Kings Cross

Management
Managed by	Network Rail
Location
Place	Kings Cross
Local authority	Camden
Statistics
Annual entry/exit	49.137 million
Zone	1
Platforms in use	11
History
Key dates	Opened 1852
Transport for London

King's Cross station is a railway station in the Kings Cross district of north east central London. It is located in the London Borough of Camden and is the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line. It is immediately adjacent to St Pancras station. Image File history File links KingsCross. ... Image File history File links Kings Cross Station Exterior. ... Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now-defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ... Kings Cross is an place in the London Borough of Camden. ... The London Borough of Camden is an inner-London borough created in 1965 to replace the metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, St Pancras. ... Travelcard Zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for Londons zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within London. ... Transport for London (TfL) is a government body responsible for the transport system in the City of London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. ... Image File history File links KingsCross. ... Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street station in 1865. ... Kings Cross is an place in the London Borough of Camden. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... The London Borough of Camden is an inner-London borough created in 1965 to replace the metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, St Pancras. ... The East Coast Main Line viaduct at Durham. ... St Pancras station is a railway station in north central London, United Kingdom, between the new British Library building to its west and Kings Cross station to the east. ...

Location and environs

West of King's Cross are, in succession, St Pancras, the new British Library building, and Euston station, all within a few minutes' walk. The present King's Cross Thameslink station is 5 minutes' walk to the east. St Pancras station is a railway station in north central London, United Kingdom, between the new British Library building to its west and Kings Cross station to the east. ... British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ... Euston station, also known as London Euston, is a major railway station to the north of central London and in the London Borough of Camden. ... Kings Cross Thameslink station is a railway station in central London, which serves the Thameslink franchise. ...

The new London terminus of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link will be within a re-constructed St Pancras. Eurostar trains (to France, not those on loan to GNER) are due to arrive there in 2007 with the completion of Stage Two of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project. CTRL redirects here. ... Eurostar, see Eurostar Italia. ... CTRL redirects here. ...

Considerable regeneration effort has gone into the area in recent years, with the opening of new hotels and office space under construction.

Services

The station is served by routes to the north east of the UK, including Cambridge, York, Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness. King's Cross also incorporates a major Underground station known as King's Cross St. Pancras, which is a major interchange station on the Tube network. Map of the Cambridgeshire area (1904) The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... York is a city in northern England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ... Durham (IPA: locally, in RP) is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham in North East England. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ), Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic, is the second-largest city in Scotland and its capital city. ... The nickname Tube comes from the almost circular tube-like tunnels through which the small profile trains travel. ... Kings Cross St. ...

Three train companies run services into the station:

• GNER - inter-city services on the East Coast Main Line.
• WAGN - services to Cambridge and King's Lynn, local services to North London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Peterborough.
• Hull Trains - inter-city services to Hull via the East Coast Main Line.

GNER White Rose train at Kings Cross railway station Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) is a British train operating company (TOC) owned by Sea Containers Ltd. ... wagn is a franchise operator of commuter train services out of London Kings Cross and Moorgate stations. ... Map of the Cambridgeshire area (1904) The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... Map sources for Kings Lynn at grid reference TF6120 Kings Lynn (usually known locally simply as Lynn) is a town in Norfolk, England (population 34,564) on the River Great Ouse. ... Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordshire and abbreviated as Herts) is an inland county in the United Kingdom, officially part of the East of England Government region. ... Bedfordshire is a county in England and forms part of the East of England region. ... Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority in the East of England. ... Hull Trains Class 222 Pioneer train at London Kings Cross station Hull Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running up to six long distance services each day between London Kings Cross and Hull, calling at Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden and Brough. ... Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. ...

History

London Kings Cross Station

King's Cross was originally designed and built as the London hub of the Great Northern Railway and terminus of the East Coast Main Line. It was designed by Lewis Cubitt and constructed in two years from 1851 to 1852, on the site of a former fever and smallpox hospital. The main part of the station, which today includes platforms 1-8, was opened on October 14, 1852. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1200x800, 379 KB) Summary London Kings Cross Station duc photography & image editing www. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1200x800, 379 KB) Summary London Kings Cross Station duc photography & image editing www. ... The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company, founded by the London & York Railway Act of 1846. ... Lewis Cubitt was born on 29 September 1799 and died on 9 June 1883. ...

The platforms have been reconfigured several times; originally there were only one arrival and one departure platform (today's platforms 1 and 8 respectively), with the space between used for carriage sidings. In later years as suburban traffic grew, space for additional platforms was added with considerably less grandeur; the secondary building now containing platforms 9-11 survives from that era.

