TRANSFORMATION OF FARRINGDON BEGINS WITH THAMESLINK BRIDGE LIFT

Monday 23 Feb 2009

TRANSFORMATION OF FARRINGDON BEGINS WITH THAMESLINK BRIDGE LIFT

Region & Route:: | Southern

Network Rail's transformation of Farringdon station into one of the capital’s most important transport interchanges began in earnest on Sunday (22 February) with the installation of the final section of a new modern footbridge.

The steel and glass bridge, which links the rail and London Underground platforms, will provide much more room for passengers than the old footbridge, helping to alleviate pressure at the busiest times of day. The bridge design includes innovative elliptical support pillars which have helped to free up much-needed space on Farringdon’s narrow platforms. This will be particularly important once the Farringdon to Moorgate branch of the Thameslink route closes in March so work can begin to extend the platforms at Farringdon to accommodate longer 12-car trains.

Installation of the new footbridge began three weeks ago when the first 32-tonne, 16.5-metre section was lifted into place using a colossal 800-tonne crane. Further sections have been installed in the intervening weekends with work scheduled to cause as little disruption as possible to rail and tube passengers. The last remaining sections of the new structure were installed over the weekend following the removal of the final sections of the old bridge, which was installed 25 years ago.

Andy Mitchell, Thameslink Programme project manager at Network Rail, said: “This was certainly a tricky operation, especially given the location of Farringdon station in an isolated cutting with tall buildings on all sides. Installing the new bridge marks a significant milestone on the congestion-busting Thameslink Programme which will deliver what passengers need - more capacity, more seats and less crowding.”

When complete, the Thameslink Programme works at Farringdon will include not only the new footbridge but also a new additional London Underground station entrance in Turnmill Street, new station canopies, and a new, fully accessible concourse in Cowcross Street (opposite the existing LU station concourse which will remain).

This new concourse will not only serve north-south Thameslink route services but also future east-west Crossrail services.

Notes to editors

The works at Farringdon are managed by Network Rail and undertaken by Costain in joint venture with Laing O’Rourke. The new footbridge was designed by Aukett, Fitzroy, Robinson and fabricated by N Class Ltd of Peterborough. Farringdon station is owned and operated by London Underground, with two LU platforms and two platforms served by the Thameslink route services operated by First Capital Connect. Thameslink Upgrade Project – key benefits: • Increased capacity: more trains and more carriages. Up to 24 trains per hour on the Thameslink route across central London by 2015 (presently eight) during the peak period with the added benefit of delivering 12 carriage services rather than the present eight • Less overcrowding: easing passenger congestion across the Thameslink route and reducing congestion on the tube (particularly the Northern and Victoria lines) with much improved tube access at the new Farringdon and Blackfriars stations • Simplifying track layouts and modernising signals: reducing bottlenecks and logjams on a busy network • Better stations: major investment at London Bridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon and platform extensions at outlying stations to accommodate longer trains. Blackfriars will become the first London station to span the river Thames, Farringdon will later become an interchange with Crossrail, while London Bridge will be completely rebuilt and modernised with capacity for thousands of additional travellers during peak periods • Better Olympic journeys: connecting more people directly to the special ‘Olympic Javelin’ service from St Pancras International to Stratford • A direct interchange with Crossrail: The scheme offers major improvements on North to South rail services across London and the South East, complementing the east to west London Crossrail service

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