Euston Railway Station
| London Euston | |
|---|---|
 Main entrance to the station (2007)
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| Data | |
| Operating point type | railway station |
| Location in the network | Terminus |
| Design | Terminus |
| Platform tracks | 18th |
| abbreviation | EUS |
| IBNR | 7001323 |
| opening | 1837 |
| Website URL | www.networkrail.co.uk |
| Architectural data | |
| architect | Richard Seifert |
| location | |
| London Borough | London Borough of Camden |
| Part of the country | England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51 ° 31 '44 " N , 0 ° 8' 5" W |
| List of train stations in the United Kingdom | |
London Euston Station , German pronunciation [ ˈlɔndɔn ˈjuːstən ], is one of the main train stations in London . It is located in the urban district London Borough of Camden , just north of the city center and in the Travelcard -Tarifzone 1. The terminal station is the starting point of the trains on the West Coast Main Line to Birmingham , Manchester , Liverpool , Holyhead and Glasgow as well as many suburban trains. Rail companies serving Euston are London Midland , Virgin Trains and London Overground ; In addition, the Serco operated night trains of the Caledonian Sleeper to Scotland run from here . The station was used by 38.299 million passengers in 2013.
Below the station is Euston Underground Station , a major hub for the London Underground . Another underground station is Euston Square , around 250 meters away.
investment
The modern building is a typical representative of the architecture of the 1960s. It is a long, flat and sober concrete building with a 197-meter-wide front. At the two corners of the front there are office towers in which the administration of Network Rail is housed. The station has a single huge hall with numerous shops and catering facilities. Behind it is a bare-looking storage hall. A few remains of the old station, which was demolished in 1962, have been preserved, but cannot even begin to suggest the former splendor. In contrast to the original building, today's train station is set back a little and can hardly be seen from the street. At the entrance there is a statue created by Eduardo Paolozzi , which commemorates the German theater director Erwin Piscator .
Euston is widely considered to be the ugliest and most uncomfortable central station in London. The dark ramps that passengers have to pass down from the station hall to the platforms have a restrictive effect. The completely concreted place in front of the entrance is a meeting place for beggars and the homeless. The station has 18 tracks. Tracks 8 to 11 are used exclusively by Silverlink trains, for this reason the corresponding platforms can only be reached using automatic ticket blocks. One platform is longer than the others to accommodate the 16-car Caledonian Sleeper night trains.
Station concourse (2003)
View into the station concourse with skylights
information sign
Train station and neighboring office buildings
history
Despite its drab appearance today, Euston is the second oldest central station in London and the oldest from which express trains ran to other major cities. The original station opened on July 20, 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway built by Robert Stephenson . It was designed by the well-known architect Philip Hardwich , and a 61-meter-long storage hall for trains was attached to it. At the beginning there were only two platforms, one for arriving and one for departing trains. Hardwich built a 22 meter high portico with Doric columns in front of the hall , which became well known under the name Euston Arch .
Stephenson's original plans were to build the line so that it ended at what is now King's Cross station . After violent protests by numerous property owners, he changed the route in the direction of Euston. Until 1844, the trains had to be pulled up the hill near Camden Town by cables because the steam locomotives could not generate enough power for the ascent at the beginning.
In the years that followed, the station had to be constantly expanded in order to cope with the steadily increasing volume of traffic. So in 1849 the Great Hall ("Great Hall") was opened, designed in the classical style by Philip Charles Hardwich , Hardwich's son. The hall was 38.1 meters long, 18.6 meters wide and 18.9 meters high, with a coffered ceiling and a staircase that led up to an office wing. The old station was a few dozen yards farther from Euston Road than the current one, on what was then Drummond Street. A short street led from Euston Square to the portico and was flanked by two hotels called the Euston Hotel and the Victoria Hotel .
The station and the associated railway line were owned by different companies over the years; from 1846 to 1922 the London and North Western Railway , from 1923 to 1947 the London, Midland and Scottish Railway , from 1947 to 1994 British Rail . Since the reprivatisation of the British railways, two different infrastructure companies have been responsible, from 1994 to 2001 Railtrack , since 2001 Network Rail .
At the beginning of the 1960s, those responsible came to the conclusion that the old train station no longer met the requirements and had to be replaced. Despite violent public protests (led by John Betjeman ), the old building, along with Euston Arch, was demolished in 1962 and replaced by a new building opened in 1968. The loss of the old building led to a change of course at the British monument protection organizations: Before they had only dealt with aristocratic palaces, picturesque rural buildings and unspoiled landscapes. The demolition of the old train station is considered to be one of the worst urban planning sins ever, comparable to the demolition of the former Penn Station in New York .
The former Great Hall
Euston Arch, ca.1851
War memorial of the LNWR
Keeper's house of the LNWR
An IRA bomb, which was detonated at 1:10 p.m. on September 10, 1973 , caused major property damage . Eight people were injured. The Metropolitan Police had received a telephone warning three minutes earlier , but the building could not be evacuated quickly enough.
On April 5, 2007, British Land announced that it had won the tender to rebuild the station. The construction costs are expected to be £ 250 million. The number of tracks will be increased from 18 to 21, and a pedestrian tunnel will be built to Euston Square underground station.
See also
Web links
- Travel Information by Network Rail
- Departure times and travel information from National Rail
- City map from 1862
- Charles: London Destruction, Euston Arch. Retrieved November 29, 2009 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Estimates of station usage. (Excel, 1.1 MB) Office of Rail Regulation, 2014, accessed on July 28, 2014 (English).
| Previous station | National Rail | Next train station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| final destination |
Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line |
Watford Junction | ||
|
First ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper |
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|
London Midland West Coast Main Line |
Harrow & Wealdstone | |||
|
London Overground Watford DC Line |
South Hampstead | |||