Network Rail has unveiled plans to transform London Bridge, to create a bigger and better station for passengers and to enable a more frequent and reliable train service.
The complex, five year construction project, is planned to get underway fully in 2013 and is scheduled to be completed in 2018. Features and benefits include:
- A new concourse at street level, with entrances on Tooley Street and St Thomas Street.
The concourse will be filled with natural light that will come through the canopies that will cover the platforms above, making a more pleasant environment for passengers. - Space for around two thirds more passengers than use the station today.
- An increase in the number of tracks going through the station from six to nine and a reduction from nine to six in the number of terminating platforms. This will enable eighteen of the planned 24 Thameslink services per hour to call at London Bridge.
- Step-free access to all platforms from the main concourse, making the station easier to use – especially for people with reduced mobility, or those with luggage or small children.
This investment will mark the final phase of the Thameslink programme to deliver longer trains and more frequent services to more destinations.
For more details please visit the Network Rail site.
Some frequently asked questions
What are you building?
We’re completely transforming London Bridge station. It will be a bigger, better, more spacious station, with a new concourse underneath the platforms and an eye catching roof-scape, made up of undulating canopies. We’ll be increasing the number of through-platforms, so more trains can continue their journeys beyond the station.
Why are you doing this?
Because of the Thameslink programme – delivering longer trains and more frequent services to more destinations. We’ll be creating the space for up to 18 services per hour from London Bridge, across central London and beyond – whilst reducing delays on your services.
London Bridge is also overcrowded and difficult to use. Our plans will make the station big enough to deal with 66% more passengers than currently use the station. It’s part of our bigger plan to improve rail travel across London, the South East and Britain.
What are the benefits of the scheme?
- A bigger, more spacious station – including a concourse larger than Wembley’s pitch and room for 35% more passengers [than expected in 2016].
- More through trains – an increase from between one and four, to eighteen, Thameslink trains per hour in each direction during the peak.
- Easier access – all platforms accessible by escalator or lift, from a central concourse
When will work start?
We expect preliminary work to start later this year, to start the main construction work around the middle of 2013 and finish around the middle of 2018.
How can I find out more?
Go to the Network Rail website networkrail.co.uk/thameslink
How can I have my say?
You can call us on 08457 114141 or drop us a line – thameslink@networkrail.co.uk
What’s happening at the station now?
The Shard of Glass development is funding a new bus station and delivering a new concourse for rail passengers. This will be ready by the summer of 2012.
What’s happening with the bus station?
Bus station construction is being delivered in two main phases - enabling works and main construction works.
We are just finishing off the last bits and pieces of the enabling phase, most dramatically the recent removal of the station roof, but we have also been busy installing temporary bus shelters, relocating the bus information kiosk and reconfiguring services such as tanoy and lighting.
We are now preparing for the main construction phase that starts later this year for completion by mid next year. This main phase will see the realignment of the concrete islands between bus stops, construction of the new islands, roads and pavements and installation of the new escalator into the underground.
What are the main benefits?
London Bridge bus station is being transformed into a modern transport interchange - more open, attractive and welcoming to passengers and allowing more space for buses and taxis.
Rotated by 90 degrees, the new road and pavement layouts will reduce congestion. New signage offering clearer pedestrian and passenger information, new shelters providing more comfortable and attractive waiting areas and a new escalator into the Underground station will all work together to transform the entire passenger interchange experience.
What disruption is this causing to station users?
We’re doing everything we can to minimise disruption to everyone who uses the station. On some weekends buses have been diverted or leaving from different stands and there are some alterations to train services. Once complete, the new bus station and concourse will be fantastic new facilities for station users and give a taste of what’s still to come.
What disruption is this causing to bus users?
It will be necessary to be relocate some routes outside of the station temporarily while the sections which affect them are worked on. Our job now is to ensure that that as many routes as possible can continue to use bus station as normal over this period and that we can give passengers as much advance notice as possible about any service changes and stop relocations.
Go to www.tfl.gov.uk/buses or www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk for more information.
Shouldn’t Thameslink have finished by now?
The work at London Bridge is the final phase of the Thameslink programme. This December (2011), the first longer trains will start running – calling at many stations that have had their platforms made longer, ready for this. Then, by next Summer, the transformation of Blackfriars and Farringdon will be complete.
Our work at London Bridge will complete the programme. This work will start at the end of 2012 when the interim ticket office will be constructed, and the main works are planned to commence in May 2013 with planned completion in May 2018.
What’s the scheme likely to involve?
It’s going to be complicated, large scale work, taking place in phases over a number of years. Some of the most notable work will include:
• The removal of the old train shed
• The removal of the footbridge over platforms 1-8
• The creation of a new concourse beneath the platforms, between Tooley Street, St Thomas Street and including Stanier Street and Weston Street
• New canopies for every platform
• Widening the vaults (the current route from Joiner St to the current main concourse) and creating an entrance into the new concourse where the escalators up / down currently are
What does this mean for train passengers?
Network Rail, train operators, TfL and others are working together to understand in more detail what the work will mean for passengers and more information will be made public as soon as it is available.
In general terms it is likely that at times, fewer trains will stop at London Bridge and more use will be made of alternative London stations. These could include Charing Cross and Cannon Street nearby, as well as Victoria (for services from Sussex and South London).
Will I get a discount while my journey is disrupted?
The train operators will work with Network Rail to do everything possible to minimise disruption to passengers, however the costs of running the railway will remain the same while this major investment takes place to secure significant passenger benefits for the future.
What’s happening to services between London Bridge and London Victoria via Denmark Hill?
These services are being withdrawn in December 2012 following the introduction of phase two of the East London Overground services and as a consequence of the construction work reducing platform availability at London Bridge. The withdrawal of the services was specified within the Southern franchise agreement with DfT.
If there are so many trains going through central London, why does everything on the Wimbledon loop have to stop at Blackfriars?
There will not be any changes to these services before the work at London Bridge is complete – and the decision will be made by the Department for Transport who will be consulting on the issue.
However, Network Rail believes that through services from the Wimbledon loop would be incompatible with the successful delivery of the full 24 train per hour service. This would mean fewer trains overall through the centre of London.
For more details please visit the Network Rail site.
