London Bridge station

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London Bridge station

London Bridge

Bus station forecourt in 2003
London Bridge Location of London Bridge in Central London
Location	Southwark
Local authority	London Borough of Southwark
Managed by	Network Rail
Station code	LBG
Platforms in use	15
Accessible	[1]
Fare zone	1
National Rail annual entry and exit
2004/5	▲ 37.020 million[2]
2005/6	▲ 37.416 million[2]
2006/7	▲ 47.577 million[2]
2007/8	▲ 54.125 million[2]
14 December 1836	Opened
List of stations	Underground · National Rail
External links	Departures • Layout
	Facilities • Buses
London Transport Portal UK Railways Portal

Coordinates: 51°30′18″N 0°05′10″W / 51.505°N 0.086°W / 51.505; -0.086

London Bridge station is a central London terminal and London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark, which occupies a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles (2.6 km) east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the world. In terms of passenger arrivals and departures is the fourth busiest rail terminal in London, but the statistics do not take into account the large number of commuters who transfer between lines at the station.

The main-line station is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail and is a major transport terminus and interchange for south London. It serves over 54 million people a year. The tube station serves the Jubilee Line and the Bank branch of the Northern Line. It consists of a ticket hall and entrance area with its main frontage on Tooley Street, along with entrances and exits on Borough High Street. All platforms are accessed through ticket barriers.

The station is in Travelcard Zone 1. London Bridge is one of two rail termini in London located south of the River Thames, the other being Waterloo. For this reason neither have a direct connection to the Circle Line.

History

London Bridge Station is the oldest of the London railway termini, and has had a most complex history involving frequent rebuilding and changes of ownership.

London and Greenwich Railway station

Strictly speaking the London and Greenwich Railway stations at Spa Road (Bermondsey) and Deptford which opened on 8 February 1836, are the oldest railway stations in the present London metropolitan area. The opening of the line into the London Bridge Station in Tooley Street, south of the river Thames was postponed until 14 December 1836 due to delays in the completion of a bridge at Bermondsey Street. From September 1836 trains operated as far as the east end of this bridge and passengers walked for the last hundred or so yards.^[3]

The new station was soon afterwards given a wooden trussed pitched roof, 56 ft by 212 ft (17 m by 65 m). However, prior to its completion, the railway entered into an agreement with the proposed London and Croydon Railway for the latter to use its tracks from Corbett's Lane Bermondsey and to share its station at London Bridge. The Greenwich railway had however underestimated the cost of building the long viaduct leading to London Bridge and was not able to build a sufficiently large station for the traffic for both companies, and so in July 1836 it sold some land adjacent to its station (then still under construction) to the Croydon railway to build their own independent station.^[4]

London and Croydon Railway station

The London and Brighton Railway and the South Eastern Railway (UK) (SER) were also then planning routes from London to Brighton and Dover respectively, and the British Parliament decided that the London and Greenwich line should become the entry corridor into London from South East England. Thus these two railways were required to share the route of the London and Croydon Railway from near Norwood, (which in turn shared the route of the London and Greenwich Railway from Bermondsey in to London Bridge). As a result, in 1838 the London and Croydon Railway obtained powers to enlarge the station it was then constructing at London Bridge, even before it had opened for traffic.^[5]

The London and Croydon Railway opened its line and began using its station on 5 June 1839, the London and Brighton Railway joined it in July 1841, followed by the South Eastern Railway in December 1842. Fairly quickly it was found that the viaduct approaching London Bridge would be inadequate to deal with the traffic generated by four railways and so between 1840 and 1842 the Greenwich railway widened it, doubling the number of tracks to four. The new lines, intended for the Croydon, Brighton and South Eastern trains, were situated on the south side of the existing Greenwich line, whereas their station was to the north of the London Bridge site, giving rise to an awkward and potentially dangerous crossing of one another's lines. The directors of the companies involved therefore decided to exchange the station sites. The London and Greenwich Railway would take over the newly completed London and Croydon Railway station, whilst a new joint committee of the Croydon, Brighton and South Eastern companies would demolish the first station and build a new joint station on its site.^[6].

