30million

A POPULAR train station is getting a long-awaited, multi-million pound upgrade.

South Kensington is often called a ‘museum hub’ by being the gateway to three free attractions – the V&A, Science Museum and the Natural History Museum.

And the train station is about to get a huge makeover to make it much easier to travel to and from.

The new plans revealed by TFL will see the Grade II listed station be modernised.

This includes step free entrances, and a new eastbound platform for the Circle and District lines.

Being the busiest London Underground station with no accessible entrance, it is though as many as 500,000 journeys aren’t made to the station because of it.

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Around 30million passengers use the station every year, with the Circle, District and Piccadilly line stopping there.

Works are set to start later this year, and will be completed by 2029.

Bruno Carr, head of investment planning at TfL, said: “This transformational scheme will deliver much-needed step-free access to this station, while also making the area around it more pleasant for the millions who visit the nearby attractions and museums every year.”

Scott Anderson, head of property development at Places for London, said the upgrade would make the station the “jewel of the Tube network”.

Part of the station opened in 1868, with the Metropolitan line (no longer running there) and the District line.

The train station’s crowds are expected to continue, especially after the nearby Natural History Museum was named the most popular attraction in the UK.

Overtaking the British Museum, more than 7.1million people visited last year.

Millions a year also visit the V&A and Science Museum in South Kensington along with the Royal Albert Hall.

South Kensington is even home to a street nicknamed Little Paris.

Also nicknamed Frog Alley, Bute Street has French bookshops and bakeries throughout.

Another train station getting an upgrade is London Liverpool Street, the UK’s busiest railway station.

And a new £460million, “first of its kind” train station is opening in Birmingham as part of the HS2 plans.

WORK has officially begun on a major expansion project at a regional airport in the UK.

Bristol Airport has started its £30million upgrade with a new two-floor extension to connect the existing terminal and the departure gates.

The airport upgrade will include 17 new shops and restaurants including premium brands and a hidden speakeasy bar in the terminal.

Overall floor space at the airport will nearly double (45 per cent increase) as well.

In the newly created floor space, there will be more seating as well as the new ‘island’ shops, meaning shops will not just be at the edges of the terminal.

When it comes to arrivals, there will be a new reclaim area with an additional baggage carousel.

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When it comes to accessibility, the assisted travel lounge will double in size with new tables.

It will be located near the middle of the departure lounge and also have accessible toilets and a changing places facility.

A baby feeding room will be added as well.

Accessibility will be improved to the immigration area too, with new stairs and lifts.

The transformation to the airport is set to take place over the next three years and is part of a wider £400million investment plan to transform passenger experience at the airport.

By the end of it, the airport will be able to cater for up to 12million passengers, up from 10million currently.

The airport already has completed a number of improvements as well, such as “next generation security” and a new Public Transport Interchange with bus stops, bus bays, a car park and a larger M&S supermarket.

The departure lounge also has a new executive lounge called Escape.

Andrew Goodenough, Infrastructure Director at Bristol Airport said: “We have ambitious plans to transform our customer experience over the next couple of years, and we really appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding while all of these massive improvements are taking place.”

Gerard McNamee, Project Manager at Farrans – the building and engineering firm carrying out the works at the airport – said: “This is an exciting project which will be completed in a live environment in which all passenger routes need to remain open at all times.”

Last year, the airport announced how as part of its upgrade, it hopes to offer flights to the east coast of America and the Middle East in the future.

The airport is also planning to increase the number of flights from 85,990 per year to 100,000, which would mean an additional 35 flights per day in the peak season.

While the airport is planning to keep its night restrictions, it does want to increase night flights to 1,000 a year, which would mean four per night in the peak season.

In other airport news, a major airport could become the second biggest in the UK thanks to huge expansion plans.

Plus, these are the best and worst airports in the UK – with a regional airport coming in number one.