London Bridge Station

Station (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Use London Bridge rail or New Cross Overground stations? Then you could be in for problems with your trains at the end of this month.

The interminable Thameslink programme at London Bridge, upgrading the track and station in a bid to end the sodding bottleneck, hits a new flurry of activity between 23-31 August. Platforms 12 and 13 are going to be re-opened but platforms 10 and 11 will be closed for demolition and rebuilding. During this period, trains won't call at London Bridge, being diverted between Blackfriars and East Croydon with some services stopping at Elephant and Castle. trains will have fewer platforms available so is running an amended service. Southern's normal timetable also changes on 1 September to take the new configuration into account, so check your usual journey. There will also be no Overground services from New Cross between 26-29 August.

This is particularly going to hit you if you're travelling to Gatwick. Make sure to plan ahead so you're not caught out at London Bridge with a ton of luggage (the interchange at Elephant and Castle is not fun; go to Blackfriars).

While we're on the subject of London Bridge, here's another reminder about the major changes from January 2015 because of Thameslink work. Trains to and from Charing Cross will not stop at London Bridge until August 2016 and the Greenwich line, New Cross and St John's will lose their direct connections to Waterloo East and Charing Cross forever — all trains will be routed to Cannon Street.

http://youtu.be/6QIdQvhkoAU

Get ready for August service changes

With approaching our work to rebuild London Bridge station and transform one of Europe's most congested railways is focused on opening the next two new platforms on 1 September 2014.

To achieve this milestone we will need to undertake major track and signalling work in and around the station, resulting in significant changes to train services over nine days in August.

Impacted services – 23 to 31 August

  • Between Saturday 23 and Sunday 31 August neither First Capital Connect nor Southern services will run to, through or from London Bridge
  • Southeastern services will operate as normal
  • London Overground services will not operate to or from New Cross on weekdays (Tuesday to Friday). Instead, those trains will be used to enhance London Overground services between Crystal Palace and Canada Water
  • Some stations across London and the south east including Southeastern, London Underground and London Overground lines will be busier
  • For more detailed information about the changes taking place in August 2014, visit our travel advice page.

Check before you travel
Alternative routes are available – please check before you travel: First Capital Connect, Southern, Southeastern and for London.

Tickets
From Saturday 23 August to Sunday 31 August 2014 there will be service changes due to major engineering work in the London Bridge area. tickets will be accepted on any reasonable route on London Overground, First Capital Connect, Southern, Southeastern, South West Trains, , Tramlink and London Buses.

Please keep checking for updates.

Future service changes
The August change is one of a series of key changes to train services that need to be made between now and 2018 as the station and railway lines are upgraded.