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Monday 28 Nov 2011

SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEW FARRINGDON TICKET HALL

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail will open Farringdon station’s new ticket hall on Monday December 12 marking the first step to transforming Farringdon into one of London’s newest and most important transport hubs.

With two weeks to go, Network Rail has released a short video showing how the project will be phased to keep passengers moving through the station.

At 165 square metres, this spacious ticket hall is designed to accommodate passengers for First Capital Connect’s first longer, 12-carriage trains on the Bedford-Brighton Thameslink route, which will serve Farringdon from 12 December.

The new ticket hall also provides the additional capacity that will be required with future Crossrail services from 2018. Lifts in the new ticket hall will open in 2012.

The opening of the new ticket hall also allows for the temporary closure of the original Grade II listed London Underground entrance for refurbishment. The programme includes opening opening up the entrance to create more space, new ticket offices, and a direct link into the new Turnmill Street concourse on the eastern side of the station.

The station will remain open during the closure with London Underground passengers being redirected to use the new Turnmill Street concourse and First Capital Connect Thameslink route passengers being directed towards the newly opened ticket hall.

The newly refurbished London Underground entrance will re-open on Monday 6 February 2012. From then on passengers will be able to use all three entrances into Farringdon station, making it easier to access the station and to change between services.

This will be closely followed by the unveiling of the restored London Underground façade on Cowcross Street.

By 2018 over 140 trains an hour will run through Farringdon on London Underground, Thameslink route and Crossrail services, relieving pressure from current transport networks as well as providing new and faster journey options.

Farringdon will provide a direct link to three of London’s major airports, Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton, plus St Pancras International for Eurostar services.

Richard Walker, Network Rail project director, said: “Keeping people moving to and through Farringdon has been our top priority. Passengers will now start to see the benefits of this project, culminating with the introduction of metro-like services on both Thameslink and Crossrail from 2018.”

David Statham, projects director for First Capital Connect, said: “The new ticket hall is great news for our passengers because, by accommodating longer platforms, we’ll be able to run our first-ever 12-carriage trains delivering more space on our busy commuter services.”

David Waboso, capital programmes director, London Underground, said: “The rebuilding of Farringdon station is fantastic news for LU passengers – preserving important historical features whilst enlarging the station to enable it to meet growing demand as London continues to develop. I hope that passengers continue to bear with us and with Network Rail while these improvements are being made.”