London Bridge reconstruction works

[Bromley boy]

Amazing how long a route so short you could walk it in 15min has been closed three -four years

Anyone having to endure the diversion on a daily basis should be awarded a medal

Awarded a medal for doing a 15 minute walk?

 

[ijmad]

Amazing how long a route so short you could walk it in 15min has been closed three -four years

Anyone having to endure the diversion on a daily basis should be awarded a medal

It's 1.2 miles from London Bridge to the north side at Blackfriars, which is more like a 25 minute walk at average brisk walking speed.

 

[ijmad]

Some observations I've been collecting from this week:

- A large Pret-a-Manger has opened on the lower concourse, because apparently two Neros and a Costa is not enough, and crossing Tooley St to get to the Pret right opposite the main entrance is just too far when you're in desperate need of sweet lady caffeine.

- There is a surprising amount of waterproof sheeting attached to the bottoms of the bridge decks (particularly the areas above the shops) where I assume some sort of finishing panels are meant to eventually go. It seems there's been a lot of fiddling with the finishing panels so I wonder what the problem is.

- The hoardings on Platform 15 are still up in the area past the stairwell. Maybe one day this area will be finished off, but not yet. Not yet.

- Platform 1 looked pretty narrow when it was being built but is actually about the same width as 1/2 to 2/3rds of the other islands, and the part adjacent to the stairs seems about the same width as other similar areas too.

- For Cannon Street services, it seems the platform allocation for off peak is to have 1 go 'down' and 2&3 go 'up' (so breaking the pattern for the evening peak when 1&2 are 'down'). I am fairly sure this used to be the other way around in the old station (1&2 were 'down' and 3 was 'up' for most of the day except the morning peak), but I guess this makes more sense given 2&3 is the island now, rather than 1&2.

- I wonder what the point of Stainer Street is, given you can just walk through the unpaid side of the ticket hall to get from Tooley Street to St Thomas Street anyway. Maybe for times the station is closed, for engineering works, or just at 3am?

- There are 71 ticket gates on the lower concourse, more or less. That sure is a lot.

- Some of the 'next train' signs at the bottom of the staircases now appear to be working, but some don't. Several that were previously working have now stopped working.

Overall, I rather like the finished product. It's an effort of compromise and pragmatism to a certain degree, but it sure is a good one, and is now a rather unique station on the network compared to the other London terminals.

 

[Verulamius]

I noticed that yesterday some of the Charing Cross to Slade Green empties around 9am were routed through the Thameslink platform 4. A temporary routing I would have thought as the full Thameslink timetable would not have the capacity for such trains?

 

[takno]

Amazing how long a route so short you could walk it in 15min has been closed three -four years

Anyone having to endure the diversion on a daily basis should be awarded a medal

It's been found on a number of previous projects that the walk is slowed considerably if you stop to build a new station, viaduct and massive flyover on the way. It does speed up subsequent trips quite considerably though.

 

[swt_passenger]

Just looking at RTT for the day, it looks at first glance as if the earlier problem of some peak Charing Cross trains non-stopping London Bridge "went away". Does anyone know if this resulted from a specific timetable change, or was it just some sort of gradual ramp up to the eventual full service after all.

This subject received quite a bit of discussion a few months ago, and then went quiet...

 

[ijmad]

Just looking at RTT for the day, it looks at first glance as if the earlier problem of some peak Charing Cross trains non-stopping London Bridge "went away". Does anyone know if this resulted from a specific timetable change, or was it just some sort of gradual ramp up to the eventual full service after all.

This subject received quite a bit of discussion a few months ago, and then went quiet...

I noticed that too. I assumed it was part of some sort of rationalisation connected to the timetable changes.
Charing Cross-bound skippers have gone away, but there are a couple of Cannon Street-biund skippers in the evening peak, against the rush:

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/W00628/2018/01/10/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/W02785/2018/01/10/advanced

 

[30907]

For Cannon Street services, it seems the platform allocation for off peak is to have 1 go 'down' and 2&3 go 'up' (so breaking the pattern for the evening peak when 1&2 are 'down'). I am fairly sure this used to be the other way around in the old station (1 was 'up' and 2&3 was 'down' for most of the day except the morning peak), but I guess this makes more sense given 2&3 is the island now, rather than 1&2.

The old 1 was never an Up platform, for rather obvious reasons - it wasn't even signalled reversibly. I think you mean 3 Up, 1 and 2 Down?

 

[ijmad]

The old 1 was never an Up platform, for rather obvious reasons - it wasn't even signalled reversibly. I think you mean 3 Up, 1 and 2 Down?

Yep. I will edit.

 

[westcoaster]

Went through on the southbound thameslink. Nice and smooth a far cry from London bridge of old.

