King's Cross railway station, also known as
London King's Cross, is a central London railway terminus opened in 1852. The station is on the northern edge of
central LondonCentral London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, at the junction of the
A501The London Inner Ring Road is the name commonly given to a route formed from a number of major roads that encircle the centremost part of London...
Euston RoadEuston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
and York Way, in the
Kings Cross districtKing's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
and within the
London Borough of CamdenIn 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
on the border of the
London Borough of IslingtonThe London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
.
King's Cross is the southern terminus of the
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
, one of the UK's major railway backbones. Some of its most important long-distance destinations are
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
,
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. It also hosts outer-suburban services to
BedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
,
HertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and
CambridgeshireCambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
as well as a regional service to
PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
,
CambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Kings Lynn.
Immediately adjacent to the west is
St Pancras railway stationSt Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, the London terminus for international
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
trains, high-speed trains to
KentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
via High Speed 1, and
East Midlands TrainsEast Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
, as well as a major interchange for
ThameslinkThameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
services between and . The two stations are operationally completely separate, but from the passenger's point of view they may be regarded as a single complex for interchange purposes. They share
King's Cross St. Pancras tube stationKing's Cross St. Pancras is a tube station in the London Borough of Camden, on the London Underground network, serving both King's Cross and main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is the fourth busiest station on the system and serves more lines than any other...
on the
London UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
network, where six Underground lines meet. Taken together, these two main-line stations and the associated underground station form one of Britain's biggest transport hubs. The station is also within close walking distance to
Euston StationEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
, the southern terminus for the
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
.
History
King's Cross was originally designed and built as the London hub of the
Great Northern RailwayThe Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
and terminus of the East Coast main line. It took its name from the
Kings CrossKing's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
area of London, itself named after a monument to
King George IVGeorge IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
that was demolished in 1845.
Plans for the station were first made in December 1848 by and under the direction of
George TurnbullGeorge Turnbull was the Chief Engineer responsible for construction from 1851 to 1863 of the first railway line from Calcutta : the 541-mile line to Benares en route to Delhi...
, resident engineer for construction of the first 20 miles of the Great Northern Railway out of London. The detailed design was by
Lewis CubittLewis Cubitt was born on 29 September 1799 and died on 9 June 1883. He married Sophia Kendall on 23 January 1830.He was the younger brother of Thomas Cubitt, the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and he designed many of the housing developments constructed...
, and construction was in 1851–1852 on the site of a former fever and smallpox hospital. The main part of the station, which today includes platforms 1 to 8, was opened on 14 October 1852. It replaced a temporary terminus at
Maiden LaneThe two Maiden Lane railway stations were in close proximity in the present London Borough of Camden, in north London, England. Maiden Lane itself is now York Way.-Great Northern Railway station:...
that had opened on 7 August 1850.
The platforms have been reconfigured several times. Originally there was only one arrival and one departure platform (today's platforms 1 and 8 respectively), with the space between used for carriage sidings. In later years, as suburban traffic grew, space for additional platforms was added with considerably less grandeur. The secondary building now containing platforms 9–11 (and the fictional Platform
{{About|the
National RailNational Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
station in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
|other uses, including stations|King's Cross (disambiguation)}}
King's Cross railway station, also known as
London King's Cross, is a central London railway terminus opened in 1852. The station is on the northern edge of
central LondonCentral London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, at the junction of the
A501The London Inner Ring Road is the name commonly given to a route formed from a number of major roads that encircle the centremost part of London...
Euston RoadEuston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
and York Way, in the
Kings Cross districtKing's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
and within the
London Borough of CamdenIn 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
on the border of the
London Borough of IslingtonThe London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
.
King's Cross is the southern terminus of the
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
, one of the UK's major railway backbones. Some of its most important long-distance destinations are
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
,
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. It also hosts outer-suburban services to
BedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
,
HertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and
CambridgeshireCambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
as well as a regional service to
PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
,
CambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Kings Lynn.
Immediately adjacent to the west is
St Pancras railway stationSt Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, the London terminus for international
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
trains, high-speed trains to
KentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
via High Speed 1, and
East Midlands TrainsEast Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
, as well as a major interchange for
ThameslinkThameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
services between {{stnlink|Bedford}} and {{stnlink|Brighton}}. The two stations are operationally completely separate, but from the passenger's point of view they may be regarded as a single complex for interchange purposes. They share
King's Cross St. Pancras tube stationKing's Cross St. Pancras is a tube station in the London Borough of Camden, on the London Underground network, serving both King's Cross and main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is the fourth busiest station on the system and serves more lines than any other...
on the
London UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
network, where six Underground lines meet. Taken together, these two main-line stations and the associated underground station form one of Britain's biggest transport hubs. The station is also within close walking distance to
Euston StationEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
, the southern terminus for the
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
.
