LONDON BRIDGE STATION

'London Bridge station' is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark, which occupies a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles (2.6 km) east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the world.
The main-line station is one of 17 railway stations managed by Network Rail and is a major transport terminus and interchange for central London. It serves over 42 million people a year.
The tube station serves the Jubilee and Northern lines and consists of a ticket hall and entrance area with its main frontage on Tooley Street.
The station is in Travelcard Zone 1. London Bridge is one of three rail termini in London not to have either a direct connection to, or within easy walking distance of, the Circle Line, the others being Marylebone and Waterloo.

Contents

History

Chronology

Station design

National Rail

Future Expansion

London Underground

River Service/London Bridge City Pier

Railway incidents

Other nearby stations

Railway

London Underground

External links

History

London Bridge is the oldest railway station in London and opened in 1838. The current station originated as two separate stations, which is why it has both through and terminal platforms.

Chronology

★ The London and Greenwich Railway (later South Eastern Railway, SER) station opened on 14 December 1836.

★ The London and Croydon Railway (later London Brighton and South Coast Railway, LBSCR) station opened on 5 June 1839.

★ The joint station opened in July 1844 and was demolished in 1850.

★ The SER and LBSCR stations opened on 3 January 1851.

★ The LBSCR station was demolished and rebuilt in 1853, extended in 1866.

★ The Terminus hotel opened in 1861, turned into offices for the LBSCR in 1892, demolished in 1941.

★ The original London and Greenwich platforms were demolished and new high-level through platforms opened 11 January 1864.

★ The station was unified by the Southern Railway in 1925.

★ British Rail undertook large-scale rebuilding, and a new station opened on 15 September 1978.

Station design

★ The 1839 London and Croydon Railway station had a wooden trussed pitched roof, 56 ft by 212 ft.

★ The 1866 LBSCR station had a single-span trussed-arch roof measuring 88 ft by 655 ft, and was designed by J. Hawkshaw and F. D. Banister.

★ The 1978 redevelopment was undertaken by N. D. T. Wikeley, regional architect for British Rail Southern.

National Rail

The through platforms, numbered 1-6, are to the north of the station and are served by trains originating or terminating at Cannon Street and Charing Cross, which are mostly Southeastern suburban services to south-east London and Kent. They are also served by First Capital Connect services, which connect Bedford and Luton with Brighton.
The terminal platforms, numbered 8-16, are to the south of the station and are mostly served by Southern services to south London and the south coast.

Future Expansion

London Bridge station is due to get a major revamp to enable it to accommodate the Thameslink Programme, increasing its through platforms from six to nine. Current space restrictions mean that many options have been investigated, even creating a two-level concourse similar to Waterloo Station.
The plan is to now reduce the number of terminating platforms from nine to six. There is no set completion date for the project, with construction work billed to begin in 2007.
Shard London Bridge, which, if built, may be the tallest skyscraper in Western Europe, is planned to be constructed by the southwest corner of the station, near the bus station.

London Underground

The Underground station is between Borough and Bank on the Northern line, and between Southwark and Bermondsey on the Jubilee Line.
The Northern Line station opened on 25 February 1900 as part of the City & South London Railway's (C&SLR's) revised route from Borough to Bank and Moorgate. Originally trains had run to a terminus at King William Street bypassing London Bridge, but the construction of a new station at Bank to provide greater capacity and allow northward extension required a new tunnel alignment, and provided the opportunity for a station at London Bridge. The original station entrance was on the corner of London Bridge Street and Station Approach but has since been moved - entrances are now in Borough High Street and Tooley Street. The Northern Line platforms were rebuilt during the late 1990s to increase the platform and circulation areas in preparation for the opening of the Jubilee Line.
The Jubilee Line station opened on 7 October 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension, although trains had been running through non-stop from the previous month. To enable the Jubilee Line to be constructed, months of major engineering works to relocate buried services in the surrounding streets had to be undertaken. A new ticket hall was created in the arches under the main-line station, providing improved interchange. During excavations a variety of Roman remains was found, including pottery and fragments of mosaics; some of these are now on display in the station.
There are two platforms on each line and two main sets of escalators to and from the Tooley Street ticket hall. All four platforms are directly accessible from the Borough High Street entrance/exit.

River Service/London Bridge City Pier

London Bridge City Pier is on the river Thames, slightly north of the station. It is served by Thames Clipper river boat services to Docklands and Greenwich in the east, and the Savoy Hotel to the west.

Railway incidents

Although no recorded accidents have occurred at London Bridge Station, the Spa Road Junction rail crash occurred a short distance outside the station.

Other nearby stations

Railway

★ Cannon Street

★ Blackfriars

★ Waterloo

★ Elephant & Castle

London Underground

★ Borough

★ Monument

★ Southwark

★ Elephant & Castle

★ Bermondsey

External links

★ London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive

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★ Station information on London Bridge station from Network Rail