Tens of thousands of commuters into and around London face delays and disruption for almost three years after it was announced that Blackfriars Underground station will be closed until late 2011.

Commuters from Brighton, Wimbledon, Gatwick and St Albans use the station to get onto the Tube network from First Capital Connect services. The overground routes will remain open at the station throughout refurbishment works, but there will be no connection to the Underground.

Around 44,000 people use the District and Circle station on the north bank of the River Thames every day.

While the station is shut, Network Rail will be redeveloping the Blackfriars station complex. Work includes lengthening platforms to accommodate longer trains, building a new entrance to the station on the south bank of the Thames, and the redevelopment of the Tube station.

Neighbouring Underground and overground stations will face an influx of passengers trying to find new routes.

The ageing Farringdon Station, which is expected to bear much of the brunt of the displaced commuters, will be refurbished at the same time.

Network Rail insists that upgrade work at Farringdon, which is an overground and Underground station, will not impact on transferred passengers. However, if both stations faced reduced capacity at the same time the result could be chaotic.

A Transport for London spokeswoman said: “We’re fairly good at managing large numbers of people. We have to cope with events like Notting Hill carnival. People do adapt fairly quickly and find alternate routes.”

During the works, National Rail will build a new Blackfriars overground station alongside the current one and transfer current services onto the new platforms before demolishing the existing building. The Tube station will then be overhauled before it is reopened.

Richard Parry, London Underground’s director of strategy and service development, said: “During this time, District and Circle Line services will not stop at the station and customers are advised to use nearby Temple and Mansion House stations.

“Once the works are complete, customers will get a new upgraded station with step-free access, increased capacity and better interchange facilities between the Tube and national rail services."

The pavements between Blackfriars, Temple and Mansion House stations will be widened in places to help ease congestion.

Once the £350 million project is completed, at the end of 2011, the new mainline station will able to deal with three times the number of trains and passengers as it does today.

With platforms on the bridge over the river, it will be the first station in London to span the Thames - enabling direct access to the South Bank and attractions, including the Tate Modern.

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