History
King's Cross was originally designed and built as the London hub of the
Great Northern RailwayThe Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
and terminus of the East Coast main line. It took its name from the
Kings CrossKing's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
area of London, itself named after a monument to
King George IVGeorge IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
that was demolished in 1845.
Plans for the station were first made in December 1848 by and under the direction of
George TurnbullGeorge Turnbull was the Chief Engineer responsible for construction from 1851 to 1863 of the first railway line from Calcutta : the 541-mile line to Benares en route to Delhi...
, resident engineer for construction of the first 20 miles of the Great Northern Railway out of London. The detailed design was by
Lewis CubittLewis Cubitt was born on 29 September 1799 and died on 9 June 1883. He married Sophia Kendall on 23 January 1830.He was the younger brother of Thomas Cubitt, the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and he designed many of the housing developments constructed...
, and construction was in 1851–1852 on the site of a former fever and smallpox hospital. The main part of the station, which today includes platforms 1 to 8, was opened on 14 October 1852. It replaced a temporary terminus at
Maiden LaneThe two Maiden Lane railway stations were in close proximity in the present London Borough of Camden, in north London, England. Maiden Lane itself is now York Way.-Great Northern Railway station:...
that had opened on 7 August 1850.
The platforms have been reconfigured several times. Originally there was only one arrival and one departure platform (today's platforms 1 and 8 respectively), with the space between used for carriage sidings. In later years, as suburban traffic grew, space for additional platforms was added with considerably less grandeur. The secondary building now containing platforms 9–11 (and the fictional Platform
{{About|the
National RailNational Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
station in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
|other uses, including stations|King's Cross (disambiguation)}}
King's Cross railway station, also known as
London King's Cross, is a central London railway terminus opened in 1852. The station is on the northern edge of
central LondonCentral London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, at the junction of the
A501The London Inner Ring Road is the name commonly given to a route formed from a number of major roads that encircle the centremost part of London...
Euston RoadEuston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
and York Way, in the
Kings Cross districtKing's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
and within the
London Borough of CamdenIn 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
on the border of the
London Borough of IslingtonThe London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
.
King's Cross is the southern terminus of the
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
, one of the UK's major railway backbones. Some of its most important long-distance destinations are
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
,
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. It also hosts outer-suburban services to
BedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
,
HertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and
CambridgeshireCambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
as well as a regional service to
PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
,
CambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Kings Lynn.
Immediately adjacent to the west is
St Pancras railway stationSt Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, the London terminus for international
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
trains, high-speed trains to
KentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
via High Speed 1, and
East Midlands TrainsEast Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
, as well as a major interchange for
ThameslinkThameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
services between {{stnlink|Bedford}} and {{stnlink|Brighton}}. The two stations are operationally completely separate, but from the passenger's point of view they may be regarded as a single complex for interchange purposes. They share
King's Cross St. Pancras tube stationKing's Cross St. Pancras is a tube station in the London Borough of Camden, on the London Underground network, serving both King's Cross and main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is the fourth busiest station on the system and serves more lines than any other...
on the
London UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
network, where six Underground lines meet. Taken together, these two main-line stations and the associated underground station form one of Britain's biggest transport hubs. The station is also within close walking distance to
Euston StationEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
, the southern terminus for the
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
.
History
King's Cross was originally designed and built as the London hub of the
Great Northern RailwayThe Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
and terminus of the East Coast main line. It took its name from the
Kings CrossKing's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
area of London, itself named after a monument to
King George IVGeorge IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
that was demolished in 1845.
Plans for the station were first made in December 1848 by and under the direction of
George TurnbullGeorge Turnbull was the Chief Engineer responsible for construction from 1851 to 1863 of the first railway line from Calcutta : the 541-mile line to Benares en route to Delhi...
, resident engineer for construction of the first 20 miles of the Great Northern Railway out of London. The detailed design was by
Lewis CubittLewis Cubitt was born on 29 September 1799 and died on 9 June 1883. He married Sophia Kendall on 23 January 1830.He was the younger brother of Thomas Cubitt, the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and he designed many of the housing developments constructed...
, and construction was in 1851–1852 on the site of a former fever and smallpox hospital. The main part of the station, which today includes platforms 1 to 8, was opened on 14 October 1852. It replaced a temporary terminus at
Maiden LaneThe two Maiden Lane railway stations were in close proximity in the present London Borough of Camden, in north London, England. Maiden Lane itself is now York Way.-Great Northern Railway station:...
that had opened on 7 August 1850.
