Northern Line Bank Branch Reopening Confirmed

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Services to resume after being closed for seventeen weeks

The new wider platforms at Bank Station

The Bank branch of the Northern Line is on schedule to reopen on Monday 16 May after 17 weeks of closure, TfL has confirmed.

Northern Line services between Kennington and Moorgate have been suspended since 15 January so that upgrades to Bank station can be completed.

The upgrades will see passenger capacity at Bank station increased by 40 per cent, with a new entrance on Cannon Street, a new passenger concourse and a new southbound platform.

On Monday (9 May), TfL confirmed that the new platform and concourse at Bank would be open on 16 May as Bank branch services on the Northern Line would resume following a five-month hiatus.

TfL’s chief capital officer Stuart Harvey said that Bank station’s “labyrinthian layout” can be “confusing and time-consuming to navigate”, but that the upgrades will “totally transform customer journeys through the station”.

Mr Harvey said, “I’m delighted to confirm that we’re on schedule to fully re-open the Northern line on Monday 16 May after successfully completing the challenging next phase of vital upgrade works at Bank station. I’d like to thank our customers for their patience during this closure

“Northern line customers now have a new, wider southbound platform and spacious customer concourse. The countdown is on for completing the rest of this major upgrade which is one of the largest and most complicated subterranean railway complexes in the world.”

Wandsworth Council leader Cllr Simon Hogg said:, ““I am pleased that Transport for London and London Underground have delivered a successful and much needed tube service upgrade on schedule. This is just the first phase of a more comprehensive programme of works at the station planned for later this year which will deliver further improvements for the many thousands of Wandsworth residents who use the Northern line every day.

“These will allow the station’s capacity to increase by around 40 per cent, with a range of other improvements, including better access to the DLR platforms, two new moving walkways, 12 new escalators and two new lifts. There will also be a new station entrance on Cannon Street. These are all welcome improvements and offer major benefits to our residents who travel on the Bank branch to their jobs in the city.”

While Bank will reopen on 16 May, work will continue on the station, which will include getting new escalators up and running which will link the Northern Line to the DLR, two new moving walkways to speed up interchange times and three new escalators linking the Northern and Central lines.

The reopening of Northern Line services on the Bank branch comes just one week before the opening of the Elizabeth Line in central London.

Joe Talora - Local Democracy Reporter

May 11, 2022