London Bridge commuters to face more disruption

Bird's-eye view of London Bridge Station. Pic: NetworkRail Website.

Bird’s-eye view of London Bridge Station. Pic: NetworkRail Website.

Thousands of commuters were forced to wait in busy queues this morning, due to pressure put on services by the rebuilding of London Bridge station, which began today.

Commuters at London Bridge had to exit the station in order to access platforms one to three.

Lewisham stations were also particularly affected, with people travelling to New Cross Gate having to queue from platform four to platform five in the first day of disruption.

Users of London Bridge station will face more than 18 months of disruption due to its modernisation. The rebuilding work, due to last until August 2016, is part of the £6.5 billion government-sponsored Thameslink rail project.

Changes will affect thousands of rail commuters and, as a key interchange point, Lewisham is one of the boroughs that will feel the effects of the renovations taking place.

Southeastern rail services have warned that New Cross, St. Johns, Deptford, Greenwich, Maze Hill and Westcombe Park stations will no longer operate to and from London Charing Cross or Waterloo East. They will instead operate to and from London Cannon Street.

A spokesperson from Southeastern told Eastlondonlines: “The changes to our timetable, that come into effect today, take into account the ongoing Thameslink Programme work to rebuild London Bridge station. The changes mean that our Charing Cross services are unable to stop at London Bridge station until August 2016.”

Lewisham is a key interchange point for passengers, especially those travelling from Greenwich, and so we expect the station to be busier than it would usually be.”

Parts of the London Overground, especially Canada Water, Brockley and New Cross, the DLR and some bus services are likely to be affected as well. Transport for London have advised customers who have flexibility in their journey to avoid peak times at Canada Water if they can.

Lewisham are providing several extra services to the bus network, including:

  • 10 extra double decker buses on Route 21 between London Bridge to Lewisham via New Cross during the evening peak;
  • 10 extra buses on Route 47 between London Bridge (Duke Street Hill) and Lewisham via Bermondsey;
  • 10 extra Route 381 buses acting as a shuttle between London Bridge and Waterloo stations during the morning and evening peaks.

London Underground managing director Mike Brown said: “During Network Rail’s modernisation work at London Bridge, several LU and London Overground stations are likely to be busier than usual. We are accepting tickets at key stations from passengers whose journeys to London Bridge are affected, and deploying extra staff to assist customers and putting on dozens of extra bus services out of London Bridge and Waterloo stations.”

For more information customers are advised to speak to staff at any stations, follow rail services’ Twitter pages or website for updates, or sign up for the Thameslink Programme email alerts here.

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