Enabling works have begun at South Kensington station in the first physical step towards step-free access at one of London’s busiest Tube stations.
Contractors have started minor works in the former retail unit at 34 Thurloe Street, next to the station entrance, to prepare it for conversion into the new step-free entrance. Preliminary works include removing the shop front for later reuse elsewhere, deconstructing the shop’s first floor, and installing temporary steel bracing to protect the building.
This initial phase is expected to last about eight weeks, after which the unit will remain behind hoardings until the main construction programme starts. The main station works are then due to begin in 2028, with the full upgrade scheduled for delivery by 2031 — the Natural History Museum’s 150th anniversary year.
When completed, new lifts will provide step-free routes to the Circle, District and Piccadilly line platforms, as well as the ticket hall and the pedestrian subway leading to the nearby museums. A new accessible entrance on Thurloe Street will link the street with the ticket hall and the museum tunnel, and a new eastbound platform for Circle and District line services will be brought into use.
South Kensington currently has no passenger lift and no step-free route from street to platform. The station’s only step-free interchange is between the westbound District and Circle lines, while the deep-level Piccadilly platforms are reached by escalators. The station handles around 27 million entries and exits a year, serving the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum.
Transport for London awarded Costain the design-and-build contract for the station improvements in September, after years of planning applications and appeals. The scheme is funded through TfL’s Business Plan, with a £12 million contribution from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and additional funding from the 1851 Commission. Planning permission for the scheme was signed off in 2023.
The station works will be coordinated with a separate around-station development delivering 50 homes and commercial space. TfL says the Thurloe Street enabling works are scheduled for minimal disruption and should not affect the station during the October half-term period.
Step-free progress is also under way elsewhere in the capital: lift foundations are now complete at Wandsworth Town station, while consultants have been appointed for the proposed West London Orbital Overground link.
