Caroline Pidgeon, as Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, has written to Transport for London to raise concerns that current plans to increase capacity at London Bridge station do not include extending all the platforms for twelve carriages.
The letter highlights the Transport Committee’s recent report, The Big Squeeze: Rail overcrowding in London, which urged the Department for Transport (DfT) to fully extend all platforms at London Bridge as part of the Thameslink project.
Current plans will see two platforms remaining shorter. The Committee is calling on TfL to consider the consequences of this, and possible funding options, as part of its South London line study.
Caroline Pidgeon said:
“London Bridge station must be future-proofed now for the huge numbers of people who will travel in and out of it in years to come.
“As our report showed, overcrowding is a serious problem on many routes and the current fall in passenger numbers due to the recession is a short-term reprieve.
“The Thameslink project presents an opportunity to get best value for increasing all platforms at this key mainline station to full capacity. Failure to do so would be very short-sighted.”