Arch over the trainshed: A different way to fund Liverpool Street station's upgrade

"The station does need a revamp, mainly to fix a number of problems that weren't really thought about during the last rebuild 40 years ago - mostly to do with surging passenger traffic and accessibility. The theory being that rebuilding the concourse to support the office block above gives them the ability to fix a number of core problems with the station design, and the offices above pays for it."

"The primary concerns raised by objectors are that the scheme would cause massive disruption to the station during its rebuilding and that the end result would be an ungainly structure above the Victorian (and 1980s faux-Victorian) buildings. It has also been suggested that the development could lose as much as £220 million due to the high cost of rebuilding the concourse to support such a large building above it."

"Although building an office and losing money on it would normally be a very bad thing, that overlooks the circa £400 million station upgrade it could enable - so what looks like a £220 million loss, is from Network Rail's point of view more like a £400 million upgrade delivered for half price. However, a rival scheme has emerged, led jointly by Save Britain and John McAslan + Partners, which would deliver a smaller but cheaper office development and fund the station upgrades."

Liverpool Street station requires a revamp to address surging passenger numbers and accessibility issues stemming from the rebuild 40 years ago. One plan proposes rebuilding the concourse to support a large office block above, using the office development to finance core station improvements. Critics warn of massive disruption during construction and an ungainly structure above Victorian and faux-Victorian buildings, and estimate up to a £220 million hit from the extra support costs. Network Rail frames the project as enabling a circa £400 million upgrade at effectively half price. A rival proposal would place a smaller, arch-shaped office over about a third of the trainshed, funding station upgrades while reducing impact and cost.

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