So at Blackfriars in central London
you've got the road bridge here
and then you've got the railway station, and railway bridge here
except then you've got these, these red pillars
abutments, left over obviously
part of and old crossing ... when did they come about?
It's all do with the history of this section of the railway
that's today is known as the Thameslink Core
It started in 1864
when the London, Dover and Chatham Railway Company
wanted to extend their railway into the City of London
and did so, by building Blackfriars Bridge railway station
on the south side of the Thames.
The first Blackfriars Railway Bridge
across the river was then constructed
and after the existence of a short-lived temporary station
immediately on the north side of the Thames
the railways then went to Ludgate Hill railway station
if you go looking for that abandoned railway station today
nothing remains.
So there's a side road, Apothecary Street, off of New Bridge Street
come up these steps
and you get an excellent look down onto the Thameslink tracks today
and also this area here
this is where Ludgate Hill station, used to be
Eight years later
and another new station opened up in the area
Holborn Viaduct
only a short distance north from Ludgate Hill
it was built high up above street level
although on the line through to Farringdon
there were low level platforms which were first called Snow Hill station
but later renamed to Holborn Viaduct low level
In 1886
a second bridge was then built as part of the continuing
expansion of the railway
and at the same time, another new station was built
St. Paul's, on the north side of the Thames
this was later renamed to Blackfriars as we know it today
and at the same time that that opened
Blackfriars Bridge station, to the south ... closed
Here's all that remains of Blackfriars Bridge station
it's at Invicta Plaza
right by the junction of Southwark Street, and Blackfriars Road
and there's also this cobbled road that leads up to where the goods yard used to be
After the snow hill station renaming
the tunnels through to Farringdon were no longer used, and closed up
and Holborn Viaduct became a terminus station
and eventually, in 1929
Ludgate Hill closed, with passengers using Holborn Viaduct instead
St Paul's station was renamed to Blackfriars in 1937
and at the same time, the nearby Central Line Underground station
which had been called Post Office up until then
got the name of St Paul's instead.
and that's how the situation stayed for for many years
until the 1980's when the Thameslink project came about
the Snow Hill tunnels were re-opened, and it became clear
that the old bridge
was not strong enough, to support modern trains.
So in 1985, the first bridge was demolished
work started on re-opening the Snow Hill tunnels
which was complete in 1988
and Thameslink was formed, with trains running across London
as part of this project
Holborn Viaduct station was closed in1990
and again, if you go looking for it today
there's really nothing to see
And today, the whole area where Holborn Viaduct used to be
has been redeveloped into this, this is Fleet Place
you'd never know that there was an old station here
behind me, there is a slight clue - that building
can be seen, in old photos
which do corroberate that i'm standing in the place
where the old platforms, and the tracks, used to be.
Instead of Holborn Viaduct, a new staiton was built, St Paul's Thameslink
with the nothern entrance to the station being located where Holborn Viaduct had been
and the southern entrance being close to where Ludgate Hill had been
oh, but you'll know it today ... as City Thameslink
as that's what it was renamed to, just a year later in 1991.
And remember here, at Ludgate Circus
looking up Ludgate HIll, the railway used to run on a viaduct
just about there, which means when they came to do the Thameslink works
they demolished the viaduct, and then dug the new box
where the new staiton would be, all in about two weeks
an incredible feat, of engineering.
And so that's why these red bridge supports, are still here
part of the original Blackfriars Railway Bridge from 1864
and demloshed in 1985.
There's still one more bit of history
to talk about with Thameslink, though.
And that's that in 2012, the Thameslink Programme
brought a whole bunch of upgrades and improvements
to the Thameslink railway in this area
including here at Blackfriars Station
Just over there, there's a new southern entrance
on the south side of Thames, you can now get in
on either side of the river
Not that far actually from the original 1864 Blackfriars Bridge station
also, the three rows of red abut ments that were left over
from the original 1864 bridge
well. one of them has been used to allow the station here
to be widened, supporting two new platforms
and tracks there, so you could argue ...
that a little bit, of the original bridge
is still in use!