UK Transport Wiki
Advertisement
Blackfriars
Template:R-I Template:R-I Template:R-I Template:R-I
File:Blackfriars station main entrance.JPG

Station entrance on Queen Victoria Street prior to start of rebuilding work

LocationBlackfriars
Local authorityCity of London
Managed byFirst Capital Connect
OwnerNetwork Rail
Station codeBFR
Number of platforms2
Fare zone1
Template:AbbrBlackfriars LU [1]

National Rail annual entry and exit
2004–05  7.783 million[2]
2005–06File:Increase2.svg 8.259 million[2]
2006–07File:Increase2.svg 11.852 million[2]
2007–08File:Increase2.svg 13.342 million[2]
2008–09File:Decrease2.svg 12.959 million[2]

10 May 1886 (10 May 1886)Opened
20 March 2009Terminal platforms closed
20 November 2010Station closed for major works
16 January 2011station due to re-open

Lists of stations*DLR
External links*Departures
  • Layout
  • Facilities
  • Buses
  • Template:Portal-inline
    Template:Portal-inlineCoordinates: 51°30′42″N 0°06′11″W / 51.5116°N 0.103°W / 51.5116; -0.103

    Blackfriars station, also known as London Blackfriars,[3] is a London Underground and National Rail station in the City of London, England. It is adjacent to Blackfriars Bridge at the junction of New Bridge Street and Queen Victoria Street and is in Travelcard Zone 1. The Underground station is closed to all passengers from 2nd March 2009 until late 2011 while refurbishment and major engineering works take place. The Main Station is now closed from 20th November 2010 to 16th January 2011 to allow works to take place.

    National Rail[]

    History[]

    File:Blackfriars SR railway station 1813714 2da99811.jpg

    View of SR station from platform of former Ludgate Hill Station in 1953

    The mainline railway station was opened as St Paul's by the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) on 10 May 1886 when it opened the St Pauls Railway Bridge across the River Thames.

    The St Paul's bridge was constructed to supplement the LC&DR's existing Blackfriars railway bridge, which had opened in 1864. This carried trains on the LC&DR's busy City Line from south London into the LC&DR stations at Ludgate Hill, Holborn Viaduct and, via the Snow Hill tunnel and a connection to the Metropolitan Railway near Farringdon, on to London King's Cross and St Pancras stations.

    After the opening of St Paul's station, the earlier LC&DR Blackfriars Bridge station on the south side of the river was closed to passenger traffic on 1 October 1885 and became a goods-only station.

    St Paul's station was renamed Blackfriars on 1 February 1937. Gradually, the structure of the original Blackfriars railway bridge deteriorated until it was unsound. The bridge deck was removed in 1985 and only the piers in the river and the orange bridge abutments remain.

    The station was rebuilt along with the Underground station in the mid 1970s and was formally reopened on 30 November 1977. A part of the stonework elevation from the 1886 LC&DR station has been preserved at platform level in the mainline station indicating many destinations in the south-east of England and in Europe. St Paul's Bridge is now known as the Blackfriars Railway Bridge.

    Services[]

    This station is currently served by through services on the Thameslink route operated by First Capital Connect and Southeastern. This includes trains from Bedford, St Albans City and Luton in the north; and Brighton, Sutton and Sevenoaks in the south.[4] Trains travelling south from the station run via London Bridge or Elephant & Castle and trains to the north next call at City Thameslink. Before March 2009 some services from the south terminated at three bay platforms, which have been removed in renovation works. Although a through station, for ticketing purposes, it is considered a central London railway terminus for journeys from the south.[5]

    Service patterns[]

    Preceding station National Rail logo.svg National Rail Following station
    City Thameslink
    Farringdon on Sundays
      First Capital Connect
    Thameslink
    Bedford-Brighton
      London Bridge
      First Capital Connect
    Thameslink
    Sutton Loop
      Elephant & Castle
    City Thameslink   First Capital Connect
    Northbound
      Elephant & Castle
      Southeastern
    Southbound
    Bedford-Sevenoaks
     
    Disused railways
    Ludgate Hill   London, Chatham
    & Dover Railway

    City Branch
      Blackfriars Bridge

    London Underground[]

    Blackfriars
    Template:R-I Template:R-I Template:R-I Template:R-I
    File:Blackfriars.tube.station.london.arp.jpg

