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Bank and Monument are two interlinked stations in the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
that form a public transport complex served by five lines of the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
as well as the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Bank station, named after the
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
, opened in 1900 at Bank Junction and is served by the Central, Northern and Waterloo & City lines of the Underground, and the DLR. Monument station, named after the Monument to the Great Fire of London, opened in 1884 and is served by the
Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...
and
District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
lines. The stations have been linked as an interchange since 1933. The station complex is one of the busiest on the London Underground network. The station complex was previously rated the Underground's worst station in passenger surveys, and a substantial upgrade and expansion was completed in 2023 after seven years of construction. The station has 27 escalators, the most of any station on the Underground. The stations are in fare zone 1.


History

The Bank–Monument station complex was created by building links between several nearby stations constructed by different companies. The first station was opened by the Metropolitan Inner Circle Completion Railway.


Metropolitan Inner Circle Completion Railway, 1884

The
Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...
(MR) and
District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London, England, from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the ...
(DR) had, by 1876, built most of the Inner Circle (now the Circle line), reaching and respectively. The companies were in dispute over the completion of the route, for the DR was struggling financially and the MR was concerned that completion would affect its revenues through increased competition from the DR in the City area. City financiers who were keen to see the line completed established the Metropolitan Inner Circle Completion Railway in 1874 to link Mansion House to Aldgate. Forced into action, the MR bought out the company and with the DR began construction of the final section of the Inner Circle in 1879. The new section of railway included two new stations:
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and another located close to the Monument. The station at Monument opened with the name "Eastcheap" on 6 October 1884, after the nearby street, and was renamed "The Monument" on 1 November 1884. Initially, trains from both companies served the station on the Inner Circle service, but other operational patterns have been used. In 1909, a new entrance was completed to a design by architect George Campbell Sherrin, which included a new entrance incorporating commercial space where the booking hall had previously been located. The Inner Circle service achieved a separate identity as the Circle line in 1949, although its trains were still provided by the District or Metropolitan lines.


Waterloo & City Railway, 1898

The Waterloo & City Railway was built by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) to link its terminus at Waterloo to the City. The station, with platforms under Queen Victoria Street and close to Mansion House, opened on 8 August 1898 as "City". The Waterloo & City line platforms were renamed "Bank" on 28 October 1940. In September 1960, the steeply sloping passages to the platforms were supplemented with the "Travolator", one of the few sets of
moving walkway A moving walkway – also known as an autowalk, moving pavement, moving sidewalk, travolator, or travelator – is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane, over a short to medium distance. T ...
s on the whole underground system. Advertising at the Waterloo & City line station often takes the form of large painted murals on the walls and ceilings of the sloped exits, forming one of the largest advertisements on the Underground. As the W&CR was owned by the L&SWR, a mainline railway, it became part of
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
; it was only transferred to Underground operation in 1994.


City & South London Railway, 1900

The first station to be known as Bank opened on 25 February 1900, when the City & South London Railway (C&SLR, now part of the Northern line) opened its extension from to . The earlier terminus of the line, , on a different tunnel alignment, was closed at the same time. The C&SLR had obtained permission to demolish the 18th-century church of
St Mary Woolnoth St Mary Woolnoth is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on the corner of Lombard Street, London, Lombard Street and King William Street, London, King William Street near Bank junction. The present building is one of the Commission f ...
on the corner of Lombard Street and build a station (originally proposed to be named "Lombard Street") on the site. After public protest, the company changed its plans to build only a sub-surface ticket hall and lift entrance in the
crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...
of the church. This necessitated moving the bodies elsewhere, strengthening the crypt with a steel framework and underpinning the church's foundations. Unusually for stations later converted to
escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a Electric motor, motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the st ...
s, the original lift access from the ticket hall is still in use.


Central London Railway, 1900

The opening of the eastern terminus of the Central London Railway (CLR, now the Central line) at Bank followed on 30 July 1900. As with the C&SLR, the high cost of property in the City, coupled with the presence of the Royal Exchange, the Bank of England, and Mansion House, meant that the station had to be built entirely underground. Permission was granted by the
City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's f ...
for the station to be sited beneath the busy junction of roads meeting at this point on condition that public subways were provided to act as pedestrian road crossings. To avoid undermining the road above, the station's lifts were installed in separate lift shafts rather than paired two-per-shaft as usual. To avoid wayleave payments to property owners and to lessen possible claims for damage during construction and operation, the CLR tunnels were directly under public streets. This caused the platforms under Threadneedle Street and
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to be so curved that one end of the platform cannot be seen from the other. East of Bank station the Central line tunnels have sharp curves to avoid the vaults of the Bank of England itself. Due to the close proximity of the CLR, W&CR and C&SLR stations, and the non-competing directions of their services, their ticket halls were soon connected, but connection between the CLR and C&SLR platforms were made only when escalators were installed in 1924. The CLR station itself was reconstructed during the major rebuilding of the
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
in 1925. The booking hall underneath Bank Junction was redecorated and a new subway entrance built into the corner of the Bank of England itself.


