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Tuesday 5 Aug 2008

GREEN LIGHT FOR NEW £350M BLACKFRIARS STATION

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National

Work is now underway on the new £350m Blackfriars station that will form a vital part of the multi-billion pound, congestion-busting Thameslink expansion project.

Once completed, at the end of 2011, the new station will able to deal with three times the number of trains and passengers as it does today - from a maximum of 64 carriages per hour to 172.

It will be the first station in London to span the Thames – enabling direct access to the South Bank and attractions including the Tate Modern. Other work includes widening the bridge to allow for new track to be laid; all Network Rail platforms will be extended across to the South Bank of the Thames, and a new glass façade will be added. The station will have new step-free access.

Preparatory work has already started, with work in earnest beginning in October, and a planned completion of late 2011. Blackfriars 'overground' station will remain open and operational throughout the reconstruction but the complete rebuilding of the underground station means it will need to be closed from March 2009, reopening in the autumn of 2011.

Andy Mitchell, Network Rail's Thameslink programme director, said: "The work we will undertake at Blackfriars is absolutely vital to this congestion-busting upgrade. The Thameslink expansion will deliver what passengers need - more capacity, less crowding, more frequent services in central London.

"There will some planned changes to the service to allow work to be done at nights and weekends – but the prize is great - services tripled and train lengths doubled. And the benefits will come soon - many of them as early as 2011."

The Blackfriars revamp is just one element of the comprehensive Thameslink upgrade programme. This scheme will hugely increase north-south journey opportunities through London and vastly increase capacity. Work has already begun at Luton Airport Parkway. The major work at Blackfriars, Farringdon and Borough Viaduct begin soon. Work to radically overhaul the track layout to the east of London Bridge (including work at Bermondsey and Tanners Hill) is planned to begin in late 2012.

Notes to Editors:

Phase One of the Thameslink Programme, due for completion by early 2012 will deliver:

• Longer trains delivering a 50 per cent increase in carriages on local services between Bedford and Central London
• An increase in the number of trains between north and south London (between King’s Cross/ St Pancras Int. and Blackfriars) from 8 per hour (64 carriages p/h) to 16 per hour (172 carriages p/h) by 2012.
• Capacity will increase further once the entire project is completed in 2015 to 24 trains per hours (288 carriages p/h)
• Blackfriars becomes the first station to span the Thames with a new entrance on the South Bank, providing direct access to Tate Modern
• Better interchanges at an improved Farringdon station
• Better dispersal of passengers from St Pancras International
• New journey opportunities through London (North to South)