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Work on the £600m project to increase capacity at Bank station has reached the half-way stage, Tube bosses announced today.

Pictures were released by Transport for London today to show the progress being made by contractors.

Stuart Harvey, TfL’s director of major projects, said: “The upgrade of Bank Tube station is a crucial project that will make journeys through a vital interchange much easier and more comfortable.

“These pictures show the extent of the great work being done by TfL staff and contractors as we continue to make good progress on delivering these improvements for Londoners.”

More than 120 million passengers a year use Bank and Monument stations, up almost 40 per cent in a decade. It is the third busiest interchange on the Underground, with 50,000 passengers each morning switching trains.

The work, due to be finished by 2022, includes a new southbound tunnel and platform on the Northern line and a new station entrance on Cannon Street.

The existing platform will be converted into a new concourse to reduce overcrowding. A new entrance to the Waterloo & City line on Walbrook opened last December.

Most of the construction work has been completed in isolation from the existing station to keep disruption to passengers to a minimum.

The project will increase capacity at Bank by 40 per cent. Over 200,000 tonnes of material has already been excavated – equivalent to around 16,000 Routemaster buses.

Twelve new escalators and two moving walkways will improve passenger flow around the station.

The station structure will be complete this summer, allowing the station fit-out to start in the autumn.

The new tunnel will be connected to the existing Northern line in 2021, when the Bank branch will be closed between Moorgate and Kennington for 17 weeks in the spring and summer. When it reopens trains will also be able to run through to Battersea on the new £1.2bn southern spur.