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London Bridge Station | Southwark

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#1 ·
The new London Bridge station!




This station is considered to be the world's oldest terminus in existance: its been operating since 1836 and is now 170 years old. It could also be considered the first elevated station in the world: the entire station is built above street level of several million bricks. Currently the commuter section of the station is split between 15 platforms: 1-6 are through platforms (to the other London termini of London Cannon Street and London Charing Cross) and 8-16 are terminal platforms. The station is served by South Eastern, Thameslink and Southern train services.

Although one of the less used of the London termini (there are 13), the commuter rail section of the station is used by some 48mn people, while the Northern and Jubilee London Underground lines are used by some 44mn it is used by some 47,685,000 48mn commuters, meaning each year 92mn people use the station or roughly 300,000 each weekday.

The 300m+ London Bridge Tower will partially go over this station while the office block shown in the pictures is still being re-designed to accomodate the current historical aspects of the terminal and the office market. The station is currently not heavily congested, but with the vast Thames Gateway project, London Bridge Station is set to get busier.




Client: Network Rail
Location: London SE1
Size: 750,000sq ft


This 12 acre scheme for London Bridge Station was developed following a masterplanning study prepared by tp bennett architects. The study was based on a thorough appraisal of urban design, town planning, rights to light and commercial viability, and provided Network Rail (then Railtrack) with clear, concise recommendations for the redevelopment of the station.

The design scheme fundamentally reconfigures and enlarges the existing station, providing for 50% uplift in passenger numbers. It also incorporates a major new retail concourse and a landmark air rights office building above the station. bennett urban planning provided town planning advice and coordinated an extraordinarily large consultation exercise necessary to accommodate the views of the many local interest groups and interested national bodies. The scheme gained detailed planning and listed building consent in December 2000.



















 
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#4 ·
Seems very cramped to me - this is suppose to be handling a tremendous increase in passengers over the next 50 years, and I just can't see a pair of escalators on each platform coping with the traffic to be honest.

Where's the flair, the vision, the pushing the envelope? This just seems to take what we have now, shove some steel and glass over it and pretend that's enough.

Where's the integration to the existing Tube station? Why should so many people be left out in the cold on those platforms? What's the idea behind giving the air rights over the station to another office block, when the tower being proposed next door is having trouble finding even one? Why is the entrance to the station sited at the edge of a main road, which needs to be crossed to get to More London?

It just doesn't go far enough. It's another one of those 'well it's better than what currently is there' so it will have to do. It shouldn't.
 
#6 · (Edited)
DarJoLe said:
Seems very cramped to me - this is suppose to be handling a tremendous increase in passengers over the next 50 years, and I just can't see a pair of escalators on each platform coping with the traffic to be honest.

Where's the flair, the vision, the pushing the envelope? This just seems to take what we have now, shove some steel and glass over it and pretend that's enough.

Where's the integration to the existing Tube station? Why should so many people be left out in the cold on those platforms? What's the idea behind giving the air rights over the station to another office block, when the tower being proposed next door is having trouble finding even one? Why is the entrance to the station sited at the edge of a main road, which needs to be crossed to get to More London?

It just doesn't go far enough. It's another one of those 'well it's better than what currently is there' so it will have to do. It shouldn't.
bloody hell DarJoLe, cheer up mate. It doesn't look that bad to me, it could be worse, check out my station in Congleton:



The station is packed but the last train is at around 7.30pm, it's full of graphiti and stinks of piss. I think you should count your blessings you are going to get a station that looks half decent, it's damn site more than what we will be getting. :yes:
 
#8 ·
I agree with DArjoles sentiments, public transport in this country needs a boost, a wow factor to make people proud with a sense of possesion and an integration so seemless that people step in and out with out a blink of an eye. Here we have a once in 100 years chance to rebuild a major railway station, similar to the situation the New Street is finding it self in; it just isnt going far enough, its is merely tarting up what there is at the present. Darjole points out the entrance that sprews out onto a main road exactly like it does at the moment, this about sums it up for me! WTF was all the bollocks about Southwark council working in partnership with them and LBT and everyone under sun for the past 5 years, what exactly have they all been master-minding?! To ease the passage of an office block through the planning system?!
 
#10 ·
I'm sorry don't agree with you there, this is hundred times better than the existing station. Compared to the current cramped subway, the capacity of this station is huge. The tube entrance is underneath the platforms on the western side of the station, short of having escalators direct from the platforms to the tube station, you are not going to get any closer. The new main entrance to the north is not on a particularly busy road and is opposite to the main pedestrian entrance to More London. The inadequicies of this station will be sorted out by this overhaul ( If the Thameslink scheme ever gets going). A new roof covering all the platforms would look nicer, but what extra capacity would it provide? Besides anything of any height would create issues over it dominating the area as the station already looms over the area.
 
#12 ·
Some 92mn people use London Bridge Station (commuter train + London Underground) for its transport uses.
Some 31mn use Birmingham New Street for its transport uses.

That isn't to say Birmingham New Street shouldn't get money - it should, but I think the London Bridge Station project has been around for ages, dating back to privatisation and its only been now that its actually seeing paper work get started. I hope New Street gets built on an immense scale: fully exposed tracks within a big bubble/train shed!

I think a lot of the money will come from the redevelopment above the station and of course LBT.
 
#13 ·
makes sense that building one of the largest buildings on the continent would attract money.

dont get me wrong, the last thing im suggesting is that the likes of Birmingham NS desserves it more than this, i mean the figures speak for themselves (as good old carol V would say) im just curious as it seems a very high quality design. is this final or do we expect it to change????

u might wana look on the bham thread and see what Birmingham is getting.......

also, is there any changes occuring with the layout of the tracks?
 
