Mayor says rebuilding of London Bridge Station mustn’t be sacrificed in spending review

This summer local business improvement district Team London Bridge wrote to the transport secretary Philip Hammond, Network Rail and the Mayor of London to seek assurance that the redevelopment plans for London Bridge Station wouldn't suffer in Government cutbacks.

"While the neighbourhood around London Bridge Station has improved dramatically over the past few years the station itself has actually declined in standard, reflecting badly on what is one of the capital's premier business districts at a time when businesses should be supported," wrote Team London Bridge chair James Dinwiddie.

He added: "Unquestionably, the physical and social fabric of the London Bridge, Borough and North Bermondsey areas is hostage to the future of London Bridge station."

In its reply, the Department of Transport said that the Thameslink Programme, which includes the reconfiguration of London Bridge Station, would be subject to the Government's current spending review.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, will make a speech and present the spending review to parliament on 20 October.

The DfT said that it hopes to finalise designs for the new London Bridge Station shortly, with consultation to follow the spending review announcement.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was more emphatic about the importance of redeveloping London Bridge Station and alleviating the present overcrowding.

"I share your frustrations about the speed of improvement to the station," wrote Mr Johnson in a letter to Team London Bridge director Nadia Broccardo.

"London Bridge Station is a key component to support the regeneration of the London Bridge area.

"From a personal point of view, a fully-functioning London Bridge Station is crucial in transporting my staff to and from City Hall."

The Mayor said that he continues to make the case "vociferously" to central Government for investment in projects including Crossrail, the tube and Thameslink.

"In my opinion, failure to support Thameslink and the delivery of a new station at London Bridge would be short-sighted and have knock-on impacts for continued regeneration not only of this part of London, but London's economy as a whole."