TfL Press Release - TfL issues travel advice ahead of planned 17-week closure of the Northern line’s Bank branch, starting in January

Transport for London (TfL) has today (Friday 5 November) issued travel advice for customers who will be affected by the upcoming closure of the Bank branch of the Northern line. The branch will be closed for 17 weeks between Kennington and Moorgate from 15 January until mid-May 2022 to safely finalise work on the brand-new Northern line tunnel and passenger concourse at the Bank Station as part of the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade work. The closure was planned and granted in 2015 as part of the upgrade work.

To help mitigate the closure, which will also mean a reduced service between Camden Town and Moorgate, an enhanced service with a train at least every two minutes will run on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line in the peaks. A temporary new bus route, the 733 from Oval into the City (Finsbury Square), will also be introduced on weekdays. It will run every 7-8 minutes to help affected customers reach their destinations.

Last week, TfL announced that the Waterloo & City line would be returning to a full weekday service from 22 November, providing a vital link to the City and extra options for customers travelling during the closure. However, TfL expects Waterloo, Embankment, Tottenham Court Road, and London Bridge to be amongst the busiest during the closure, so customers may wish to seek alternative options to complete their journeys.

TfL is asking customers to travel at quieter times or use alternative routes during the closure, as many lines and stations across central London will be busier. Quieter times on the Tube and Rail services are currently between 08:45 and 16:30 and after 18:45 during the week. These times may change. Customers are encouraged to check how busy their station is before they travel, using the TfL website’s Journey Planner or via the TfL Go app.

Full travel advice ahead of the closure is available at tfl.gov.uk/northern-line-closure.

To assist customers, TfL will be installing signage at stations that will operate differently throughout the closure and deploying additional staff across the network to provide support and travel advice to customers.

This vital wholesale renovation will see Bank station’s capacity increase by 40 per cent when finished, with improvements including a new railway tunnel and platform for the Northern line, step-free access to the Northern line and improved access to the DLR platforms, more direct routes within the station and a new station entrance on Cannon Street. Improving the station at the heart of London’s financial district is critical to supporting the continued growth and success of the City, addressing long-standing capacity issues and making journeys through Bank safer, easier, quicker, and more comfortable when fully complete later in 2022.

Heidi Alexander, Deputy Mayor for Transport said: “This much needed renovation of Bank station will significantly increase the capacity of the station and make it more pleasant to travel through, as well as future proofing a key interchange station in the City. Once the upgrade is complete, passengers will benefit from step-free access to the Northern line, a new entrance and easier routes around the station.

“There will be a number of alternative routes to help passengers complete their journeys during the closure of the Bank branch, including a new bus route, so people should make sure they check before they travel.”

Andy Lord, Managing Director of London Underground, said: “The Bank Station Capacity Upgrade is a crucial project to support the City’s continued growth and success.

“We are encouraging affected customers to check their journeys before they travel by using Journey Planner or the TfL Go app, and suggest they try to retime their journeys, or take a different route by Tube, rail, bus, walking or cycling during this vital 17-week closure. I’d like to reassure everyone that we are doing everything possible to reduce the impact of this closure, with an increased service on the Charing Cross branch and a new bus route into the City. We will also use this closure to carry out maintenance and improvement work at other stations in order to minimise future disruption.”

The 17-week closure of the Bank branch of the Northern line will allow TfL and its contractors to complete the intricate work needed to connect the new tunnels to the existing railway, as well as fit out the new station, install the final sections of track, complete work in the tunnels constructed during the project and integrate all the new systems installed in the station. It will also allow London Underground staff to prepare to operate the new areas of the station safely.

Much of the work completed for the project has been intricate and complicated, with 31 listed buildings at street level above the new tunnels and foundations for other buildings that had to be tunnelled through. The work was completed by teams of engineers working in shifts around the clock, and despite the challenges presented by coronavirus is on track to be delivered as planned in 2022 and within the £700m budget, despite the challenges of the pandemic.

As well as the work at Bank station, work will be carried out at stations including London Bridge, Borough and Elephant & Castle while the Northern line is closed so that future disruption can be minimised. This will include work on lifts and escalators, as well as refurbishment work at Borough and enabling works for the future Elephant & Castle Station upgrade.