#15 ·
Oh yeah I know what you mean, I've been through New Street countless times and its not a place to 'hang around'. I also know what you're getting - not great and it could be a lot better. What we really need to do is not just develop bits of retail and office above stations and to the sides, but buy up an entire district and upgrade it to a variety of specs - that is how we will and should be doing to a greater extent to fund large luxurious stations. The MTR in Hong Kong makes a profit simply because its a major property developer (several tall skyscrapers, etc...).

I'd probably say that London Bridge isn't as bad as New Street at the moment, but it is growing at a fast rate due to the immense Thames Gateway and its been under review for at least a decade. Then again New Street's problems are small compared to say London Victoria's: that actually gets quite scary even though its an attractive station, it just gets too busy at certain times. Another station that is just seeing upgrades is King's Cross: the ticket hall is currently a very large portacabin that can't be moved.

I'm unsure about the trainshed....I'd love to see it kept, cleaned up and connected to the through platforms. Quite old pics here:
http://londonse.topcities.com/Gallery/London Terminals/London Bridge/LondonBridge.htm
 
#16 ·
Nick - whats the timeframe for this- Hasn't there been a PI about this & balackfriars & the thamelinks upgrade recently. LB station at the mo is a very basic & nasty station that badly needs an upgrade especialy as its one of the maing rail teminus into the coty of London.

I dont think this upgarde looks half baked & im sure it has been designed to cope with the increase in traffic & the platforms all look covered to me- Anyway the great majority of commuters wait on the concorse & then sprint for there train so I dont think they would get exposed to the elements to much. At the end of hte day a train stations a train station it should be designed to get people in & out as quickly as possible & with the least convenience.

The entrance to the tube would be right on the concourse, where the it already is & the new entrance on tooley st would also be next to the tube entrance & ashas been pointed out its not a particuarly busy road traffic wise but will be busier for pedestrians as More London is finished & other office blocks are built in the area. The main entrance would still be the one next to LBT anyway.

Nick would I be right in saying that office part of it would go some way to paying for the upgrade??
Also whats the plans for Victoria & Euston- I've heard that victoria will keep its facade but the rest will be redevloped with new offices on top- Any news??
 
#17 ·
again, i wouldnt even think that congestion is any worse anywhere else in the country than it is in the south. i mean BNS had to close last year due to overcrowding. the entiree system was crippled. i just wonder would things be allowed to get this bad down in that area?

againm, as it is a congestion/pax issue, again i am just wondering is this development just targetting passenger capacity or also track capacity?
 
#19 ·
They have to close victoria on a frequent basis due to overcrowding.

But the reason why these station redevelopments can go ahead in London is the office developments above them, they are extremely valuable and it is the office developments that finance the station improvements.
 
#20 ·
pricemazda said:
But the reason why these station redevelopments can go ahead in London is the office developments above them, they are extremely valuable and it is the office developments that finance the station improvements.
EXACTLY. There is no London fund for extravagance, this is pure money making.

These plans are genious functionally and improve the station immeasurably. I use the station a lot and this represents a 'step change' in integration with the tube compared to the existing convoluted setup.

Two pairs of escallators and steps are better than a narrow concrete tunnel and a half hearted flight of wooden steps.

A new alignment and a concourse 3 times the size on a single level is better than disjointed botch job of a concourse and a cramped overbridge that happens to serve as a concourse / battle ground.

It's a shame that an office block has to be built to pay for it rather than having an elegant glass roof.

I'm also sceptical about what looks to be concrete forms, but are shown in the designs almost 'nuclear fireball' white.

I'm surprised the old terminus shed gets demolished. I'm sure EH will have something to say about that.
 
#22 ·
woodhousen said:
again, i wouldnt even think that congestion is any worse anywhere else in the country than it is in the south. i mean BNS had to close last year due to overcrowding. the entiree system was crippled. i just wonder would things be allowed to get this bad down in that area?

againm, as it is a congestion/pax issue, again i am just wondering is this development just targetting passenger capacity or also track capacity?
Trust me, it gets bad at London Victoria....there are 19 commuter platforms and 4 London Underground platforms, so 23 platforms in total but handles a whopping 161,343,000 each year! Thats 5.3x more people than Birmingham New Street has 19 platforms:

London Victoria: 7,014,913 per annum/platform or 19,218 people per platform per day of the year
Birmingham New Street: 1,607,210 per annum/platform or 4,403 people per platform per day of the year

Trust me - Victoria gets bad, especially at the London Underground part of the station - it regularly has to close because it just gets too busy. It has yet to see re-modelling work to allow it to handle the immense volumes that go through it.

Like I keep saying though - all problem points across the network should be handled.
 
#23 ·
How are passenger numbers measured? If it is number of people boarding/alighting then terminals will have greater numbers than comparative mainlines because mainlines have people still on the train.

Is there any additiona track capacity being created here?
 
#24 ·
Indeed that is one thing to take into consideration with say London Bridge, Victoria and Birmingham New Street. Most services continue onwards at BNS, while at Victoria they all terminate and half do so at London Bridge while the other half continue to two other termini a km or so away.

I don't think there is any added track capacity, but more concourse capacity to the platforms. The more efficient this is, the greater the flow and capacity of the station.
 
#25 ·
Biosonic said:
Is there any additiona track capacity being created here?
Rather than 6 through platforms and 9 terminating ones there will be 9 through platforms and 6 terminating ones. This setup does allow better train flow. There will be additional track capacity to the west of the station including doubling the single track bottleneck on the Thameslink lines.
 
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