What we do

The £6.5bn government-sponsored Thameslink Programme is transforming north-south travel through London Bridge.

The Programme dates back to the early 1970s when it was proposed as the Borough Market Viaduct Capacity Enhancement Scheme. After going through various iterations, the project was given fresh life in the millennium and rebranded as the Thameslink 2000 (later TL2K) project.

The scheme now included improvements to capacity and numerous stations throughout the South East rail network. At Borough Market, for example, a new viaduct effectively doubles the line capacity for all services into Cannon Street, Blackfriars and beyond.

Phase 1 of the Programme had to be delivered before the London Olympics 2012 and included:

• The complete reconstruction of Blackfriars station;
• Several track enhancements;
• The commencement of the new viaduct at Borough;
• Longer trains.

The ongoing Phase 2 will include the reconstruction of London Bridge and the completion of the viaduct.

Working with Temple Environmental, we have helped produce the noise chapter of the Environmental Impact Assessment for this prestigious scheme. This has involved:

• Working in the Thamelink 2000 offices for 3 days a week on Temple Environment's behalf;
• Supervising the CADNA noise modelling of the proposed scheme;
• Liaising with Network Rail for the train service information;
• Co-ordinating, arranging and carrying out numerous noise and vibration surveys
• Drafting the Environmental Noise chapter of the Environmental Impact Assessment.

Acoustic features of this project

In addition to the train rolling noise, noise from the PA system at Blackfriars Station to nearby residential and commercial neighbours had to be addressed. Because the new station extends across the whole of Blackfriars Bridge to a new southern entrance, the platform PA system was moved much closer to existing properties on the South Bank.

• Working with the local authority, the variable noise limit was established which enabled the PA system to be louder when the train is moving in the station, and at a lower level in the absence of train noise;
• The proprietary software CATT was used to model the potential noise from the loud speakers to demonstrate that this approach was feasible.

The whole Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) produced by Temple Environment, and incorporating our Environmental Noise chapter, was the biggest EIA produced to date in the county. It also won the:

• CEEQUAL Outstanding Achievement Award 2013 for Ecology & Biodiversity;
• Highly Commended CEEQUAL Outstanding Achievement Award 2013 for the Historic Environment. It was the biggest EIA produced to date in the country.

The experience we gained on this project has been carried across to our ongoing involvement with Temple Environment on the HS2 High Speed Rail Scheme.

The project team

Main Contractor: Costain Laing O'Rourke (joint venture)
Acoustics: Temple Environment