The Thameslink Programme is set to benefit all users of London Bridge station
Southeastern commuters have long been used to a stop-start approach to the capital as trains crawl from one signal to another on the tracks leading into London Bridge, as they bide time waiting for a platform. That is set to become a thing of the past under the Thameslink Programme: the cat’s cradle of tracks outside London Bridge has been unbundled, with Charing Cross-bound trains diving under the Thameslink tracks at Bermondsey and heading for two dedicated platforms in the centre of London Bridge. Cannon Street services have three dedicated platforms on the north side of the formation.
With one island (platforms 8 and 9) for up Charing Cross services and another island (6 and 7) for down trains in the new layout, operations are streamlined with parallel working in the new setup. As one train closes the doors and leaves platform 8 en-route to the section over Borough Market towards Charing Cross, passengers that have just arrived head for the escalators. As the platforms clear, another train pulls into the other side of the island (platform 9), ready to decant passengers before it makes for Charing Cross – then another one on platform 8, and so on.
