Stakeholder update 23 July 2014

Passengers urged to plan ahead this August as Bridge rebuild will affect journeys to and from the capital

As you will know, is one of Britain’s busiest stations and is being completely rebuilt as part of the government’s multi-billion pound investment to transform rail services across London and the south east. To minimise the impact on the 117m passengers who pass through the station every year, is carrying out the hugely complex construction work in phases. In August a vast amount of track and signalling work will take place as the rebuilt platforms 12 and 13 are brought back into use and platforms 10 and 11 are closed for demolition and rebuilding. While the station is closed we will replace a three-track bridge on the approach to London Bridge and we will continue to build a new concourse beneath passengers’ feet that will be bigger than the pitch at Wembley.

Major works are taking place at London Bridge between 23 – 31 August and while the changes affect Southern and FCC services only, there will be a knock-on impact on Southeastern services during this period and we are advising our passengers travelling to and from London between 23 and 31 to plan ahead as major work to rebuild London Bridge continues.

For these nine days, passengers travelling into London from and will see changes to some of their train services. While London Bridge station will remain open during the work, passengers travelling with Southeastern will be unable to change onto or Southern services.

Southeastern will be amending some services into London as a result of these works. The changes include:

• Some trains between Bedford and Ashford International, Bedford and Rochester, and Luton and Kent House will be diverted to run to and from Blackfriars • Changes to First Capital Connect services will, unfortunately, mean that some Southeastern trains from or to Ashford, Hastings, Gillingham, Dartford, Rochester, Folkestone, Ramsgate and Broadstairs run with fewer carriages than they normally would during peak times. More information about the specific trains affected is available online at www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/august2014 • All other Southeastern services will run as normal but are likely to be much busier

There will also be no direct trains to Gatwick or stations from London Bridge. As these passengers move onto alternative routes, transport planners predict that certain routes across the south east are likely to be much busier, including:

• Southern and First Capital Connect services south of Blackfriars • Interchange stations like East and Gatwick are expected to be busier than usual and passengers might not get on the first train • The southern end of ’s is expected to be busier than normal for this time of year, as will parts of the District and Circle lines • Certain sections of will be busier than usual and will not be able to operate to and from from 26 to 29 August. These services will be diverted to Crystal Palace to double the number of London Overground trains serving stations between Sydenham and Brockley, which will temporarily not be served by Southern. A replacement bus service will run every 15 minutes between New Cross and Canada Water and some additional supplementary bus routes serving some other stations.

The team that planned London's Olympics travel is working with the rail industry to manage and communicate the part closure of London Bridge because of the knock-on impact it will have across the rail, London Underground and London Overground networks.

Please note that London Bridge Underground station will not be affected.

London Kings Cross station Sunday 24 August

For anyone wishing to travel to or from Kings Cross during this period, please note that on Sunday 24 August and until 06.00 on Monday 25 August there will be an amended service to and from London Kings Cross. For more information visit Nationalrail.co.uk/August

Ticket information

Tickets will be accepted on any reasonable route during the service changes at London Bridge between Saturday 23 August and Sunday 31 August 2014.

Keeping passengers informed

Network Rail, Southern, FCC and TfL will have teams out to inform passengers of these changes at over 30 stations, including: • London Bridge • London Blackfriars • London Victoria • East Croydon • • New Cross Gate • And many more

Passengers will also be given material including: • Posters • Leaflets • Walking maps • Online alerts

A new, mobile-friendly Programme website has been launched providing details of the changes (www.ThameslinkProgramme.co.uk). Rail, Underground and Overground passengers are also being targeted with information about their alternatives via social media, leaflets, posters, announcements on trains and at stations as well as advertising across London and the south east.

For more information and to keep up-to-date on the work affecting London Bridge: • Visit ThameslinkProgramme.co.uk • Follow @TLProgramme • Text TLP 12 and your home station to 60777

About Thameslink The government sponsored £6.5bn will transform north-south travel through London. When complete in 2018 it will give passengers: • New spacious trains running every 2 to 3 minutes through central London in the peak • Improved connections and better options to more destinations on an expanded Thameslink network including Cambridge and Peterborough • Robust tracks and signalling offer more reliable journeys • A completely rebuilt London Bridge station with more space and great facilities

Key facts • Over 117million people a year go to London Bridge or through it to and Charing Cross – 54 million start or end their at London Bridge itself • Platform 6 is the busiest in Europe serving 18 trains per hour • The new concourse at London Bridge is bigger than the pitch at Wembley, increasing passenger capacity by 65% • London Bridge will be longer than is tall • Up to 24 trains per hour in each direction, during the peak, between St Pancras and Blackfriars • Up to 18 Thameslink trains an hour in each direction, during the peak, between London Bridge and St Pancras – currently there are none between 7.30 and 9am • 178 years old – London Bridge is London’s oldest surviving rail terminus, first opened in Dec 1836 • The expanded TSGN franchise will have 1,400 new electric carriages, providing 50% more capacity and 10,000 extra seats every weekday into central London during the morning peak • 8000 new jobs created due to the programme