Network Rail thank passengers amid London Bridge rebuild

Network Rail is thanking passengers along its Kent and South East London lines for their continued patience as routes change amid London Bridge station’s ongoing rebuild.

Ordinarily, Southeastern trains would run into London Bridge, Charing Cross and Waterloo East. Those same trains now pass through Cannon Street, Blackfriars, Victoria and Waterloo to a revised timetable, up to and including Saturday 2 September.

The change came into effect on Tuesday 29 August, and although Cannon Street and Victoria were undoubtedly busy there was no need for the maddening queue systems that commuters have come to know and loath.

Crucially, great strides have been made over the August bank holiday. Network Rail has installed new track and signalling along the London Bridge to Cannon Street route, allowing that line to reopen as planned.

Focus now shifts to Charing Cross, where engineers are replacing three lines approaching London Bridge and reorganising their layout. From Sunday onwards, Charing Cross trains will be free to run through the brand new Bermondsey Dive Under railway junction, making journeys more reliable for passengers.

Meanwhile, work continues at London Bridge until Sunday when Network Rail opens the new platform six, enabling more Charing Cross trains to stop at the station.

“I understand that these changes to services have been inconvenient for passengers and I would like to personally thank them for their patience while we carry out this next stage of our Railway Upgrade Plan,” said Simon Blanchflower, Thameslink Programme Director at Network Rail. “Our engineers have been working tirelessly and are on track to complete this improvement work in time to reopen the lines and the new platform six on Sunday, as planned.”

Ellie Burrows, Train Services Director at Southeastern Railway, added: “We are grateful to passengers who have changed their journeys over the past few days as vital improvement work takes place. We continue to encourage passengers to travel outside peak times, and also work from home if at all possible. This will help us to reduce the need for queues at stations and make journeys easier. An amended timetable will continue to be in place until next week and passengers should always check before they travel.”

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