Northern Line Bank branch 17-week closure in place
THE 17-week closure of the Bank branch of the Northern Line began on January 15. A revised timetable has been introduced, with trains from the southern terminus at Morden now being routed via the Charing Cross branch. Meanwhile Moorgate, on the Bank branch, will become a temporary terminus for trains from Edgware, Mill Hill East and High Barnet. This is because Kennington and Moorgate are the only locations where trains can be turned around either side of the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade (BSCU) project.
Whilst a new temporary 733 bus route is running between Oval and the City of London, patronage is expected to be subdued for the moment due to the winter omicron wave.
Bank station grew organically as demand for transportation into the Square Mile increased. First to open were today’s Waterloo & City line platforms in 1898, with the City and South London (Northern Line) and Central London Railway (Central Line) services commencing in 1900.
Passenger footfall has steadily grown since, with the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) platforms opening in 1991. As a result, the station has outgrown itself, with an estimated 120,000 passengers using the various exits pre-pandemic. Once completed later this year, the remodelling work will increase station capacity by 40%. Mobility-impaired passengers will gain step-free access to the Northern line, with additional direct routes through the station and a new entrance on Cannon Street.
Construction costs for the BSCU project have come in under the final £700 million budget, although this is more than the initial £607.5 million estimate revealed in papers presented to TfL’s finance and policy committee back in 2016. Work on the new tunnels began in April 2017, with new Northern Line tunnels being dug out by traditional digging machines, lowered into a cavity via a site at Arthur Street, through the former King William Street station. The new tunnel navigates its way underneath 31 listed buildings and even through the foundations of at least one example.
During the closure, additional upgrade works will be undertaken at the other closed Northern Line stations of London Bridge, Borough and Elephant & Castle.