London Bridge station
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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.
The mainline station is one of 17 UK railway stations managed by Network Rail and is a major transport terminus and interchange for Central London. 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, or a connection within easy walking distance, to the Circle Line (the others are Marylebone and Waterloo).
History
London Bridge is the oldest railway station in London and was opened in 1836. Today it serves over 42 million people a year. The current station originated as two separate stations and this is why there is the current combination of through and terminal platforms that make up the station.
Chronology
- The London and Greenwich Railway (later South East Railway) station opened on 14 December 1836.
- The London and Croydon Railway (later London Brighton and South Coast Railway) station opened on 5 June 1839.
- The joint station opened in July 1844 and was demolished six years later in 1850.
- The new South East Railway (SER) and London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) stations opened on 3 January 1851.
- The LBSCR station was demolished and rebuilt in 1853 then extended in 1866.
- The Terminus hotel opened in 1861, was turned into offices for the LBSCR in 1892 then demolished in 1941.
- The original London and Greenwich platforms were demolished and new high level through platforms opened in January 1864.
- The station was unified by the Southern region in 1928.
- 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, spanning 56ft by 212ft.
- The 1866 LBSCR station had a one-span, trussed arch roof, measuring 88ft by 655ft, and was designed by J. Hawkshaw and F. D. Banister.
- The 1978 redevelopment was undertaken by N. G. 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, and consist mostly of Southeastern suburban services to south-east London and Kent. These platforms are also served by First Capital Connect services which connect Bedford and Luton with Brighton via central London.
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.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; text-align: center;" |- ! Preceding station ! colspan="3" | National Rail ! Following station
|- style="text-align: center;" | London Cannon Street | style="background:#FECB09;" rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | Southeastern | style="background:#FECB09;" rowspan="2" | | Deptford |- style="text-align: center;" | Waterloo East | New Cross
Future Expansion
London Bridge station is due to get a £million revamp to enable the station to accommodate the Thameslink 2000 project. The station will need to increase its through platform capacity from six to nine. Current space restrictions means that many options have been seived through 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 respectively. Currently, there is no set completion date for the project, with construction work billed to begin in 2007.
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 section of the 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 to allow northward extension of the line required a new tunnel alignment and provided the opportunity for a station to be constructed at London Bridge. The original station entrance was on the corner of London Bridge Street and Station Approach but has since been moved. Entrances to the station 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 section of the station opened on 7 October 1999, although trains had been running through the station non-stop from the previous month. The station is part of the Jubilee Line Extension. 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. For the introduction of the new service a new ticket hall was created in the arches under the main line station, providing an improved railway and tube interchange. During excavations to prepare the new ticket hall, a variety of Roman remains were found including pottery and fragments of mosaics; some of these are now on display in the station.
The station has two platforms on each line and two main sets of escalators to and from the Tooley Street ticket hall. All four platforms are also directly accessible from the Borough High Street entrance/exit.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; text-align: center; clear: both;" |- ! Preceding station ! colspan="3" | Underground Lines ! Following station
|- style="text-align: center;"
| Southwark
| style="background:#767b7f;" |
| Jubilee Line
(City branch)
| style="background:#;" |
| Bank
River Service/London Bridge City Pier
London Bridge City Pier is on the river Thames, slightly north of the mainline railway station. It is served by Thames Clipper river boat services, connecting London Bridge to the Docklands and Greenwich in the east, and to the Savoy Hotel to the west.
{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="margin: 0 auto; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center;"
|- style="background: #F0F0F0;"
! Preceding Pier
! colspan="3" | London River Services
! Following Pier
|- style="text-align: center;"
| Bankside Pier (Tate Modern)
| style="background:#;" |
| Commuter Service
| style="background:#;" |
| St Katherine's Dock
Location and environs
There are many tourist attractions near the station: The London Dungeon, Southwark Cathedral, Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, Borough Market, Vinopolis, The Monument to the Great Fire of London and the Thames river path (part of the "London Jubilee Walk") along the south side of the Pool of London.The station is also convenient for visitors to Hay's Galleria, GLA building, Butler's Wharf, Shad Thames, St Saviour's Dock, Guy's Hospital and Tate Modern (10 minutes' walk).
A major redevelopment is planned over the next few years. Shard London Bridge, set to become the tallest skyscraper in western Europe, will stand directly over the station. A new roof and concourse will also be added, along with other local improvements.
Railway chronology
- London and Greenwich Railway (later South Eastern Railway) station opened 14 December 1836.
- London and Croydon Railway (later London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) station opened 5 June 1839.
- Joint station opened July 1844; demolished in 1850.
- New SER and LBSCR stations opened on 3 January 1851.
- LBSCR station demolished and rebuilt in 1853; extended in 1866 (present station).
- Original London and Greenwich platforms demolished and new high-level through platforms opened 11 January 1864.
- Station unified by the Southern Railway 1928.
- Large scale rebuilding by British Rail opened 15 September 1978.
- Terminus Hotel opened 1861; purchased by the LBSCR for offices in 1893; demolished 1941.
- 1839 L&CR station wooden-trussed pitched roof, one span 56 ft by 212 ft, designed by J. Gibbs(?)
- 1866 LBSCR station, one span, trussed-arch roof, 88 ft by 655 ft, designed by J. Hawkshaw / F.D. Banister.
- 1978 redevelopment by British Rail Southern Region Regional Architect, N.G.T. Wikeley
Other nearby stations
Railway
London Underground
External links
- [London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive]
- *[Underground Station in 1915]
- *[Underground Station in 1929]
- [Station information] on London Bridge station from Network Rail
- [Train times] and [station information] for London Bridge station from National Rail
- [Street map] and [aerial photo] of London Bridge station from Multimap.com
| Major UK railway stations | |
|---|---|
|
Aberdeen |
Belfast Central |
Birmingham New Street |
Brighton |
Bristol Temple Meads |
Cardiff Central |
Crewe |
Derby Edinburgh Waverley | Gatwick Airport | Glasgow Central | Glasgow Queen Street | Leeds City | Liverpool Lime Street Manchester Piccadilly | Manchester Victoria | Newcastle Central | Nottingham | Reading | Sheffield | York | |
| Railway stations of London Central area | Greater London |
|---|
| Blackfriars station>Blackfriars | Cannon Street | Charing Cross | City Thameslink | Clapham Junction | Euston Fenchurch Street | King's Cross | King's Cross Thameslink | Liverpool Street | London Bridge Marylebone | Moorgate | Paddington | St. Pancras | Victoria | Waterloo |
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