Blackfriars station

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London Blackfriars

Location	Blackfriars
Local authority	City of London
Managed by	First Capital Connect
Station code	BFR
Platforms in use	2
Travelcard zone	1
NR 2004/5 usage	7.783 million[1]
NR 2005/6 usage	8.259 million[1]
NR 2006/7 usage	11.852 million[1]
NR 2007/8 usage	13.342 million[1]
10 May 1886 (10 May 1886) 20 March 2009	Opened Eastern bay platforms closed
List of stations	Underground · National Rail
External links	Departures • Facilities
London Transport Portal
UK Railways Portal

v • d • e Railways around the South Bank
Legend Charing Cross River Thames Waterloo International Waterloo Waterloo East South Western Main Line Thameslink City Thameslink Blackfriars River Thames Elephant & Castle Thameslink and Sevenoaks Cannon Street River Thames London Bridge Brighton Main Line, Chatham Main Line and South Eastern Main Line

London Blackfriars station 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 currently closed to commuters and will reopen in 2011 after major engineering works are completed.

Contents 1 National Rail 1.1 Services 1.2 History 1.3 Former stations 1.4 Future 2 Service patterns 3 Gallery 4 London Underground 4.1 History 4.2 Waterloo & City Line 5 Gallery 6 River connections 7 References 8 External links

[edit] National Rail

[edit] Services

This station is served by First Capital Connect (formerly Thameslink) trains from Bedford, St Albans and Luton in the north to Brighton in the south via London Bridge, and the south west London suburbs around Sutton via Elephant & Castle. Southeastern trains also serve Blackfriars from stations such as Sevenoaks and Bromley in Kent and South East London.

After the bay platforms at London Blackfriars closed in March 2009, Southeastern services which previously terminated at Blackfriars were extended to Kentish Town, St Albans, Luton or Bedford.^[2] Trains south of Blackfriars services are operated by Southeastern crews, north of Blackfriars by First Capital Connect crews.^[3]

[edit] History

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 King's Cross and St Pancras stations.

Before 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.

[edit] 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. 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.

[edit] Future

Blackfriars station will be rebuilt and the office building above it demolished and replaced. The Underground station at Blackfriars is closed while the works take place (the mainline station will remain open). While the station was originally planned to close for 24 months^[4] this was later extended to up to 36 months. The station closed on 2 March 2009 and is provisionally due to reopen on 4 September 2011.^[5]

The platform layout will be altered by closing the old terminus platforms on the east side of the station and building new ones on the west side.^[6] This means trains between City Thameslink and London Bridge will no longer have to cross the lines that lead to the terminus platforms. After the closure of the existing terminus platforms in March 2009, the through platforms will be extended along Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the River Thames to accommodate 12-car trains (in place of eight today).

The works will involve making use of the disused piers which lie west of the existing railway bridge. The number of terminating 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. In addition there will be an additional station entrance on the South Bank and the ticket offices for National Rail and LUL services will be combined.^[6]

[edit] Service patterns

Preceding station	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 Bedford-Sevenoaks		Elephant & Castle
City Thameslink		Southeastern Sevenoaks-Bedford		Elephant & Castle
Disused railways
Ludgate Hill		London, Chatham & Dover Railway City Branch		Blackfriars Bridge

[edit] Gallery

Looking north from the through platforms 4 and 5 (St Paul's Cathedral in background)	Looking south from the through platforms 4 and 5	Signage on northbound platform 5	View of the platforms extending southwards on the rail bridge over the River Thames.
A 1914 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Blackfriars (note the current station is labelled as "St Pauls"	Looking south towards the station and the office building above it.	Looking southwards across the river from platform 4.	View of the platforms from Blackfriars Rail Bridge.

[edit] London Underground

Blackfriars Underground

Location	Blackfriars
Local authority	City of London
Managed by	London Underground
Platforms in use	2
Travelcard zone	1
LUL 2005 usage	11.309 million[7]
LUL 2007 usage	12.621 million[7]
1870 1871 1872 1872 1900 1908 1949 2009	Opened (MDR) Extended east (MDR) Started "Outer Circle" (NLR) Started "Middle Circle" (H&CR/MDR) Ended "Middle Circle" Ended "Outer Circle" Started (Circle Line) Closed for refurbishment
List of stations	Underground · National Rail
London Transport Portal

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^[8].

[edit] 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.

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, 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.

The Cambridge Buskers started here.

[edit] Waterloo & City Line

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" ^[9].

[edit] Gallery

Looking eastbound/anticlockwise

Looking westbound/clockwise

Roundel on eastbound/anticlockwise platform

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
		Closed 2009-2011
Temple towards High Street Kensington		Circle line		Mansion House towards Aldgate
Temple towards Wimbledon, Richmond or Ealing Broadway		District line		Mansion House towards Upminster

[edit] River connections

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.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Station building, 1876
  • Construction of the MDR near Blackfriars Bridge, 1869
  • Underground station ticket hall, 1927
  • Subway entrances to Underground station, 1930
  • Underground station platforms, 1946
  • Underground station platforms, 1963
• Disused stations - Blackfriars station
• Blackfriars and the City Line

• Train times and station information for Blackfriars station from National RailCoordinates: 51°30′42″N 0°06′11″W / 51.5116°N 0.103°W / 51.5116; -0.103

v • d • e Railway stations of central London Termini Blackfriars · Cannon Street · Charing Cross · Euston · Fenchurch Street · King's Cross · Liverpool Street · London Bridge · Marylebone · Moorgate · Paddington · St Pancras · Victoria · Waterloo Other central stations City Thameslink · Elephant and Castle · Farringdon · Old Street · Vauxhall · Waterloo East Other London stations: Central area · Greater London area

v • d • e Circle line Stations Aldgate · Baker Street · Barbican · Bayswater · Blackfriars · Cannon Street · Edgware Road · Embankment · Euston Square · Farringdon · Gloucester Road · Great Portland Street · High Street Kensington · King's Cross St. Pancras · Liverpool Street · Mansion House · Monument · Moorgate · Notting Hill Gate · Paddington · Sloane Square · South Kensington · St. James's Park · Temple · Tower Hill · Victoria · Westminster Rolling stock C Stock History Former companies Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways Previous circle lines Middle Circle · Outer Circle · Super Outer Circle Former rolling stock C69 and C77 Stock Future proposals Route Extension to Hammersmith Future rolling stock S Stock See also District line · Hammersmith & City line · Metropolitan line · Circle line Parties London Underground · Transport for London