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Friday 27 Nov 2015

Christmas railway upgrade work at London Bridge is just four weeks away

Region & Route:

| Southern

With just four weeks to go until Christmas, passengers are being reminded this week that major improvements being carried out on part of London Bridge station will affect journeys over the festive period.

The work by Network Rail as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan means that there will be no Southeastern trains at London Bridge, Charing Cross, Waterloo East and Cannon Street from the evening of Christmas Eve to Sunday 3 January 2016, including three working days. Passengers will still be able to reach London with services diverted to Victoria and Blackfriars, or terminating at New Cross for London Overground connections. In addition, stations between Deptford and Westcombe Park, including Greenwich, will be closed and trains replaced by buses. Tickets will be accepted on alternative routes.

Southern and Thameslink trains from London Bridge will not be affected.

Thameslink Programme director Simon Blanchflower said: “While many people will be busy with their families this Christmas, our teams will be busy at London Bridge bringing a new viaduct and rebuilt section of railway into use, as part of our ongoing project to improve one of Britain’s busiest railways.

“Much of our work on the Thameslink Programme takes place at night, but major work of this scale can only be achieved by temporarily closing the railway and diverting trains to other stations.

“This does mean changes to services this Christmas, but with fewer passengers travelling than at other periods, this gives us the best opportunity to do this improvement work – a crucial part of our Railway Upgrade Plan.”

Southeastern’s managing director David Statham said: “Whilst Network Rail carry out this important work to improve the railway for our passengers, our priority is to do everything possible to let you know how your journey will be affected and what your alternative options are so you can still reach your destination”

The work, by the government-sponsored Thameslink Programme, will begin on the evening of  Christmas Eve and passengers will be asked to make sure they leave London in plenty of time to avoid missing the last train home. The work, which will be completed in time for trains to resume on Monday, 4 January 2016, is part of the scheme to rebuild London Bridge station and the surrounding railway to give passengers across the south east more trains to more destinations, more reliably.

 It includes the opening of the new Borough Viaduct to trains so work can begin to rebuild the tracks currently used by trains travelling between London Bridge and Charing Cross.

Southeastern’s High Speed trains will continue to run to and from St Pancras International throughout the period, apart from Christmas Day itself and will run a special service on Boxing Day between Ashford International and St Pancras International.

Passengers are encouraged to check with www.nationalrail.co.uk or at www.southeasternrailway.co.uk before they travel.

NOTES TO EDITORS

In addition to the work at London Bridge, a major project to rebuild the railway near Croydon will be taking place at Christmas. This will mean there will be no trains between South Croydon and Redhill between late evening on Christmas Eve and 3 January 2016. Passengers from Kent travelling to Gatwick Airport and other parts of Sussex will be able to take trains via Tonbridge and Redhill, but are advised to leave extra time for their journeys

About Thameslink 
Network Rail is delivering the government-sponsored Thameslink Programme to transform north-south travel through London. When complete in 2018 it will give passengers:

• New spacious trains running every 2 to 3 minutes through central London in the peak
• Improved connections and better options to more destinations on an expanded Thameslink network including Cambridge and Peterborough
• Robust tracks and signalling offer more reliable journeys
• A completely rebuilt London Bridge station with more space and great facilities

London Bridge facts

• Over 120 million people a year go to London Bridge or through it to Cannon Street and Charing Cross – 54 million start or end their at London Bridge itself
• The new concourse at London Bridge is bigger than the pitch at Wembley, increasing passenger capacity by 65%
• London Bridge will be longer than the Shard is tall From 2018, more frequent services:
  • Between Blackfriars and St Pancras - up to 24 trains per hour in each direction during the peak
  • Between London Bridge and St Pancras - up to 18 Thameslink trains an hour in each direction, during the peak (currently there are none between 7.30 and 9am)
• 178 years old – London Bridge is London’s oldest surviving rail terminus, first opened in Dec 1836