Three GNER InterCity 225s lined up at King's Cross in January 2006.

Since privatisation, express services into the station have been run by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). The contract was renewed in 2005. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2816x2112, 2226 KB) Summary Three Class 91s at the country end of London Kings Cross station. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2816x2112, 2226 KB) Summary Three Class 91s at the country end of London Kings Cross station. ... The InterCity 225 is the fastest domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark IV coaches and a Driving Van Trailer. ... GNER White Rose train at Kings Cross railway station Another GNER train at Kings Cross Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) is a British train operating company owned by Sea Containers. ...

According to legend King's Cross is built on the site of Boudica's final battle, or else her body is buried under one of the platforms there. Platforms 8, 9, and 10 have been proposed in some legends. Boudica (also written Boudicca, Boadicea, Buduica, Bonduca) (d. ...

The 'King's Cross fire' of 1987, in which 31 people died, was actually at the adjacent King's Cross St. Pancras Underground station. A major redevelopment of this Underground station (partly infulenced by the report issued after the fire) is currently in process. Phase One is expected to be completed in 2006; Phase Two is expected to be completed by 2011. The Kings Cross fire was a devastating underground fire in London on November 18, 1987 which killed thirty-one people. ...

The original "King's Cross" was a monument to King George IV. George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Hanover from 29 January 1820. ...

In 1972, a one-storey extension was constructed in front of the station. While the extension was intended to be temporary, more than thirty years later it still stands. Many consider the extension unattractive, not the least because it obscures the Grade I-listed facade of the original station.

Restoration

This 1852 illustration shows Kings Cross without the concourse extension, which is currently scheduled to be removed.

In 2005, a 400 million pound restoration plan was announced by Network Rail, though it has yet to be approved by the London Borough of Camden. Planned is a thorough restoration of the arched roof of the station and the demolition of the 1972 addition, to be replaced by an open-air piazza. A semi-circular concourse (estimated completion date 2009) is planned for the space directly to the west of the station behind the Great Northern Hotel. It will complement the neighbouring St Pancras Station, and replace the current concourse, shopping area, and ECML ticket office. The land between the domestic main lines leading from the two stations will be redeveloped with nearly 2,000 new homes, 486,280 m² of offices, and new roads. Image File history File linksMetadata Kings_Cross_ILN_1852. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Kings_Cross_ILN_1852. ... Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now-defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ... The London Borough of Camden is an inner-London borough created in 1965 to replace the metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, St Pancras. ... The Gothic Revival facade and clock tower of the disused Midland Hotel are the most visible part of St Pancras station. ...

King's Cross in fiction

Harry Potter

King's Cross features in the Harry Potter books, by J. K. Rowling, as the starting point of the Hogwarts Express. The train uses a secret platform 9¾ located by passing through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Cover of the original novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. ... J. K. Rowling Joanne Jo Rowling, OBE (born 31 July 1965) is an English fiction writer who writes under the pseudonym of J. K. Rowling. ... Rubeus Hagrid meets the Hogwarts Express at Hogsmeade station in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. ... Rubeus Hagrid meets the Hogwarts Express at Hogsmeade station in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. ...

The Platform 9¾ sign occasionally causes congestion as tourists and Harry Potter fans stop to photograph it (and each other "pushing" the luggage trolley through the wall.)

Unfortunately, platforms 9 and 10 are in a separate building from the main station and face each other across the intervening tracks: Rowling intended the location to be in the main part of the station, but misremembered the platform numbering (in a 2001 interview she indicated she had actually confused King's Cross with Euston; hence also the wall/barrier confusion). An interesting note to this is that Euston also has platforms 9 and 10 in the same orientation as at King's Cross, thus making it the incorrect source of inspiration. Of the other London terminal railway stations, Victoria, London Bridge and Waterloo do have a walkway between platforms 9 and 10, making them the possible inspriation. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (921x697, 238 KB)Platform 9¾ at Kings Cross Station, showing a luggage trolley disappearing through the brickwork. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (921x697, 238 KB)Platform 9¾ at Kings Cross Station, showing a luggage trolley disappearing through the brickwork. ... Euston station, also known as London Euston, is a major railway station to the north of central London and in the London Borough of Camden. ... Euston station, also known as London Euston, is a major railway station to the north of central London and in the London Borough of Camden. ... Victoria Station concourse Victoria station is a London Underground and railway station in London, in the City of Westminster. ... Outside view of main overground station London Bridge station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark, which occupies a large area on two levels, immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1. ... The main entrance of Waterloo Station. ...

