Blackfriars Tube station which is used by 44,000 passengers a day and is one of the busiest and oldest on the London Underground network, will close from today (Monday 2 March 2009)  until late 2011 as part of the £5.5bn Thameslink upgrade project.

The work will improve the station with step-free access, increased capacity and enhancement to interchange facilities with the overground station. Improvements to the Tube station will also include an enlarged ticket hall and refurbished platforms.

The work is part of a £350m project that will see Blackfriars become the first station to span the River Thames.

The Thameslink upgrade will see peak-time trains increase from eight an hour to as many as 24, using 12-carriage services instead of eight.

Network Rail have said that Blackfriars mainline station will remain open during the course of the work. Andy Mitchell, Thameslink programme director at Network Rail, said: "There will be some disruption while we build the new station but the end result will see through London services tripled and with longer trains too."

District and Circle line services will not stop at the station during the engineering work and passengers are advised to use nearby Temple and Mansion House stations.

There will also be major improvements to the nearby London Bridge and Farringdon stations.