Monument link, 1933

The southern end of the C&SLR (which by then was part of the Edgware-Morden line) platforms was close to those of Monument station and, on 18 September 1933, a connecting escalator link was opened, connecting the two stations directly for the first time.


Second World War

During the Blitz, the station was used as a bomb shelter. On 11 January 1941, the Central line ticket hall of Bank station suffered a direct hit from a German bomb. The roadway collapsed into the subways and station concourse, killing 56 people.


Docklands Light Railway and station refurbishment, 1990s

In 1991, the
Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...
was extended to Bank station, following criticism of the original, poorly connected terminus at Tower Gateway. The new platforms were built parallel to but deeper than those of the Northern line, with connections at one end to the Central line and Monument Station at the other. As part of the construction of the extension, a new link between the Waterloo & City and the Central line was excavated – uncovering part of one of the Greathead tunnelling shields used for the Waterloo & City line. This shield forms part of the new passageway, and passengers pass through when transferring between the two lines. As with all other DLR stations, the DLR platforms were made accessible to those in wheelchairs, however the route was indirect with the use of three different passenger lifts required to reach the DLR. In January 1994, a statue of James Henry Greathead was erected outside the station, next to the Royal Exchange. It was unveiled by the
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
and is positioned on a plinth which hides a ventilation shaft for the Underground. The rest of the station was comprehensively refurbished, with decorative tiling panels based on the City's
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, new lighting and replacement of escalators. This work was completed in 1997, partially funded by the
City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's f ...
.


New Bloomberg entrance, 2010s

In the late 2010s, a new entrance was constructed at Bloomberg's new London headquarters on Walbrook, near station, providing direct access to the Waterloo & City line via four new escalators and two lifts – providing step-free access to that line for the first time. First announced in 2008, construction began in November 2015 following delays due to the financial crisis. The new entrance was opened on 30 November 2018, and was officially opened by Mayor of London
Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
and former Mayor of New York
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
in December 2018. The new entrance incorporates etched glass panels by artist John Hutton, depicting 66 figures based on the ancient Roman history of the area, including the Roman Temple of Mithras. The artwork was originally completed in 1962 on Bucklersbury House, the post war office building previously located on the site.


Station upgrade and expansion

Between 2003 and 2014, demand at the Bank–Monument station complex rose by over 50% to 337,000 customers per day. The station complex was also rated the Underground's worst station in passenger surveys. According to
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
, "areas of the station
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close to 'saturation' point, where day-to-day demand overwhelms capacity". Unlike other congested stations such as
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, passengers could not be held back at station entrances during peak times to avoid overwhelming the station, as around half of the passengers are interchanging between lines. The narrow passageways, pinch points, spiral staircases and indirect routes between lines exacerbated the high demand on the station. Some parts of the station operated "one way", with staff directing passengers on longer routes to increase the capacity of the station. Given these issues, the station complex was substantially upgraded between 2016 and 2023, increasing capacity by 40%, at a cost of around £700million. The overall project – incorporating twelve new escalators, two new lifts and two moving walkways – included: * A new southbound platform for the
Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...
and conversion of the existing southbound platform to passenger circulation space. * New direct passenger tunnel with
moving walkway A moving walkway – also known as an autowalk, moving pavement, moving sidewalk, travolator, or travelator – is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane, over a short to medium distance. T ...
s connecting the Northern line and Central line. * New escalators between the Northern line and the DLR * A new station entrance and ticket hall on Cannon Street, just east of St Mary Abchurch, with new escalators and step-free access to the Northern line and DLR. * Modernising the station to comply with contemporary fire and evacuation standards. Owing to the severe curvature of the Central line platforms, there is a substantial gap between the train and the platform. Because of this, no step-free access was currently proposed for the Central line, as the cost would be prohibitive and it would be difficult for passengers to use. TfL described the construction of the project as "intricate and complicated", with over 30
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s in the historic City of London located above the tunnels. The new southbound Northern line tunnel was dug from a worksite on King William Street, using the underground spaces left over from the closed King William Street tube station. Former running tunnels have previously been used as circulation space at
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and
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stations. As part of the development of the scheme, TfL worked with potential bidders to improve the design of the station from TfL's original design. The design proposed in the winning bid by Dragados was 9.7% cheaper than the original design (saving TfL £60million), took ten months less time to construct than the original design (the proposed closure of the Northern line was also five weeks shorter), and the layout of the station was more efficient. This improved the benefit–cost ratio by 45%, from 2.4:1 to 3.5:1.


