Thursday 23 Apr 2009
WORK STARTS ON NEW PLATFORM AS PART OF £450M KING’S CROSS REDEVELOPMENT
- Region & Route:
- | North West & Central
Work to build a new twelfth platform at King’s Cross begins on Friday, marking a major milestone in Network Rail’s £450m redevelopment of the historic London station.
Over the next decade passenger numbers at King’s Cross - Britain's busiest transport interchange - are due to rise by 10m and even now the station suffers from congestion during peak hours.
The new platform will increase capacity by allowing between 7 and 24 more trains during the morning peak period and, crucially, will also significantly reduce any service disruption while other platforms are refurbished.
It is being constructed next to the existing platform 1 on the eastern side of the station adjacent to York Way, space that was used as a covered taxi pick-up area in the past. Construction is expected to be complete by summer 2010.
Ian Fry, Kings Cross project director, said: “King’s Cross is being transformed into a world class transport hub which can meet future demand and offer the best facilities for passengers. The new platform will allow even more trains to run in the long term, provide more space and enable us to keep train services fully operational throughout the redevelopment."
By 2013, passengers will experience a completely rejuvenated King's Cross station with more capacity, an additional platform for extra services and improved links with international and domestic services from St Pancras and the London Underground.
The Grade 1 listed façade will also be restored to its former glory by demolishing the current single-storey concourse extension, creating a stunning new open piazza larger than Leicester Square at the front of the station.
Passengers are reminded that the north-east exit to York Way will close permanently on Friday to allow work on the new platform to begin.
Notes to editors
About the King’s Cross redevelopment - The majority of the station redevelopment will be completed by 2012 in time for the Olympics with the transformation complete by 2013. - Once completed, 50m passengers will use the new station each year – 10m more than today. An additional platform, increasing reliability and capacity at the station will be built - The new station will include integrated transport links with international and domestic services from St Pancras and the London Underground - The Grade 1 listed façade will be restored to its former glory by demolishing the current single-storey extension to the station - A new open piazza in front of the station, larger than Leicester Square, will be created Benefits to the local community - Network Rail has given £1m to Camden Council to spend on improvements to the local area, including £750,000 to improve the pedestrian environment along York Way. - As well as redeveloping the station itself, Network Rail will spend over £6m to create a major new public piazza space outside the southern end of the station which will be larger than Leicester Square. - The equivalent of almost 400 jobs will be created as a result of this work and Network Rail is working with surrounding local authorities to support training and employment for people in the local community. - Network Rail has also pledged to provide £175,000 to increase the number of covered cycle racks for the station. This will help to provide 800 more spaces for bike parking in the King’s Cross Central site in time for the Olympics. - King’s Cross has been identified by the Mayor’s London Plan as an area of potential growth. Network Rail is working closely with local authorities and neighbouring developers (London and Continental Railways, and Argent plc) so that plans for the station support this wider development. Network Rail will also support a number of local community groups throughout this project.Contact information
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