Euston tube station
| Euston | |
|---|---|
  Euston Location of Euston in Greater London | |
| Location | Euston Square |
| Local authority | Camden |
| Managed by | London Underground |
| Number of platforms | 6 |
| Other information | |
| Coordinates | 51°31′42.57″N 0°7′59.37″W / 51.5284917°N 0.1331583°W |
 London transport portal | |
Euston Underground tube station is a London Underground station served by the Victoria Line and both branches of the Northern Line. It connects directly with Euston mainline station above it. The station is in Travelcard Zone 1.
On the Bank branch of the Northern Line, the station is between Camden Town and King's Cross St Pancras. On the Charing Cross branch it is between Mornington Crescent and Warren Street. On the Victoria Line it is between Warren Street and King's Cross St. Pancras.
History
On 12 May 1907, the City & South London Railway (C&SLR, now the Bank branch of the Northern Line) opened a station at Euston as the terminus of a new extension from its existing station at Angel. Below ground, the station followed the standard C&SLR configuration of a single island platform with tracks on each side in a large tunnel. The station building was located on Eversholt Street to the east of the London and North Western Railway mainline station and was connected to the platforms by lifts and stairs to the west end of the platform.
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway
On 22 June 1907, the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR, now the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line) opened between between Charing Cross, Archway (then called Highgate) and Golders Green.
Original plans for the route were for it bypass Euston on a straight alignment to Camden Town. However the wisdom of bypassing a busy railway station and the large number of customers that it would provide was soon questioned, and the route was revised to serve the mainline station. The station building was constructed to the west of the mainline station with the characteristic red glazed terra cotta elevations of the stations Leslie Green designed for the CCE&HR.
Making an interchange
Although built and initially operated as two separate stations by the two companies, the C&SLR and the CCE&HR platforms were sufficiently close together that a deep level interchange was constructed between platforms shortly after opening. A passage was built from near the C&SLR lifts to the east end of the CCE&HR platforms. Unusually this lead up from the lifts as the C&SLR platforms were lower than those of the CCE&HR.
At the same time, another passageway was created, leading from the connecting passage to a new set of lifts (and emergency stairs) which surfaced within the mainline station itself. Though the companies continued to maintain their own separate entrances and lifts, it soon became clear that maintaining three entrances so close to each other was unnecessary. The station buildings were closed leaving the entrance within the mainline station to serve both routes. The original exits continued to exist for ventilation reasons; however, the elaborate Moroccan design of the C&SLR building was demolished for a building project.
Northern Line
In 1913 the two lines came under joint ownership when the Underground Group, already owners of the CCE&HR, took over the C&SLR. Plans were made before World War I to extend both lines and provide additional connections at Camden Town and Kennington so that trains could run from either of the two northern terminii via either branch to the southern terminus.
Works to modernise and enlarge the C&SLR tunnels which had been originally constructed to a smaller diameter than the CCE&HR closed the line between Moorgate and Euston from 8 August 1922 to 20 April 1924. The new link to Camden Town was opened with the rebuilt C&SLR tunnels. The extensions to Edgware in 1923/24 and to Morden in 1926 lead to the combined line adopting the name Morden-Edgware Line. This changed to the Northern Line in 1937.
To the east of Euston is a connecting tunnel from the northbound City branch to the northbound Piccadilly Line tunnel just south of King's Cross St. Pancras. Via this connection, called the "King's Cross Loop", a train in the northbound Piccadilly Line platform at King's Cross St. Pancras can run south and enter the northbound City branch platform at Euston. Alternatively, via a junction, called the "Euston Loop", between the old section of the northbound City branch and the southbound City branch, trains can enter the southbound platform.
This exchange between lines can be operated in both directions and was created when the C&SLR became part of the Underground group in 1913 to facilitate train stock transfers. At that time the C&SLR had no surface depot and train carriages were lowered into the subterranean depot at Stockwell by a large lift. Originally the junctions concerned were controlled from a signal cabin sited over the headwall of platform 6 (southbound Northern line on the City branch); this cabin still exists, but is now operated remotely as an interlocking machine room from the Northern Line control centre at Coberg Street though facilities remain for manual control of the signals. Presently the junctions are used during train reversals and to facilitate the passage of engineering trains between the Northern and Piccadilly lines.
Use of the Kings Cross and Euston Loops is considered a movement into and out of sidings according to the London Underground Working Reference Manual, and as such is done without passengers on board. However, until relatively recently, trains terminating northbound at Euston did carry passengers from Kings Cross to Euston via the loop line. Now, any such trains detrain passengers at Kings Cross, and then proceed empty to Euston. This may also have been done to prevent passenger confusion, as the northbound terminating train would arrive in the southbound platform at Euston, having passed through the loop. The northbound and southound platformss on the city branch are not adjacent at Euston, and so any passenger wishing to continue northbound would have to endure a lengthy walk to reach the northbound platform.