The platforms have been reconfigured several times. Originally there was only one arrival and one departure platform (today's platforms 1 and 8 respectively), with the space between used for carriage sidings. In later years, as suburban traffic grew, space for additional platforms was added with considerably less grandeur. The secondary building now containing platforms 9–11 (and the fictional Platform {{frac) survives from that era.
A new platform, numbered 0, was opened in 2010. It lies to the east of platform 1, and has created capacity for Network Rail to begin a phased refurbishment of platforms 1-8 that will include new lifts to a new footbridge between the platforms. By 2013 the entire station will have been restored and transformed.
When the railways were privatised in 1996, express services into the station were taken over by
GNERGreat North Eastern Railway was a British train operating company, owned by Sea Containers Ltd. It operated high-speed express train services on the East Coast Main Line from 1996 until 9 December 2007 when the franchise was taken over by National Express East Coast.GNER's primary service routes...
. Though it successfully re-bid for the franchise in 2005, it was asked to surrender it in December 2006.
National Express East CoastNational Express East Coast was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running high speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland, as part of the East Coast passenger franchise...
took over the franchise on 9 December 2007 after an interim period when GNER ran trains under a management contract. In July 2009, it was announced that National Express was no longer willing to finance the East Coast subsidiary and so the franchise was taken back into public ownership, handing over to
East CoastEast Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...
in November 2009.
According to twentieth-century urban folklore, King's Cross is built on the site of
BoudicaBoudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
's final battle, or else her body is buried under one of the platforms. Platforms 8, 9 and 10 have been suggested as possible sites. There are also passages under the station which Boudica's ghost is supposed to haunt.
The
King's Cross fireThe King's Cross St. Pancras tube station fire was a fatal fire on the London Underground. It broke out at approximately 19:30 on 18 November 1987, and killed 31 people....
of 1987, in which 31 people died, was at the adjacent
King's Cross St. Pancras UndergroundKing's Cross St. Pancras is a tube station in the London Borough of Camden, on the London Underground network, serving both King's Cross and main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is the fourth busiest station on the system and serves more lines than any other...
station. A major redevelopment of this station (partly influenced by the report issued after the fire) is currently in progress. Phase One was completed in 2006, and Phase Two is expected to be complete by 2011.
In 1972, a one-storey extension designed in-house by
British RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
was constructed in front of the station. Although the extension was intended to be temporary, it still stands nearly forty years later. Many consider the extension unattractive, not least because it obscures the
Grade I-listed façade of the original station. Before the extension was built, the façade had already become hidden behind a small terrace of shops. The extension is scheduled to be demolished, revealing once again the
Lewis CubittLewis Cubitt was born on 29 September 1799 and died on 9 June 1883. He married Sophia Kendall on 23 January 1830.He was the younger brother of Thomas Cubitt, the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and he designed many of the housing developments constructed...
architecture, when the new ticket hall and concourse area are finished on the station's western side.
On 10 September 1973, a
Provisional IRAThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
bomb exploded in the booking hall at 12.24 pm, causing extensive damage and injuring six people, some seriously. The 3 lb (1.4 kg) device was thrown without warning into the station by a youth who escaped into the crowd and was not caught.
King's Cross York Road
Before 1976, part of King's Cross was an intermediate station. On the extreme east of the site was Kings Cross York Road, with suburban trains travelling south from
Finsbury ParkFinsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. The interchange consists of an interconnected National Rail station, London Underground station and two bus stations. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place...
calling here, then going underground using the York Road curve to join the
City Widened LinesThe Widened Lines is the name of a group of railway routes that currently form part of the Thameslink network leading from King's Cross/St...
to
FarringdonFarringdon station is a London Underground and National Rail station in Clerkenwell, just north of the City of London in the London Borough of Islington...
,
BarbicanBarbican is a London Underground station serving the Barbican Estate and Centre in the City of London. It is on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines between and , in Travelcard Zone 1. Thameslink trains to and from Moorgate via Barbican ceased in March 2009.-History:The station...
and
MoorgateMoorgate station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and...
stations. In the other direction, trains from Moorgate came off the Widened Lines via the Hotel Curve, with platform 16 (latterly renumbered 14) rising to the main-line level. Services to and from Moorgate were diverted via the
Northern City LineThe Northern City Line is a railway line from Moorgate to Finsbury Park in London, once part of the Great Northern Electrics line. It should not be confused with the City branch of the Northern line, nor with the North London Line...
from August 1976.
Location and surroundings
West of King's Cross are, in succession, the reconstructed and restored
St Pancras stationSt Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, the
British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
and
Euston stationEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
, all within a few minutes' walk.
