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Monday 21 Sep 2015

Computer-generated images show new public space and entrance planned for London Bridge station

Region & Route:

| Southern

A new public space will take shape outside London Bridge as part of the Thameslink Programme’s massive rebuilding of the station.

Computer-generated images have been released this week, showing what the new Tooley Street entrance to the station will look like in 2018. Construction work on the site, to the north of the station, is set to begin at Easter next year.

Thameslink Programme director Simon Blanchflower said: “As well as rebuilding the railway through London Bridge, we are also creating a new focal point for Southwark and linking the communities north and south of the line.

“A new pedestrian walking route will be opened up with plenty of space for new retailers and cafes and the new public space alongside Tooley Street will be a fitting entrance to one of London’s busiest railway stations.”

The new concourse Network Rail is creating at London Bridge will be the size of the pitch at Wembley and stretch the full width of the railway, from Tooley Street to St Thomas Street.

London Bridge is currently used by 56m people every year, and the new station is designed to be used by more than 90m people, as well as providing a destination in its own right.

NOTES:

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