London – City of London – London Liverpool Street Proposed Upgrade

There seems to have been some opposition to the proposed upgrade of London Liverpool Street railway station, but for what it’s worth (which I accept isn’t a great deal), I’m in favour of the whole thing. There’s a little exhibition area at the railway station, along with some external posters explaining the reasoning for the project, although I fear that it’ll all be in vain as there appears to be organised opposition against it, not least from the Victorian Society.

The concourse design dates primarily to the 1980s upgrade which was modern and vibrant when it was completed, but the whole railway station is now struggling with passenger numbers. The toilets aren’t large enough, there’s insufficient seating, there are no power points for passengers and the disability access is terrible (as I’ve experienced with trying to manoeuvre a wheelchair around the concourse). It’s over-crowded, cluttered and I think needs modernising and extending.

This all looks quite creative to me, the historical elements that I want preserving do remain in place. Over-shadowed perhaps, but they’re kept.

I accept that it’s not necessarily the most inspiring of building designs and it will obscure some exterior views of the railway station, but functionality seems to be more important to me. And since the floors placed on top of the building will be profitable for the developers, that means no cost to the rail passenger or taxpayer.

I’m less convinced about the need for this, but I suppose it’s a useful amenity.

We’ll just have to see what the planners and ultimately Sadiq Khan think about the whole arrangement, but as I’ve mentioned, I think it’s overall a positive addition to the railway station. The Victorians hacked about with their stations all the time, expanding and improving them. Although perhaps the developers could also fund the restoration of Brandon railway station which is currently falling down since Greater Anglia have ignored it (or tried to demolish it). Maybe they could put a swimming pool, or lido, on top of that as well.

For anyone interested, the plans are at https://www.upgradelss.com/.