Considerable regeneration effort has gone into the area in recent years, with the opening of new hotels and office space under construction.
The Network-Rail-owned Power Signal Box (PSB) for the southern end of the East Coast Main Line stands at the country end of the station. The box controls trains as far as
BiggleswadeBiggleswade is a market town and civil parish located on the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, England. It is well served by transport routes, being close to the A1 road between London and the North, as well as having a railway station on the main rail link North from London .-Geography:Located about 40...
and
RoystonRoyston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.It is situated on the Greenwich Meridian, which brushes the towns western boundary, and at the northernmost apex of the county on the same latitude of towns such as Milton Keynes and...
, and also controls the
Northern City LineThe Northern City Line is a railway line from Moorgate to Finsbury Park in London, once part of the Great Northern Electrics line. It should not be confused with the City branch of the Northern line, nor with the North London Line...
.
PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
signal box takes over after Biggleswade, and
CambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
after Royston.
First Capital ConnectFirst Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
also controls all its GN route trains from its control (or 'Service Delivery Centre') at King's Cross PSB.
Restoration
In 2005, a £500 million restoration plan was announced by
Network RailNetwork Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
; it was approved by
Camden London Borough CouncilCamden London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Camden in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London...
on 9 November 2007. The plan includes a thorough restoration of the arched roof of the station and the demolition of the 1972 extension, which will be replaced by an open-air plaza. A semi-circular concourse (estimated completion date 2012) is being built in the space directly to the west of the station behind the Great Northern Hotel, some outbuildings of which are being demolished. It will replace the current 1972 concourse, shopping area and East Coast ticket office, providing greater integration between the intercity and suburban sections of the station, as well as easier access to St Pancras. The land between and behind the domestic main lines leading from the two stations is being redeveloped with nearly 2,000 new homes, 486280 m² (581,586 sq yd) of offices and new roads as
King's Cross CentralKing's Cross Central is a multi-billion pound mixed-use property development in central London. The site is owned and controlled by London and Continental Railways and Exel, which selected Argent St George to be the developer for King's Cross Central, after an extensive selection process...
.
As part of this restoration programme, refurbished offices have opened on the east side of the station to replace the ones lost on the west side, and a new platform 0 opened underneath them on 20 May 2010. In order to prevent exhaust fumes from entering the ventilation system, the platform is categorised as 'electric only' and diesel trains are forbidden. The platform occupies the space of a former taxi rank, and was originally to be known as platform Y, but was renamed to avoid the confusion of having both lettered and numbered platforms. When the refurbishment is complete, all the platforms will be renumbered, the new one becoming platform 1. Although there have been plans for a new platform for some time to increase the capacity at the station, it was ultimately the need to minimise disruption during restoration when other platforms would be temporarily out of use that led to this being built.
Services
{{East Coast route |width=350px |collapse=yes }}
{{First Capital Connect services |width=350px |collapse=yes }}
{{First Hull Trains Route |width=350px |collapse=yes }}
{{Grand Central routes|width=350px |collapse=yes }}
The station is served by routes from the north and east of England and from Scotland, connecting it to major cities such as Cambridge, Peterborough, Hull, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.
Four train companies currently run services into the mainline station:
East Coast
East Coast runs inter-city services on the East Coast Main Line to
PeterboroughPeterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
,
DoncasterDoncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...
, Leeds,
WakefieldWakefield Westgate railway station is the mainline railway station for the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the western edge of the main city centre, on the opposite side from Wakefield's other station, Kirkgate.-Services:...
,
LincolnLincoln Central railway station serves the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. The station is operated by East Midlands Trains, who provide services along with Northern Rail and East Coast....
, Hull,
YorkYork railway station is a main-line railway station in the city of York, England. It lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London's King's Cross station towards Edinburgh's Waverley Station...
,
DarlingtonDarlington railway station, also known as Darlington Bank Top, is the main railway station for the town of Darlington, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The station is located on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross....
,
DurhamDurham railway station serves the city of Durham on the East Coast Main Line. The railway station is managed by East Coast. Despite its small functional capacity the station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line and is called at by many intercity services travelling the route.The travel...
, Newcastle Central,
Edinburgh WaverleyEdinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
,
Glasgow CentralGlasgow Central is the larger of the two present main-line railway terminals in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on 31 July 1879 and is currently managed by Network Rail...
,
DundeeDundee railway station serves the city of Dundee on the east coast of Scotland. The station has two through platforms and two terminal platforms...
,
AberdeenAberdeen railway station is the main railway station in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is the busiest railway station in Scotland north of the major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.- History :...
