Charing Cross station is a central London railway terminus which is unusual in that its train services directly connect to two other railway termini; Waterloo and London Bridge. The station takes its name from the Charing Cross district of London, which itself is named after the twelfth Eleanor cross that stands in front of the station. The cross marks the point from which all UK road distances from London are measured, so the station can claim to be the most central in London.
The original station building was built on the site of the Hungerford Market by South Eastern Railway and opened 11 January1864. The station was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw, with a single span wrought iron roof arching over the six platforms on its relatively cramped site. A year later the Charing Cross Hotel, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, opened on 15 May1865 and gave the station an ornate frontage in the French Renaissance style. At the same time, the replica Eleanor Cross was erected, based on the original 13th Century Whitehall Cross which had been demolished in 1647.
More recently, in 1990, most of the rear of the station was covered by Embankment Place, a post-modern office and shopping complex designed by Terry Farrell and Partners.
Connections
Trains leaving Charing Cross go straight over the Thames.
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