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London Bridge tube station
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Coordinates: 51°30′18″N 0°05′10″W / 51.505, -0.086
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 and is the fourth busiest rail terminal in London.
The main-line station is one of 18 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 Line and the Bank branch of the Northern Line. It consists of a ticket hall and entrance area with its main frontage on Tooley Street, along with entrances and exits on Borough High Street.
The station is in Travelcard Zone 1. London Bridge is one of two rail termini in London to be located south of the river Thames, the other being Waterloo. For this reason they are also the only two London termini not to have either a direct connection to, or within easy walking distance of, the Circle Line, Marylebone being a short walk to Baker Street Station.
History
London Bridge is the oldest railway station in London and opened in 1836. The current station originated as two separate stations, which is why it has both through and terminal platforms.
Chronology
- Opened as Tooley Street by the London and Greenwich Railway on 14 December 1836.
- The London and Croydon Railway joined it on 5 June 1839.
- The joint station opened in July 1844 and was demolished in 1850.
- Due to the high tolls charged by the London & Greenwich, the South Eastern Railway along with the London & Croydon initially 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, 1-6, are to the north of the station. Platforms 1-3 are served by trains starting and ending at Cannon Street. Services to and from Charing Cross use platforms 4-6 and a through line (no platform) to the south of platform 6. Platforms 5 & 6 are also served by First Capital Connect with its Thameslink Bedford to Brighton services via Luton, St Albans, St Pancras International, Farringdon, City Thameslink, Blackfriars and Gatwick Airport
The terminal platforms, 8-16, are to the south of the station and are mostly served by Southern services to south London and the south coast. Platforms 10-12 also have some Southeastern services to Tunbridge Wells via Redhill.
Future Expansion
London Bridge is due to get a major revamp as part of 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. The number of terminating platforms will be reduced from nine to six. Work is not expected to be complete until 2015 with the bulk of the work taking place after the 2012 Olympic Games.
Shard London Bridge, which may be the tallest skyscraper in Western Europe, is planned to be constructed by the southwest corner of the station, near the bus station. As of January 2008, demolition is underway on site and the tower's core and steelwork are due to rise in 2009.
Gallery
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National Rail terminal platforms.
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A Class 71 locomotive at London Bridge in 1963
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London Underground
The Underground station is between Borough and Bank on the Northern Line, and between Southwark and Bermondsey on the Jubilee Line. The station is the sixth busiest on the Underground network.
Originally trains ran 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 at Three Castles House on the corner of London Bridge Street and Station Approach, but has since been moved to 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 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. 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 River Services London Bridge City Pier on the River Thames is slightly north of the station. It is served by Thames Clipper river boat services to Canary Wharf , Greenwich and the O2 in the east, and Embankment to the west.
Accidents
- On 27 November 1895, a local train hauled by LB&SCR Terrier No. 70 Poplar collided with the buffer stops.[3]
- At 09:30 on 23 January 1948, a train formed of a 6PAN and a 6PUL unit, which had formed that days 08:05 from Seaford and 07:30 from Ore, was allowed to draw up to the inner home signal, where it should have stopped. Instead it overran the signal and collided at a speed of between 15 and 20 mph (24 to 32 km/h) with the empty stock which had formed the 08:20 from Brighton. This train was formed of two 6PAN units. The train that was struck was forced through the buffers and demolished a bookstall. Three people were killed and 34 were injured.[4]
Other nearby stations
Railway
London Underground
References
- Ransom, P. J. G. (1990). The Victorian Railway and How It Evolved. Heinemann.
- Simmons, J. (1995). The Victorian Railways. Thames and Hudson.
External links
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