Your morning commute into Liverpool Street station will soon look very different – but not everyone has welcomed the changes.
Controversial plans to revamp the UK’s busiest train station have officially been approved by the City of London.
The transformation will include a new office tower block above the station, a redesign of the station entrances, a large new concourse, new lifts and escalators, additional ticket barriers, new toilets, improved signage, improved step-free access, more bicycle storage, and a variety of cafes, restaurants and shops.
The upgrades were proposed to tackle overcrowding and the station’s ‘confusing’ layout for passengers, Network Rail said, and would increase overall concourse capacity by 76%.
However, the plans have been met with objections from the get-go, with thousands of complaints being lodged on the City of London Corporation’s planning portal.
And actor Griff Rhys Jones is the most recent to share some harsh words about the redevelopment.
The 72-year-old, who is the president of the Victorian Society and the Liverpool Street Station Campaign (Lissca), described the green lighting of the revamp as a ‘sad day for the City of London’.
He said: ‘A disfiguring billion-pound office block on top of a major heritage asset is not essential to the City’s development plans.
‘It is doubtful whether it will easily provide the profit to “improve” the concourse, and can only realise a small amount of extra space for the passenger.
‘Its focus is retail opportunities, which the commuter doesn’t need.
‘It will destroy an existing conservation area. It demolishes listed buildings. It is harmful to the surrounding historic fabric.’
And he’s not the only one who feels this way.
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The public, local authorities, Historic England and Westminster City Council all raised concerns about the project previously, with some branding it ‘ugly and uninspired’.
One objector, Victoria Blackie, called the proposal ‘bland concrete and steel,’ adding: ‘Too many interesting buildings have already gone, you are ruining the character and heritage of our capital city and changing it into a boring, faceless place that could be in any country or town.’
It’s not cheap either. Liverpool Street’s new look will cost £1.5billion, with part of the Victorian station being knocked down and a 20-storey tower built above the neighbouring Grade-II* listed former Great Eastern Hotel.
But property developer Sellar, MTR and Network Rail, who will be managing the upgrade, say it ‘will help London to maintain its status as a world-class city – at no cost to passengers or the taxpayer.’
The most controversial part of the transformation, however, is the tower.
Documents suggest the glass structure will feature offices, a hotel space, and luxury amenities like a swimming pool.
It was slammed by Westminster Council for obscuring the view of St Paul’s Cathedral and by Hackney Council for representing ‘substantial harm’ to the neighbouring area.
Thankfully, Network Rail has confirmed the tower won’t impact the station’s Victorian trainshed, which will remain untouched.
But this has done little to appease locals who aren’t keen on the addition, with Luke Christodoulou referring to it as an ‘ugly and uninspired’ design which wasn’t ‘worthy of standing in the place of a historic building.’
He continued: ‘This new plan seeks to replace all of that with white walls, modern curves and the greatest insult: a boring glass block entirely devoid of character squatting on top.’
Another commenter, Pascal Dubois-Pelerin, said: ‘The proposed entrance and office towers are grossly out of place in all respects: mass, location, design and style. The whole thing makes a mockery of the existing buildings, particularly the listed ones, of the area, and of common sense in general.’
Similarly, on Reddit, u/Lany_Giraffe was concerned the ‘ugly’ tower block would ‘ruin’ the current ‘gorgeous vista’ with ‘zero benefit to rail passengers’.
James Sellar, chief executive at Sellar – the firm that built The Shard – responded: ‘In the context of the number of objections received, these should be balanced against the circa 130million passenger journeys that would be improved should these essential upgrades to Liverpool Street station be approved.’
Following the approval of the revamp plans on February 10, 2026, Ellie Burrows, the managing director for Network Rail’s Eastern region, said: ‘This decision represents a key step towards the transformation of Britain’s busiest station and marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Liverpool Street.
‘Our plans focus on improving the everyday experience for passengers whilst respecting the station’s unique heritage. With annual passenger numbers forecast to grow to 158 million, this approval ensures the station will be future-proofed for decades to come.’
A version of this article was first published on March 27, 2024.
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