A reminder that the Bank branch of the Northern Line between Kennington and Moorgate will be closed for 17 weeks from Saturday, 15 January.

The closure is to enable work on a new tunnel and platform for the Northern line’s Bank station to be completed. They are part of improvements to increase the station’s capacity, to provide step-free access to the Northern line at the station, and to make Northern line journeys quicker and easier.

Once the work is complete, the station’s capacity will increase by 40 percent, there will be better access to the DLR platforms, more direct routes within the station will be available, and we will provide a new station entrance on Cannon Street.

During the closure, many lines and stations across central London will be busier than usual, especially around the City of London. However, an enhanced service will run on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line during peak periods, with a train at least every two minutes. A new bus route will also be introduced; the 733 from Oval into the City (Finsbury Square) will run every 7-8 minutes on weekdays.

Among the busiest stations during the closure will be Waterloo, Embankment, Tottenham Court Road, and London Bridge. Passengers travelling to these stations may wish to look for alternative options to complete their journeys. All other lines serving Bank station are unaffected by this closure.

Full travel advice ahead of the closure is available at http://tfl.gov.uk/northern-line-closure. Signs have also been installed at stations that will operate differently throughout the closure, and TfL will deploy additional staff across the network to provide support and travel advice to customers.

Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said “The much-needed renovation of Bank station will significantly increase the capacity of this key interchange station and improve the passenger experience. Once the upgrade is complete, passengers will benefit from step-free access to the Northern line, a new entrance, and quicker, easier journeys”

“We are now in the final stages of this major project, and therefore some disruption is unfortunately inevitable. However, we are doing what we can to mitigate this. There will be a number of alternative options to help passengers complete their journeys during the closure of the Bank branch, including a new bus route and extra Tube services.”

Andy Lord, Managing Director of London Underground, said: “The Bank Station Capacity Upgrade is a crucial project that will support the City”s growth and success after these challenging years of navigating the pandemic.

“I’m sorry for the disruption this vital work will cause, and I can assure Londoners that if there was any other way to connect the new tunnels with the existing railway then we would.

“The 17-week closure of the Bank branch of the Northern line is now just over one week away. Customers are encouraged to check their journeys before they travel by using Journey Planner or the TfL Go app and try to retime their journeys or take a different route by Tube, rail, bus, walking, or cycling where possible. I’d like to reassure everyone that we are doing everything possible to reduce the impact of this closure, with an increased service on the Charing Cross branch and a new bus route into the City. We will also use this closure to carry out maintenance and improvement work at other stations in order to minimise future disruption.”

While the Northern line is closed, work will be carried out at other stations, including London Bridge, Borough, and Elephant & Castle, so that future disruption can be minimised. This will include work on lifts and escalators, as well as refurbishment work at Borough and enabling works for the future Elephant & Castle Station upgrade.