Published on : Wednesday, July 27, 2016
This week marks one month until passengers from South London and Sussex will be able to enjoy the first part of London Bridge’s massive new concourse for the first time.Passengers on Southern and Thameslink trains will see the hoardings on their platforms come down over the August Bank Holiday and the first two-thirds of the station underneath their feet will open for business.
Passengers on Southeastern trains travelling from East Sussex are advised that there will be changes to their services and to check before they travel.
The concourse, which will be the largest in Britain when completed in January 2018, has been under construction by Network Rail and contractors Costain for the past four years. Building work will now move away from the Southern and future Thameslink platforms towards the north of the station, where trains to Cannon Street run.Lifts, stairs and escalators will link the new concourse with platforms and give passengers new routes out of the station, as well as new shops and cafes.
Thameslink Programme director Simon Blanchflower said: “Passengers have been using our new platforms for some time, with the work on the new concourse hidden behind hoardings.”“This August we will open the doors for the first two-thirds of the new station and people will see the massive scale of the work we have been doing, as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan.”
We still have some way to go and building work will continue until 2018 – however I know people will enjoy their new station and the sense of space that it brings. In addition, our work to build the new railway junction at Bermondsey is progressing well which in due course will help the reliability of trains into London Bridge from East Croydon and beyond.”
Dyan Crowther, Chief Operating Office at Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We’re thrilled that this major phase of the station is nearing completion. The new lower concourse with a permanent ticket office and escalators to our Southern platforms above will be welcomed by passengers.“We look forward to the end of the project, in 2018, when our Thameslink services can return to London Bridge, increasing frequency and capacity on the route.”
Passengers from Sussex who interchange with Southeastern at London Bridge will find a change in services from this August, as Cannon Street trains will no longer call at the station. However, Charing Cross services, via Waterloo East, will begin again. London Bridge is expected to be busier during this time and queueing systems may be in place.
People heading for the Tube will have a variety of different routes open to them, including a peak time route through the new concourse, the existing concourse under the Shard and also out through the new entrances and exits onto St Thomas Street.
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