There are two station entrances – one on each side of the Thames – along with a connection to the London Underground District and Circle lines.

It was rebuilt in the 1970s, which included the addition of office space above the station and the closure of the original railway bridge, which was demolished in 1985.

Blackfriars station[a] serves Thameslink rail services that connect suburbs with central London.

The company wanted to compete with rivals, the South Eastern Railway, and provide the best service into Central London.

[20] The railway bridge across the Thames was delayed because the City's municipal body, the Corporation of London, was unsure as to what it should look like and how many arches there should be.

[23] The joint engineers for the works were William Mills of the London, Chatham, and Dover Company, and Messrs. John Wolfe Barry and Henry Marc Brunel.

The original station was a small and cheaply designed pink-red brick building, as the LC&DR had financial difficulties throughout its lifetime attempting to drive a railway through Central London.

[24] The station's frontage backed onto the District Railway, making cab access and a forecourt impossible owing to lack of space.

Reconstruction was problematic, as the original station building had sat on top of a cold store, which had frozen the ground below it.

The District line tunnel had to be removed and replaced with a new supporting structure that could accommodate the redesigned station building.

The work was formally reopened on 30 November 1977 by the Lord Mayor of London, Peter Vanneck (though the station had never actually closed).

[27] The original concept for the project was designed by Pascall+Watson architects, with execution by Jacobs and Tony Gee and Partners; it was built by Balfour Beatty.

The new station is the same height and has a combined National Rail and London Underground ticket hall and ventilation shaft together with escalators and lifts between a mezzanine level for main line railway services and the sub-surface level for London Underground services.

[39] The through platforms were moved to the east side and extended along Blackfriars Railway Bridge to accommodate 12-carriage trains (in place of the previous eight).

The layout has been altered by building new bay platforms on the west side, avoiding the need for through trains between City Thameslink and London Bridge crossing the paths of terminating ones.

This includes trains from Bedford, St Albans City and Luton to the north, and Brighton, Sutton and Sevenoaks to the south.

Although many services are Thameslink through trains, Blackfriars is considered a central London terminus and tickets marked 'London Terminals' are valid to use when travelling to/from the south.

[20] The MDR had been created as a new company to complete the Circle line, which would split the budget from the District and Metropolitan Railways.

[51] The construction of the new section of the MDR was planned in conjunction with the building of the Victoria Embankment and was achieved by the cut and cover method of roofing over a shallow trench.

[53] The Circle line ran over the same route, but its completion was delayed following arguments between the District and Metropolitan Railways and did not open until 6 October 1884.