Network Rail will start refurbishment work on London‘s Hungerford railway bridge next week.

The bridge is 161 years, and carries the railway over the Thames between Charing Cross station on to the north fo the Thames and the South Bank, close to London Waterloo station.

From this Saturday (18 January), Network Rail will begin work on the bridge to secure its future. It expects to complete the project by the end of winter 2028.

Hungerford Bridge is a steel truss railway bridge. There are also two pedestrian bridges, added more recently.

The bridge’s spans are made of wrought iron lattice girders, which date back to 1864. The refurbishment will ensure the longevity of the bridge, whilst retaining all of its original metalwork.

The current bridge uses the supports from the original Hungerford Suspension Footbridge, which was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and used between 1845 and 1860. Sir John Hawkshaw designed the railway bridge, which opened to traffic in 1864. It was widened in 1886 current structure.

Hungerford Bridge has been repaired and refurbished and strengthened on various occasions during its life.

In 1916, engineers strengthened the cross girders. In the 1940s, workers repaired war damage to the structure. Between 1978 and 1980, the decks to Bridge 7 and the Middle Road of Bridge 7A were completely replaced, as was the cantilevered public footway to the east of the bridge.

This walkway was removed around 2002, to be replaced by the Golden Jubilee Footbridge structures on each flank of the railway bridge.

The refurbishment will involve engineers preparing and painting the bridge. They will also test the truss pins, which the supports. And they will replace the pin end caps on the girders.

The first phase of the refurbishment will run for the next year, and will concentrate on the spans on the Southbank and the south side of the river.

There will be no need for closures during this phase, as work will be carried out at night and materials and waste will be transported by barge, avoiding the equivalent of six truck freight deliveries through central London each week.

The second phase will take place on the remaining spans, and will run from January 2026 to winter 2028.

Network Rail is warning that there will be weekend closures in 2026-2028. It has not yet confirmed the dates.

Network Rail is spending £213 million on replacing or refurbishing some of the hundreds of structures on its Kent and South East London route over the next four years. Last year, it carried out repair work on the Kingsferry Bridge between the Isle of Sheppey and Sittingbourne in Kent.

“Many of the bridges on Britain’s railway are from the Victorian era and being responsible for this national heritage is both a privilege and a challenge. Some of the structures are very old, so are vulnerable to corrosion and damage from weather.”

David Davidson, Network Rail’s Kent Route director