    Platforms closed in 2009

    LocationBlackfriars
    Local authorityCity of London
    Managed byLondon Underground
    Number of platforms2
    Fare zone1
    Template:AbbrBlackfriars NR [1]

    London Underground annual entry and exit
    2005File:Increase2.svg 11.309 million[6]
    2007File:Increase2.svg 12.621 million[7]
    2008File:Increase2.svg 13.14 million[8]

    1870 (1870)Opened (MDR)
    1871Extended east (MDR)
    1872Started "Outer Circle" (NLR)
    1872Started "Middle Circle" (H&CR/MDR)
    1900Ended "Middle Circle"
    1908Ended "Outer Circle"
    1949Started (Circle line)
    2009Closed for refurbishment

    Lists of stations*DLR
    Template:Portal-inline

    The London Underground station is on the Circle and District lines, between Temple and Mansion House. It pre-dates the mainline station by 16 years. It is closed from 2 March 2009 until late 2011.[9]

    History[]

    The station was opened on 30 May 1870 by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR; now the District and Circle lines) as the railway's new eastern terminus when the line was extended from Westminster. The construction of the new section of the MDR was planned in conjunction with the building of the Victoria Embankment and was achieved by the cut and cover method of roofing over a shallow trench.

    File:Blackfriars Underground station 1977.jpg

    The exterior of the station in 1977

    The MDR connected to the Metropolitan Railway (MR, later the Metropolitan Line) at South Kensington and, although the two companies were rivals, each company operated its trains over the other's tracks in a joint service known as the "Inner Circle".

    On 3 July 1871 the MDR was extended eastwards to a new terminus at Mansion House.

    On 1 February 1872, the MDR opened a northwards branch from Earl's Court to connect to the West London Extension Joint Railway (WLEJR, now the West London Line), which it connected to at Addison Road (now Kensington (Olympia)). From that date the "Outer Circle" service began running over the MDR's tracks. The service was run by the North London Railway (NLR) from its terminus at Broad Street (now demolished) in the City of London via the North London Line to Willesden Junction station, then the West London Line to Addison Road and the MDR to Mansion House.

    From 1 August 1872, the "Middle Circle" service began operations through the station, running from Moorgate along the MR's tracks on the north side of the Inner Circle to Paddington then over the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR) track to Latimer Road then, via a now demolished link, to the West London Line to Addison Road and the MDR to Mansion House. The service was operated jointly by the H&CR and the MDR.

    On 30 June 1900, the Middle Circle service was withdrawn between Earl's Court and Mansion House and on 31 December 1908, the Outer Circle service was withdrawn from the MDR tracks.

    In 1949, the Metropolitan Line operated Inner Circle route was given its own identity on the tube map as the Circle Line.

    Service patterns[]

        Closed 2009-2011    
    Terminus {{{{{system}}} lines|{{{line}}}}} Terminus
    towards [[Template:S-line/LUL left/Circle tube station|Template:S-line/LUL left/Circle]]
    Circle line
    towards [[Template:S-line/LUL right/Circle tube station|Template:S-line/LUL right/Circle]]
    towards [[Template:S-line/LUL left/District tube station|Template:S-line/LUL left/District]]
    District line
    towards [[Template:S-line/LUL right/District tube station|Template:S-line/LUL right/District]]

    River connections[]

    File:Blackfriars Pier 3.jpg

    Blackfriars Millennium Pier

    The station is located on the north bank of the River Thames. The platforms for the Thameslink rail services extend out over the River Thames on to Blackfriars Railway Bridge. Blackfriars Bridge runs parallel to the rail bridge.

    Because of its proximity to the river, interchange with London River Services commuter boats is possible from Blackfriars Millennium Pier. Services from this pier include boats to Putney, operated by Thames Executive Charters, and services between Embankment and Woolwich Arsenal, operated by Thames Clippers.

    Transport links[]

    London Bus route 45,63, 100, 388 and night route N63.

