The London Underground’s Northern Line has finally fully reopened after its Bank branch was suspended four months ago.
Services between Kennington and Moorgate on the tube had been suspended from 15 January, but TfL announced that they would be up and running from 16 May onwards.
In fact, the operator reopened the eastern branch of the line a day earlier than scheduled, on 15 May.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Which part of the Northern Line was closed?
From 15 January to 15 May 2022, part of the Bank branch of the Northern Line was closed off to tube users. The Northern Line, which runs north to south across the capital, has several different branches; to the north, it splits off at Camden town, with one branch going to Edgware and the other to High Barnet (and Mill Hill East getting its own one-stop offshoot from the High Barnet branch).
Through central London it also splits in two: both branches run from Euston to Kennington, but the Charing Cross branch stops at Warren Street, Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square, Charing Cross, Embankment and Waterloo. The Bank branch, meanwhile, usually stops at King’s Cross, Angel, Old Street, Moorgate, Bank, London Bridge, Borough and Elephant and Castle.
The northernmost part of the Bank branch remained operational, but services between Moorgate and Kennington were entirely suspended.
Why was part of the Bank branch of the line out of action?
Part of the branch was closed while upgrades to the city tube stop Bank station took place.
These upgrades include a new entrance on Cannon Street, a new passenger concourse and a new southbound platform – all of which will increase capacity at Bank station by 40 per cent.
When will the Northern Line reopen?
TfL initially confirmed that the newly revamped Bank station and the part of the Bank branch that has been closed would reopen to travellers on 16 May 2022. However, the line jumped into action a day early, on Sunday 15 May - four months exactly since its closure.
TfL’s chief capital officer, Stuart Harvey, said: “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience during this closure.
“Northern line customers now have a new, wider southbound platform and spacious customer concourse.
“The countdown is on for completing the rest of this major upgrade which is one of the largest and most complicated subterranean railway complexes in the world.”
He said the upgrades to Bank station would “totally transform customer journeys through the station”, which previously could be “confusing and time-consuming to navigate” due to its formerly “labyrinthian layout”.
