Bank and Monument stations

Monument station on an 1888 map. The C&SLR's King William Street station, then under construction, is also shown.

The Metropolitan Railway (MR) and District Railway (DR) had, by 1876, built most of the Inner Circle (now the Circle line), reaching Aldgate and Mansion House respectively. The companies were in dispute over the completion of the route as the DR was struggling financially and the MR was concerned that completion would affect its revenues through increased competition from the DR in the City area. City financiers keen to see the line completed established the Metropolitan Inner Circle Completion Railway in 1874 to link Mansion House to Aldgate. Forced into action, the MR bought out the company and with the DR began construction of the final section of the Inner Circle in 1879. The new section of railway included two new stations: Tower of London and another located close to the Monument.

The station at Monument opened with the name "Eastcheap" on 6 October 1884, after the nearby street, and was renamed "The Monument" on 1 November 1884.[15] Initially, trains from both companies served the station on the Inner Circle service but other operational patterns have been used. The Inner Circle service achieved a separate identity as the Circle line in 1949 although its trains were still provided by the District or Metropolitan lines.[15]

The Waterloo & City Railway was built by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) to link its terminus at Waterloo to the City. The station, with platforms under Queen Victoria Street and close to Mansion House, opened on 8 August 1898 as "City".[15]

The Waterloo and City line platforms were renamed "Bank" on 28 October 1940.[15] In September 1960, the steeply sloping passages to the platforms were supplemented with the "Travolator", one of the few sets of moving walkways on the whole underground system.[18] Advertising at the Waterloo & City line station often takes the form of large painted murals on the walls and ceilings of the sloped exits, forming one of the largest advertisements on the Underground.

As the W&CR was owned by the L&SWR, a mainline railway, it became part of British Rail; it was only transferred to Underground operation in 1994.

The entrance to the former C&SLR station, now a branch of Starbucks, with the church of St Mary Woolnoth behind.

The first station to be known as Bank opened on 25 February 1900 when the City & South London Railway (C&SLR, now part of the Northern line) opened its extension from Borough to Moorgate.[15] The earlier terminus of the line, King William Street, on a different tunnel alignment was closed at the same time.

The C&SLR had obtained permission to demolish the 18th-century church of St Mary Woolnoth on the corner of Lombard Street and build a station (originally proposed to be named "Lombard Street") on the site. After public protest, the company changed its plans to build only a sub-surface ticket hall and lift entrance in the crypt of the church. This necessitated moving the bodies elsewhere, strengthening the crypt with a steel framework and underpinning the church's foundations. Unusually for stations later converted to escalators, the original lift access from the ticket hall is still in use.

Bank and Monument shown on a 1908 Tube map. Bank was served by the Central London (blue), City & South London (black), and Waterloo & City (thin grey) railways, while Monument was served by the Metropolitan (red) and District (green) railways. The stations were not yet connected.

The opening of the eastern terminus of the Central London Railway (CLR, now the Central line) at Bank followed on 30 July 1900.[15]

As with the C&SLR, the high cost of property in the City, coupled with the presence of the Royal Exchange, the Bank of England, and Mansion House, meant that the station had to be built entirely underground. Permission was granted by the City of London Corporation for the station to be sited beneath the busy junction of roads meeting at this point on condition that public subways were provided to act as pedestrian road crossings. To avoid undermining the road above, the station's lifts were installed in separate lift shafts rather than paired two-per-shaft as usual.

To avoid wayleave payments to property owners and to lessen possible claims for damage during construction and operation, the CLR tunnels were directly under public streets. This caused the platforms under Threadneedle Street and Poultry to be so curved that one end of the platform cannot be seen from the other. East of Bank station the Central line tunnels have sharp curves to avoid the vaults of the Bank of England itself. Due to the close proximity of the CLR, W&CR and C&SLR stations, and the non-competing directions of their services, their ticket halls were soon connected, but connection between the CLR and C&SLR platforms were made only when escalators were installed in 1924. The Central London Railway station itself was reconstructed during the major rebuilding of the Bank of England in 1925. The booking hall underneath Bank junction was redecorated and a new subway entrance built into the corner of the Bank itself.[19]

Wall tiles at the station show the supporters of City of London coat of arms, combined with the Underground Roundel

The southern end of the C&SLR (by then part of the Edgware-Highgate-Morden line) platforms was close to those of Monument station and, on 18 September 1933, a connecting escalator link was opened, connecting the two stations directly for the first time.[15][18]

During the Blitz, the station was used as a bomb shelter. On 11 January 1941 during World War II the Central line ticket hall of Bank station suffered a direct hit from a German bomb. The roadway collapsed into the subways and station concourse, killing 56 people.[20]

In 1991, the Docklands Light Railway was extended to Bank station, following criticism of the original, poorly connected terminus at Tower Gateway.[21] The new platforms were built parallel to but deeper than those of the Northern line, with connections at one end to the Central line and Monument Station at the other. As part of the construction of the extension, a new link between the Waterloo & City and the Central line was excavated – uncovering part of one of the Greathead tunnelling shields used for the Waterloo and City line. This shield forms part of the new passageway, and passengers pass through when transferring between the two lines.[22] As with all other DLR stations, the DLR platforms are accessible, however the route is indirect with the use of three different passenger lifts required to reach the DLR.[19]

Statue of James Henry Greathead, which was erected by Bank station in 1994

In January 1994, a statue of James Henry Greathead was erected outside the station, next to the Royal Exchange. It was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of London and is positioned on a plinth which hides a ventilation shaft for the Underground.[23]

Etched glass panels by artist John Hutton

The rest of the station was comprehensively refurbished, with decorative tiling panels based on the City's coat of arms, new lighting and replacement of escalators. This work was completed in 1997, partially funded by the City of London Corporation.[24]

In the late 2010s, a new entrance was constructed at Bloomberg's new London headquarters on Walbrook, near Cannon Street station,[25] providing direct access to the Waterloo & City line via four new escalators and two lifts – providing step free access to that line for the first time. First announced in 2008,[26] construction began in November 2015 following delays due to the financial crisis.[27] The new entrance was opened on 30 November 2018, and was officially opened by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg in December 2018.[28]

The new entrance incorporates etched glass panels by artist John Hutton, depicting 66 figures based on the ancient Roman history of the area, including the Roman Temple of Mithras. The artwork was originally completed in 1962 on Bucklersbury House, the post war office building previously located on the site.[29][30]

The new southbound platform of the Northern line on the opening day.

Following consultations in the early 2010s[38][39] and a Transport and Works Act Order in 2015,[40] construction of the new Northern line tunnel began in April 2016, and was estimated to take 6 years. By July 2019, the project had reached the halfway stage.[41] By October 2020, the majority of tunnelling work, around 1.3 kilometres (0.8 mi), had been completed, with around 200,000 tonnes of material excavated from beneath the City.[42][43] By July 2021, installation of escalators was underway, as well as preparation work to connect to the new Northern line tunnels in 2022.[33][44] From January until mid May 2022, the Northern line through Bank was closed[45] - this was required to allow the existing line to be connected to the new running tunnels, convert the previous southbound platform to a new passenger concourse, as well as final fit-out and integration works throughout the expanded station complex.[44][33][46]

On 15 May 2022, the new Northern line southbound platform and concourse was opened, the first part of the station expansion open to the public.[47] Further areas of the station including DLR escalators and the Central line moving walkway will open in Autumn 2022, and the new Cannon Street entrance will open in late 2022.[33][48] When complete, the station will have 27 escalators, the most of any station on the Underground.[49]