Joint Station

Plans for a large new station were drawn up and a drawing was published in the Illustrated London News and George Bradshaw's Guide to the London and Brighton Railway 1844. It opened for business in July 1844 whilst only partially complete, but events were taking place which would mean that it would never be finished, and the new building would only last for five years.^[7]

During 1843 the South Eastern, and the Croydon railway companies became increasingly concerned by the high tolls charged by the London and Greenwich Railway for the use of the station approaches, and gained Parliamentary approval to build their own independent line into south London to a new station at Bricklayer's Arms. This line opened in 1844 and most of the services from these two companies were withdrawn from London Bridge, leaving only the Greenwich and Brighton companies using London Bridge station. The Greenwich company, which was in financial difficulties beforehand, was on the brink of bankruptcy and so was forced to lease its lines to the South Eastern Railway, which took effect from January 1845. The following year the Croydon and Brighton companies merged with others to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). As a result of these amalgamations there were now only two companies wishing to use the two adjoining stations at London Bridge.

The LB&SCR used the unfinished joint Station until 1849 when it was demolished to make way for an enlarged station

South Eastern Railway station

The SER took over the second London and Greenwich station (which had been built for the London and Croydon Railway) and sought to develop that site rather than continue to invest in the former joint station, which became the property of the LB&SCR. The SER station was therefore rebuilt and enlarged between 1847 and 1850. At the same time yet further improvements were made to the station approaches, increasing the number of tracks to six, which entirely separated the lines of the two railways.^[8]. Once these extensions were complete the SER closed its passenger terminus at Bricklayer's Arms and converted the site into a goods depot.

London Bridge station remained the London terminus of the SER until 1864 when its station was again rebuilt and five of the existing platforms were converted into a through station to enable the extension of the main line into central London and the opening of Charing Cross railway station, and in 1866 to Cannon Street station.^[9]. In 1899 the SER entered into a working amalgamation with the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) to form the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee. Junctions were laid to enable trains through London Bridge to reach the LC&DR stations at Holborn Viaduct and St Pauls.

London Brighton and South Coast Railway station

The LB&SCR took over the unfinished joint station,which they demolished in 1849 and opened a temporary station in 1850.^[10], which was enlarged in 1853-4 to deal with the additional traffic from the lines to Sydenham and Crystal Palace. The LB&SCR also built the Terminus Hotel at the station in 1861, but this not successful due to its site on the south bank of the river and so was turned into offices for the railway in 1892.

In 1866 the LBSCR built four further platforms in adjoining section to the south of its existing station to cope with additional traffic generated by the completion of the South London line and other suburban lines to Victoria station.^[11] This had a single-span trussed-arch roof measuring 88 ft by 655 ft (27 m by 200 m) and was designed by J. Hawkshaw and F. D. Banister. During the first decade of the twentiety century LB&SCR station at London Bridge was again enlarged, but overall London Bridge station remained a sprawling confusion.^[12]

The LB&SCR electrified the South London Line from London Bridge to Victoria in 1909 using an overhead system. Once this experiment proved to be successful other suburban services from the station were electrified, including the lines to Crystal Palace in 1912. ^[13] Electrification of the main line to Croydon was not however completed until 1920 due to delays resulting from the First World War.^[14]

Southern Railway Station

The grouping of the railways of southern England to form the Southern Railway in 1923 at last brought the two adjoining stations under single ownership. Between 1926 and 1928 the Southern Railway electrified the SE&CR suburban lines at London Bridge using a Third rail electric system, and converted the existing LB&SCR routes to the same system. It also electrified the Brighton Main Line services from the station to Brighton and the South Coast in 1932/3. By 1936 90% of trains at the station were electric.

London Bridge Station was badly damaged by bombing in 1941, and the former Terminal Hotel, used as railway offices, was destroyed.

British Railways Station

British Railways, which took over responsibility for the station in 1948 continued the electrification of the lines from London Bridge during the 1950s and 1960s. During the mid 1970s they undertook a major redevelopment of the station site, designed by N. D. T. Wikeley, regional architect for British Rail Southern. This was completed in 1978.

National Rail

The through platforms, 1-6, are on the north side of the station. Platforms 1-3 are served by trains starting and ending at Cannon Street. Services to and from Charing Cross use platforms 4-6 and a passing loop to the south of platform 6. Platforms 5 & 6 are also served by First Capital Connect with its Thameslink Bedford to Brighton services via Luton, St Albans, St Pancras International, Farringdon, City Thameslink, Blackfriars and Gatwick Airport. Platform 6 is the busiest railway platform in Europe, due to the necessity of routing all trains heading to Charing Cross and Blackfriars through it^[15].

