London Bridge reconstruction works

[Mikey C]

Careful you might cut yourself on all that edge

Two more shops look to be opening shortly in the Western Arcade, a Pandora and a Scribbler, next to each other, which seems like an odd juxtaposition. There was also one other with a name that had appeared over an arch, but i didn't catch it properly.

Certainly there seems to be a good trade going on in most of the shops, even at odd times of the day. Perhaps Network Rail's vision of creating a shopping destination is actually succeeding despite our doubts a couple of years ago in this very thread!

GTR doing their best to encourage footfall by cancelling trains, thus encouraging bored passengers to go shopping to fill the time

 

[theageofthetra]

Anywhere warm to wait in yet?

 

[zuriblue]

Do they do the vegan sausage roll though?

Presumably yes. That’s why the EDL were demonstrating in London yesterday.

 

[tsr]

Greggs has opened. Time to close the thread?

I never thought I would see a) this happen, and b) crowd control at a Greggs at 8.30am, complete with security staff and Tensabarriers

About that...

I had a Gregg's bacon roll from the one near my flat this morning since I'm out of cereal and don't want to just buy some just for two days; and it cost me like £2.80 all in with a large orange juice. When I was walking past the London Bridge Greggs I had a brief look in and it looked like they were charging £2.40 for a Bacon and Sausage roll by itself which is a fairly large markup although still cheaper than anything else on site.

They charged me £3 for a latte and a sausage & omelette roll the other day, which by London standards is not unreasonable, although that may have had a slight staff discount due to it being a Day Of Much Lanyard Wearing (I didn’t get a receipt so who knows!).

Anywhere warm to wait in yet?

Pret is probably still cooling off after the summer overheating disaster...

 

[Mikey C]

Anyone know what they're doing with the concourse toilets, as they're currently closed at weekends (and after 10pm weekdays) for the whole of February and March, which sounds like a major rebuild. Hopefully they'll be enlarged, as they're clearly too small

Worth bearing in mind if you were relying on using them before a late night or weekend journey!

 

[andrewkeith5]

Anyone know what they're doing with the concourse toilets, as they're currently closed at weekends (and after 10pm weekdays) for the whole of February and March, which sounds like a major rebuild. Hopefully they'll be enlarged, as they're clearly too small

Worth bearing in mind if you were relying on using them before a late night or weekend journey!

From what I can tell, then dump more water all over the floor than they take away in the waste pipes, so hopefully they'll at least install them properly at the same time as enlarging them!

 

[387star]

McDonald's now open

 

[Barn]

McDonald's now open

Didn't realise it was going to be take away only.

 

[Bald Rick]

Didn't realise it was going to be take away only.

Is there a drive thru’?

 

[ijmad]

Is there a drive thru’?

Only if your SatNav is out of date and takes you via Stainer Street

 

[Bald Rick]

Only if your SatNav is out of date and takes you via Stainer Street

I was thinking more for people driving on Platform 1...

 

[ijmad]

I was thinking more for people driving on Platform 1...

Maybe ASLEF could lobby for some sort of pulley system

 

[Mikey C]

Anyone know what they're doing with the concourse toilets, as they're currently closed at weekends (and after 10pm weekdays) for the whole of February and March, which sounds like a major rebuild. Hopefully they'll be enlarged, as they're clearly too small

Worth bearing in mind if you were relying on using them before a late night or weekend journey!

Not obvious what the changes to the toilets were, as they look much the same to me

Not having used the station for a couple of weeks, I was surprised that the seating at concourse level has been replaced and enlarged with stylish looking wooden seats, increasing the numbers from 150 to 400

https://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/9877
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/03/26/loads-of-seats-coming-to-railway-stations/

Not seen pictures of the new seating in place, but these were the old ones (not my photo).

 

[bicbasher]

The only wooden seating I saw when I was at LBG on Saturday was at the Southern end of the concourse downstairs inside the ticketed area.

 

[Mikey C]

The only wooden seating I saw when I was at LBG on Saturday was at the Southern end of the concourse downstairs inside the ticketed area.

It looked like all the seating under the through platforms had been installed

 

[ijmad]

Yeah, I saw the wood seats as well. Apparently Network Rail are spending more on seats, they're curved versions of the model you see in the image in my link.

I also noticed the various cherry pickers and mobile platforms have finally gone from the corner of the concourse they've been sat in for the last 14 months. Does this finally mean they've finished fiddling with the wooden cladding on the bottom of the bridge decks?

There's still some finishing touches to do upstairs.

 

[387star]

Same seats as at vic?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

That's definitely great news.

Slightly concerned though that they had to do a passenger survey to find out that lots of people like to sit down when they are waiting for trains. Is that not totally obvious to anyone who ever travels by train?

(Maybe they could do a similar survey to find out what people think of trains with almost no padding on their seats. And TfL could do one to find out what people think of trains with entirely longitudinal, and no transverse, seats )

 

[hwl]

That's definitely great news.

Slightly concerned though that they had to do a passenger survey to find out that lots of people like to sit down when they are waiting for trains. Is that not totally obvious to anyone who ever travels by train?

(Maybe they could do a similar survey to find out what people think of trains with almost no padding on their seats. And TfL could do one to find out what people think of trains with entirely longitudinal, and no transverse, seats )

And then a follow up survey investigate why more people were getting left behind as there was less standing room...

 

[387star]

Finally the undercroft area has been finished off around marks and Spencer with just a few shops to open and the immediate entrance towards the underground to finish
On the now completed ornamental facades I noticed speakers for music or announcements I wonder?

Sadly the walkway which contains the recently opened art piece section which crosses the other way through the station has part been closed off despite being previously opened

I forget the names of these pedestrian walkways

 

[387star]

Regarding the new tl services it is no surprise the traditional end points are busiest so that's London bridge southbound and pancras northbound
London bridge is an incredibly busy station

 

[ijmad]

Sadly the walkway which contains the recently opened art piece section which crosses the other way through the station has part been closed off despite being previously opened

I forget the names of these pedestrian walkways

Stainer Street is the one with the art. Perhaps more damp proofing problems?

Regarding the new tl services it is no surprise the traditional end points are busiest so that's London bridge southbound and pancras northbound
London bridge is an incredibly busy station

I often go from Charing Cross to London Bridge and then change to Southern on the way home, and have noticed the passenger volume going up to P6/7 is quite incredible in the evening peak. I recall there were claims that P4/5/6 in the old station were some of the busiest in the country. Certainly their replacements (6, 7 8, and 9) must be high on the list again in the peak directions.