When the books were filmed, the main station was used, with platforms 4 and 5 renumbered 9 and 10 for movie purposes. In the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film the exterior of the nearby St Pancras railway station was used, as St Pancras with its Gothic façade was considered more impressive than the real King's Cross. A cast-iron "Platform 9¾" sign has been erected on a wall of the station's suburban building where the real platforms 9 and 10 are. Also shown in the photograph is the recently added luggage trolley; the end sticks out visibly, but the body of it has mysteriously disappeared into the wall.... St Pancras station is a railway station in north central London, United Kingdom, between the new British Library building to its west and Kings Cross station to the east. ... See also Gothic art. ...

Other fiction

The Doctor Who novel Transit features King's Cross as one of the main hubs of an interplanetary transit system based on the London Underground. Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC about a mysterious time-travelling adventurer known only as The Doctor. It is also the title of a 1996 television movie featuring the same character. ...

In children's television programmes featuring the puppet Roland Rat, Roland is said to live in the sewers beneath Kings Cross. Roland Rat:The Series shows this as a high tech "Ratcave", accessed from a hidden lift in a workman's shelter. Roland Rat (also Roland Rat Superstar) is a British television puppet character. ...

The 12th and final episode of the anime Victorian Romance Emma prominently features King's Cross Station in 1885 with great historical accuracy and detail. Anime (アニメ) is a style of animation originating in Japan. ... Emma (エマ, Ema) is a Japanese seinen manga by Kaoru Mori. ...

Some of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories have the great detective and Dr. Watson traveling by way of King's Cross. An excerpt from The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter, with Watson speaking first:
"And what have you gained?"
"A starting-point for our investigation." He hailed a cab. "King's Cross Station," said he.
"We have a journey, then?"
"Yes; I think we must run down to Cambridge together. All the indications seem to me to point in that direction." Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (May 22, 1859 – July 7, 1930) was a Scottish author most famously known for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction. ... Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes (1854–1957, according to William S. Baring-Gould) is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, created by British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. ... The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. ...

Spelling

This sign includes an apostrophe

The name is variously spelt both with and without an apostrophe: Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1097 KB) Photo of a sign at Kings Cross railway station. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1097 KB) Photo of a sign at Kings Cross railway station. ... An apostrophe ( ’ ) is a punctuation and sometimes diacritic mark in languages written in the Latin alphabet. ... An apostrophe ( ’ ) is a punctuation and sometimes diacritic mark in languages written in the Latin alphabet. ...

• King's Cross is the "official" signage on both the Network Rail and London Underground stations and on the tube map.
• the official Network Rail webpage uses the "King's Cross" spelling. [1]
• Kings Cross is the "official" usage in the National Rail timetable database, as well as being used on other "official" railway pages.
• Kings X or London KX are abbreviations seen in space-limited contexts.
• Kings Cross is the name for the surrounding area, as supported by both style guides and general usage.

Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now-defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ... The nickname Tube comes from the almost circular tube-like tunnels through which the small profile trains travel. ... Original Tube Map by Beck Tube map is the commonly used name for the schematic diagram that represents the lines, stations, and zones of the London Underground, the British capitals high-capacity public-transit rail system. ... National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ...

External links

• Station information on Kings Cross railway station from Network Rail

• Train times and station information for Kings Cross railway station from National Rail
• Street map and aerial photo of Kings Cross railway station from Multimap.com

developer website Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now-defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ... National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ... Multimap. ...

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		wagn		Finsbury Park
Terminus		GNER (East Coast Main Line)		Stevenage
Terminus		Hull Trains		Grantham

  Image File history File links BR-logo. ... National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ... wagn is a franchise operator of commuter train services out of London Kings Cross and Moorgate stations. ... The main line platforms at Finsbury Park Finsbury Park station is a busy and often chaotic transport interchange in north London, between two London Underground lines (the Piccadilly Line and the Victoria Line), National Rail and two bus stations, one on each side of the railway station. ... GNER White Rose train at Kings Cross railway station Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) is a British train operating company (TOC) owned by Sea Containers Ltd. ... The East Coast Main Line viaduct at Durham. ... Stevenage railway station serves the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire. ... Hull Trains Class 222 Pioneer train at London Kings Cross station Hull Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running up to six long distance services each day between London Kings Cross and Hull, calling at Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden and Brough. ... The entrance to Grantham station Grantham Railway Station Lies On The East Coast Main Line ...