A free public exhibition opened at Farringdon station today, looking at the historic station’s past, present and future, as Network Rail’s project to rebuild it draws to a close.
Charles Dickens and one of his most famous literary creations, Fagin, were on hand to recount tales of Farringdon nearly 150 years ago, when the author used this part of London as inspiration for Fagin’s lair in Oliver Twist.
Farringdon station was the terminus of the world’s first underground railway. The historic station is being given a massive upgrade to preserve its heritage and provide space for new Thameslink and Crossrail services that will make it one of London’s newest transport hubs.
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Richard Hodder from Spectrum Drama and Theatre Projects said: “Passengers travelling through Farringdon today may be surprised to know that in the 1800s this area had one of the highest murder rates in the capital, and Turnmill Street – widely regarded as its centre – was nicknamed by locals as ‘Little Hell’."
Farringdon today combines its heritage and history with vibrant business and arts communities. The transformation of Farringdon station will continue to make the area a destination in its own right. For the past four and half years Network Rail has been redeveloping Farringdon station as part of the north-south Thameslink Programme. From 2018 Farringdon station will be the only station where Thameslink, Crossrail and Underground services meet. From Farringdon passengers will have the choice to travel north-south, east-west or around London. With 160 trains an hour in the peak it will become the capital’s newest transport hub.
Mike Brown, Network Rail’s Senior Project Manager, said: “Farringdon has a wonderful history, as the station where Underground rail travel in London began. Equipping the Victorian station for the 21st Century has been an incredible challenge, especially as we’ve kept Underground and Thameslink passengers moving through the station throughout the project.
It’s incredible to think that when it opened in1863, Farringdon Street station (as it was then called) was only served by one steam train every ten minutes during the morning peak. From 2018, once work on Thameslink, Crossrail and the Underground is complete, Farringdon will be served by 160 trains an hour during the busiest hours of the day.”
The Farringdon Crossrail station will comprise two underground platforms, each the length of two football pitches, linking two new ticket halls. The western ticket hall will be shared with Thameslink services, and will have an entrance on Cowcross Street, opposite Farringdon Underground station. The eastern ticket hall will have entrances at the Long Lane end of the station, on Lindsey Street and Hayne Street. It will link directly with the existing London Underground platforms at Barbican.
The Farringdon heritage exhibition will be open weekdays, from 8am – 8pm until Friday 29 June (excluding bank holidays). Lunchtime talks will also be given by heritage and project experts, every Thursday from 1pm -1:30pm.
MORE SPACE FOR WATERLOO COMMUTERS AS FIRST STAGE OF REDEVELOPMENT COMPLETES
Tuesday 29 May 2012 01:00
· First stage of £10m improvement project completed
· Improved access and less congestion for 300,000 passengers each day
· New 220m balcony and escalators
Hundreds of thousands of commuters will benefit today from reduced congestion at Britain’s busiest railway station as the first stage of a £10m improvement project at Waterloo nears completion.
From today, commuters passing between Waterloo and Waterloo East stations will be able to use four new escalators connected to a 220-metre balcony which runs almost the full width of the station. This new access route between the two busy stations, which are used by a combined 300,000 passengers a day, removes the previous bottleneck and forms part of a wider plan to provide more space for passengers at concourse level.
The scheme is also creating 20,000 sq ft of new retail space at first floor level, accessed by the balcony. When complete, passengers will benefit from a wider choice of places to eat and shop. Ten new brands including Carluccio’s, Corney & Barrow and Thomas Pink will be opening in July, in time for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The work at the station, which started in April 2011, has already seen the removal of a number of retail units from the main concourse, further helping to relieve congestion for people using the station.
The balcony is part of Network Rail’s on-going programme of investment at stations to boost capacity, improve passenger flow and providing better customer information by installing a new announcing system.
Tim Shoveller, managing director of the Network Rail and South West Trains alliance, said: “Waterloo is the busiest station in Britain with more than 90m passengers a year. As the number of people using the station continues to rise, we need a radical solution to provide the space and facilities that passengers need. The new balcony will help ease congestion and improve the journeys of millions of people each year.”
David Biggs, director of property at Network Rail, said: “Following the successful launch of the new western concourse at King’s Cross earlier this year, we are continuing to invest in our stations to improve the facilities, layout and retail environment for passengers.
“The Waterloo balcony project is part of Network Rail’s wider retail strategy to create destination stations for both rail passengers and non-travelling customers, providing a sustainable source of income which can be re-invested directly into the rail network.”
Waterloo station is a major transport hub for the UK connecting London to popular destinations such as Bournemouth, Poole, Southampton, Portsmouth, Reading and Windsor.
A team of 150 specialist builders are working round the clock to complete the project on schedule and on budget.
It’s the first step in the expansion of Waterloo to improve station capacity with future aspirations to integrate the former Eurostar platforms in order to utilise all existing space available at the station.
The station – parts of which are grade two listed – opened in 1848 and this represents the first major investment at Waterloo in almost a century.
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