Victoria Line
The route of the Victoria Line was designed to provide the maximum number of connections to existing services and to relieve some of the pressure on those other lines by giving an alternative route through central London. As such, interchanges were designed to facilitate quick transfers between lines by the use of cross-platform interchanges where possible. At Euston the single island platform on the Northern Line City branch was suffering from dangerous congestion, so a new City branch northbound platform was constructed some way to the south and the old northbound track was removed to provide a wider southbound platform. Two new platforms for the Victoria Line were excavated between and parallel to the original and the new City branch tunnels to which they were directly linked. This arrangement results in a peculiar feature of the station: a passenger changing from the Victoria Line to Northern Line City branch or vice versa will find that trains on adjacent platforms travel in opposite directions.
To accommodate the additional volume of passengers that would use the station once the Victoria Line opened, the internal layout of the sixty year old station also underwent an extensive reconstruction. A new ticket hall was constructed below the concourse of the mainline station with two sets of escalators replacing the lifts. The escalators provide access to and from an intermediate circulation level which, in turn, gives access to the Northern Line Charing Cross branch platforms and two further sets of escalators; one set each serving the northbound and southbound Victoria and Northern Line City branch platforms. Interchanges between the northbound and southbound Victoria and Northern City Line platforms are made via a passageway at the low so as to avoid the need to use the escalators. An emergency stair to the intermediate interchange level is located midway along it. On 1 December 1969 the whole new interchange system was opened and the old passages were closed off. Many of the old passages remain in use as ventilation shafts.
Confusion
Unfortunately, for the inexperienced user, the layout of the station and the circulation route around it can be confusing. For example, a mainline commuter wishing to reach the northbound Victoria Line must first enter the Underground ticket hall by escalator, find the down escalators and descend to the intermediate level, turn right along a passageway, pass through the lobby for the escalators to the southbound platforms, enter another passageway, cross the lobby for the escalators back up to the ticket hall, enter a third passageway which finally brings him to the lobby for the escalators down to the northbound Victoria Line. The presence of four platforms serving different branches of the Northern Line and heading in different directions and the Victoria Line's standard grey tiling scheme throughout the station both also help make the station one of the most confusing on the Underground system.
Future plans
Unlike its neighbour, King's Cross St. Pancras, and most of the other London mainline termini, Euston is not served by the Circle Line. Euston Square tube station is just 250 m away and is served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines. Some plans see a direct connection being made as part of a new transport interchange project (though alternative plans have Euston Square connecting to Warren Street, which is also nearby).
There are also plans to rebuild the interchange level as part of a mobility impairment accessibility project, possibly restoring use of some of the disused lower level interchange passageways.
Transport connections
The following London Buses routes serve Euston (frequency are for Monday to Friday off-peak, correct as at 11 June 2006)
- 10 (Hammersmith Broadway Bus Station-Kings Cross Station) every 7 minutes
- 18 (Sudbury Sudbury Inn-Euston Station) every 6 minutes
- 30 (Hackney Wick Eastway-Marble Arch) every 10 minutes
- 59 (Streatham Hill Telford Avenue-Euston Station) every 8 minutes
- 68 (West Norwood Knights Hill-Euston Station)
- 73 (Seven Sisters Station-Victoria Station) every 5 minutes
- 91 (Crouch End Tottenham Lane-Trafalgar Square) every 7-8 minutes
- 168 (Hampstead Heath South End Green-Old Kent Road Tesco) every 8 minutes
- 205 (Whitechapel Station Royal London Hospital-Paddington station) every 10 minutes
- 253 (Euston Station-Hackney Central Station) every 6 minutes
- 390 (Archway Station-Notting Hill Gate) every 8 minutes
- 476 (Northumberland Park-Euston) every 8 minutes
Night Buses:
- N5 (Trafalgar Square-Edgware station) every 15 minutes from 0027-0523
- N10 (Richmond Bus Station-King's Cross station) every 30 minutes from 0037-0507
- N20 (Barnet Church-Trafalgar Square) every 30 minutes from 0016-0546
- N73 (Walthamstow Central Station-Victoria Bus Station) every 30 minutes from 0027-0459
- N91 (Trafalgar Square-Cockfosters) every 30 minutes 0058-0528
- N253 (Aldgate Station-Tottenham Court Road station) every 20 minutes from 0035-0455
- 390 (24 hour service on same route as daytime) runs every 30 minutes
External links
- Clive's Underground Lines Guide - Northern Line, section on King's cross Loop
- London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
- Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway station building, 1915
- City & South London Railway station building
- Station entrance from mainline platform, 1915
- Station entrance from mainline platform, 1932
- Station entrance from mainline platform, 1951
- Victoria Line Platform tiling showing Euston Arch motif, 1969
Template:Start LUL box Template:LUL one line to two Template:LUL line |}