Minister lays Farringdon foundations

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers has helped lay the foundations of London's next major transport hub in a visit to Farringdon station.

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers pilots the piling rig at Farringdon

From 2017, the plan is for upwards of 140 trains per hour to flow through Farringdon as north/south Thameslink, east/west Crossrail and London Underground services all meet at the new station.

This would see Farringdon surpass Clapham Junction as Britain's busiest train station and bring passengers from outer London closer to the City and Canary Wharf.

Farringdon will be the only station from which passengers will be able to access Crossrail, the Thameslink route and London Underground trains. It will provide links to Gatwick, Luton, Heathrow and London City airports in addition to St Pancras International rail station.

In a press statement, Theresa Villiers said: "This important work at Farringdon will see the station transformed into a 21^st century transport hub, fit for the needs of a flourishing London.

"With the completion of the Crossrail and Thameslink programmes, passengers can look forward to better, faster journeys from a station set to become the busiest in Britain. Under those plans, the fully redeveloped station will act as an elegant gateway to London, Britain and the continent. And Farringdon's patient Thameslink route passengers are expected to start to reap the benefits of a much-improved station from as early as Christmas next year.”

The ticket hall is being constructed by Network Rail and the Minister’s visit marks the start of work on the hall’s foundations.

Network Rail's Thameslink Programme Director Jim Crawford said: “In less than 18 months time passengers at Farringdon will benefit from this new ticket hall, vastly improving access to the station and helping transform it into one of London’s most important transport hubs.

"London relies on rail to get hundreds of thousands of people to work each day, so I’m pleased to say our work at Farringdon is on time and on budget.”

Passengers using the redeveloped Farringdon station will be able to benefit from two new station entrances, a more modern, spacious national rail ticket hall, improved London Underground access and longer platforms that will be able to take 12-carriage Thameslink trains.

It will also be fully accessible for people with pushchairs, heavy luggage or disabilities.