Work is underway to increase the number of ticket barriers at Liverpool Street station by more than 50 per cent to tackle “frustrating and inconvenient” delays suffered by train passengers.
It is now the busiest in the country, with more than 80million passengers a year due to the growth in numbers using the Elizabeth line and London Overground.
Soaring popularity of the station means that long queues are commonplace at the gateline on the main concourse.
Network Rail is to add 21 additional automatic ticket gates, increasing their number from 36 to 57, with work due to be completed by “spring 2025”. There will be 48 standard width and nine wide ticket gates.
Extra space will be created by removing five takeaway retail units, currently dotted along the length of the gate-line, by the end of the year.
Space for three new retail units will be created on platform 10.
Problems are most acute around platforms 1-3, which are most commonly used by London Overground services to Chingford.
When running as eight-carriage trains in the morning rush hour, passengers exiting the station can face a wait of more than five minutes to get through the barriers.
Similarly, there is often chaos during the evening peak when a train’s platform is announced only minutes before it departs, causing a crush as passengers rush to get on board.
Network Rail said: “The current layout of the station includes 36 standard ticket gates including five manual wide access gates for platforms 1-10.
At busy times, passengers often have to queue at the ticket barriers whether trying to get to a train, or trying to exit the station from a platform which can be frustrating and inconvenient.”
The improvement work was announced as the part-closure of the London Overground line between Hackney Downs and Chingford began, to allow Network Rail engineers to replace a bridge in Hackney.
This means there will be no rail service to or from Clapton, St James Street, Walthamstow Central, Wood Street, Highams Park and Chingford stations until August 4.
Greater Anglia trains between Liverpool Street, Stansted airport and Cambridge were being diverted via Seven Sisters rather than running via Tottenham Hale, except on Sundays.
Network Rail said passengers would start to notice changes from August. The first changes will be the part closure of the Greater Anglia ticket office, which will close fully in October.
A new ticket office located further along Platform 10 is currently expected to open later in November, when the new gate-line will start to open.
The first unit to close is expected to be the AMT/Pasty Shop unit from mid August onwards. The gateline in this location will be commissioned. Panopolis is expected to close during November. The last three units are expected to close during the Christmas period.
There will be no staffed ticket office for a “short period” during the changes, which are separate to controversial proposals to build a hotel and office block on top of the station.
The four existing manual wide access gates will be fitted with automatic gates as part of the work.
Network Rail said passenger numbers at the station exceeded 2019 levels by 16 per cent and were expected to continue to rise.
Lawrence Bowman, route director for Network Rail Anglia, said: “It is so important that our managed station, the busiest in the UK, is able to cope with the increase in passenger numbers we’ve seen over the last few years. The current gateline simply does not have the capacity to quickly and efficiently allow passengers to move between platform and concourse easily, especially at busy times.
“Working with our contractor, Spence, and Greater Anglia, the station team, retailers and our property colleagues, we now have a robust programme of improvements that will allow us to tackle the congestion while continuing to provide the service we need to on a daily basis with minimal disruption to passengers.”
Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “As the UK’s busiest station, it is great that improvements are being made to the gateline at London Liverpool Street that will positively affect our passengers.
“These enhancements will help reduce crowding during peak times, enable customers to board trains more quickly and help them pass through the station more swiftly on arrival.
“We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while this work is carried out.”
Jonathan Spence, managing director for Spence Refit Ltd, said: “Spence has developed a construction programme to ensure minimal disruption to passengers and daily operations at the station throughout the extension of the existing west side ticket gates and the construction of the new ticket office and retail premises.”
