Fury at £1bn upgrade plan for UK’s busiest station as campaigners fight to save ‘artefact’

A £1billion plan to upgrade the busiest station has been slammed by campaigners as they fight to save the “historic artefact”.

Opponents say that experts are still against a new proposal that Network Rail has produced with the developer Acme.

The new plan has been put forward after objections about an initial outline.

Officials say they are focusing on increasing the size of the concourse of , as well as the “overcrowded”  ticket hall to improving step-free access to all main line rail and Tube platforms.

has said that a consultation for the proposal.

But it has been claimed that the 1,800 responses that received represent just 0.002 per cent of the number of annual station users.

People against the plans have suggested that this hardly amounts to a resounding thumbs up.

The Liverpool Street Station Campaign (LISSCA) –  a committee comprised of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, the Twentieth Century Society, Historic Buildings and Places, the Council for British Archaeology, the Georgian Group, the Spitalfields Trust, Civic Voice, London Historians, the Betjeman Society, the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, the Victorian Society, and original campaigners from the 1970s – is aiming to “save the station and hotel”, and the group says it does not think the results change anything.

In addition, the organisation says that an actual minority of respondents were in favour of a wider variety of cafes, restaurants and shops, which are a key part of Network Rail’s plan to make the station a “destination in its own right”.

This is not what the public wants, it claims.

The works will have a “detrimental impact on the historic character of the station”, it is argued, as a new 97-metre office block would require the “demolition and replacement” of the existing station concourse, and with it “a large portion” of the listed station building. 

Actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones, President of LISSCA and the Victorian Society, said: “The Victorian Society and other expert bodies have looked in detail at the new proposal for Liverpool Street Station, and cannot accept that this is the best way forward.

“Other London stations like King’s Cross and St Pancras have adapted to the twenty-first century. They revealed their original Railway Age splendour.

“It seems perverse that the proposals at Liverpool Street should still go in the opposite direction. Over two thousand people objected to the previous scheme. This new scheme does not answer their justified concern.

“It is surely time for Network Rail to stop looking at this handsome station as a development site and to recognise it as the important and historic artefact that it is; one that works and can continue to work.

“Network Rail has a duty for improvements to be less intrusive, and to serve the passenger, not profit. Above all, they should not be seeking huge additions and causing damage to listed buildings as a means to achieve new services.”

Robin Dobson, Group Property Director for Network Rail, said: “The long overdue plans to transform Liverpool Street station – Britain’s busiest – have significantly changed since the first application was submitted.

“The previous application attracted significant opposition and was deemed to have too detrimental an impact on heritage. A new approach was needed and after extensive consultation and listening to a broad range of views, the focus is now on a significantly different scheme that puts the needs of passengers first. 

“The new infrastructure-led scheme being put forward by Network Rail Property is about delivering significant improvements to public infrastructure with a very different design that celebrates the heritage and puts Liverpool Street up there with London’s best transport hubs. 

“Major stations like Liverpool Street, that currently cater for 100 million passengers a year, have to be able to adapt and change to deal with both the issues today and address the significant growth expected in the future – to over 150 million passengers a year.

“We recognise these are complex buildings and are working hard with all stakeholders to balance the needs of both celebrating the heritage whilst delivering the transport requirements and the very best London transport hub for future generations.”

99 per cent of respondents to the consultation are passengers with over 250,000 engaging with the content on the new proposals, it has been said.

33,589 people liked, sharing or commented on the content on the new proposals.