Blackfriars station

Stunning views, smoother connections, sustainable delivery

An unrecognisable BlackfriarsBlackfriars station has been completely rebuilt as part of the Thameslink Programme.

In a four year rebuild which began in 2009, the old Victorian railway bridge was stripped to its foundations and made wider and stronger to house new platforms, a new ticket hall, new entrances and a 250m long roof which forms the world’s largest bridge-based solar array.

The station was fully operational in time for the London Olympics in August 2012, a key milestone to help London’s transport network better handle the thousands of extra visitors.

Forward thinking designThe new Blackfriars is completely unrecognisable from the old.

Narrow, exposed and overcrowded platforms only capable of hosting 8

car trains have been completely renovated and extended, transforming the look and feel of the station.

This also allows longer 12 car trains to serve the station’s increasing numbers of passengers.

Despite being completed in 2012, the station was rebuilt with the Thameslink Programme’s key aims in mind - 24 trains per hour on the Thameslink network and subsequently the greater amount of passengers this metro style service will bring. Longer platforms and new concourse spaces form part of this forward thinking design.

Other aspects include the significant improvements made to the interchanges between the railway platforms and the London Underground station at Blackfriars.

This holistic approach means Blackfriars is future proofed for many years of growth in passenger numbers.

Improved accessibilityNine new lifts and eight new escalators have made every platform at Blackfriars accessible step-free for the first time – and from both sides of the river.

There is now more seating and platform space than ever before, help points and induction loops throughout the station, as well as specially designed toilets for passengers with reduced mobility.

Step free access on to the new Thameslink Class 700 trains is also incorporated with a platform ‘hump’ providing level access on platforms one and two.

This helps not only passengers with reduced mobility but also mothers with prams and airport travellers with heavy luggage. Access to the Tube is also made easier by removing corridors at the interface between the two stations.

All of these factors combine to make Blackfriars one of the most accessible stations in the country.

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Blackfriars station

Stunning viewsThe design for the new Blackfriars had a number of unique considerations to incorporate. These included how to build a station over a river while trains continue to operate, how to incorporate the Grade II listed bridge piers into the design of the widened station and how not to impede on the protected sightlines of St Paul’s Cathedral, close by on the north side of the river.

All of this has contributed to creating a unique, landmark station in central London. Both stunning to look at and providing remarkable views of London, the station is now light, open and accessible with a distinct, low-profile ‘sawtooth’ roof structure.

Heritage features at the station were also important to consider in the design. Two railway cartouches, bearing the name of the London, Dover and Chatham Railway that once served Blackfriars, were renovated and returned to the South Bank. On the northern side of the station, part of the original façade built in 1886 was also restored and incorporated within the new concourse.

Smoother connectionsBlackfriars is now the only station in London to span the River Thames, with entrances on both banks of the river. The existing northern concourse building was rebuilt with a stunning open and transparent curved glass façade which helps provide natural light through the station.

The new entrance which has been built on the South Bank, the first to be built there for 120 years, means cultural attractions such as Tate Modern, the National Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe are now directly accessible from Blackfriars, opening up the South Bank to the Thameslink network.

Keeping passengers movingConstruction took place in two halves over the three year period, allowing the station to remain operational on weekdays throughout the project, reducing the disruption for commuters. The eastern side of the station, where

the through platforms now sit, was rebuilt first, followed by the western side which now holds the terminating platforms.

The track layout through the station was remodelled during the rebuild, with the through and terminating lines swapping sides to prevent clashes between services at the southern end of Blackfriars. This remodelling means trains traveling to or from London Bridge can now carry on across London and beyond unimpeded. Previously, they had to wait to cross over the terminating lines as they entered or left the station – this conflict has now been removed, improving punctuality and allowing more services to operate.

Sustainable deliverySustainability was at the heart of the project to rebuild Blackfriars, both at the design stage and the delivery stage.

The redeveloped station is the world’s largest solar bridge as the roof is covered with over 4,400 photovoltaic panels, adding up to roughly 6,000sqm or about 23 tennis courts worth. The roof provides up to 50% of the station’s energy, enough to heat almost 80,000 cups of tea a day, dramatically reducing the station’s CO2 emissions by an estimated 511 tonnes per year.

Intelligent lighting systems, combined with a design which provides high levels of natural lighting mean that in daylight hours almost no electronic lighting is required, providing even more energy savings. Rainwater harvesting is also built into the design of the station, to help provide recycled water for the stations public toilets.

The station was also delivered sustainably, taking advantage of its unique location, with the River Thames being used for delivery and removal of materials. Over the course of the project 14,000 tonnes of materials were bought to site and 8,000 removed via barge. Using this method, approximately 2000 lorries and nine tonnes of CO2 were removed from London’s roads, reducing the project's impact on both the environment and the communities around the station.

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