The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, visited the new ticket hall at Bank Underground station today (Monday 27 February), marking the completion of its major £700 million upgrade. The new entrance on Cannon Street gives customers easy access – via six new escalators – to the Northern line and DLR. It also includes two new lifts which provide step-free access to the Northern line for the first time, and improved access to the DLR.
Bank station now has 40% greater capacity as a result of the major upgrade, with the opening of the new ticket hall on Cannon Street being the final milestone in this hugely complex construction project which started in 2016. As a result of the upgrade, Bank station now has:
- A new, spacious southbound Northern line platform and concourse.
- A new, more direct interchange route between the Northern line and DLR with three new escalators, shaving up to nine minutes off the journeys of those interchanging between these two lines.
- A new, quicker interchange route between the Northern and Central lines, with the opening of two new 100-metre moving walkways and three new escalators.
- A new station entrance – including two lifts – on Walbrook, at the Bloomberg building, giving easier access to the Waterloo & City line.
At the peak of construction, around 550 people worked on the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade project each day, and 38 apprenticeships were completed during the lifetime of the project.
More than 1,000 metres of new tunnels were dug, including the new southbound Northern line running tunnel and the pedestrian tunnel which houses the two new moving walkways between the Northern and Central lines. The work was often intricate, with great care being taken to avoid disrupting any of the 31 listed buildings which surround the site.
Sadiq Khan said: “These extensive works have transformed Bank station into a world-class station, fit to serve a financial district of international renown. Londoners can now benefit from a station with 40 per cent increased capacity, a brand-new entrance on Cannon Street and two new lifts which will deliver step-free access to the Northern Line for the first time.
“London’s Tube network is key to the capital’s wider economic recovery. These updates to Bank station are just one of the ways I am continually improving London’s transport network to build a safer, more accessible and more prosperous city for all Londoners.”
Served by five Underground lines and the DLR, Bank and Monument together are one of the busiest interchange stations on the Tube network. Transport for London (TfL) estimates that more than 100,000 interchanges are made at the station on a typical weekday as customers change between lines, and around 145,000 entry and exits are made at the ticket gates. Following the completion of the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade, the two stations now have five ticket halls, nine lifts and 10 platforms. In addition, Bank station now has 31 escalators, the largest number of any station on the Tube network.
Image credit: TfL