Clive Page wrote:
I'm sure you are right. I hardly ever used to use Blackfriars, but
recently have been using it on almost every visit to London, because the
interchange (although involving rather a lot of stairs up from the tube)
is still a whole lot faster than the awful trek the length of St.Pancras.
If you are carrying luggage or even a heavy laptop computer, the shorter
connection becomes a lot more attractive.

Just out of interest, how busy is Blackfriars tube station compared to,
say, Farringdon tube station?

I think it's really terrible that Blackfriars LU station is going to be
closed for so long, and just because of the elf-and-safety mafia, as far
as I can see.

Indeed. But I see it as a necessary evil for the following reasons:
1) It would take more than 2 additional years to rebuild the tube
station if it was kept open throughout.
2) Based on the above, the tube station would start to become somewhat
more crowded than it is today once the longer Thameslink services begin,
until of course the works are complete - about 2 years later. I'm
assuming that completion of the mainline station does not depend on the
completion of the tube station, and if it did then the intorduction of
Thameslink Key Output 1 services would be delayed.
3) Temple station is only 10 minutes away to the west, and Mansion House
is slightly closer to the east.