Liverpool Street station

Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street,^[4][5] is a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London. Opened in 1874, it is the terminus of two main lines: the busier Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) to Norwich, and the West Anglia Main Line to Cambridge. There are also many local commuter services to parts of east London and Essex. In addition, it is the terminus of the Stansted Express, a fast link to London Stansted Airport.

It is one of the busiest stations in the United Kingdom, the third busiest in London after Waterloo and Victoria, with 123 million visitors each year. Liverpool Street is one of seventeen stations directly managed by Network Rail. The station has exits to Bishopsgate, Liverpool Street and the Broadgate development. The station connects the Central line, Circle line, Metropolitan line, and Hammersmith & City line on the London Underground network. It is in Travelcard zone 1.

History

Liverpool Street station was opened on 2 February 1874 by Great Eastern Railway on the site of the original Bethlem Royal Hospital (the world's oldest psychiatric hospital which was also widely known as 'Bedlam'). The station was fully operational from 1 November 1875; from this date the original terminal at Bishopsgate closed to passengers. Bishopsgate reopened as a goods station in 1881 but was burnt down on 5 December 1964. The London Fire Brigade mobilised 40 fire engines, 12 turntable ladders and over 200 firefighters to the incident but were unable to save the depot from destruction; two customs officials were killed in the spectacular blaze. The site remained derelict for over 30 years but has now been redeveloped as Shoreditch High Street railway station, part of the extension of London Underground's East London Line to form part of the London Overground network.

The new station was designed by Eastern's chief engineer, Edward Wilson, and was built by John Mowlem & Co. on a site which had been occupied by Bethlem Royal Hospital from the 13th century to the 17th century. A City of London Corporation plaque commemorating the station's construction hangs on the wall of the adjoining former Great Eastern Hotel, which was designed by Charles Barry, Jr. (son of Sir Charles Barry) and his brother Edward Middleton Barry, and also built by Mowlem. The station was named after the street on which it stands, which in turn was named in honour of Lord Liverpool, prime minister from 1812 to 1827, having been built as part of an extension of the City towards the end of his term in office.

The construction of the station was driven by the desire of the company to have a terminal closer to the City than the one opened by the predecessor Eastern Counties Railway at Shoreditch, on 1 July 1840. This station was renamed "Bishopsgate" in 1846. The construction proved extremely expensive due to the cost of acquiring property and many people were displaced due to the large scale demolitions. The desire to link the Eastern lines to those of the sub-surface Metropolitan Railway, a link seldom used and soon abandoned, also meant that the GER's lines had to drop down to below ground level from the existing viaducts east of Bishopsgate. This means that there are considerable gradients leading out of the station. Lord Salisbury, who was chairman of Great Eastern in 1870, described the Liverpool Street extension as "one of the greatest mistakes ever committed in connection with a railway."

Liverpool Street is one of the four railway stations on the Monopoly board, first introduced in the early 20th century.

The station was the first place in London to be hit by German Gotha G.V bomber aircraft during World War I. The May 1917 bombing, when the station took a direct hit from 1,000 pounds of bombs, killed 162 people. In 1922, those employees of GER who died during the War were honoured on a large marble memorial on Liverpool Street's concourse, unveiled by Sir Henry Wilson. On his return home from the ceremony, Wilson was assassinated by two Irish Republican Army volunteers.

Many Jewish refugee children arrived at Liverpool Street in the late 1930s, as part of the Kindertransport. In September 2003 the sculpture Für Das Kind Kindertransport Memorial by artist Flor Kent, who conceived the project, was installed in the station. It consisted of a specialised glass case with original objects and a bronze sculpture of a girl, a direct descendant of a child rescued by Sir Nicholas Winton, who unveiled the work.^[6] The objects included in the sculpture began to suffer deterioration due to weather, and in 2006 a replacement bronze memorial by Frank Meisler, depicting a group of children and a railway track, was installed.^[7]

By the 1970s the station had become dark, dilapidated and dank, whilst evocative of another age. The station was extensively modified between 1985 and 1992, including bringing all the platforms in the main shed up to the same end point and constructing a new underground booking office, but its façade, Victorian cast-iron pillars, and the memorial for Great Eastern Railway employees who died in World War I were retained. The redevelopment coincided with the closure and demolition of neighbouring Broad Street station and the construction of the Broadgate development in its place. Liverpool Street was officially re-opened by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. At this time the giant timetable board, which is suspended above the station concourse, was installed at great expense. However due to technical difficulties there was a long delay after the official opening before it became operational. It was one of the last remaining mechanical 'flapper' display boards at a British railway station and certainly the largest, but was removed from service in September 2007 and replaced by electronic boards. The 'new' station roof has been built largely in the style of the Western part of the station which survived the war. The original roofing was painted brown at this time, with smoked plexiglass, while the new roofing was painted blue with clear glass so that people could differentiate between new and old. All the platforms now end in a uniform line, and can accommodate 12-carriage trains (except for platforms 16 to 18, which can only accommodate eight carriages).

