NRA Major Project of the Year 2024: TfL for Bank Station upgrade

The Major Project of the Year award in the National Rail awards 2024 went to Transport for London for the Bank Station capacity upgrade.

A Highly Commended was awarded to AtkinsRealis for the Feltham & Wokingham Area Resignalling programme.

The Bank Station Capacity Upgrade in central London beat off strong competition to top the Major Project of the Year category for its benefits to passengers, accelerated delivery and Transport for London’s ability to reduce cost from the original baseline.

The judges said they were impressed by what TfL described as “the most complex and technically challenging” project ever delivered on the London Underground network.

Completed in February 2023, the 10-year scheme included more than 1km of new tunnelling to provide a new southbound running tunnel and platform on the Northern Line. The existing platform has been converted into a spacious concourse with access further improved by a new station entrance, 12 new escalators and two moving walkways.

Step-free access has also been provided for the first time to the Northern Line and improved for the Docklands Light Railway.

Remarkably, the station was kept open throughout (except for a 17-week closure to tie in the new platform) to limit disruption for the 450,000 passengers that use Bank each day.

The successful delivery of the project has resulted in a 40% capacity increase and a reduction in interchange times by up to nine minutes.

The judges credited the “lengthy planning, stakeholder engagement and collaborative negotiations” with the supply chain for mitigating challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic and increased commodity prices and availability.

They added: “This is the first major project that was not impacted by these circumstances due to forward planning. Some of the lessons learned are now implanted in TfL’s ongoing upgrade project at Elephant & Castle.

“All in all, this is an extremely successful major project, in an extremely challenging circumstances at an extremely challenging location.”

Go to our results story for a list of all the winners at the 2024 National Rail Awards, together with more pictures from the event at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel, Park Lane, London on 12th September.