Metro Red Line platforms are located north of the concourse building, while the Blue Line station is opposite the freight terminal. After covering, Metro Red and Blue both have two island platform, each island platform serving one direction; the sides facing each other running express trains, while the outer sides the ordinary trains. Metro Red has an addition, short platform that is used by staff members to travel to the Red Line Depot, which was nearby.

B1

This level was originally called the sub-mezzanine, since its functions as a nexus between several services made it comparable. B1 provides access to the Themiclesian High-Speed Rail and Kien-k'ang Metro Orange and Green lines. The level is accessed from the mezzanine level, several surrounding buildings, the Green and Blue underground malls, and certain street-level portals. The main body of B1 does not actually reach the Green Line's platform, requiring a 40-metre tunnel towards its lobby, from which the Green mall could be reached. On the other hand, the Orange Line does not have its own lobby and is accessed from the station's B1 level, with its own street-level access points. The Metro's Operational Control Centre is found on this level.

B2

This level, originally called the "lower mezzanine", offers access to IRRR Line 1, Line 2, and Line 5, the Airport Rail, and the Metro Circle Line. B2 was originally accessed not, as many assume, from B1, but from the mezzanine level. Entry to B2 is located southeast of the mezzanine and is led by a 180° turn into a large set of staircases and escalators. The geography of the level was designed to avoid overlap with B1, engineers having raised structural concerns. In 1990, B1 was connected to an enlarged B2 through four tunnels with highly-reinforced supports. The IRRR ticketing office is located on the northeastern corner of the level, the gates to the platforms directly east of it. Those of the Metro Circle Line and the Airport Rail is located on the southern limit of the level. B2 also offers exit into the Blue Mall and Purple Mall.

Ownership and staffing

The station's floor space is officially divided amongst five separate entities, owned by the NRC, Metropolitan Omnibus Company, Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Railway, Inner Region Regional Railway, and Themiclesia Post. Due to disputes arising over maintenance and repair duties, the Common Committee supervises most of the individual operations to ensure the others are not adversely affected. These entities also regularly lease areas to each other and share costs.

Criticism

Atmosphere

Starting from 1987, the station began digging tunnels leading directly from one service to another, without passing through mezzanines crowded by commercial activity

As early as the 1900, insufficient lighting and ventilation on the track level became a subject of criticism. The lack of convenient alternatives for long-distance travellers led the NRC to focus only on the capacity of the station, rather than its environment. By the 20s, accumulated soot was dropping from the vaulted ceiling onto the tracks and platforms, and the lingering smoke darkened the originally-yellowish interior. Gas lamps illuminated the station since 1898. Merchants in the mezzanine level strongly opposed attempts to pipe air through the level, fearing leaks might soil their products.

The station was built with vents between platform level and street level. In the summer, the platform level was cooler than street level, draughting wind onto the platforms; the reverse happened in winter. Though considered effectual, the ventilation was not adequately distributed or equalized, and natural draught could sometimes strong enough to blow individuals and goods off the platforms, or suck them into the vent from the ground level. There were also locations on the platform level that the draught did not reach. A compression chamber was built around the opening of the vents in 1925 to prevent water from accumulating or accidental injuries.

Commerce

Mezzanine level and its shops

In the 1960s and 70s, the HSR, new IRRR platforms, the Metro Circle Line, and the Airport Rail joined the station, all necesitating pathways connecting them to the already-sprawling network of mezzanines and tunnels. At the same time, the NRC facing competition from motor cars began to expand commercial revenues by renting out spaces in the mezzanine, B1, and B2 levels. Located in the areas that virtually every passenger would go through, the stalls were well-rented and patronized, though signage thus became obscured by advertisements. In the same vein, the station became a pedestrian bridge between the department stores that dotted its perimeter on the parallel pretext of conveniencing shoppers who come and go via trasit, and those who wish to go between stores without emerging onto street level.

The pandering to commerce created vocal consternation in 1974, when the stores in the mezzanine level agreed not to have clocks so that travellers might stay longer. In response, the station postulated that by diverting traffic away from the mezzanine levels, which functioned as a nexus for several services built during the same period, crowding would become less problematic. This was to be accomplished by creating new tunnels not populated by merchant stalls so that travellers on a hurry could access their desired services directly, without going through commercial areas. Some of these tunnels connect the transfer levels to each other, while others connect different platforms directly, such as those from the National Rail tracks to Metro Red, Metro Red to Orange, and HSR to Airport Rail.

While this initiative diverted commuters away from shoppers, it introduced a web of tunnels for which the station is now infamous. Added signs pointing to tunnels contradict existing signs that guide travellers through the commercial areas, where revenues forbid their removal. Moreover, since the station is shared by five separated payment zones, ticket gates and barriers also challenged easy navigation. For example, the tunnel from HSR to IRRR is almost 300 metres long, but there is no ticketing booth inside until 1999; thus, a passenger without an IRRR ticket accepted at the unmanned gates at the IRRR end of the tunnel would have to turn back and wend through to B2 instead, causing up to 15 minutes of delay when the area is crowded. Some of these tunnels also branch off into staff offices and storage rooms, which were removed from the main levels to make space for stores.