The terminal platforms, 8-16, are on the south side of the station and are mostly served by Southern services to south London and the south coast.

London Bridge exterior

London Bridge interior

National Rail terminal platforms

Through platforms

Services

[v • [[|d]] • e] Railways around the South Bank
Legend Charing Cross River Thames Waterloo International Waterloo Waterloo East South Western Main Line Thameslink City Thameslink Blackfriars River Thames Elephant & Castle Thameslink and Sevenoaks Cannon Street River Thames London Bridge Brighton Main Line and South Eastern Main Line

The typical off-peak service from the station is:

First Capital Connect

• 4tph (trains per hour) to Bedford
• 4tph to Brighton (2tph semi-fast services, 2tph stopping services)

Southeastern

• 16tph to London Charing Cross
• 14tph to London Cannon Street
• 2tph to Dartford via Greenwich
• 2tph to Slade Green via Greenwich
• 2tph to Crayford via Greenwich, continues to Cannon Street via Sidcup
• 2tph to Dartford via Bexleyheath
• 2tph to Barnehurst via Bexleyheath
• 2tph to Hayes via Catford Bridge (fast to Ladywell)
• 2tph to Hayes via Lewisham
• 2tph to Gravesend via Sidcup
• 2tph to Slade Green via Sidcup, continues to Cannon Street via Greenwich
• 2tph to Gillingham via Lewisham and Woolwich Arsenal
• 2tph to Orpington via Lewisham
• 2tph to Sevenoaks via Orpington
• 2tph to Tunbridge Wells via Sevenoaks
• 2tph to Hastings via Tunbridge Wells
• 2tph to Margate / Ramsgate via Canterbury West / Folkestone Central (dividing at Ashford International)

Southern

• 2tph to London Victoria via Peckham Rye
• 2tph to London Victoria via Crystal Palace
• 2tph to West Croydon via Streatham
• 2tph to Sutton via New Cross Gate
• 2tph to Caterham via New Cross Gate
• 2tph to Tattenham Corner
• 2tph to Beckenham Junction via Crystal Palace
• 2tph to Horsham via Redhill
• 1tph to Uckfield
• 1tph to Tonbridge via Redhill
• 1tph to Reigate via Redhill

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
London Blackfriars		First Capital Connect Thameslink		East Croydon
London Cannon Street or Waterloo East		Southeastern South Eastern Main Line		Sevenoaks or Orpington
London Cannon Street or Waterloo East		Southeastern Greenwich Line		Deptford
		Southeastern South Eastern Main Line		New Cross or Lewisham or Ladywell
Terminus		Southern London Bridge to Tonbridge via East Croydon and Redhill		Norwood Junction
Terminus		Southern Brighton Main Line		Norwood Junction or East Croydon
Terminus		Southern Tattenham Corner Line		Norwood Junction or East Croydon
Terminus		Southern Caterham Line/South London Line (Outer)		New Cross Gate
Terminus		Southern South London Line (Inner)		South Bermondsey

London Underground

London Bridge

Borough High Street eastern entrance
Location	The Borough
Local authority	Southwark
Managed by	London Underground
Platforms in use	4
Accessible	[16]
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2004	▲ 44.362 million[17]
2007	▲ 56.954 million[17]
2008	▲ 60.55 million[17]
1900	Opened by C&SLR
7 October 1999	Jubilee Line started
List of stations	Underground · National Rail
London Transport Portal

The Underground station is between Borough and Bank on the Northern Line, and between Southwark and Bermondsey on the Jubilee Line. The station is the sixth busiest on the Underground network and is the only station on the London Underground network with 'London' in its name (while the NR termini are named, for instance 'London Waterloo' the Underground station is simply named 'Waterloo').

Originally Northern Line trains ran to a terminus at King William Street bypassing London Bridge, but the construction of a new station at Bank to provide greater capacity and allow northward extension required a new tunnel alignment, and provided the opportunity for a station at London Bridge. The station entrance was originally at Three Castles House on the corner of London Bridge Street and Station Approach, but has since been moved to Borough High Street and Tooley Street. The Northern Line platforms were rebuilt during the late 1990s to increase the platform and circulation areas in preparation for the opening of the Jubilee Line.

