Holborn Station Upgrade Project

Wednesday, February 4th, 2015

Project Description

Holborn is a London Underground (LU) station in central London. It is served by the Central and Piccadilly lines. On the Central line the station is between Tottenham Court Road and Chancery Lane stations; on the Piccadilly line it is between Covent Garden and Russell Square. The station is located at the road junction of High Holborn and Kingsway.

Located at the junction of two earlier tube railway schemes, the station was opened in 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR). The station entrances and below ground circulation were largely reconstructed for the introduction of escalators and the opening of Central line platforms in 1933. This made the station the only interchange between the Piccadilly and Central lines. Before 1994, Holborn was the northern terminus of the short and little-frequented Piccadilly line branch to Aldwych and the two platforms originally used for this service are disused. One of the disused platforms has been used for location filming when a London Underground (LU) station platform is needed.

Demand for the Piccadilly and Central lines at Holborn is high; customers are often prevented from changing lines or are held outside to prevent the station becoming unsafe. The upgrade work will resolve these issues and allow the area to receive the full benefits of the Piccadilly line upgrade. The scheme, subject to design and approvals, will be in service by the early to mid-2020s and will include a new interchange link, and new and re-modelled entrances. These improvements will reduce journey times, boost capacity and make the station future proof for projected user numbers well into the 21st century.

News Update

During these early stages of the station upgrade process, Dr. Sauer & Partners Ltd. provides geotechnical and Sprayed Concrete Lining (SCL) specialist expertise to a multidisciplinary team headed by Hyder Consulting and the architect firm Weston Williamson+Partners. We bring constructability and tunneling principles; know-how and experience from previous station upgrade projects. Our objective is to maximize the benefit of new underground passenger tunnels whilst minimizing impact on existing London Underground (LU) assets and third parties’ property.