Bank Station reopens after rebuild - London

[Metra Electric Rider]

AND the Bank Station on the Northern Line has opened a day early as well!

Looking forward to seeing your pictures, I've been watching Jago Hazzard and Geoff Marshall's videos about the reopenings - Geoff in particularly is giddy about the "purple train" as he calls it.

 

[jis]

That Bank redo was a massive project in and of itself.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

That Bank redo was a massive project in and of itself.

Yes, it was. Looks great - huge improvement.

For the uninitiated, they bored a new running tunnel (for southbound trains, iirc), converting the former southbound tunnel & platform into a concourse between the platforms and lots of new elevators, escalators and moving sidewalks (travelator is a brand name, apparently) to increase capacity.

 

[jis]

Here is a description of what was involved in the rebuild:

https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/bank-station-capacity-upgrade-project-london/

 

[Trollopian]

I believe it was on my first trip to London in 1982 that I visited Bank station and saw the notice of upcoming escalator replacement. The system was finally replacing vintage, wide-tread wood escalators with sleek modern metal ones. Well. In true British fashion, they explained the upcoming project in a series of "Burma Shave"-type signs along the long descent. Describing the old escalators' history, their decades of service, the tens of millions of people (bankers, clerks, clergy) they carried, the thousands of Londoners who rode them to shelter from the Blitz. By the bottom I was bawling.

I love London.