Blackfriars: top ten facts

It is named after a Dominican priory established in 1276 at the foot of nearby Ludgate Hill.

Opened on the north bank at St Paul’s in 1886, the station served the London, Chatham and Dover Railway and was the starting point for rail trips to the continent.

When the station was rebuilt from 2009-12, it wasn’t allowed to block the protected view of St Paul’s Cathedral.

14,000 tonnes of building material were brought in by barge and 8,000 tonnes removed, keeping 2,000 lorries off London’s streets.

Blackfriars is now the only station in London to span the river Thames and is the only one with an entrance on either side.

Nine new lifts and eight escalators make every platform at Blackfriars step-free.

Blackfriars boasts the largest solar roof of any bridge in the world.

It is the first bridge over the Thames since the 13th century to generate its own power (the old London Bridge used waterwheels to drive grain mills).

In 2018, Tom Cruise was filmed running across the roof for Mission Impossible - Fallout, before being taken off the chimney of the Tate Modern by helicopter.

‘Canny’ passengers exit to Queen Victoria Street through a little-known exit past station offices.