Whitechapel. Considering its long and storied history with evil doers - Jack the Ripper, the Krays, Foxtons estate agents - this London borough is long overdue a makeover.
Well, happily, it's getting one.
Unveiled as part of £110m plans of work as part of the Crossrail project (images to gawp at below) a new-look Whitechapel station is set to bring the East End neighbourhood into the 21st century. On time with any luck.
Set for completion in January 2018, there aren’t many transport hubs in the capital that would evoke this level of cool. Capacious ticket hall? Check. Wood and glass ceiling that will make visitors feel as if they've wandered into a Scandinavian airport? Check. Exposed brickwork? Need you even ask?
What's more, the station will now have access points for wheelchairs, meaning that for the first time in the station’s 140-year history, disabled passengers will no longer have to get from platform to street using the staircase.
The bad news now: commuters will be forced to use a temporary entrance further down Whitechapel Road for two years as the ticket hall is ripped out and the existing entrance completely rebuilt. Construction starts this weekend and will last two years.
But then Rome's central train terminal wasn't built in a day, was it?
