New London Underground interchanges
PASSENGERS using Bank station now have another new interchange route making journeys quicker and easier, with the opening at the end of October of two new 100m moving walkways and three new escalators between the Northern and Central lines.
Earlier in the month, three new escalators were unveiled between the Northern line and DLR, shaving up to nine minutes off the journeys of those interchanging between these two lines. Transport for London (TfL) estimates that around 40% of passengers using Bank Underground station are changing between lines. Bank station already has a moving walkway which, when installed in 1960, was the first, not only on London Underground, but anywhere in Europe and still serves as an exit route from the Waterloo & City line.
The opening of the new interchange between Northern line and Central services comes as London continues to recover from the pandemic. TfL reckons weekday Tube ridership has grown to around 75% of pre-pandemic levels, with at least three million journeys now being made on the Tube each weekday. Tube ridership at stations defined as ‘City’ stations – including Bank – is now at around 70% of pre-pandemic levels, up from around 33% in January. Weekend Tube ridership is now regularly above 90% of pre-pandemic levels.
■ Andy Lord became TfL Commissioner on an interim basis from October 25, following the departure of his predecessor Andy Byford, and an internal selection process was held to temporarily fill his previous role. Glynn Barton has now been appointed as interim chief operating officer.