The Concept Design for Holborn Station Upgrade

Monday, January 11th, 2016

After the completion of the Feasibility and Pre-Concept Study the project has now entered the Concept Design stage. Dr. Sauer & Partners is part of the design team selected by Transport for London to progress the design into the next stage.

The Concept Design started in August 2015 and is planned to finish in June 2016. The design team is led by Arcadis and includes sub-consultants from Weston Williamson + Partners, Taylor Woodrow and Dr. Sauer & Partners. Dr. Sauer & Partners is the specialist sub-consultant to Arcadis with responsibility for all tunnelling works. 

Holborn station suffers from congestion caused by heavy passenger traffic from both entry/exit flows and those interchanging between services on the Piccadilly and Central lines. Currently the station provides insufficient access for passengers with restricted mobility. It is anticipated that these congestion problems will worsen as general demand increases. 

The majority of tunnelling works will take place in London Clay, although works at Piccadilly line level are expected to be in the Lambeth Group. The principal design challenges are the close proximity of the proposed tunnels to existing operational tunnels, complex tunnel geometry & alignments and restricted work sites. 

The upgrade of the station will reduce journey times, boost capacity and make the station step-free.

Archive Photo of Heading Escalator Tunnel 1931

Archive Photo of Heading Escalator Tunnel 1931