TfL Ref: 1648-1819

Thank you for your email received by us on 4 October 2018 asking for information about proposals for Southwark London Underground station.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked:

who initiated the idea of a shared entrance/exit for Southwark station and Waterloo East and the reasons for such an enterprise

I can advise that Network Rail submitted a planning application for an entrance in this location to Lambeth Council on 20 February 2009. Network Rail decided not to proceed with this proposal, and the application was withdrawn prior to a planning committee.

As part of a Joint Venture with U+I (formerly Development Securities) which began in January 2015, Transport For London (TfL) reviewed plans to construct an Over Station Development (OSD) above Southwark Station. These plans would have required the closure of the existing ticket hall on Blackfriars Road and the provision of a temporary entrance to ensure the station remained operational during construction. In early 2017, the Joint Venture did not have a viable proposal to proceed with the OSD and work on these proposals was discontinued.

In September 2017, following a TfL-led OSD design study, an opportunity was seen to deliver a commercial office scheme that retains existing station facilities. Our current plans indicate that the existing Southwark station ticket hall on Blackfriars Road would not need to close for a significant period of time and therefore a temporary second entrance is not needed for the OSD.

However, modelling shows that the number of passengers using the station has doubled every five years in the 15 years to 2017, that by 2041 this number is expected to increase by another 40% in the morning peak and that the existing entrance will become congested. On this basis, we reviewed all of the feasible options and determined that a permanent entrance should be proposed. The preferred option is the consultation design and our planning application will detail options that were not taken forward as well as the reasons why.

Network Rail have been consulted as adjacent landowner and tenant throughout the above process and are supportive of our consultation design.

A public consultation on the proposed design ran from 12 September 2018 to 9 October 2018 as detailed at: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tube/southwark-station-second-entrance/ and results will be published shortly.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London