Battle over £1.5bn plan for Liverpool Street station

DEVELOPERS were today facing a battle with conservationists as they unveiled plans for a £1.5 billion hotel and office block development they say would fund a “cost-free” upgrade of Liverpool Street station.

Sellar, the developer of the Shard, wants to build a 16-storey tower block on top of the historic mainline station.

But it faces a fight with campaigners alarmed at the potential impact on the Grade II listed station, its “spectacular” glass roof and the former Great Eastern railway hotel, now the Andaz hotel.

Sellar is working with Network Rail, the Hyatt hotel group — which owns the Andaz — and the Elizabeth line operator MTR on the plans. They say the development would fund £450 million of capacity improvements to the station at no cost to passengers or taxpayers, including a two-storey concourse plus step-free access to all Tube platforms.

The station, which dates to 1874, was reopened by the Queen in 1991 after a six-year modernisation regarded as one of the best examples of Victorian restoration. Liverpool Street was the third busiest station in London pre-pandemic, with 67 million passenger journeys a year. But the developers claim the true footfall could be 135 million a year and say there is a pressing need to ease “significant overcrowding” at the station, now a key Elizabeth line interchange.

Liverpool Street, currently used as a taxi rank, would be pedestrianised. It is thought 50 Liverpool Street, the restored gothic building that currently houses a McDonald’s beside the station’s main entrance, would be demolished.

Latest figures show weekday rail travel is now 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while TfL services are 81 per cent of normal. James Sellar, chief executive at Sellar, said: “Our vision to significantly upgrade Liverpool Street station will alleviate its chronic overcapacity issues and future-proof it for generations at zero cost to the tax- or fare-payer.” The developers say the hotel’s listed façade would be “sensitively restored”, with a new link to the concourse. The Andaz would take the top six floors of the tower block, with 10 floors of office space below. There would be a public roof garden and swimming pool.

The Victorian Society has asked Historic England to upgrade the station to Grade II* status to offer greater protection. A spokesman for the society said the proposal for the tower block over the former Great Eastern hotel “will look grotesque”. A planning application is due next year, with work starting in 2024 and taking four years.