,
PerthPerth Station including Perth Underground is the largest railway station in Perth, Western Australia, and functions as an interchange between the Transperth Trains Armadale / Thornlie, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland railway lines, as well as the Transwa Australind.-History:The Victorian...
and
InvernessInverness railway station is the railway station serving the Scottish city of Inverness.- History :Opened on 5 November 1855 as the western terminus of the Inverness and Nairn Railway, it is now the terminus of the Highland Main Line, the Aberdeen-Inverness Line , the Kyle of Lochalsh Line and the...
. from May 2011. East Coast is the "lead operator" at the station.
Services operate at the following intervals:
-
- xx:00, calling at Peterborough
Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
(Occasionally), York, Darlington, Newcastle, {{stnlnk|Berwick-upon-Tweed}} and Edinburgh.
- xx:10, calling at Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate
Wakefield Westgate railway station is the mainline railway station for the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the western edge of the main city centre, on the opposite side from Wakefield's other station, Kirkgate.-Services:...
and Leeds. Extended to Harrogate and Bradford Forster Square once a day respectively.
- xx:30, calling at Peterborough, Newark, Doncaster
Doncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...
, {{stnlink|York}}, NorthallertonNorthallerton railway station serves the town of Northallerton in North Yorkshire, England. The station lies on the East Coast Main Line north of York...
, {{stnlink|Darlington}}, DurhamDurham railway station serves the city of Durham on the East Coast Main Line. The railway station is managed by East Coast. Despite its small functional capacity the station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line and is called at by many intercity services travelling the route.The travel...
and Newcastle. (with some services extended into Scotland).
- xx:35, calling at Stevenage
Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27¼ miles north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is managed and served by First Capital Connect...
, GranthamGrantham railway station serves the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, England and lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross.-Description:Junctions near the town also connect to branches to Nottingham, and to Sleaford and Skegness...
, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds. Extended once a day to Skipton
- xx:05, calling at Stevenage
Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27¼ miles north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is managed and served by First Capital Connect...
, Peterborough, GranthamGrantham railway station serves the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, England and lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross.-Description:Junctions near the town also connect to branches to Nottingham, and to Sleaford and Skegness...
and Newark extended to York every 2 hours and once a day to Lincoln
The 10:00, 14:00 and 16:00 Edinburgh departures are extended to {{stnlnk|Aberdeen}}, the 12:00 departure runs to {{stnlnk|Inverness}} and the 15:00 departure runs to {{stnlnk|Glasgow Central}}.
The new timetable has introduced services terminating at Newark North Gate and York, departing at xx:08, calling at all East-Coast stations (Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, and Newark North Gate [with alternate services calling at Retford, Doncaster and York]).
First Capital Connect
Fist Capital Connect operates regular services from Kings Cross to
CambridgeCambridge railway station is a railway station serving the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile south-east of the city centre...
, Kings Lynn, and
PeterboroughPeterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
. During peak hours and weekends, there are also suburban services from Kings Cross to
Welwyn Garden CityWelwyn Garden City railway station serves the town of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The station is approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Welwyn Garden City station is managed and served by First Capital Connect.-History:A station named Welwyn...
,
Hertford NorthHertford North railway station is one of two stations serving the town of Hertford in Hertfordshire, England with the other being Hertford East railway station....
, and
Letchworth Garden CityLetchworth Garden City station serves the town of Letchworth in Hertfordshire, England. The station is on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line north of London Kings Cross, and is a stop for services between Kings Cross and Cambridge...
.
First Hull Trains
First Hull Trains operates inter-city services to Hull via the East Coast Main Line. Unlike the other train companies in FirstGroup, First Hull Trains is not a franchised
train operating companyThe term train operating company is used in the United Kingdom to describe the various businesses operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand...
but operates under an
open accessIn the context of infrastructure, open access involves physical infrastructure such as railways and physical telecommunications network plant being made available to clients other than the owners, for a fee....
arrangement.
Grand Central
Grand Central operates inter-city services to
North YorkshireNorth Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
,
County DurhamCounty Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
and
SunderlandSunderland Station is a National Rail and Tyne and Wear Metro station in the city centre of Sunderland, North East England. It is the only station in the country where both heavy rail and light rail services use the same platforms...
, along the East Coast Main Line. Grand Central is another open access operator. On 23 May 2010, Grand Central also began services to Bradford Interchange via {{stnlnk|Halifax}} and
PontefractPontefract Monkhill railway station is the busiest station in the town of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Pontefract Line operated by Northern Rail and is south east of Leeds....
which had originally been due to begin in December 2009.
Bus Services
London bus routes
10London Buses route 10 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to London United.-History:...
,
17London Buses route 17 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Metroline.-History:...
,
30London Buses route 30 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to First Capital.-History:Route 30 commenced operation on 8 May 1911 between Kings Cross and Fulham Cross...
