King's Cross St. Pancras tube station

King's Cross St. Pancras
Entrance on Euston Road outside King's Cross station concourse.
King's Cross St. Pancras Location of King's Cross St. Pancras in Central London
Location	King's Cross / St Pancras
Local authority	London Borough of Camden
Managed by	London Underground
Owner	London Underground
Number of platforms	8
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	1
OSI	London King's Cross and London St Pancras Int'l
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011	77.11 million
2012	80.97 million
2013	84.87 million
2014	91.98 million
Key dates
1863	Opened (MR)
1906	Opened (GNP&BR)
1907	Opened (C&SLR)
1968	Opened (Victoria line)
1987	King's Cross fire
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
London Transport portal

King's Cross St. Pancras is a London Underground station located within the London Borough of Camden. It serves King's Cross and St Pancras main line stations and falls within fare zone 1. Being an interchange station between six lines, (the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern, Picadilly and Victoria lines) it is the second busiest station on the network, second only to Oxford Circus

Interchange

King's Cross St Pancras is the biggest interchange station on the London Underground, serving six lines on four pairs of tracks as well as two National Rail stations:

• 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 Bank branch, between Euston (south-west) and Angel (east).
• On the Piccadilly line, between Russell Square (south-west) and Caledonian Road (north-east).
• On the Victoria line, between Euston (south-west) and Highbury & Islington (north-east).
• King's Cross serves long distance inter city services on the East Coast Main Line and regional services mainly for commuters, the next station being Finsbury Park.
• St. Pancras station provides inter-city services on the Midland Main Line, international and high speed commuter services via High Speed 1 and commuter services via Thameslink, and international services operated by Eurostar

Ticket halls

New ticket office

The underground part of the station underwent extensive remodelling works to increase throughflow of passengers resulting from the opening of High Speed 1. The expanded station now has four entrances, and was completed in November 2009.

• The main ticket hall (sometimes referred to as the "Tube Ticket Hall") is in front of King's Cross station. It has been expanded and refurbished and is signposted as the 'Euston Road' way out from the tube lines.
• The Pentonville Road entrance: this used to be the ticket hall for King's Cross Thameslink station and had underground passageway connections to the Piccadilly and Victoria 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 ticket machines remaining.
• The Western Ticket Hall is under the forecourt of St Pancras station, adjacent to Euston Road. It provides access to St Pancras Station via the St Pancras undercroft and opened on 28 May 2006.
• The Northern Ticket Hall is west of King's Cross station platform 8, underneath the new main concourse. The London Underground ticket hall and associated connections to the tube lines were opened on 29 November 2009. The hall is convenient for the proposed King's Cross Central development and has a connection to the transverse passageway of St Pancras main line station. It is signposted as the 'Regent's Canal' way out from the tube lines.

History

A tunnel leading to the Pentonville Road entrance (formerly a connection to the Thameslink platforms)

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 to the west in 1941 to make interchanging between the sub-surface lines and the tube lines easier; the 1868 platforms later became the former King's Cross Thameslink station, which closed on 9 December 2007 when the Thameslink service moved to St Pancras International. One of the platforms may be seen from Underground trains 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.

Memorial plaque to the 1987 fire in the station

On 18 November 1987 the station was the scene of a devastating fire that killed 31 people. 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 of the trench effect, which caused the fire to explode into the station. 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. 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.

Platform level tiling

Although most of the platform tilework has been redone, the Piccadilly line platform in this photo shows the tile rings that each station along the central part of that line had at opening.

The stations along the central part of the Piccadilly line, as well as some sections of the Northern line, were financed by Charles Yerkes, and are famous for the Leslie Green designed red station buildings and distinctive platform tiling. Each station had its own unique tile pattern and colours.

Future proposals

Crossrail 2

Main article: Crossrail 2

Since 1991, a route for a potential Crossrail 2 has been safeguarded, including a connection at King's Cross St Pancras and Euston, forming the station Euston King's Cross St Pancras. The proposed scheme would offer a second rail link between King's Cross and Victoria in addition to the 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

Main articles: York Road tube station and Kings Cross Central

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. York Road station closed in 1932 and was about north of King's Cross St Pancras.

Connections

London Buses routes 10, 17, 30, 45, 46, 59, 63, 73, 91, 205, 214, 259, 390 and 476 and night routes N63, N73, N91 and N205 serve the station.

See also

• 7 July 2005 London bombings
• King's Cross fire

External links

• • 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

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Euston Square towards Hammersmith		Circle line		Farringdon towards Edgware Road (via Aldgate)
		Hammersmith & City line		Farringdon towards Barking
Euston Square towards Amersham, Chesham, Uxbridge or Watford		Metropolitan line		Farringdon towards Aldgate
Euston towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet		Northern line Bank/City branch		Angel towards Morden (via Bank)
Russell Square towards Uxbridge or Heathrow Airport (Terminal 4 or Terminal 5)		Piccadilly line		Caledonian Road towards Cockfosters
Euston towards Brixton		Victoria line		Highbury & Islington towards Walthamstow Central