The station was twinned with Amsterdam Centraal railway station in 1993, with a plaque marking this close to the main entrance to the Underground station.

National Rail destinations

Liverpool Street serves destinations in the East of England including Stansted airport, Cambridge, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Ipswich, Clacton-on-Sea, Chelmsford, Colchester, Braintree, Southend-on-Sea and the port of Harwich, as well as many suburban stations in north-eastern London, Essex and Hertfordshire. It is one of the busiest commuter stations in London. A daily express train to Harwich connects with the ferry from Harwich to Hoek van Holland, forming the Dutchflyer service.

Almost all passenger services from Liverpool Street are currently operated by National Express East Anglia. It operates local and suburban services on the Great Eastern and West Anglia lines and express services to Colchester, Clacton-on-Sea, Ipswich and Norwich.

There are two weekday evening shuttle services to Barking, calling only at Stratford, which are operated by c2c.^[8] All other c2c services depart from Fenchurch Street, although Liverpool Street is also used by c2c during engineering work. Both National Express East Anglia and c2c are owned by National Express Group.

Underground station

Liverpool Street is the fifth busiest station on the London Underground network with four lines passing through: three sub-surface and one deep-level. The station is served by the Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

The station has sub-surface platforms (opened by the Metropolitan Railway as "Bishopsgate" on 12 July 1875) on the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines. The Metropolitan had served mainline platforms of the GER station from 1 February 1875, but this through-link had only a short life. The station was renamed Liverpool Street from 1 November 1909. A disused west-facing bay platform once used by terminating Metropolitan and occasional District line trains running via Edgware Road is still visible.

The deep-level Central line platforms opened on 28 July 1912, as the new eastern terminus of the Central London Railway. The line was extended eastwards, as part of the Second World War-delayed London Passenger Transport Board's "New Works Programme 1935–1940", on 4 December 1946.

Only the eastbound/clockwise (Aldgate/Barking) platform of the Circle line is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchair users wishing to travel in the Hammersmith/Uxbridge direction must take a train that terminates at Aldgate or Whitechapel and stay on it as it starts its westbound journey; when coming from Aldgate/Barking, they must continue to King's Cross St. Pancras to change direction. Some stations on the eastern section of the Central line are wheelchair accessible from here by changing at Mile End.

Proposed developments

Crossrail

From 2018, Liverpool Street will be served by new underground Crossrail platforms for services running westwards to Paddington, Heathrow and Maidenhead via the City and the West End. Abbey Wood will be served by trains running to the east.

A new ticket hall with step-free access will be built next to the Broadgate development with a pedestrian link via the new low-level platforms to the ticket hall of Moorgate providing direct access to the Northern line, the Northern City Line and other the sub-surface lines from Liverpool Street.

The current six trains per hour that run a stopping service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield will be doubled and diverted into a tunnel between Liverpool Street and Stratford via Whitechapel. .

A temporary shaft will be built in Finsbury Circus to allow for construction of the platforms which will be removed once the station is complete.

Mainline services

The following off-peak weekday services currently call at London Liverpool Street:

Present service levels

The present Monday to Friday off-peak service sees 30 trains per hour departing and arriving.

Great Eastern Main Line Route

• 1 train per hour to Braintree, calling at Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham and all stations to Braintree.

• 2 trains per hour to Norwich, of which:
  • 1 calls at Colchester, Manningtree, Ipswich, Diss and Norwich.
  • 1 calls at Stratford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Manningtree, Ipswich, Stowmarket, Diss and Norwich.

• 6 trains per hour to Shenfield, calling at all stations.

• 3 trains to Southend Victoria, of which:
  • 2 call at Stratford, Shenfield and all stations to Southend Victoria.
  • 1 calls at Stratford, Romford, Shenfield and all stations to Southend Victoria.

• 1 train per hour to Colchester Town, calling at Stratford, Romford, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, Colchester and Colchester Town.

• 1 train per hour to Clacton-on-Sea, calling at Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester, Wivenhoe, Thorpe-le-Soken and Clacton-on-Sea.

West Anglia Main Line Route

• 4 trains per hour to Chingford, calling at all stations except Cambridge Heath and London Fields.

• 2 train per hour to Enfield Town calling at all stations via Seven Sisters and Edmonton

• 4 trains per hour to Stansted Airport, of which:
  • 2 call at Tottenham Hale, Bishops Stortford and Stansted Airport.
  • 2 call at Tottenham Hale, Harlow Town and Stansted Airport.