, 45, 46,
59London Buses route 59 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:...
,
63London Buses route 63 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.-History:...
,
73London Buses route 73 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London...
, 91,
205London Buses route 205 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Stagecoach London.-History:...
,
214London Buses route 214 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Metroline.-History:...
, 259, 390, 476 and night route N63, N73 and N91.
Route
{{rail start}}
{{rail line one to two|next1=
StevenageStevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27¼ miles north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is managed and served by First Capital Connect...
|next2=
GranthamGrantham railway station serves the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, England and lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross.-Description:Junctions near the town also connect to branches to Nottingham, and to Sleaford and Skegness...
|previous=Terminus|route1=First Hull Trains
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
|route2=First Hull Trains
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
|col=FF0099}}
{{rail line |next=
StevenageStevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. The station is 27¼ miles north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line. Stevenage is managed and served by First Capital Connect...
,
PeterboroughPeterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...
or
YorkYork railway station is a main-line railway station in the city of York, England. It lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London's King's Cross station towards Edinburgh's Waverley Station...
|route=
East CoastEast Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
|col={{NXEC colour}}}}
{{rail line one to two two routes|next1=
YorkYork railway station is a main-line railway station in the city of York, England. It lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London's King's Cross station towards Edinburgh's Waverley Station...
|previous=Terminus|route1=
Grand CentralNorth EasternThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
|col1=2C3838|next2=
DoncasterDoncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...
|route2=
Grand CentralWest Riding |col2=2C3838}}
{{rail line|previous=Terminus|next=Finsbury Park
or
St. Neots|route=
First Capital ConnectFirst Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
Great Northern|col=F400A1}}
{{rail line|previous=Terminus|next=
CambridgeCambridge railway station is a railway station serving the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile south-east of the city centre...
|route=
First Capital ConnectFirst Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
Cambridge CruiserThe Fen Line is a railway in the United Kingdom that runs between the cities of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire and King's Lynn, Norfolk; the line is so called because it runs through The Fens. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5 and comprises SRS 05.06 and part of 05.05...
|col=F400A1}}
{{Disused Rail Insert}}
{{rail line|previous=
Finsbury ParkFinsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. The interchange consists of an interconnected National Rail station, London Underground station and two bus stations. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place...
|next=
FarringdonFarringdon station is a London Underground and National Rail station in Clerkenwell, just north of the City of London in the London Borough of Islington...
|route=
British Rail
Eastern RegionThe Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
City Widened LinesThe Widened Lines is the name of a group of railway routes that currently form part of the Thameslink network leading from King's Cross/St...
|col=00008B}}
{{end}}
King's Cross St. Pancras tube station
{{Main|King's Cross St. Pancras tube station}}
King's Cross St. Pancras tube station is served by more lines than any other station on the London Underground, and is one of the busiest, serving both King's Cross and St Pancras main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1.
Major work is ongoing at the station to link the various entrances to two new ticket halls for
London UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and reduce overcrowding. Overcrowding has led to the closure of the entry and exit to the main Tube ticket hall from inside King's Cross during the weekday morning peak rush hours. Passengers needing to access King's Cross St. Pancras tube station must do so via the new entrances outside King's Cross. Staff are placed at these entrances throughout the morning peak to implement "crowd control" and narrow or close the entrances. These entrances are used as none of the other entrances to King's Cross St. Pancras tube station can be closed, being either inside St. Pancras or too close to the Euston Road to allow room for large crowds to wait.
Route
{{S-start}}
{{s-rail|title=LUL}}
{{s-line|system=LUL|line=Circle|previous=Euston Square|next=Farringdon|type=NC|type2=NC}}
{{s-line|system=LUL|line=Hammersmith & City|previous=Euston Square|next=Farringdon}}
{{s-line|system=LUL|line=Metropolitan|previous=Euston Square|next=Farringdon|type=Four}}
{{s-line|system=LUL|line=Northern|previous=Euston|next=Angel|type=Three|type2=Morden}}
{{s-line|system=LUL|line=Piccadilly|previous=Russell Square|next=Caledonian Road|type=Two}}
{{s-line|system=LUL|line=Victoria|previous=Euston|next=Highbury & Islington}}
{{end}}
Harry Potter
|
{{BS-table}}
{{BS>KBHFa
Hogsmeade Station|Hogwarts}}
{{BS|eGRENZE |
Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...
}}
{{BS|KBHFe |
King's Cross Station King's Cross station may refer to::* London King's Cross railway station in London, England** King's Cross St. Pancras tube station for London Underground lines.** King's Cross Thameslink, a disused railway station in London, England...
