the following year. Electric services to Gillingham began on 2 July 1939, which involved extending Platform 1 to . This extension caused problems with arrivals and departures, due to all the trains running in such a restricted space. The station was not directly damaged by any action in World War II, but the hotel was hit by a bomb on 26 October, and then destroyed by fire overnight on 10–11 May 1941. The station was closed until 1 June as a result. A signal box to the south of the station, and a nearby bridge over Southwark Street, were destroyed by overnight bombing on 16–17 April 1941. A temporary replacement opened on 29 September, with a permanent arrangement opening on 9 October 1942. Post-nationalisation Following the war, services to Holborn Viaduct began to be withdrawn. The electrification of the Kent Coast route led to two basic services operating all day from the station: to Sevenoaks and West Croydon, with peak time services to a number of other destinations. The station was rebuilt between 1960–63. In 1963 the hotel, which had been heavily damaged during the Blitz, was demolished and redeveloped, with a new 10-storey office building replacing it. It opened on 9 September. Two platforms were removed from the station in 1973, as services were reduced and parcel traffic stopped running. The station was closed on Saturdays after 2 May 1970, and after 7:30pm on weekdays from 1 June 1981. It remained popular for commuter services into the 1980s, serving over 22,000 passengers on 200 trains every day. In 1984, British Rail proposed using Snow Hill Tunnel as a bypass for the station; driver-only trains would run from Blackfriars to Farringdon and then on to Kings Cross, allowing passengers to skip the change of trains at Holborn Viaduct. Holborn Viaduct station was temporarily closed on 18 August 1986, then re-opened on 30 August. In 1988, Snow Hill Tunnel was restored and passenger trains began running through as a north-south rail link through central London. The Thameslink plan was to build a new underground station in the vicinity, to be called St. Paul's Thameslink. Its construction required the demolition of the bridge to Holborn Viaduct from Ludgate Hill. The last train out of Holborn Viaduct was a special formed of two Class 411 units (8 CEP). It was an "enthusiast special" which started at Holborn Viaduct at 19:40 on 26 January