The London Liverpool Street Improvement Programme is delivering a range of improvements to the station experience for the 98 million people who pass through Britain’s busiest station each year.
Relocating retail units has allowed 21 new ticket gates to be installed for Platforms 1–10, representing a 58% capacity increase for this gateline. Renewing the trainshed roof glazing will bring more natural light into the station and reduce the risk of water ingress during intense rainfall.
Network Rail’s project director, Jonathan Fernandez, explained to Rail Engineer that the glazing to this Grade II listed structure is around 45 years old, replaced during the station’s upgrade during the mid-1980s. Much of the roof’s glass reinforced plastic (GRP) glazing had become discoloured and had extensive lichen growth, blocking out a lot of the daylight. The Georgian Wired Glass (GWG) glazing over the concourse area was in better condition, but some panels were broken or loose.
The drainage of the large roof area relies on valley gutters feeding into hoppers into the column heads and discharging into culverts below. During heavy rain, the system has not always coped and leakage onto the platforms below has occasionally occurred. More frequent and more intense rainstorms are likely in future as a result of climate change. To reduce the risk of leakage, the roof needs to be more resilient and allow rainwater to drain away effectively, without overwhelming the drainage system, improving safety and cleanliness.
Contract awarded
In late 2024, Network Rail awarded Morgan Sindall Infrastructure a £22 million contract to deliver these improvements. The roof renewal work is currently expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
The contract is delivering a package of work that will improve the station for users and passengers, bringing more natural light and making the roof resilient to 1-in-10-year storms. The contract includes:
The replacement of over 11,000 square metres of life-expired GRP panels at the northern end of the trainshed over Platforms 1-10, using Filon TIS101 Supasafe E – 6830-A-1 GRP, an upgraded version of the existing Filon product on the roof. This will allow more natural light through, making the station brighter and more comfortable inside.
Spot replacement or repair of over 800 GWG panels and fittings over the southern end of the trainshed and concourse. These being those with cracked or loose panes, assessed as being of ‘medium’ to ‘medium high’ risk of failure.
Repair of the existing corrugated aluminium roof panels across the whole roof to extend their productive life by 15 years, increasing to 25 years with regular maintenance.
Improvements to the roof’s Victorian catchment and drainage system, designed by Tony Gee and Partners to accommodate more intense rain events, including upgrading 30 roof valley rainwater collection points that feed into the top of the columns, providing larger capacity and better fluid dynamics. This will help the roof to cope better with very heavy rainfall and improve resilience to climate change. The increased capacity will also allow water to drain more quickly, and as a result rooftop redistribution pumps, that clear ponding, can be removed.
Repair and restoration of the decorative timber valance panels at the north end of the trainshed roof, facing Exchange Square.
Minor structural metalwork repairs where corrosion has occurred due to roof leakage.
Replacement of all access hatches.
Katie Mack, Network Rail Anglia sponsor for the roof renewal programme said: “London Liverpool Street is the jewel in the crown for the Anglia rail network, and our passengers deserve to have a bright, dry and welcoming station”.
Key challenge
The key engineering challenge on this project was that a suspended platform would be needed beneath the glazing, but that no significant loads could be added to the roof structure which was assessed as overstressed in some locations. Extensive assessments and intrusive surveys were carried out by Tony Gee to fully understand the strength and load-bearing behaviour of the trainshed’s structure before designing a platform support system.
A fundamental finding of this evaluation was the need for the load from the sliding decks to be located as close as possible to the columns. As part of the investigation, 500 movement sensors were installed in the structure and monitored for six months in advance of the works, detecting daily and seasonal thermal movements. During the erection of the temporary scaffold decks, the movement recorded was far less than the allowable tolerances.
A full listed building consents application was prepared for the temporary works scheme by Tony Gee and architects Fereday Pollard.
From Christmas 2024 to August 2025, a fixed full height scaffold was erected around the columns between Platforms 7 and 8. This provided access to drainage and roof panels that couldn’t be reached by the moving decks, as well as giving additional logistical flexibility. This fixed scaffolding was removed over Christmas 2025.
Key to the glazing replacement are the travelling platforms beneath each of the trainshed’s bays. These are not working platforms but are crash decks, protecting those below from any falling debris. Most works are being carried out from above, accessed using the 1980s walkways. Glazing and drainage are being delivered by Morgan Sindall’s contractor, Deltaland.
The travelling platforms are innovative, elevated sliding works decks under each roof, constructed and accessed from Exchange Square, a public open space within the Broadgate development. This approach has minimised disruption to station users and allowed Deltaland’s teams to safely work on multiple sections of the roof while train operations continue as normal.
The unique mobile scaffolding system was installed by Palmers Scaffolding and was designed by RDG Engineering and Tony Gee. The same team has previously completed similar work at other London termini, including Paddington, St Pancras, and Kings Cross.
Using Palmers’ lightweight and robust aluminium ‘Bridge Panel’ frame system, it comprises four lightweight decks that slide horizontally through the trainshed towards the concourse. Located within the pitch of the roof, they are well above the overhead electrification equipment and can be moved without the need for isolations. This system is cost-effective, being less than half the cost of traditional scaffolding. It was also much faster to install, saving three to six months and reducing the length of the work by more than 12 months.
Jonathan said: “I’m immensely proud of the teams and our suppliers for working closely to achieve a solution that really does have the minimum impact on our customers whilst allowing us to deliver significant much needed improvements to the station.”
Christmas closures
Over the eight-day Christmas 2024 station closure, working from Exchange Square, Palmers’ teams constructed a five-metre-wide erection gantry, four metres above the public open space, cantilevering this a further two-and-a-half metres into the trainshed. On this they assembled the decking in two-and-a-half metre increments, rolling this into the shed along the supporting rails using a bespoke platform roller system specifically developed by Palmers.
Sections were added in this way until the full 50-metre-long decks in each trainshed bay were in place. Access for personnel and equipment is from Exchange Square and also via a hoist from the service road beside Platform 10. Work then began on the glazing and drainage above this and, as areas were completed, every few weeks the decks were moved along the trainshed, using calibrated winches to equalise loads across the span.
The start of the installation of the new GRP panels was delayed by resolving production issues but is now on programme, with the final main trainshed panels having been replaced on 9 January 2026, and the remaining GRP over the service road to be replaced by summer 2026. Once the crash decks are no longer needed, they will gradually be moved back to the Exchange Square scaffold during normal nightly station closures so they can largely be dismantled outside the train shed. Despite the site’s location being dwarfed by the surrounding city trading office blocks, construction noise has not been a problem to its neighbours.
Replacement of the GWG panels above the normally busy concourse has mostly been carried out during the extended station closures over the last two Christmases, using mobile elevating work platforms. With personnel above removing cappings and flashings, the team below removed the glass panels into cages within the work platform and placed and fixed the new.
Over Christmas 2025, it was planned to replace 168 panels but as a result of the team’s efficiencies and benign weather, 206 were installed. There are a further 30 GWG panels to complete over the concourse, as well as other remaining panels that can be replaced above the two main crash decks during normal working hours.
Now that the fixed scaffolding along the full length of the trainshed between Platforms 7 and 8 has been removed it is already apparent that the station is much lighter, achieving the contracts primary aim.
Network Rail has ambitious plans for future redevelopment above and around the station but, as a result of this project, its future is already brighter.
Image credit: Network Rail
