The Open Guide to London: the free London guide - Differences between Version 5 and Version 4 of Bank Station

Contents are identical

Bank And Monument Stations

DLR Real Time Information

Lines Served

Northern Line: north <--- Moorgate <--- Bank ---> London Bridge ---> south
Central Line: west <--- St Paul's <--- Bank ---> Liverpool Street ---> east
District Line:
Circle Line:
west <--- Cannon Street <--- Monument ---> Tower Hill ---> east
Waterloo And City Line: Waterloo <--- Bank
Docklands Light Railway: Terminates here Bank ---> Shadwell ---> east (Lewisham)

One of the most complicated, um, complexes on the Underground, Bank seems to confuse people a great deal.

The bit that confuses me is always accidentally finding myself in Monument Station- mstevens

The best way to understand Bank/Monument is to place the four main lines involved into a context.

At the north of the station, you have the Central Line; at the south, the District Line (also hosting Circle Line services). These are about 400 metres apart and roughly parallel, although the Central is a fair bit deeper underground.

Connecting these two platforms are two parallel tunnels. The easternmost of these splits up roughly halfway between the stations (but nearer the Central Line) into the Northern Line platforms. The deeper, western tunnel goes down to the DLR platforms (although as this is a terminus of the line, one is used for arrivals, the other for departures). These tunnels are quite close together (about 20 metres), although their depths differ, and there are also a fair few tunnels joining them up (especially around the DLR platforms).

The final underground part of the complex, the Waterloo and City Line, is off a westbound spur from the northern part of the station; there are routes signposted from the DLR and Central Lines, which are the nearest platforms. It's quite a long walk, but there are 'travelators' (flat escalators, really) which spare you some of the walking if you like. (At the time of writing, one was closed for repair.)

Ticket halls are above the Central and District ends of the station, and quite complex in and of themselves. In particular, Bank (the northernmost station) has a bewildering array of exits, entrances and passageways. {I'll try and map these at some point... Blech}

diagram of Bank Station

The westbound Central Line platform is the loudest in the whole Tube, as the sharp curve - caused by the fact that the platform is built around the underground vaults of the Bank of England - causes the train wheels to produce a shrieking noise in excess of 100 dB.


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