Bank

 

The Waterloo & City Railway was built by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) to link its terminus at Waterloo to the City. The station, with platforms under Queen Victoria Street and close to Mansion House, opened on 8 August 1898 as "City". The first station to be known as Bank opened on 25 February 1900 when the City & South London Railway (C&SLR, now part of the Northern line) opened its extension from Borough to Moorgate. The earlier terminus of the line, King William Street, on a different tunnel alignment was closed at the same time. The C&SLR had obtained permission to demolish the 18th century church of St Mary Woolnoth on the corner of Lombard Street and build a station (originally proposed to be named "Lombard Street") on the site. After public protest, the company changed its plans to build only a sub-surface ticket hall and lift entrance in the crypt of the church. This necessitated moving the bodies elsewhere, strengthening the crypt with a steel framework and underpinning the church's foundations.

 

At peak times, Bank is also one of the most congested stations on the Underground, so Transport for London (TfL) is transforming it significantly, removing some bottlenecks, and improving access. The station's 15 escalators are being replaced or refurbished with a one-way system in operation in parts of the station. A new entrance on Walbrook, near Cannon Street station, will provide new escalators and lifts to the Waterloo and City line platforms. TfL is also consulting on retunnelling and widening the Northern line platforms, and adding lifts and new entrances on King William Street and Cannon Street. If agreed, the work would be carried out from 2015 to 2021.

 

Connections: Docklands Light Railway. Waterloo & City and Central Lines. London Buses routes 8, 11;15, 21, 23, 25, 26, 40, 43, 76, 133, 141, 242 and 388 and heritage route 15H and night routes N8, N11, N21, N26, N76, N133, N550 and N551.

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