Features
Cable Club Derailed
The directors of one of London’s biggest nightclubs are furious following the venue’s forced closure to make way for redevelopment of the rail station that stands above it.
The 1,300-capacity Cable, which is in the arches under London Bridge station, will soon have an emergency staircase leading from the station to the middle of what was once a dancefloor. The immediate closure means the loss of 70 jobs.
Cable director Euan Johnston says Network Rail, which is running the Thameslink upgrade program, previously promised the venue would not be affected.
Johnston told the Evening Standard he had an agreement with Network Rail that the club could become a long-term tenant after it refurbished the “derelict, leaking and uninhabitable arches.”
He said that after investing millions of pounds in the club, Network Rail told them “plans had changed” and refused to negotiate. “They simply don’t care and are not interested in having any meaningful discussion at all,” Johnston said.
London Bridge, the fourth-busiest station in London as well as the entire UK, will be getting more platforms, shops and natural light as part of the £6 billion Thameslink program.
The programme is aimed at improving the train service between a wider range of stations to the north and south of the English capital, without requiring passengers to change trains in London.
A Facebook page has been created supporting the club.