Many of these features encumbered law-enforcement officers tasked with apprehending terrorists that occupied the station in 2003 (viz. below), especially with lighting cut and maps complete with non-public areas difficult to find.

Platforms

Other than Platform 1, which measures about 12 m across, all other platforms have a maximal width of 6 m and tapers to 4.5 m at the ends. This has been considered inadequate in modern operations because the frequency of services, and consequently passenger throughput on the platforms, has increased dramatically since the late 19th century. While in 1897 a ordinary train would stop for 30 minutes to an hour, or 15 minutes if an express train, this has been reduced to around 2 to 3 minutes in modern practice. Shorter stopping times require more passengers to board and alight from the train simultaneously, leading to more crowded platforms. Originally, passengers entered and vacated the platforms from ramps at their extremes, but in 1949 escalators were added. Though allowing passengers to enter and leave the platforms more quickly, they have also reduced the effective width of the platform in places, leaving but 1 m on either side of the escalators.

National Rail launched inquiries into the effects of platform width on passenger experience in 1998. The inquiry concluded that the infrastructure of the station has not been built to support the running of a modern railway, but very little could be done to address the difficulty aside from adding barriers to particularly narrow points to prevent falling off the platforms. Such barriers were added in 2002.

2003 incident

Main article: Tjo-ts'jakw-men Incident

Incident

The station was the site of a violent incident by the Grek-lu′ millenarian cult in the morning of Dec. 29, 2003. Some 200 of the group's agents, possessing firearms and explosives, entered the station from several directions and barricaded the concourse level, collapsing some of the stairwells and ramps to the mezzanine level. At the same time, other agents released sarin gas at other stations to divert attention, killing over 100 in a single hour. Explosives were set on many other access routes to prevent the entry of police officers. Thousands in the station escaped after emergency announcements made by the staff, before the broadcasting room was captured. Later that morning, the cultists damaged trains in the station to create more barriers. Around noon, the department stores connected to the station were evacuated, and trains bound for the station were turned back two stops from it.

With an estimated 1,000, including 345 staff, still unaccounted for, early efforts by the police to force entry were repulsed. Authorities were uncertain whether the individuals were simply unable to find safe exit, known by the cultists, or held as hostages. As booby-trapped doors had already claimed several lives, the police were hesitant to attempt other manoeuvres. As the cultists did not emerge from the station, reckless manoeuvres were discouraged by the police commissioners and eventually the city's mayor. Due to the complexity of the station's geography and lack of information from within, the authorities gained ground very slowly. Attempts to establish communication with the cultists were unsuccessful, though it was thought by February the missing individuals were still hiding and not held as hostages. An cultist anonymously told the police that those missing "can quit the great enterprise as they please", which led some fringe commentators to claim they had stayed behind willingly.

The progress from hallway to hallway and from room to room was attended by much casualty, bombs and even simple traps like removed railings and holes causing injury and death. Attempts to light areas were frustrated by the sheer quantity of merchandise, pillars, and low ceilings. A major milestone occurred on Jan. 4 when 760 of the missing individuals were found subsisting on tinned foods and sheltering in a barricaded ventilation room on B1. Police officers nearly missed it, since an explosion was contrived to give the hallway to the room the appearance of impassability. The cultists were discovered in closely-linked network of tunnels and rooms in the abandoned depot, south of platform 6. In mid-March, the police began to attack the depot, though the cultists used the switchers on that level to inflict much damage on the authorities. On Jan. 8, many cultists surrendered the area, with most of them apprehended.

Subsequent developments

Following a thorough survey of the general area, with staff assistance, the station was declared clear on Jan. 19, 2004. The station was held by the cultists for about 10 days. Repair work continued until September, though test trains were run as early as February, after the tracks were cleared and explosives experts searched the tunnels for ordnance. Several unexploded bombs were discovered along tracks and floor area. Passenger service resumed on April 2, 2004. Passenger volume dropped from a pre-incident average of 650,000 per day to 447,000 for the remainder of 2004 and would not recover until 2009. A further four unexploded bombs were discovered between 2004 and 2006, though in all cases they were located in non-public areas and safely removed.

Both houses of Parliament first charged their respective home affairs committees to investigate the causes of the incident and to report on necessary procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future. In 2005, a joint committee was appointed with eight MPs and seven lords to oversee investigations and to draft a report. For the most part, the committee took the view that the undetected aggregation of weapons is the primary enabling fact, geography and lack of intelligence being factors which impaired police action. Moreover, the apprehension of leaders of the cult and the flight of conspirators led the Sungh Government to conclude that the ideological basis of such an attack had disappeared, so "there is no reason to believe it could occur again."

Nevertheless, from the time the station resumed passenger service, an addition 20 policemen have been stationed on site providing a total of 32 policemen in the station on most days. According to stationmaster, the primary improvement since the incident is actually over 2,000 new emergency buttons, intercoms, and telephones distributed throughout the station that permit immediate access to the staff, ambulance, and police. As it was thought the cultists actually spent several days installing all the barriers that later flustered the police, early warning and precise information as to the location of irregular occurrences was slated to improve response time and thus ability to address developing threats. Schemes such as metal detectors and military presence were early dismissed as impractical or impracticable in the consultation process.

See also

• Themiclesia