News
First Capital Connect customers enjoy restored link to the Tube
20/02/2012
Blackfriars Tube station in central London reopened today (Monday), restoring a vital transport interchange for First Capital Connect (FCC) customers using the Bedford to Brighton, Wimbledon and Sutton Thameslink route.
Thanks to the Network Rail redevelopment, FCC passengers once again have direct access to the District and Circle lines with lifts and escalators from street level to wider platforms on the Tube below.
London Mayor Boris Johnson marked the event by visiting the station after the morning rush hour.
Access is through a new light and airy steel and glass street level ticket hall on the north bank which doubles up as the main north bank entrance and exit for First Capital Connect and Southeastern National Rail services.
The London Underground station closed in March 2009 to make space for the redevelopment of Blackfriars station complex as part of the Thameslink Programme to increase capacity across the heart of London. The overall station complex has been designed to cope with a huge increase in passengers who will be using Thameslink route trains when they begin running at up to 24 trains per hour from 2018.
The First Capital Connect-managed station now has platforms long enough for FCC’s new 12-carriage trains. These platforms span the River Thames, linking to a new entrance on the South Bank that is proving immensely popular.
A new National Rail ticket hall will open later this year along with two new platforms.
FCC Customer Service Director Keith Jipps praised the new modern Tube station.
He said: “The new Tube station is fantastic and the new entrance for our train services a real landmark on the north bank of the Thames.
“Our customers have endured almost three years of building work as Blackfriars is rebuilt and, with the new South Bank entrance and Tube station, we can now see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Laurence Whitbourn, Network Rail’s senior programme manager for Blackfriars said: “Rebuilding Blackfriars Underground station was a hugely complex engineering challenge; we excavated, demolished and rebuilt the whole station while Underground trains continued to run beneath our feet, and Thameslink services ran overhead.
“The new Underground station brings our plan for the whole of Blackfriars one step closer to completion. Both Tube and rail passengers at Blackfriars stand to benefit from a modern, accessible station; longer, more frequent Thameslink trains; and convenient connections between services.”
Network Rail will complete the Blackfriars redevelopment in time for the Olympics.