The Northern Line station opened on 25 February 1900 as part of the City & South London Railway's (C&SLR's) revised route from Borough to Bank and Moorgate. The Jubilee Line station opened on 7 October 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension, although trains had been running through non-stop from the previous month. To enable the Jubilee Line to be constructed, months of major engineering works to relocate buried services in the surrounding streets had to be undertaken. A new ticket hall was created in the arches under the main-line station, providing improved interchange. During excavations a variety of Roman remains were found, including pottery and fragments of mosaics; some of these are now on display in the station. The Jubilee Line platforms have been fitted with platform edge doors in common with all other stations on the extension.

There are two platforms on each line and two main sets of escalators to and from the Tooley Street ticket hall. All four platforms are directly accessible from the Borough High Street entrance/exit.

Layout

Northern line

⇐ Northern line towards Morden ⇐

Southbound Platform 3 Island Platform Northbound Platform 4

⇒ Northern line towards Edgware, High Barnet or Mill Hill East ⇒

Jubilee line

⇒ Jubilee line towards Stratford ⇒

Eastbound Platform 4 Island Platform (Platform Edge Doors) Westbound Platform 3

⇐ Jubilee line towards Stanmore ⇐

Services

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Southwark towards Stanmore		Jubilee line		Bermondsey towards Stratford
Borough towards Morden		Northern line		Bank towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet

River Service/London Bridge City Pier

London River Services London Bridge City Pier on the River Thames is slightly north of the station. It is served by Thames Clipper river boat services to Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the O₂ in the east, and Embankment to the west.

Preceding station		London River Services		Following station
Bankside Pier toward Embankment Pier		Commuter Service		Tower Millennium Pier toward Woolwich Arsenal Pier

Future development

Thameslink renovation

London Bridge station will undergo a major transformation as part of a wider project known as Masterplan to accommodate longer 12-carriage Thameslink programme trains and many other benefits. Three terminus-platforms will be closed and 3 new through-platforms will be created to allow additional services to continue to either Cannon Street, Charing Cross or Thameslink stations north of the River Thames.

A new station concourse will be built to improve circulation; this will require the demolition of brick vaults between Stainer and Weston Streets, which will themselves become part of the new concourse (and therefore cease to be thoroughfares).^[18] The space relinquished by the existing concourse will allow Network Rail to expand the adjacent bus station,^[19] and new retail facilities will be built into the existing western arcade, which will be re-opened and extended to link the Underground station and Joiner Street.^[20]

The bulk of the work taking place after the 2012 Olympic GamesWork and will not expected to be complete until 2015. During this works it is expected that Thameslink trains will be diverted to Herne Hill and will not stop at London Bridge.^[21]

Shard London Bridge, which will be one of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe, is planned for the southwest corner of the station, near the bus station. As of late 2009, construction of the tower is underway with steelwork beginning to rise.

The increase in through platforms will also allow London Bridge to function as an emergency terminus for services approaching the station from the west.^[22] To accommodate these alterations, the listed northern wall of the terminus train-shed will be demolished and replaced with a new retaining wall, and the listed bays of the roof over the terminating platform will be dismantled and stored.^[23]

Accidents

• On 1 February 1884, the 12:05pm London Bridge to Victoria hauled by LBSC Terrier No.71 Wapping collided with a D1 tank which was fouling the exit from the platform. Two carriages derailed.^[24]

• On 27 November 1895, a local train hauled by LB&SCR Terrier No. 70 Poplar collided with the buffer stops.^[24]

• At 09:30 on 23 January 1948, a train formed of a 6PAN and a 6PUL unit, which had formed that days 08:05 from Seaford and 07:30 from Ore, was allowed to draw up to the inner home signal, where it should have stopped. Instead it overran the signal and collided at a speed of between 15 and 20 mph (24 to 32 km/h) with the empty stock which had formed the 08:20 from Brighton. This train was formed of two 6PAN units. The train that was struck was forced through the buffers and demolished a bookstall. Three people were killed and 34 were injured.^[25]

• On 8 January 1999, the Spa Road Junction rail crash occurred a short distance outside the station.

Other nearby stations

National Rail

• Cannon Street
• Blackfriars
• Waterloo
• Waterloo East
• Elephant & Castle

London Underground

• Borough
• Monument
• Southwark
• Elephant & Castle
• Bermondsey

References

• Ransom, P. J. G. (1990). The Victorian Railway and How It Evolved. Heinemann.
• Simmons, J. (1995). The Victorian Railways. Thames and Hudson.

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Underground Station in 1915
  • Underground Station in 1929
• Station information on London Bridge station from Network Rail

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: London Bridge station

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