    Current developments[]

    Station rebuild[]

    See also: Thameslink Programme
    File:Blackfriars tube station building site.jpg

    Blackfriars Underground station worksite during the Thameslink Programme rebuild

    Blackfriars station is being rebuilt. The office building above has been demolished and will be replaced as part of the Thameslink programme. The mainline station will remain open during this work except for a period of eight weeks, from 20 November to 16 January 2011 (inclusive), with trains running through to the normal timetable for all but six days at Christmas.[10]

    The Underground station is closed until late 2011.[11]

    The new station building will be built to the same height and will house a new shared National Rail/LUL ticket hall and LUL ventilation shaft together with new escalators and lifts between a mezzanine level for National Rail services and the sub-surface level for London Underground services.[12] The LUL station is also subject to major enhancements,[13] with a new roof of glazed north lights and partial-height glazed side panels to be installed along the entire length of the bridge. A new station entrance will also be created at Bankside, where a second ticket hall will be provided.[14]

    The through platforms will be extended along Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the River Thames to accommodate twelve-car trains (in place of eight today). Platform layout will be altered by building new platforms on the west side avoiding the need for trains between City Thameslink and London Bridge to cross the lines that lead to the terminus platforms.[15]

    The works will involve making use of the disused piers which lie west of the existing railway bridge. Consequently, the easternmost line of disused piers (which supported the former West Blackfriars and St Paul’s Railway Bridge) will themselves be strengthened, tied into the existing bridge and clad in stone.[16] The number of bay platforms will be reduced from three to two in the process, but some terminating services will become through services, and the increased length will allow longer trains to terminate at Blackfriars.[15] The existing subway entrance to Blackfriars station will be permanently closed as a result of the Thameslink Programme.[12]

    The project is being designed by Jacobs and Tony Gee and Partners and built by Balfour Beatty.

    Network Rail is considering renaming the station when work is complete. One possibility is 'Blackfriars & Bankside'[17] but a more obvious name would be 'Blackfriars Bridge'. The reason for the renaming suggestion is to emphasise that the new station will span the Thames and have entrances on both the north and south sides of the river.

    Former stations[]

    Immediately across the river on the same line was Blackfriars Bridge railway station, which accepted passengers from 1864 to 1885 and goods up to 1964. The station has been demolished but the entrance driveway remains. Further down Blackfriars Road is the entrance to an earlier Blackfriars station which operated from 1864 to 1868 as part of the competing South Eastern Railway. The bricked up entrance and preserved engraved station name can be seen under the railway bridge carrying the railway between London Bridge and Waterloo East over Blackfriars Road. At track level the space occupied by the platforms can be seen.

    Other information[]

    The Waterloo & City Line, between Waterloo and Bank, runs almost directly under Blackfriars station and there have been suggestions to construct an interchange station for the line at Blackfriars. The Department for Transport considers this to have "no significant transport benefit".[18]

    The Cambridge Buskers started here.

    References[]

    1. 1.0 1.1 Template:Citation London station interchange May 2010
    2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Template:Citation ORR rail usage data
    3. Station Codes. National Rail. Retrieved on 2009-08-23.
    4. Train times 22 March - 16 May 2009 Thameslink route. First Capital Connect. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.[dead link]
    5. Section A. National Fares Manual 98. Association of Train Operating Companies. Retrieved on 2 January 2010.[dead link]
    6. Template:Citation London Underground performance exits 2003 to 2011
    7. Template:Citation London Underground performance exits 2003 to 2011
    8. Template:Citation London Underground performance exits 2003 to 2011
    9. Blackfriars. Transport for London. Retrieved on 2009-03-05.
    10. Template:Cite news
    11. Template:Cite news
    12. 12.0 12.1 Network Rail (2004a) - pg.34, paragraph 2.7.6
    13. Department for Transport [see paragraph 35] (2006-10-18). Thameslink - 2006 Transport and Works Act Decision Letter. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
    14. Network Rail (2004a) - pg.35, paragraph 2.7.9
    15. 15.0 15.1 alwaystouchout.com (2006-10-28). Thameslink Programme (Thameslink 2000). Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
    16. Network Rail (2005b) - pg.16, paragraph 2.15
    17. BBC London News: Mind the Gap - A new station but will it still be called Blackfriars? BBC Accessed 24 August 2010
    18. Thameslink 2000 Inspector's Report 2006, section 17.2.7 (2006-10-18). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.[dead link]

    External links[]

    Template:Commons category


    Template:Major railway stations in Britain

    Template:Use dmy dates

    ar:بلاكفرايرز (محطة مترو أنفاق لندن) da:Blackfriars Station de:Bahnhof Blackfriars fr:Gare de Blackfriars gan:布辣乎賴爾站 it:Stazione di London Blackfriars nl:Station London Blackfriars ja:ブラックフライアーズ駅 no:Blackfriars stasjon pt:Blackfriars (Metropolitano de Londres) simple:Blackfriars station

    Advertisement