Liverpool Street atmosphere - on a quiet Sunday morning - a year before the station was redeveloped
<b>London Termini - Liverpool Street</b> 
The scene at Liverpool Street station, on a quiet Sunday morning. Station pilot 08833 in view, and some early morning weekend commuters. Before reconstruction in the mid 1980s, the station concourse was split into two sides with the footbridge seen in this view connecting the two. After the closure of Broad Street station in 1986, Liverpool Street went through a huge refurbishment which saw the end of the two sides and connecting bridge, with a single concourse instead.

<b>LIVERPOOL STREET STATION REDEVLOPMENT</b> - In 1973 the British Railways Board, London Transport Executive, Greater London Council and the Department of the Environment produced a report examining the modernisation of London's transport. It recommended high priority given to reconstructing Liverpool Street and Broad Street stations and recommended financing this through property development on the site. <b>Liverpool Street</b> had a number of design and access issues, many of which derived from the 1890 extension which had effectively created two stations on one site, with two concourses linked by walkways, booking halls, and inefficient traffic flows within the station. Additionally the rail infrastructure presented limitations; only seven of the platforms could accommodate 12-carriage trains, and the track exit layout was a bottleneck. In 1975 British Railways announced plans to demolish and redevelop both stations. The proposed demolition met considerable public opposition and prompted a campaign led by the Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman, leading to a public inquiry from November 1976 to February 1977.

In the autumn of 1980,  the overhead electrification system was converted from 6.25kV ac to the standard supply of 25kV ac. The inquiry recommended the western (1875) train shed roof should be retained in new development; consequently it was repaired and reinforced between 1982 and 1984, followed by repairs to the main roof completed in 1987. Initial plans included the widening of the station's exit by two tracks to make eight, with 22 platforms in a layout similar to that of Waterloo station; the combined Broad Street and Liverpool Street station was to be at the level of the latter, with relatively low-rise office developments. Poor use of land value caused the development to be reassessed in 1983/4, when it was decided to retain the existing six-road exit throat and 18-platform layout, in combination with re-signalling; this resulted in a station confined to the Liverpool Street site, with ground space from Broad Street closure released for development. British Railways signed an agreement with developers Rosehaugh Stanhope in 1985, and work on the office development, known as Broadgate, began.

Railway work included the construction of a short link from the North London Line to the Cambridge main line, allowing trains that had previously used Broad Street to terminate at Liverpool Street. The station was reconstructed with a single concourse at the head of the station platforms, and entrances from Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street, as well as a bus interchange in the south west corner. The Broadgate development was constructed between 1985 and 1991, with 330,000 m2 (3,600,000 sq ft) of office space on the site of the former Broad Street station and above the Liverpool Street tracks. Proceeds from the Broadgate development were used to help fund the station modernisation. More on Liverpool Street here: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Street_station#Nationalisation_" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Street_station#Nationalis...</a>(1946–91)

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL SLR camera and standard lens. <b>Scanned from the original negative with no digital restoration.</b>

You can see a random selection of my railway photos here on Flickriver: <a href="http://www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/</a>
08833 d4001 4001 class08 shunter diesel liverpoolstreet london station platform architecture