THE UNDERGROUND’S NORTHERN LINE IS BEING IMPROVED WITH A REMODELLING OF BANK STATION AND AN EXTENSION TO BATTERSEA. JOHN GLOVER REPORTS
The financial district of the City has always been a key destination for the Northern Line, ever since the opening of its initial stretch in 1890 as the City & South London Railway, the first deep level tube railway in the world. This has only been underlined in recent decades with the growth in employment in the financial sector: now the Underground station serving the Bank of England and its environs is seriously overcrowded. A capacity improvement project is underway.
GROWED LIKE TOPSY
Bank station was constructed over many years and by a variety of companies which had little relationship with each other. First on the scene was the east-west sub-surface line of the Metropolitan District Railway with its Monument station on what is now the south side of the Circle, to be followed by the London & South Western Railway’s City connection from Waterloo to Bank. Two more followed in quick succession.
The City & South London Railway provided a north-south link whose platforms covered much of the distance between the Central and the District lines (the Waterloo …
