London Bridge Station: A Guide

Published 28 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

London Bridge is the best-placed station in London for sightseeing and, since the rebuilding finished, one of the easiest to use. Fifteen platforms sit above a single street-level concourse the size of a football pitch, every platform is step-free by lift, and four exits put you at Borough Market, the foot of the Shard, the river opposite the Tower of London, or a bus station on the roof. Network Rail calls it the fourth busiest station in the United Kingdom.

For years it was the London terminal people dreaded, a maze of Victorian brick with platforms on two levels and no way through from one side to the other. The rebuild, finished in 2018, changed that completely: everything now happens on one concourse under Stainer Street, with the trains above you and the Underground below. Which terminal serves where in Britain is set out in our guide to London's main railway terminals.

Four exits, and what is within five minutes of each

This is where London Bridge earns its reputation. No other London terminus has four first-rank things within a five-minute walk of four different doors.

• St Thomas Street (entrance 1). The southern side. Out here for the foot of the Shard, whose lifts to the viewing gallery start almost next door, and for Guy's Hospital. The Old Operating Theatre Museum is across the street, up a spiral staircase in a church tower, and is the single strangest small museum in London.
• Tooley Street (entrance 2). The northern side, towards the river. Five minutes brings you to Hay's Galleria, the Thames path, HMS Belfast and the view straight across the water to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.
• Joiner Street (entrance 3). The tunnel-like exit that leads towards London Bridge itself and the City, and also to the Underground ticket hall. Cross the bridge and you are at the Monument in about eight minutes.
• London Bridge Street (entrance 4). The western side, and the one for Borough Market: turn left and you are at the market's Stoney Street entrance in three or four minutes. Our guide to Borough Market has the trading days, which matter, and Borough and Bermondsey covers the streets around it.

A fifth way out, from the upper concourse, takes you straight into the bus station on the station roof, which is the least obvious thing about the building and the most useful if you are going somewhere the trains do not reach.

How the concourse works, and where the platform appears

Everything starts on the lower concourse, a single covered space running under the tracks along the line of Stainer Street, with the ticket office, the shops, the toilets and the barriers all on it. The departure board is above the middle. When your platform is called you go up: lifts, escalators and stairs all lead to the same platform level.

Platforms 1 to 9 are on the eastern side of the station and 10 to 15 on the western, and the assistance points are grouped between them, which gives you a rough sense of where to stand while you wait. The walk from the board to any platform is two to four minutes, and because the concourse is wide and the crowd moves in one direction at a time it does not feel like the crush at Euston or Victoria.

The complication here is not the platform number but the operator. Thameslink, Southeastern and Southern all use this station, and several destinations are served by more than one of them from different platforms. Check the operator on your ticket as well as the destination, especially for Gatwick, where Thameslink and Southern both run and the fares differ; the comparison is in Gatwick Express, Thameslink or Southern?

Thameslink through the middle, from the same platform

London Bridge is the southern gateway to Thameslink, the north-south main line that runs under central London. From platforms here, trains go north through Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras and on to Luton, Bedford, Cambridge and Peterborough, and south to Gatwick and Brighton, all without changing.

That makes this the one London terminus you can arrive at from Brighton and leave from towards Cambridge on the same platform, and it makes it a better airport station than its reputation suggests. Our page on how Thameslink works sets out the pattern and where it beats the Tube.

The Underground, and the 410-metre change of line

The Jubilee and Northern lines both call here, and both are step-free from the street to the platform, which is rare for the Northern line and is the reason step-free travellers should route themselves through London Bridge rather than Bank. The Underground ticket hall is below the lower concourse, reached from the Joiner Street end.

Changing between the two lines is not quick. TfL's own station data measures the step-free route from the Northern line platforms to the Jubilee line platforms at 410 metres, and even by escalator it is a long passage. If you have a choice, change at Waterloo instead, three minutes away on the Jubilee line. The Jubilee line guide covers the fast run east to Canary Wharf and the Northern line guide explains the two branches through the centre.

Left luggage, toilets and step-free routes

Left luggage is run by the Excess Baggage Company on the station's own left luggage desk, open daily 07:00 to 23:00, from £10.00 per item for up to three hours and £15.00 for up to 24 hours, with bags screened on the way in. The app-based alternatives nearby cost a fraction of that and are compared in left luggage at London's stations.

Toilets are free and outside the ticket barriers, on the lower concourse on the north side of Stainer Street, with accessible toilets and baby changing, and a second set through the Western Arcade. There is a Changing Places toilet on the upper concourse, reached by lift from the lower concourse, from street level or from the Underground, and the key is held at the information desk.

Network Rail rates the station Category A, with step-free access to all 15 platforms by lift, plus a lift from the upper-level concourse down to street level. There are customer information points on the lower concourse by platforms 6 and 7 and on the upper concourse on the unpaid side, and five help points around the entrances. Assistance can be requested on the day or booked up to two hours ahead, as our guide to step-free and accessible transport in London explains.

Eating, and what to skip

The station's own retail is the usual set of chains along the lower concourse, and on a wet evening it is what there is. It is also two minutes from one of the best food markets in Europe and five from the restaurants of Bermondsey Street, so the calculation is easy in daylight. Our guide to eating near London Bridge deals with both, including the market stalls that are worth queueing for and the ones that are not.

Frequently asked questions

Is London Bridge station step-free?

Yes. Network Rail rates it Category A with step-free access to all 15 platforms by lift, and both the Jubilee and Northern line platforms below are step-free from the street too. The one thing to allow for is the 410-metre step-free route between the two Underground lines inside the station.

Which London Bridge exit is closest to Borough Market?

The London Bridge Street exit on the western side. Turn left out of it and the market's Stoney Street entrance is three or four minutes away. The market is closed on Mondays outside December, so check the day before you build a stop around it.

How do I get from London Bridge station to the Tower of London?

Leave by the Tooley Street exit, walk to the river and turn right along the Thames path to Tower Bridge, then cross it: about fifteen to twenty minutes on foot, with the best views of the walk. By train it is one stop on the Northern line to Bank and then a short walk, which takes about the same time and shows you nothing.

Is there left luggage at London Bridge station?

Yes, run by the Excess Baggage Company and open daily from 07:00 to 23:00, from £10.00 per item for up to three hours. Bags are screened before they are accepted. It is on the lower concourse, the same level as the ticket office.

Do Thameslink trains to Gatwick stop at London Bridge?

Yes. Thameslink runs through London Bridge on its way between Bedford, Cambridge or Peterborough in the north and Gatwick and Brighton in the south, so you can reach the airport from here without changing. Southern also serves Gatwick from London Bridge, at a different fare, so check which operator your ticket is for.

Sources

• Network Rail - London Bridge station information, platforms, toilets and step-free access (checked September 2026)
• National Rail - London Bridge station facilities (checked September 2026)
• Network Rail - London Bridge station map, upper and lower concourse (checked September 2026)
• Transport for London - Stations, lifts, toilets and step-free interchange distances (checked September 2026)