>London}} |
|}
King's Cross is featured in the
Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
books, by
J. K. RowlingJoanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
, as the starting point of the Hogwarts Express. The train uses a secret platform 9¾ located by passing through the brick wall barrier between platforms 9 and 10.
Platforms 9 and 10 are in a separate building from the main station; also, rather than being adjacent so that a barrier could be between them, they are separated by two intervening tracks. Rowling intended the location to be in the main part of the station, but misremembered the platform numbering. During an interview in 2001, she indicated that she had confused King's Cross with
EustonEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
. In fact, platforms 9 and 10 at Euston are also separated by two intervening tracks.
When the films were made, the station scenes took place within the main station, with platforms 4 and 5 renumbered 9 and 10. In
the filmHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
of
Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of...
, the exterior of the adjacent St. Pancras station was used, as its
Victorian GothicThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
façade was considered more impressive than the real King's Cross station.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}
When the
first filmHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film is the first instalment in the Harry Potter film series,...
was released, a large floor panel was placed on the ground outside platforms 9 and 10 indicating the Hogwarts Express. It was later removed. Within King's Cross, a cast-iron "Platform 9¾" sign was erected on a wall of the station's suburban building containing the real platforms 9 and 10. Part of a luggage trolley was also installed below the sign; while the near end was visible, the rest of the trolley seemed to have disappeared into the wall. It was common to see Harry Potter fans stop to photograph the trolley or try to push the rest of the luggage trolley through the wall to the hidden platform.
However due to problems with crowd numbers and renovation work within Kings Cross Station, the half-trolley has been moved to an exterior wall on Euston Road.
"King's Cross" is the title of Chapter 35 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is set in a dream location resembling the station. The station is also featured in the epilogue of the same book, making it the final setting of the Harry Potter series.
Pet Shop Boys
In their music video "
Rent"Rent" is a 1987 single by the Pet Shop Boys. It was released in the UK by Parlophone on 12 October 1987. The lyrics deal with a financially one-sided relationship, i.e...
" (1987), King's Cross Station is used extensively as a backdrop. The concourse is used as a meeting point for
Chris LoweChris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
and
Margi ClarkeMargi Clarke is a British actress . She was born in Liverpool and raised in Kirkby , and is known for her Scouse accent and platinum-blonde hair.-Early career:...
playing characters who are reunited, in front of the departures and arrivals board. Also in the background are notices stating that engineering work will disrupt services, which at the time, 1987, was actually in progress to modernise the line. Parked outside in the taxi rank of the station is
Neil TennantNeil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
, who is playing Margi Clarke's taxi driver in the same music video. The Pet Shop Boys released a song entitled "King's Cross" on the 1986 album
ActuallyIn 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #22 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".-Track listing:# "One More Chance" – 5:30...
, later covered by
Tracey ThornTracey Anne Thorn is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl, which is currently on extended hiatus.-Personal life:...
; the cover was subsequently remixed by
Hot ChipHot Chip are an English electronic indie band. They have released four studio albums—Coming on Strong, The Warning, Made in the Dark and One Life Stand.-Formation:...
. The station was also extensively filmed in for the Pet Shop Boys feature film, released in 1988,
It Couldn't Happen HereIt Couldn't Happen Here is a 1988 musical film starring the British pop duo Pet Shop Boys and based around their music. It was originally conceived as an hour-long video based around their album Actually, but it turned into a surreal full-scale feature film directed by Jack Bond and co-starring...
.
Other fiction
- The station is mentioned as suggesting "infinity" to Margaret Schlegel and contrasted with the "facile splendours" of St Pancras in Chapter 2 of E.M. Forster's novel Howards End
Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England. The main theme is the difficulties, troubles, and also the benefits of relationships between members of different social classes...
.
- The Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
Virgin New AdventuresThe Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
novel TransitTransit is an original novel written by Ben Aaronovitch and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Bernice and the first appearance of Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart...
features King's Cross as one of the main hubs of an interplanetary transit system based on the London Underground.
- In children's television programmes featuring the puppet Roland Rat
Roland Rat is a British television puppet character. He was created, operated and voiced by David Claridge, who had previously been behind the Mooncat puppet in the Children's ITV television programme Get Up and Go! David worked for Jim Henson, then the second series of The Young Ones...
, Roland is said to live in the sewers beneath King's Cross. In Roland Rat: The Series this was realised as the high-tech "Ratcave", accessed from a hidden lift in a workman's shelter.
- The twelfth and final episode of the anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Victorian Romance Emma prominently features King's Cross Station in 1885 with great historical accuracy and detail.
- Some of Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories have Holmes and Dr. Watson travelling by way of King's Cross. The following example is from The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter"The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It was originally published in Strand Magazine in 1904 with illustrations by...
