The Bank Capacity Upgrade Works

We're at Bank Station. Now, if I were to talk to you about the construction projects going on in London at the moment and on the Tube, you might think of Crossrail, everyone knows that. You could even make sense of the fact that the Northern Line extension was being carried out at Battersea. But right now a third London Underground excavation is taking place here at Bank Station, and hardly anyone I speak to seems unaware of it. So we are here to clarify that today, to put this on the map, to point out that a new platform is being installed here at Bank Station and to take a look at the

capacity

improvement

works

.

Bank metro station, which is also connected to Monument, is used by 52 million passengers a year, making it the busiest interchange in the entire metro network. And the crux of all this is the problem of the very narrow platforms here at the Bank, on the North line. And can you see how there's a very narrow stretch and then that southbound platform is there? So the northbound platform will remain, but this southbound platform will fill up and then it will be there. So the station extends in that direction. This won't be here. That's right, a massive

capacity

upgrade

project is currently underway, which will bring a new tunnel and platform for the southbound Northern line, full step-free access for the Northern line and DLR platforms, with three new lifts and 12 new escalators. and a new station entrance on Cannon Street.

Oh, and also two new moving walkways, moving corridors, that will take you quickly between the North and Central line platforms. Let's go take a look. We are now inside King William Street. This is King William Street station. King William Street station was on the City and South London Railway, later on the Northern line, and was only open for 10 years between 1890 and 1900, making it London's first disused tube station. Look at the tiles, look at the tiles! Yes, amazing mosaics, yes, you will see some more. This is the disused former King William Street station. Basically, we use it for our access in and out of the tunnel

works

.

It has triple, actually it has five layers of brick arches. We've basically sorted it out. We put up, painted the walls, that kind of thing. It has been used for numerous things over the years, since 1900 when it closed. The most important thing is that it served as an air raid shelter during the war. We have some signs down here where you can see where people would have taken shelter during the bombing. But these are original, as are the tiles from the 1900s and 1940s. Yes, yes, probably, yes, this is the original brick work that would have been used to support the actual main brick arches.

So everything was formed with brick. Original City and South London Railway tiles. Geoff, we're basically coming from the old disused station to the new pit. We went through this door, so take a look up here. (engines roaring) Up there is Upper Street, the tunnel is below us. This is where we placed the new well, right through the old station. So all the shotcrete here, but everything below this level is all shotcrete in the tunnels. (engines roaring) King William Street is on the sidewalk. And they put the well on Upper Street and put it in the middle.

So part of King William Street is in that direction, another part of King William Street is in that direction, and then the new Northern Line tunnels are diverted in a northerly direction. Let's go down, right? Yes. How many steps? What from here? Yeah. Oh, probably around 87. I'll count them for you. 49 steps further you get a very good view of the well. However, it's time to explore the tunnels. Okay, but the tunnel below is that way, why is it painted turquoise blue? That is for its waterproofing layer, it protects the slabs to make them waterproof. That's waterproof.

That's south, so London Bridge is in that direction, and then you turn, go through the conduit and this is towards Bank to take the new south direction. It is important to note that at Bank, the Northern Line runs on the right, so the new southbound tunnel will be on the left. In fact, here's a diagram to show what's going on. At the moment, there are two narrow platforms with trains running in a right-hand configuration and the existing southbound platform is being filled in and will be converted into a corridor. Then a completely new tunnel is being dug for southbound Northern Line trains, and it's being built with a wide platform to boot.

Here is an artist's impression of what it will look like when finished. But note that this is not the same as Angel and Euston on the Northern Line, where a filled track became the wide platform. This is a completely new wide platform. (engines roaring) That's the tunnel in operation right now. So, segregated walkway for pedestrians, road for vehicles. Vents are actually ducts that supply fresh air to the tunnel. You feel the air on your face when you enter. New cross passages are also being built to connect with the existing station. And also as an entrance and exit for the new entrance to Bank Station, which is being built on the Cannon Street surface.

