It's a busy Christmas

Thameslink Programme work is going well at our central London stations which will be closed from 25-30 December inclusive for vital construction projects worth almost £10 million.

At Blackfriars, Network Rail and its contractors have started on the South Bank entrance. They have also moved platform 4 southwards across the river and installed a new link from the concourse.

Hive of activity: Blackfriars station

This, together with a huge amount of other work behind the scenes, is in preparation for a major piece of civil engineering during the six-day closure at Christmas in which a 22 metre long railbridge span will be taken out by crane and replaced by a new single section of bridge weighing 350 tonnes.

Track, signalling and ballast will all need to be removed and then replaced once the new bridge has been installed.

At Farringdon 12-storey Cardinal Tower is being deconstructed to make way for the new integrated Thameslink route and Crossrail ticket hall. It will be carefully taken down between now and March 2010, with some 90% of the material to be re-used or recycled.

Cardinal Tower: Carefully removed, piece by piece

The buildings that were opposite the station entrance on Cowcross Street are also making way for the new ticket hall and demolition here is complete.

Over Christmas, while the new bridge is installed at Blackfriars:

• The old junction to Moorgate at Farringdon will be removed so the platforms can then be lengthened, ready for the first longer 12-car trains entering service in December 2011.

• The sewer carrying the river Fleet underneath Farringdon station will be diverted, making way for the new ticket hall due to open in 2012. This will serve not just Thameslink, but also Crossrail from 2017.

• A new ‘bi-directional’ signalling system is to be installed between St Pancras International and Kentish Town, allowing trains to travel in either direction over a section of track. This will make it easier to operate services at times of disruption and when the Thameslink route is closed across the centre of London.

There is also work related to lengthening platforms at Luton, St Albans and Harpenden but this will not affect the service due to run over Christmas.

Longer platforms: St Albans station