• 2 trains per hour to Hertford East, calling at Hackney Downs, Tottenham Hale then all stations to Hertford East.

• 2 trains per hour to Cheshunt, calling at all stations via Seven Sisters and Turkey Street

• 2 trains per hour to Cambridge, of which:
  • 1 calls at Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow Town, Sawbridgeworth, Bishops Stortford, Audley End, Whittlesford Parkway and Cambridge.
  • 1 calls at Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt and then all stations to Cambridge.

Local buses

The station is served by bus routes 8, 11, 23, 26, 35, 42, 47, 48, 78, 100, 133, 135, 149, 153, 205, 214, 242, 271, 344, and 388, and night routes N8, N11, N26, N35 and N133.

Notable events

• In April 1993, a Provisional IRA truck bomb in Bishopsgate, 200 m away, caused some damage to the station.
• On 17 April 1997, director Roman Coppola filmed a music video for the British band Mansun's single Tax Loss using hidden cameras to capture members of the video production crew (the band did not appear in the video) throwing £25,000 in £5 notes (each with a white sticker with the word "Taxlo$$" in red) from the upper concourse onto commuters below. All this information is imparted in the finished music video which includes all the preparation for the stunt from the withdrawal of the cash through to the news reports after the event. The ensuing chaos as the crowd scrambled for the cash was intended to highlight human greed.
• In 2000, London Underground staff reported a passenger standing on the Central line eastbound platform at 2 am on CCTV despite the station being closed. After thoroughly examining the area the passenger was nowhere to been seen.^[10][11]
• During the 7 July 2005 London bombings, a bomb was exploded on a Circle line train killing seven people as the train left Liverpool Street towards Aldgate.

In fiction

Novels

• Andy McNab's novel Dark Winter makes the station the target of a similar attack.
• In the 1988 children's book Groosham Grange the main character is sent there from London Liverpool Street.
• In Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series, the headquarters of MI6 is near Liverpool Street station.
• In W.G. Sebald's novel Austerlitz Liverpool Street is mentioned in connection with The Great Eastern Hotel.

Film

• Liverpool Street Station is one of the four railway stations on the London version of the Monopoly game.
• In 2009, the cast of St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold and hundreds of extras were filmed during a flash mob type scene where the girls danced in the middle of the railway station.
• In the film Mission: Impossible a CIA safe house features above the Old Broad Street entrance to Liverpool Street tube station is features. The lead character played by Tom Cruise leaves the safe house and enters the main line concourse to use a payphone situated under the double staircase (since removed, with cash machines now at the spot).
• In the film Stormbreaker, the lead character runs through the station to find a photo booth whereupon he is then transported to MI6.

Television

• In 2011, an episode of BBC drama The Shadow Line included a scene in which a man was attempting to evade both the police and a criminal via the London Underground, eventually losing them by getting off at Liverpool Street.
• London Under Attack, first shown by the BBC One Panorama programme in May 2004 included a fictional docu-drama portrayals of how a terrorist organisation might seek to attack London used Liverpool Street station as the specific target.^[12] had a lorry containing chlorine gas explode at the junction of Shoreditch High Street and Commercial Street, just north of Liverpool Street station. The gas cloud hung over the station, and killed 3,000 people. The British government denounced the programme as "irresponsible and alarmist".^[13] The BBC said that Liverpool Street was used because of its position on the border between the City of London and the East End of London.
• The drama Dirty War, also produced by the BBC and first shown in October 2004 features a suicide terrorists detonate a "dirty bomb" just outside the Underground station, killing 200 people and rendering the area uninhabitable for 30 years. Since the programme aired, the spot at which the fictional bomb-carrying vehicle parked has become pedestrianised.
• On 15 January 2009, at 11am, around 350 people took part in a staged three minute guerrilla-style dance for the new T-Mobile advert.

Gallery

References

• David Stevenson (2004). 1914-1918 The History of the First World War. Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-9208-5. 
• Alan A Jackson (1969). London's Termini. David & Charles. ISBN 0-330-02747-6. 

External links

• Station information on Liverpool Street station from Network Rail
• Old Liverpool Street Tribute to the old decor.
• Liverpool Street 1977 photos from 1977
• BBC Panorama programme featuring Liverpool Street station
• Daily Telegraph article about the furor following the "Dirty War" documentary featuring Liverpool St.
• David Blunkett condemns docudrama
• London Landscape TV episode (7 mins) about Liverpool Street station
• Alternative view of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan line platforms
• Cut away diagram showing the London Underground station layout in 3d post CrossRail.