21 September 2017

Teams at the London Bridge Station redevelopment project -­ part of the government-sponsored Thameslink Programme – worked intensely over the August bank holiday period at London Bridge Station under special ‘blockade’ conditions.  4,500 engineers delivered over 92,000 hours of work in parts of the station normally containing active rail services.

The London Bridge Station redevelopment project is the cornerstone of the Thameslink Programme, which will transform passengers’ lives with greater train reliability and more journey options, improving the capacity of the rail network in south-east England.

The £12 million activity plan that was used in the blockade focused on moving the Charing Cross lines so that trains now arrive at platforms 6 and 9, using the newly delivered Bermondsey Dive Under.  However, the blockade was also used to make faster progress on other activities like the lighting and flooring in the new station concourse.

“This blockade programme was much larger in scale than what we have achieved before at London Bridge”, said Graham Dean, community relations and security manager. “Everyone in the team is very grateful to the community for their patience, and to our client, Network Rail, for trusting us with the stewardship of more of their station than ever before.  We used the blockade to complete a lot of other milestone activities, like safely removing the last tower crane at London Bridge station, and our shared collaborative approach to managing such a complex and important asset is what made that possible.”

The next intense working period is scheduled for the 2017 Christmas and New Year period, during which the final section of the new station concourse and platforms 1-5 will open to passengers. 

Simon Blanchflower, Thameslink Programme director, Network Rail said: “Over the past eight months, we have worked hard to make passengers aware of the planned closures and to provide travel advice so they could make informed choices about their journeys – it’s clear that passengers listened to our advice and I’d like to thank them again for their help in allowing us to deliver this vital phase of our upgrades.

“This work was part of the Thameslink Programme, a crucial piece of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan, which will provide passengers with more reliable journeys, increased capacity and access to a wider range of destinations from 2018.”

Caption: The London Bridge Station redevelopment project’s late August activity programme means the programme is on track for total completion by early 2018.

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