 

[physics34]

Went through on the southbound thameslink. Nice and smooth a far cry from London bridge of old.

its good to see results of all this 4 years of chaos.

 

[telstarbox]

Have Southeastern altered some allocations now that (nearly) all their trains are stopping at London Bridge? I ask as my regular train used to be 10 coaches (2 x Class 376) and has been 8 coaches for the last couple of days, which would make sense as passengers going to London Bridge can spread over the Cannon Street services too.

 

[talldave]

Have Southeastern altered some allocations now that (nearly) all their trains are stopping at London Bridge? I ask as my regular train used to be 10 coaches (2 x Class 376) and has been 8 coaches for the last couple of days, which would make sense as passengers going to London Bridge can spread over the Cannon Street services too.

Yes they have.

 

[FOH]

It's all very strange. The boards for P11 and P15 are displaying correct information. All others are either blank or covered over

 

[ijmad]

It's all very strange. The boards for P11 and P15 are displaying correct information. All others are either blank or covered over

Last night, the boards for P6/7 and P8/9 at the bottom of the West staircases were working, but the ones at the bottom of the East staircases were not.

 

[ijmad]

Leaks today. I think this is below the new building outside the Shard concourse, or perhaps underneath the bus station, rather than the tracks, correct?

 

[Chrisgr31]

I think its underneath the bus station. They have recently done some patching of the tarmac in the bus station. They are doing more works up there though on preparing the last lane of the bus station. Does seem to be a problem with the waterproofing in that area.

 

[FOH]

Typical Southern ineptitude on display this evening. 1906 just remained On Time until it just disappeared off the boards. Ask the only visible staff there are what's going on and get a shrug of the shoulders "no radio". Why can a brand new signalling system not allow the boards to show relevant information?

 

[BingBong50]

Is there any further increase in Thameslink passenger services using the London Bridge to Blackfriars route yet?

 

[Sunset route]

Is there any further increase in Thameslink passenger services using the London Bridge to Blackfriars route yet?

Nope still only 2T27 and 2T36 passing through non stop.

 

[ijmad]

Nope still only 2T27 and 2T36 passing through non stop.

Presumably lots of different drivers getting to drive that train to do the route knowledge though?

 

[Sunset route]

Presumably lots of different drivers getting to drive that train to do the route knowledge though?

I was under the impression that it was the driver instructors/trainer learning the route at the moment, as so they in turn can start the huge task of teaching all the various drivers from various depots in GTR land that are going to work through the core.

 

[James H]

On Sunday due to engineering works, Southeastern trains to Robertsbridge were leaving from platform 10.

For some reason these trains couldn't be displayed on the normal CIS screens on the upper concourse, which was rather unhelpful.

 

[FOH]

As someone who relies on lifts as far as I’m concerned 1 lift isn’t fine because when that one lift stops working I’m stuck.

P8/9 lift was out of action today. No signs giving any estimate to fix it.

 

[John1975]

All this week run via London Bridge

2T23 08.54 BDM - TBD
1T27 11.10 BDM - BTN
1T31 12.10 BDM - BTN
1T33 12.40 BDM - BTN
2T41 13.24 BDM - TBD
1T39 14.10 BDM - BTN
2T45 14.24 BDM - TBD
2T47 14.54 BDM - TBD
2T49 15.24 BDM - TBD
2T53 16.40 BDM - TBD
2T59 18.00 BDM - GTW
1T55 18.10 BDM - BTN
1T63 20.10 BDM - BTN

1T22 10.05 BTN - BDM
2T36 12.29 TBD - BDM
1T34 13.05 BTN - BDM
1T36 13.35 BTN - BDM
1T38 14.05 BTN - BDM
1T40 14.35 BTN - BDM
1T88 15.05 BTN - BDM
1T90 15.35 BTN - BDM
1T94 16.02 BTN - BDM
1T84 18.07 TBD - BDM
2T62 19.43 TBD - BDM
1T66 21.05 BTN - BDM

 

[ijmad]

^ Sounds like they may be stopping in passenger service from Monday.
https://twitter.com/NetworkRailLBG/status/958679515299045376

 

[FlippyFF]

^ Sounds like they may be stopping in passenger service from Monday.
https://twitter.com/NetworkRailLBG/status/958679515299045376

That tweet doesn't seem to exist anymore....

Simon

 

[ijmad]

That tweet doesn't seem to exist anymore....

Simon

Hah. It was the London Bridge team saying they were expecting TL services to be calling at Platform 4/5 in passenger service Monday onwards. I wonder if TPTB were hoping for a quieter launch than that, or whether it's not actually been confirmed for sure yet.

 

[John1975]

From Monday, TL passenger services will stop at London Bridge, but it will only be an operational stop.

 

[ijmad]

From Monday, TL passenger services will stop at London Bridge, but it will only be an operational stop.

Allowing people on and off or not?