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Two years of delays as Blackfriars Tube is shut for revamp
Dick Murray, Transport Editor05.08.08
Blackfriars Tube station is to close for two and a half years in one of the longest closures of a central London station.
Rail chiefs said today the Square Mile station would shut in March next year and not reopen until late in 2011.
More than 44,000 daily users of the station face long delays getting to and from work and will be forced to use other stations, lines or the bus.
Circle and District line services will continue to run through the station but without stopping.
The closure of the 1870s Tube stationone of the oldest on the network, is to allow a £350million rebuild which forms part of the £5.5billion upgrade of the Thameslink line.
Underground and rail bosses have decided there is no way to do the work except to close the Tube section, and users will have to alight or board at Mansion House or Temple stations - both 10 to 15 minutes walk away.
The mainline rail section of Blackfriars will remain open, but Thameslinkand Southeastern commuters wishingto change to the Tube will have to use Farringdon, Elephant & Castle or London Bridge stations instead.
It is promised the first phase of the Thameslink programme, which will virtually treble passenger capacity from the current 4,500 an hour to 12,000, will be completed for the 2012 Olympics.
Jo de Bank of London TravelWatch said: "This really is a case of pain now for gain later. This is going to affect a great many passengers - but the upgrade of Thameslink must be done.
"The key thing is for both London Underground and Network Rail to ensure that closure dates are well advertised beforehand."
All eight floors of the boring and depressing station will be demolished and replaced with a largely glass "airy and cathedral-like" structure.
Andy Mitchell, NR's Thameslink programme director, said: "The work we start here at Blackfriars is absolutely vital to this congestion- busting upgrade. The Thameslink programme will deliver what passengers need - more seats, less overcrowding, more direct services and better connections." Extra capacity is desperately needed throughout the Thameslink line.
Chronic overcrowding has been highlighted by the Evening Standard's "Seat for Every Commuter" campaign.
Blackfriars mainline improvement will include covered platforms stretching across the Thames rail bridge with the station the first to have entrances north and south of the river.
By early 2012 Thameslink services will be lengthened from eight carriages to 12 between Bedford and central London and services doubled from eight to 16 per hour through central London.
Reader views (13)
Tony (from Southwark), you didn't read the previous comments before posting yours did you? Otherwise you would have noticed that I stated why the tube station has to be closed. Besides, it would take about twice as long to rebuild it IF it was possible to keep it open during the works, and then it would have to cope with additional patronage in its restricted state for 2 years as the longer Thameslink trains start operating in December 2011.
However, I don't blame you for thinking that the new main entrance to Blackfriars will be on the South Bank - it isn't (despite what the caption implies). It is merely an additional entrance while the main entrance on the North Bank (to which the caption should actually apply) will be rebuilt, as well as the tube station below it.
- Edvid, Luton, UK
As usual, the convenience of tens of thousands of daily travellers has been ignore by the developers of this project. To shut a major tube station like this for two-and-a-half years is ludicrous. Much of the overall project involves Blackfriars Station, on the south side of the Thames, and a new bridge across the river. Why couldn't the work have been phased, so that the Tube Station remained functioning for as long as possible? After all, tube trains are going to continue running through Blackfriars throughout the creation of the new monstrosity of a station. This appalling disruption for the long-suffering travelling public, in a City which is supposed to be the financial hub of the world, is farcical. Would this have happened in China?
- Tony, London, Southwark, London SE 19PE
As usual, the convenience of tens of thousands of daily travellers has been ignore by the developers of this project. To shut a major tube station like this for two-and-a-half years is ludicrous. Much of the overall project involves Blackfriars Station, on the south side of the Thames, and a new bridge across the river. Why couldn't the work have been phased, so that the Tube Station remained functioning for as long as possible? After all, tube trains are going to continue running through Blackfriars throughout the creation of the new monstrosity of a station. This appalling disruption for the long-suffering travelling public, in a City which is supposed to be the financial hub of the world, is farcical. Would this have happened in China?
- Tony, London, Southwark, London SE 19PE
It's about time! "Thameslink 2000", Thameslink as a company doesn't exist anymore an 2000 was 8.5 years ago!
- Headhunter, London
"Cathedral like"! Did the AUBA (Alliance of Ugly Building Architects) pay you to write that? It's another banal and tacky lump of glass and steel. Architecture is going though a new dark age, as bad as the concrete hell of the sixties and seventies, in which only horrible glass buildings are being erected. I despair for the aesthetic future of London - and every other city, because the modernist architectural establishment is forcing the same dogmas on every city in the world.
- Oliver Chettle, Bedford
Tony, I'd love to know how you can define a project involving major capacity enhancements as a 'vanity project'. It is clearly vital and as the Blackfriars NR station is one of the cornerstones of it, leaving the Blackfriars LUL station as it is would be a missed opportunity.
While the LUL station is rebuilt, the platform space required is such that it would be unsafe for passengers; it would also take an additional 2/3 years to rebuild the station if it remained open throughout.
By the way, the legal powers (and funding for that matter) for the Thameslink project were granted by central government, not Ken.
- Edvid, Luton, UK
About time they do this. I wish they shut down the Tube and rebuild it from scratch!
- Ad, London
Tony from Romford - It may be news to you but you "hard city workers" are a mere cog in the working of this country. Thanks for your effort in keeping the country going.....but don't get too ahead of yourself.
- Terry, Clapham, UK,
The Conservative Government came up with this project in 1991, not Ken Livingstone. The intention was always to revamp Blackfriars, and there will be even more work going on at London Bridge and Farringdon.
It is unlikely Boris will be scrapping this "Vanity Project", as hard City workers from major centres such as Croydon, Sutton, Brighton and Luton stand to gain from it. You will also get the equivalent of a new tube link from St Pancras to Elephant and London Bridge as trains will be running through every three minutes. Please stop whining. Like with all the road dig-ups from the utilities companies, this is infrastructure that should have been built over the last 30 years and foolishly wasn't, so now they are playing catch-up. And anyway, City Thameslink and Mansion House stations are virtually a stone's throw away.
- Dave, N10
Mansion House is only a 5 minute walk away.
- Mark, Barnet
Absolute ridiculous. Who approved this project? Ken? It's his mess ups which will paralyse London for the next decade. Come on Boris, scrap this vanity project and reopen Blackfriars for us hard City workers who keep this country going.
- Tony, Romford, Essex
Got to be done. We've been waiting for what used to be called "Thameslink 2000" for over 15 years (notice they've dropped the 2000 bit), and the project has been nicknamed "Thameslink 3000" by some. At least it will mean more frequent services through SE London in the long run, and they will be direct to The City.
Note, if we think this is bad, just wait until the closures at Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Moorgate when they build Crossrail.. Nightmare.
- David, N10
Yeah, OK, it's not the end of the world. Mansion House is little more than a train length away and to be honest, it will be worth the extra hassle to sort out the shambles that the current Blackfriars tube is now.
- Md, London, UK
