Broad Street railway station

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Broad Street
Location
Place	City of London
History
Opened by	North London Railway
Platforms	9
Key dates	Opened 1865 Closed 1986
Replaced by	none

The Broad Street branch line in 1899

Class 501 train waiting for departure at Broad Street

Broad Street station was a major railway station in the City of London, which served as the terminus for the North London Railway. It was closed in 1986 and demolished. It is the only central London railway terminus to have closed entirely without a direct replacement.

The station was opened in 1865 to serve as the terminus of a network of commuter railways linking east and west London via the looping route of the North London Line. With nine platforms at its peak, it became the third busiest London station (after Liverpool Street – which was virtually next door – and Victoria). At the start of the 20th century, more than one train a minute arrived or left the station during the morning rush hour, with over 27 million passengers in 1902 alone. The Great Northern Railway also used Broad Street for a while, as a supplement to its King's Cross terminal some miles to the west.

However, the North London Line lost most of its passengers to the expansion of the bus, tram and Tube network and the station became increasingly poorly used. It was badly damaged in World War II but was never fully repaired while local services to Poplar were withdrawn and not reinstated.

The main station building was closed in 1956, passengers instead being directed to a new concourse level building at the platform entrance to buy tickets. It was earmarked for closure under the Beeching Axe of 1963, but local opposition persuaded the government to give it a reprieve. However, the station was subsequently gradually run down and the level of service was steadily reduced.

In 1967 the major part of the train shed roof was removed, having become unsafe, whilst four of the nine platforms were taken out of use in 1969, the same year that the goods yard closed. In 1976, peak hour services to the Eastern Region were withdrawn with the opening of the Northern City Line, and a further platform was disconnected. The station was now very dilapidated, with all but four platform faces out of service and trees growing in between the disused platforms.

Broad Street in 1986, just prior to its closure. The single temporary platform allowed the station to be demolished while allowing the single remaining service to continue operating

By 1985, only 6,000 passengers per week were using Broad Street station and only about 300 arrived daily in the morning peak. In May 1985, the service to Richmond upon Thames was diverted away from Broad Street, leaving only the peak hour Watford Junction services. It was agreed that Broad Street would be closed with the last remaining trains diverted to Liverpool Street once a new connecting chord could be built from the main North London line. Until this was done, it was possible to accommodate this last service from the outer end of one platform, and therefore in November that year demolition of the main station began. The remaining single platform was used until 28 June 1986, when the station was finally closed along with Dalston Junction, the other remaining station on the North London Line's City branch.

Broad Street station was replaced with the giant Broadgate office and shopping complex. Nothing now remains of the station itself. However, the viaduct leading from the North London Line to Broad Street is still largely intact. It is currently in the process of being restored to carry the East London Line along the old trackbed as far as Highbury & Islington station.

Paul McCartney named his 1984 album Give My Regards to Broad Street after the decaying station.

[edit] External links

• Broad Street Station Tribute to the demolished station.

[edit] See also

• Shoreditch railway station
• Haggerston railway station
• Dalston Junction railway station
• Holborn Viaduct railway station