London Bridge station
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London Bridge station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark which occupies a large area on two levels, immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles (2.6 km) east of Charing Cross.
It is one of 17 UK railway stations managed by Network Rail. The tube station serves the Jubilee and Northern lines and consists of a ticket hall and entrance area with its main frontage on Tooley Street. The station complex is in Travelcard Zone 1.
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Overground station
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London Bridge is the oldest railway station in London: it was opened in 1836. Today it serves over 42 million people a year. The station originated as two stations and this is still apparent in the combination of through and terminal platforms that makes up the station.
The through platforms lie on the North Kent and South East London routes into Charing Cross and Cannon Street station. The remainder of the station is the terminus for routes from Surrey, Sussex and south London.
The station also serves the Thameslink service which connects Bedford with Brighton. This is the first of the so called "cross rail" services. (There are currently plans to create an east–west Crossrail service to connect Essex with Berkshire.)
Underground station
The underground station opened on 25 February 1900 and is between Borough and Bank on the Northern line, and between Southwark and Bermondsey on the Jubilee Line Extension.
Before the Jubilee Line Extension, the main exit/entrance was on Borough High Street but, since 1999, the main focus of the station has moved toward the Tooley Street entrance, where improved railway and tube integration allows for easier interconnection between railway and underground travel.
The Northern Line platforms were rebuilt during the late 1990s to increase the platform and transit areas, primarily to help with the increased traffic expected with the Jubilee Line Extension in 1999.
The station currently consists of four platforms and two main sets of escalators to and from the Tooley Street ticket hall. All four platforms are also directly accessible from the Borough High street entrance/exit.
Location and environs
The station site is currently being reviewed and evaluated for the planned London Bridge Tower.
The station has many tourist attractions nearby: The London Dungeon, Southwark Cathedral, Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, Borough Market, Vinopolis, The Monument to the Great Fire of London and the Thames river path (part of the "London Jubilee Walk") along the south side of the Pool of London.
The station is also convenient for visitors to: Hay's Galleria, GLA building, Butler's Wharf, Shad Thames, St Saviours Dock, Guy's Hospital and the Tate Modern (10 minutes' walk).
Railway chronology
- London and Greenwich Railway (later South Eastern Railway) station opened 14 December 1836.
- London and Croydon Railway (later London Brighton and South Coast Railway) station opened 5 June 1839.
- Joint station opened July 1844; demolished in 1850.
- New SER and LBSCR stations opened on 3 January 1851.
- LBSCR station demolished and rebuilt in 1853; extended in 1866 (present station).
- Original London and Greenwich platforms demolished and new high-level through platforms opened 11 January 1864.
- Station unified by the Southern Railway 1928.
- Large scale rebuilding by British Rail opened 15 September 1978.
- Terminus Hotel opened 1861; purchased by the LBSCR for offices in 1893; demolished 1941.
Station design
- 1839 L&CR station wooden trussed pitched roof, one span 56Template:Ft by 212ft, designed by J. Gibbs(?)
- 1866 LBSCR station, one span, trussed arch roof, 88ft by 655ft, designed by J. Hawkshaw / F.D. Banister.
- 1978 redevelopment by British Rail Southern Region Regional Architect, N.G.T. Wikeley
Other nearby stations
Railway
London Underground
External links
- Station information (http://www.networkrail.co.uk/Stations/stations/LondonBridge/Default.aspx) on London Bridge station from Network Rail
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