Two-thirds of new London Bridge station concourse opens

Two-thirds of a brand new concourse at Britain’s fourth-busiest railway station opened to passengers today (Monday, 29 August), in time for commuters returning to work from the late August bank holiday.

The concourse is part of a major redevelopment of London Bridge station which started four years ago. Once complete in 2018, the redevelopment will provide passengers with a bigger, better railway including a concourse the size of the pitch at Wembley.

Over 80 retail units will help to improve the local economy when the development is complete – including a number set aside for local start-up companies – and passengers will benefit from improved connections and better options to more destinations including Cambridge and Peterborough.

The redevelopment is part of Network Rail’s railway upgrade plan and the government-sponsored Thameslink programme which will transform north-south travel through London by 2018. The programme includes new track and modern trains to provide more reliable journeys for passengers. Network Rail is also untangling the track on the approaches to London Bridge station to reduce the time trains wait for platforms to clear and cut delays.

"This is a big step towards the bigger, better railway passengers deserve. The opening of two-thirds of the concourse marks a major milestone in the redevelopment of London Bridge and, while there is plenty still to do, I am pleased passengers can now see the benefits beginning to come through.

"We are essentially rebuilding Britain’s fourth busiest station – the tracks, the platforms and the infrastructure which enables trains to run – while keeping the station open and doing our best to keep passengers moving."

Mark Carne, Network Rail’s chief executive

Throughout the redevelopment Network Rail and construction partner Costain have worked with train operators Southern and Southeastern to keep the station open for the 56 million passengers who use it every year. The orange army started construction on the south side of the station and worked in phases to build the new platforms and concourse below.

"We would like to thank passengers for bearing with us during this crucial stage of the London Bridge rebuild. We’re really pleased that you’ll now be able to start using the new station.

"There’s still work to be done, and in order for it to happen we’ve had to change some of our services. This means that many of our trains will be affected, especially on the working days, Tuesday 30 August – Thursday 1 September when we’ll be running fewer trains than normal. During this time please check before you travel, and where possible plan an alternative journey."

Richard Dean, train services director at Southeastern

"Our passengers are benefiting from the newly unveiled escalators, stairs and lifts and will be impressed by the new concourse. We're looking forward to the completion of the station in 2018, with its new track and signalling, allowing the return of a new and improved Thameslink service at London Bridge."

Dyan Crowther, Govia Thameslink Railway chief operating officer

The complete station redevelopment will open in January 2018.

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain’s railway – the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts, and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.6bn journeys by rail every year - double the number of 1996 - and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We’re investing £38bn in the railway by 2019 to deliver more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations.