New сlocks at London Bridge: а fresh symbol of Britain’s Railways

As you pass through London Bridge station, it’s worth pausing for a moment to look up — a new rail clock has been installed overhead. This is the first redesign of the UK’s national railway clock in over fifty years, presented by Network Rail, and London Bridge is the first station where the updated design can be seen.

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For Network Rail, this is more than just an update: the new design represents a connection between the past and the future of British railways. The choice of London Bridge was deliberate — back in 1852, the station was home to the world’s second-ever electrically controlled railway clock. Now, almost two centuries later, it has once again become a benchmark for a new standard of time.

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To create the new look for the national railway clocks, Network Rail ran a competition in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Out of more than a hundred submissions, the winning project came from Design Bridge and Partners, praised for its simplicity, functionality, and attention to detail.

The clocks feature a clean yet striking design: the famous double-arrow railway logo moves around the edge of the dial, with the two arrows meeting every thirty seconds. Measuring 1.8 metres in diameter, the design combines analog and digital elements, making it suitable both for station halls and the online departure boards, where it will soon appear as well.

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According to Transport Minister Lord Peter Hendy, the new design serves as a bridge between the historical past and the modern future of British railways. He emphasized that good engineering and design are an essential part of updating the system, which aims to become more reliable and user-friendly.

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Railway clocks once played a crucial role in establishing a unified time across the UK. The last national clock design dates back to 1974. The new version not only modernizes the look but also marks the 200th anniversary of the first passenger train, symbolically uniting two centuries of transport development in a single minute.

Cover photo: © 2025 Network Rail

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