​Second footbridge will be ‘real bonus’ for St Albans Thameslink commuters

Thameslink has welcomed the announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport of a £6.4m scheme to build a second footbridge at St Albans City station, to help passengers get on and off the platforms more easily.

Work is due to start early 2021 and be complete by January 2022.

St Albans City is Thameslink’s busiest station north of London with more than 7.5 million people passing through its gates in the 12 months to April 2019 – a 2.6% rise on the year before, attributed to the extra services and longer trains Thameslink has introduced.

Thameslink Customer Services Director Jenny Saunders said: “Our services have become increasingly popular as we’ve brought in new, longer trains and additional services.

“To give our passengers a better experience on their daily commute or trip to London, we are already extending and upgrading the station with new retail stores, improved toilets, additional cycle facilities with increased security and a wider entrance to help passenger flows through the Ridgmont Road entrance.

“This second footbridge will be an added, real bonus for commuters, saving them time queuing to get on and off the platforms, in particular the central island platform, which becomes very crowded in normal times.

“We look forward to working closely with Network Rail to develop the scheme.”

Stephen Hind, Head of Business Development for Network Rail, said: “We welcome the announcement of funding to build a new footbridge at St Albans City Station.

“The footbridge will bring significant benefits for passengers. It will reduce crowding in the station at peak times and make it easier for rail users to move around the station and access the platforms.

“We are looking forward to starting work on site early next year when work has also been completed to improve passenger facilities.”

Ends

Editor’s notes

Separate to the second footbridge scheme, Thameslink is already extending and upgrading St Albans City station in a £5.7 million scheme. Work is progressing well after a pause in activity due to the coronavirus pandemic and is now on target to complete in December.

Passenger improvements include:

Main station building

A new extension in place of WHSmith and AMT with twice the footprint of the two existing stores, to house a premier-brand High Street convenience store over two storeys

A new waiting area with a coffee shop in place of existing staff facilities, which move to platform 4

Three extra ticket gates will be brought into use

New male and female toilets on platform 1 in addition to the accessible lavatory

Island platform 2 and 3

More space to relieve crowding in the peak by moving the toilets to platforms
1 & 4

The waiting room will be replaced with an all-glass facility

Platform 4

New staff facilities, to replace those in the main station building

Twice the number of ticket machines

A new building at Ridgmont Road designed to enhance station facilities

This will incorporate a wider entrance at with two more ticket gates and new, accessible toilets