The closure of the Northern line bank branch has reached the halfway point as the Bank station upgrade is on target to open in the middle of May.
The Bank station upgrade is building a brand new southbound platform, new entrance, many more escalators and lifts and a new travolator link to the Central line. However, to connect the new platform that’s been built over the past few years to the old railway, they had to close the Northern line between Kennington and Moorgate so that the tunnels can be excavated.
The new southbound platform in 2018
New concourse between the Northern line platforms (c) TfL
TfL has now confirmed that the project is on target having reached the halfway mark and both the Northern line the refurbished Bank station platforms will open in the middle of May.
Since the line closed in January, they’ve completed the excavation of the remaining 100 metres of new railway tunnel and lining it with sprayed concrete, in addition to the 1.2km that had already been tunnelled. The remaining 185m of track in the tunnels have also been installed, in addition to the 490m that had already been laid
They’ve also connected the new southbound Northern line tunnel to the existing railway having broken through the walls of the old tunnel and built a new join between the two.
The old southbound Northern line platform has been converted into a new large customer concourse by filling in the tracks and levelling the floor. Works are now continuing on completing the passenger spaces.
Ahead of opening the line, they are preparing to run test trains through the new section of the southbound tunnel from mid-April, to ensure everything is working as expected.
Stuart Harvey, Chief Capital Officer at Transport for London, said: “We have been making great strides in the intricate and complex work that is required below ground at Bank and are on schedule to finish this phase of the work in mid-May, as originally planned. Once complete, the improvements we’re making at Bank station will be an important boost for the capital as the city continues to recover from the pandemic, giving London’s financial district a modern, accessible, easy to navigate station fit for the twenty-first century.”
The key activities that are scheduled for the second half of the closure period include installing and testing all station systems, running test trains through the new southbound tunnel, and familiarising station staff with the new layout and systems.
Later this year, a new entrance on Cannon Street will open offering direct escalators and lifts to the Northern line and DLR platforms.
New Cannon Street entrance (c) TfL
As well as the work at Bank station, work is also being carried out at stations including London Bridge, Borough, and Elephant & Castle while the Northern line is closed so that future disruption can be minimised. This includes work on lifts and escalators, as well as refurbishment work at Borough and enabling works for the future Elephant & Castle station upgrade.
Does anyone know if the walkway between Bank and Monument is still open whilst the work is in progress?
Got to the DLR from Monument recently.
The signs indicated central line was accessesable