WORK has started on a range of improvements for rail passengers at London Liverpool Street station.

Improvements include more ticket gates serving Platforms 1-10 to increase gateline capacity and reduce congestion at busy times, new retail units and a new Greater Anglia ticket office on Platform 10.

Starting this summer, Network Rail, and its appointed contractor, Spence, will begin to install an additional 21 new automatic ticket gates (including four wide access gates) serving Platforms 1-10 and convert four existing manual wide access barriers to automatic wide access ticket gates.

There are currently 36 ticket gates from platforms 1-10 and this project will increase the capacity of the gateline by 58%, ease congestion and reduce wait time for passengers, helping them complete their journey more quickly.

London Liverpool Street is the busiest station in the UK with 80.4 million journeys every year. ​

To make room for the new ticket gates, five existing retail units on the gateline will be removed in stages between August 2024 and spring 2025. Space for three new retail units will be provided to continue to give great retail choices for passengers and customers using the station.

The new retail units will be situated in the area of the existing staffed Greater Anglia ticket office, which will be relocated on Platform 10, opening later in the year. A staffed ticket office will remain open and available for the convenience of passengers for the majority of relocation work.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “As the UK’s busiest station, it is great that improvements are being made to the gateline at London Liverpool Street that will positively affect our passengers.

“These enhancements will help reduce crowding during peak times, enable customers to board trains more quickly and help them pass through the station more swiftly on arrival.

“We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while this work is carried out.”

Lawrence Bowman, route director for Network Rail Anglia said: “It is so important that our managed station, the busiest in the UK, is able to cope with the increase in passenger numbers we’ve seen over the last few years. The current gateline simply does not have the capacity to quickly and efficiently allow passengers to move between platform and concourse easily, especially at busy times.

“Working with our contractor Spence, Greater Anglia, the station team, retailers and our property colleagues, we now have a robust programme of improvements that will allow us to tackle the congestion while continuing to provide the service we need to on a daily basis with minimal disruption to passengers.”

Jonathan Spence, Managing Director for Spence said: “Working in partnership with Network Rail, Spence Refit Ltd are excited to be awarded the contract to re-develop important passenger facilities at one of London’s most prestigious stations.

“Working closely with the station’s operator, Greater Anglia, local businesses and stakeholders, Spence has developed a construction programme to ensure minimal disruption to passengers and daily operations at the station throughout the extension of the existing west side ticket gates and the construction of the new ticket office and retail premises.”