Well, that's the first of the cross passages, which will actually connect you to an elevator shaft, which will take you up to Cannon Street. So if you are a disabled person with mobility issues, I should say I'm sorry. Enter the lift, then go down to this level, continue straight to the Northern Line and the lift also continues to the DLR. Therefore, you can get from Cannon Street to DLR with just one lift. So I sank the pilings and put it in place, went down Cannon Street. Here where we are is a transversal passage. This will link them from the new North Line heading south, directly to what will be the concourse tunnel.

So behind that type of wall is actually the existing North Line heading south. We will go up above, but at this point you will look down, between the two tunnels of the Northern Line. We have a temporary well here to go down on top of the DLR. So we are going to create two cross passages, or complements, between the existing tunnels, under the DLR, without entering the DLR. We're basically doing it from the top. And once we've built them, we'll fill everything up to the floor of the cross passage. And then we will continue mining this way, we will make a connection with the existing one in the south direction.

There's a guy there with a black helmet, there's like a curved part, that's the outside of the DLR. What, the arrival? (man speaking indistinctly) The arrival, that's where the DLR arrives at the Bank, just on the other side of that. So when we start at the south end, and they're laying rails on this side all the way to where this machine is, that's where the tracks will be. Where I am here, on this side, is the platform. So I'm on the platform, just two years early for the new Northern Line platform. But just as I'm excited about Greenford's inclined lift, or Waterloo's moving walkways, where will the new moving walkways be here in Bank?

This is the mobile gateway. So what you're doing is we're at the top right now, we're in the middle of the tunnel. We've dug out what we call the top title, the guys have cut it all out, or John has cut it all out. And the engineer is just checking that profile, doing a little bit of construction, you know, to make sure he knows how thick the coating is when we start spraying. And then we'll put the machine out of the way and we'll bring in the sprayer and the equipment, we'll bring in the concrete and we'll spray concrete on that face that you see, which is obviously the clay.

And then the whole shell. When that's done, we'll start digging and complete the bottom half of the tunnel shell. This is where that new mobile gateway or mobile corridor is located on the map. For some reason, I'm getting really excited. So the exciting part for me is that there will be a new surface entrance, there will be a new Northern Line platform, but the Bank will have a new moving corridor. Yes. To connect what, the North Line with the Central Line? Yes, basically the entire Northern Line, from the DLR to the Central Line, yes. It will follow your journey from the Northern Line directly to the end of an escalator, which will take you to the Central Line.

More space, faster transit times, that sort of thing. I don't know why I find stuff like that so exciting! I was on Crossrail the other week and they have new inclined lifts, but I think the moving platform beats the inclined lifts. Travelers are just fun. It's pretty cool, isn't it? It's fun. Okay, and the most important thing is that it is bigger than Waterloo, is that correct? That's right, yes, it will be, yes. (drill) Oh, they've started drilling, that's really going to kill the audio. Okay, okay! (laughs) (grinding drill) So, that's Daniel behind me making noise, but this is the platform tunnel we're on.

So that's the cross passage, the cross passage. The running tunnel extends behind me, sorry, in front of me, towards the north. So, that's another one. In the end, it is about 35 meters away, through the connection with the existing North Line heading south. So we have one connection just to the north and one just behind the well, and we're basically going to put a block on the North Line to make those two connections. Then the trains, after the blockade, will pass through here and the passengers will get off the platform. So, that is a key moment. We got out and backed down the shaft and then I went to see where the new entrance to the surface was being built. (car engines growling) So we're outside, just one more thing to mention, I walked around the corner of Monument, I'm actually on Cannon Street.

So the Cannon Street station is down there and you can see all these blue objects. These blue properties will be this. There is a new entrance to Bank tube station here on Cannon Street. It's weird because it's close to Cannon Street, but it's not the Cannon Street subway station, it's definitely the Bank subway station. 12 new escalators, as it says, to make the trip easier. Opening very soon. Very soon it should be 2022. And if you want even more information, visit the TFL website, there are links in the descriptions with more maps, diagrams and details about the construction.