Blackfriars Railway Bridge

Blackfriars Railway Bridge is a railway bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.

There have been two structures with the name. The first bridge was opened in 1864 and was designed by Joseph Cubitt for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Massive abutments at each end carried the railway's insignia, preserved and restored on the south side. Following the formation of the Southern Railway in 1924, inter-city and continental services were concentrated on Waterloo, and St Paul's Station became a local and suburban stop. For this reason, the use of the original bridge gradually declined. It eventually became too weak to support modern trains, and was therefore removed in 1985 – all that remains is a series of columns crossing the Thames and the southern abutment, which is a Grade II listed structure.

The second bridge, built slightly further downstream (to the east), was originally called St Paul's Railway Bridge and opened in 1886. It was designed by John Wolfe-Barry and Henry Marc Brunel and is made of wrought iron. It was built by Lucas & Aird. When St Paul's railway station changed its name to Blackfriars in 1937 the bridge changed its name as well.

At the southern end of the bridge was Blackfriars Bridge railway station which opened in 1864 before closing to passengers in 1885 following the opening of what is today the main Blackfriars station. Blackfriars Bridge railway station continued as a goods stop until 1964 when it was completely demolished, and much of it redeveloped into offices.

As part of the Thameslink Programme, the platforms at Blackfriars station will be extended across the Thames and partially supported by the 1864 bridge piers. The project is being designed by Jacobs and Tony Gee & Partners and built by Balfour Beatty. Work on the bridge also includes the installation of a roof covered with photovoltiac solar panels. When completed it will be the largest of only two solar bridges in the world (the other being Kurilpa Bridge in Australia). Other green improvements include sun pipes and systems to collect rain water.

  • Looking southwards across Blackfriars railway bridge from platform 4 at Blackfriars railway station

  • Blackfriars Railway Bridge. The Millennium pedestrian bridge is in the foreground

  • Blackfriars and Blackfriars Railway bridges, from South Bank, late afternoon, late summer light

  • Pillars of the 1864 bridge

  • View from south bank showing Blackfriars and old and new Blackfriars Railway bridges, bus, train, 30 St Mary Axe still being built

  • Insignia on the southern abutment of the 1864 bridge

  • Insignia on the southern abutment of the 1864 bridge

  • Front and back of insignia on the southern abutment of the 1864 bridge, tables and chairs in between

  • Looking back at the old station from a train crossing Blackfriars railway bridge

Famous quotes containing the words railway and/or bridge:

    “Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
    —Angela Carter (1940–1992)

    “Home! Yes! she would see Trafalgar Square, again; and Nelson on his plinth; and Chelsea Bridge as it dissolved into the Thames at twilight ... and St. Paul’s, the single Amazon breast of her beloved native city.”
    —Angela Carter (1940–1992)