By rosebell
In order to designing and building the new passenger tunnels for the Elephant & Castle station upgrade, the Dragados UK has been appointed by Transport for London (TfL).
Connecting the new station box to the existing Northern Line platforms and overbridge, these tunnels will increase the London Underground’s station by over than 30% and provide the increase in demand for services from the station, which is estimated to rise by 25-40% by 2041.
The scheduled date for commencing the work on excavating almost 135m of new passenger tunnels is next year and it is slated to be completed in 2027.
Including the tunneling process, the first stage of the major upgrade is funded by the Greater London Authority, London Borough of Southwark and contributions from local developers.
In January 2022 by construction of the station box the Stage 1 was started, whereas March this year was the date that digging to the lowest level, 33m beneath ground, was achieved. The box is due to house the new Northern Line entrance and ticket hall, and support a new oversite development, including the new campus for UAL’s London College of Communication.
Additionally, comprising ticket hall step-free access, Stage 2 involves the box fit-out to enable the larger Northern Line entrance to be brought into use.
With the aim of replacing the existing Northern Line entrance and ticket hall, which will be decommissioned, this project is going to be integrated with the Elephant & Castle shopping centre redevelopment that now is under construction, while the Stage 2 is subject to funding approval.
Moreover, for supporting the proposed Bakerloo Line Extension to Lewisham, which is currently unfunded, this new entrance and ticket hall are designed.
According to Deputy Mayor for Transport Seb Dance: “The upgrade would provide step-free access at the station for the first time and also support the delivery of thousands of new jobs and new homes in Elephant and Castle.”