, Watson speaking first:
"And what have you gained?"
"A starting-point for our investigation." He hailed a cab. "King's Cross Station," said he.
"We have a journey, then?"
"Yes; I think we must run down to Cambridge together. All the indications seem to me to point in that direction."
- The station, its surrounding streets and the railway approach feature prominently in scenes from the 1955 Ealing comedy film, The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, it stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson...
.
- Scenes from the 1995 Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film Dilwale Dulhania Le JayengeDilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, and stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol...
(DDLJ) were filmed at this station.
- There is an underground station called King's Cross on the North London System in the 1980 novel The Horn of Mortal Danger
The Horn of Mortal Danger is a 1980 novel by British musician Lawrence Leonard. It relates the adventures of a brother and sister as they discover a secret civilisation buried beneath the streets of London...
. It corresponds to this station rather than the Tube one.
- In the Rev. W.V. Awdry
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE , was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, better known as the Reverend W. Awdry and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.-Life:Awdry was born at Ampfield vicarage near Romsey, Hampshire in 1911...
's Railway SeriesThe Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
of children's books, Gordon, Duck and an engine from "the Other RailwayIn the children's books The Railway Series, by the Rev. W. Awdry, The Other Railway refers to British Railways , the UK nationalised rail organisation that existed from 1948 until 1997....
" have a lengthy argument about the name of the London station (apparently not realising that there is more than one railway station in London). Gordon says it's called King's Cross, but Duck insists that the name is PaddingtonPaddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
(because he worked for the GWRThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
) and the visiting engine believes it to be EustonEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
. Desperate to prove himself right, Gordon tries to go to London himself and finally succeeds. However, on his return from St PancrasSt Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
he laments that his destination was "all wrong."
- In Eva Ibbotson
Eva Ibbotson was an Austrian-born British novelist, known for her award-winning children's books as well as her novels for adults - several of which have been successfully reissued for the young adult readership in recent years.-Personal life:Eva Ibbotson was born Maria Charlotte Michelle Wiesner...
's children's book The Secret of Platform 13The Secret of Platform 13 is a children's novel by Eva Ibbotson, and illustrated by Sue Porter, first published in 1994.The book has gained extra significance as many readers find it similar to the Harry Potter series by J.K...
, there is a door between worlds called a "Gump" under the fictitious and abandoned platform 13.
- R.S.V.P. Part 1, an issue of the comic book Hellblazer
Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...
begins with a shot of the Platform 9¾ sign; appropriate, because the story itself concerns a gathering of magicians — albeit a less palatable one than Hogwarts.
- In the film Green Street
Green Street is a 2005 British/American independent drama film about football hooliganism in England. It was directed by Lexi Alexander and stars Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam. In the United States and Australia, the film is called Green Street Hooligans, while in the United Kingdom it has the...
, King's Cross station can be seen in the background of its now abandoned car park.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}}
- In the 1933 film Friday the Thirteenth, King's Cross is used as the location to introduce two of the main characters. The name of the station is emphasised in the dialogue.
- In Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century", the Station and the local area feature as a centre for the magical forces at work with-in the text.
Spelling
The station name, King's Cross, is seen spelt both with and without an
apostropheThe apostrophe is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritic mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets...
:
- King's Cross is the signage used in the Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
and London UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
stations and on the tube mapThe Tube map is a schematic transit map representing the lines and stations of London's rapid transit railway systems, namely the London Underground , the Docklands Light Railway and London Overground....
.
- The official Network Rail webpage uses the "King's Cross" spelling.
- Kings Cross is used in the National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
timetable database, as well as on other National Rail railway pages, and the usage is also seen on the TheTrainLine online booking system. However, other stations such as King's LynnKing's Lynn railway station serves the town of King's Lynn in Norfolk. The station is the terminus of the Fen Line from Cambridge, which is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead...
and Hall i' th' WoodHall i' th' Wood railway station is the last stop before Bolton on the Northern Rail franchise's "Ribble Valley Line" line into Blackburn and Clitheroe....
also lack apostrophes, suggesting that this is either a software limitation or a consistent stylistic convention.
- Older British Railways signage also used the name "Kings Cross", without the apostrophe.
- Kings X, Kings +, or London KX are abbreviations seen in space-limited contexts.
- KGX is used as the station code
Unlike the station, the name of the locality it lies within is commonly written as "
Kings CrossKing's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
", without an apostrophe.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}
External links
{{Commons category|Kings Cross railway station}}
Video Links
{{Great Northern Route}}
{{Major railway stations in Britain}}
{{Transport in London}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:London King's Cross Railway Station}}