Progress

Following consultations in the early 2010s, and a Transport and Works Act Order in 2015, construction of the new Northern line tunnel began in April 2016, and was estimated to take six years. By July 2019, the project had reached the halfway stage. By October 2020, the majority of tunnelling work, around , had been completed, with around 200,000 tonnes of material excavated from beneath the City. By July 2021, installation of escalators was underway, as well as preparation work to connect to the new Northern line tunnels in 2022. From January until mid May 2022, the
Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...
through Bank was closed – this was required to allow the existing line to be connected to the new running tunnels, convert the previous southbound platform to a new passenger concourse, as well as final fit-out and integration works throughout the expanded station complex. File:New escalators at Bank station.jpg, Escalator shaft in the new Cannon Street entrance File:Bank Capacity Upgrade - Northern line platforms 32.jpg, New southbound platform of the Northern line File:Moving walkways at Bank station.jpg, Moving walkways connecting the Central and Northern lines File:Cannon Street entrance to Bank station on opening day.jpg, Cannon Street entrance on opening day On 15 May 2022, the new Northern line southbound platform and concourse was opened, the first part of the station expansion open to the public. On 13 October 2022, new escalators connecting the DLR and the Northern line opened. On 28 October 2022, a
moving walkway A moving walkway – also known as an autowalk, moving pavement, moving sidewalk, travolator, or travelator – is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane, over a short to medium distance. T ...
between the Central and Northern lines was opened. These new connections cut the time taken to interchange between lines, as well as expanding the capacity of the station. On 27 February 2023, the project was completed with the opening of the new Cannon Street entrance, as well as lifts providing step-free access to the Northern line and improving the step-free access to the DLR. The station has 27 escalators, the most of any station on the Underground. In September 2024, the upgrade project won an industry award, with judges describing it as "an extremely successful major project, in an extremely challenging circumstances at an extremely challenging location”.


Ticket halls and entrances

Following the opening of the Cannon Street entrance in 2023, the station complex has sixteen entrances and five ticket halls, the most of any station on the Underground. * Bullring (Central line) ticket hall, located underneath Bank Junction. * Lombard Street (Northern line) ticket hall, located under Lombard Street. * Monument ticket hall, located under Monument Street adjacent to the Monument to the Great Fire of London, serving the
District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
&
Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...
lines. * Walbrook ticket hall, at
Bloomberg London Bloomberg London is an office building in the City of London, which was opened in 2017. It is owned by Bloomberg L.P. and functions as their European headquarters. It is at 3 Queen Victoria Street, to the west of Walbrook, on the site previously ...
, serving the Waterloo & City line. * Cannon Street ticket hall, on Cannon Street located just east of St Mary Abchurch.


Notable events

On 11 January 1941, during
the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
, 56 people were killed and 69 were seriously injured when a German bomb hit the booking hall, with the blast travelling down the stairs and escalators to the platforms. The crater, measuring , was covered with a
Bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, Prefabrication, pre-fabricated, Truss Bridge, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British Empire in World War II, British for military use during the World War II, Second World War and saw ...
for the traffic to pass over. The station itself was closed for two months. On 7 September 2003, Bank station was used for a disaster training exercise, ''Exercise Osiris'', billed as "the most realistic live disaster exercise of its kind". The event, lasting several hours and involving about 500 police, fire brigade, ambulance and London Underground personnel, was intended to prepare the emergency services for mass decontamination in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack.


Connections

A large number of
London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
routes serve the station complex day and night.


References


External links

* * *
London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank-Monument station Central line (London Underground) stations Northern line stations Circle line (London Underground) stations District line stations Docklands Light Railway stations in the City of London Waterloo & City line stations Bank station Tube stations in the City of London Former Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1884 Former City and South London Railway stations Former Central London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1900