King's Cross St. Pancras tube station

King'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 St Pancras 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.

Interchange

King's Cross St. Pancras is the biggest interchange station on the London Underground, with six lines on four pairs of tracks:

• On the Hammersmith & City / Circle / Metropolitan lines, between Euston Square (west) and Farringdon (east). The three lines share common tracks in this area.
• On the Northern line it is on the Bank branch, between Euston (north) and Angel (south).
• On the Piccadilly line it is between Russell Square (south-west) and Caledonian Road (north-east).
• On the Victoria line it is between Euston (south) and Highbury & Islington (north).

Development

The underground part of the station underwent extensive remodelling works to increase throughflow of passengers resulting from the opening of High Speed 1. The ticket offices in the main ticket hall were closed for a long period until May 2006. The expanded station now has four entrances, the fourth being completed in November 2009.

• The main existing ticket hall (sometimes referred to as the "Tube Ticket Hall") in front of King's Cross station: this has been expanded and refurbished and will be signposted as 'Euston Road' way out from the tube lines. As of June 2009, much of the escalator access to this area is under refubishment, and passengers may have to walk a considerable distance to get from the ticket office to the platforms including one of the longest transfers in London Underground history from the Hammersmith and City Line to the Northern Line that takes passengers through the Piccadilly Line section of the station and onto a myriad of corridors.
• The Pentonville Road entrance: this used to be the ticket hall to King's Cross Thameslink station and also had direct underground passageway connections to the Victoria and Piccadilly lines. It was taken over by London Underground when the Thameslink platforms closed. The entrance is not open at weekends and the ticket office has been permanently closed with only limited passenger-operated ticket machines left in operation.
• The Western Ticket Hall (Phase 1): this is under the forecourt of St Pancras station, adjacent to Euston Road. It provides access to St Pancras Station via the new passenger facilities which have been created in St Pancras's undercroft. The Ticket Hall, which was built by a Costain / Taylor Woodrow Construction joint venture, opened on 28 May 2006.
• The Northern Ticket Hall (Phase 2): this is west of King's Cross station platform 8, underneath the new main concourse. The London Underground ticket hall and associated connections to the deep-level tube lines were opened on 29 November 2009. The hall is convenient for the proposed King's Cross Central development and has a direct connection to the transverse passageway of St Pancras mainline station and is signposted as the 'Regent's Canal' way out from the tube lines.

History

The first underground station at King's Cross opened as part of the original section of the Metropolitan Railway in 1863 and was rearranged in 1868 and 1926. New platforms for the sub-surface lines of the Underground were opened about 400 m (440 yd) to the west in 1941 to make interchanging between the sub-surface lines and the deep tube lines easier; part of what remains of the old station is located at the former King's Cross Thameslink station, which has been wholly disused since 9 December 2007 when the Thameslink service moved to St Pancras International. One of the long-disused original platforms may be seen from Underground trains travelling between the present station and Farringdon.

The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now part of the Piccadilly line) platforms opened with the rest of the line in December 1906, while the City & South London Railway (C&SLR, now part of the Northern line) arrived in May 1907. The Victoria line platforms came into use on 1 December 1968 with the opening of the second phase of the line. The Victoria line escalators cut through the location of the original Piccadilly line lifts.

On 18 November 1987 the station was the scene of the devastating King's Cross fire. The cause was attributed to a lit match falling into, and setting fire to, an escalator machine room, combined with a then-unknown fire phenomenon known as the Trench effect, which caused the fire to suddenly and violently explode into the station, killing thirty-one people. As a result, fire safety procedures on the Underground were tightened, staff training was improved and wooden steps on escalators were replaced with metal ones. The existing prohibition of smoking throughout the London Underground network was tightened as a result. Due to the extensive damage caused by the fire, it took over a year to repair and reopen the station; the Northern line platforms and the escalators from the ticket hall to the Piccadilly line remained closed until 5 March 1989.

On 7 July 2005, as part of a co-ordinated bomb attack, an explosion in a Piccadilly line train travelling between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square resulted in the deaths of 26 people.

Future proposals

Crossrail 2

Since 1991, a route for a potential Crossrail 2 has been safeguarded, including a connection at King's Cross St. Pancras.^[2] The proposed scheme would offer a second direct rail connection between King's Cross and Victoria in addition to the existing Victoria line. The locations for any new stations on the route will depend on the loading gauge of the final scheme. In the 2007 safeguarded route, the next stations would be Tottenham Court Road and Angel.

York Road

In 2005 a business case was prepared to re-open the disused York Road tube station on the Piccadilly line, to serve the Kings Cross Central development and help relieve congestion at King's Cross St Pancras.^[3] York Road station closed in 1932 and is located about 600 m (660 yd) north of King's Cross St Pancras.

Transport links

London bus routes 10, 17, 30, 45, 46, 59, 63, 73, 91, 205, 214, 259, 390, 476 and night routes N63, N73 and N91 all serve the station.

See also

• 7 July 2005 London bombings
• King's Cross fire
• London King's Cross railway station
• St. Pancras railway station

References

External links

• London Transport Museum photographic collection
  • Piccadilly line station in 1906
  • Metropolitan line station in 1910
  • Metropolitan line platforms in 1934 before being moved to the west
  • Piccadilly line platform in early 20th century
• More photos of King's Cross St. Pancras
• Schematic plan of station following completion of Northern Ticket Hall in November 2009