The City of London has approved Network Rail’s £1.2 billion (€1.3bn) plan to overhaul London Liverpool Street, further clearing the way for a controversial redevelopment of the UK’s busiest railway station.
The City of London Corporation’s planning committee voted on Tuesday to grant permission for the scheme, which centres on a substantial expansion of the station concourse and the construction of a 97-metre mixed-use tower above it. The design is aimed at providing for long-term capacity growth at the Grade II-listed terminus, where annual passenger numbers are forecast to reach 158 million.
Indeed, Network Rail, which owns the site, says the redesign will increase overall concourse capacity by 76%, improve passenger flows and deliver step-free access from street level to all mainline and London Underground platforms (you can find a full breakdown of the plans from RailTech’s UK correspondent Simon Walton below).
However, critics have been scathing about the plans, arguing the tower would place what they describe as a “disfiguring billion-pound office block” on top of a major heritage asset in a conservation area, essentially “demolishing” a listed building. Network Rail continues to maintain that the commercial development above the concourse is the only way it can fund the wider station upgrades, insisting the proposals still respected Liverpool Street’s “unique heritage”.
An exciting new chapter?
“This decision represents a key step towards the transformation of Britain’s busiest station and marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Liverpool Street,” Ellie Burrows, managing director for Network Rail’s Eastern region, said. “Our plans focus on improving the everyday experience for passengers whilst respecting the station’s unique heritage. With annual passenger numbers forecast to grow to 158 million, this approval ensures the station will be future-proofed for decades to come.”
The approval follows revisions to earlier plans submitted in 2023, which drew thousands of objections. Updated designs were unveiled last year in response to those concerns, but opposition has remained loud, particularly from heritage groups. Actor Griff Rhys Jones, president of the Victorian Society and the Liverpool Street Station Campaign (Lissca), described the decision as a “sad day for the City of London”.
“A disfiguring billion-pound office block on top of a major heritage asset is not essential to the City’s development plans,” he said. “It is doubtful whether it will easily provide the profit to ‘improve’ the concourse, and can only realise a small amount of extra space for the passenger. Its focus is retail opportunities, which the commuter doesn’t need. It will destroy an existing conservation area. It demolishes listed buildings. It is harmful to the surrounding historic fabric.”
Rhys Jones went on to accuse the City of London of having “bowed to developer ambitions” and setting a “bad precedent” for London, with his pressure group set to continue their opposition to the redevelopment with “the backing of thousands of supporters”.