Consultation: closure of Barbican tube station

From the Barbican Association via the BEO:

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Dear Residents

Below is the text of an email sent to the Barbican Association seeking residents' views on options for the closure of Barbican tube station while it is being refurbished.

The timescale for consultation is very tight (comments by 12 noon on 30 November). The BA sought an extension to the time for consultation and also sought a meeting to find out more about the works.

The BA's London Underground working party met London Underground this week  to find out more and has recommended to the BA General Council that it formally responds in support of Option 3. This is full closure of the station for a shorter period. 

The refurbishment is a cosmetic one to surfaces and lighting (no structural changes); we are told that noise and light spillage after the works are done should be reduced.

The work is likely to start around May 2016 and LUL have undertaken to protect against noise (as with any construction site).

The BA has not made a decision on its recommendation yet (it meets tomorrow), but in the interests of getting this out to everyone, we are circulating the options and the email address to respond to Barbican residents now. We have no idea what weight London Underground will put on residents' views.

I personally think it is clear that residents on the west side of the estate who can hear noise from the station would be well advised to opt for option 3, to minimise the noise of works during the night.

Best wishes
Jane

Jane Smith

Chair, Barbican Association

From London Undergound

I am writing to inform you of some essential improvement work due to be carried out at Barbican station next spring. Upon completion, passengers will benefit from a complete refurbishment of the station. As well as a brand new entranceway, passengers will see new wall, floor and ceiling tiles, along with resurfaced platforms. The station canopy will also be upgraded and new lighting installed throughout the station. New wider ticket barriers will be introduced in the ticket hall, improving the overall usability and ambience of the station . In addition to the front-of-house work, we will also be improving the back-of-house systems and software to maintain the efficient operation of the station. We are currently considering several options in relation to how we carry out the work and what impact this will have on users of the station and local residents. The work to be carried out will generate noise, however the actual impact will depend on the option chosen. We would like feedback from local residents to help inform our decision.

There are fouroptions currently being considered for undertaking work at Barbican station. I have given a brief description of each option below:

1.     Engineering Hours only - working between 1am and 5am only

·         Under this option work would be being carried out during the night,between 1am and 5am, while trains were not running

·         The total duration of the project with this option would be 90 weeks

·         The station would remain open to passengers

·         All noisy work will be carried out during the night 

2a  Partial closure

·         Under this option work would be carried out in a combination of the following:

o   Work taking place between10pm and 6am

o   10 weekend full stationclosures which are planned to coincide with pre-planned track closures through the station

o   10 weeks of non-stopping trains. 4 weeks in the Westbound direction and 6 weeks in the Eastbound direction

·         The total duration of the project with this option would be 68 weeks

·         The station would remain open, however passengers would be affected for the 10 weeks when services are non-stopping Westbound (4 weeks), then Eastbound (6 weeks), and during the 10 weekend station closures

·         Westbound and Eastbound non-stopping will be planned to coincide with periods of lower passenger demand, such as during summer holidays

·         Most noisy work activities would be carried out during the day when non-stopping and during the weekend closures, but there will still be some residual noisy activities at night

2b 

·         This option is a variant of option 2. instead of having non-stopping trains for 10 weeks, the station will be fully closed for up to6 weeks during work. This short full station closure is the only variation from option 2. All other work will be carried out as detailed above.

·         Noise impacts would be reduced from those above, as a large amount of noisy work could be carried out during the short full station closure

 

3.    Full station closure

·         The station would be fully closed for the duration of the work (36 weeks)

  ·         The noisiest activities would be carried out while trains were running (although not stopping at Barbican station)

As I'm sure you can appreciate, there are different benefits to be realised from each of the options detailed above. I would be happy to discuss these with you in more detail if you would find that helpful.

 We would like to collect feedback from as many residents as possible. Any comments or feedback will need to be sent to 12pm on Monday 30 November to Ben Thomas (ben.thomas@tube.tfl.gov.uk).

 

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