London station group

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Six terminal stations in London. Clockwise from top left: Template:Rws, King's Cross, Template:Stn, Template:Stn, Waterloo and Paddington.

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The London station group is a group of 18 railway stations served by the National Rail network in central London, England. The group contains all 14 terminal stations in central London, either serving major national services or local commuter routes, and 4 other through-stations that are considered terminals for ticketing purposes. All current stations in the group fall within London fare zone 1. A ticket marked "London Terminals" allows travel to any station in the group via any permitted route, as determined by the National Routeing Guide.

Most London terminal stations were developed in the mid-19th century during the initial boom of rail transport. Many stations were built around the edge of central London, stopping at what is now the London Inner Ring Road, because it was prohibitively expensive to build right into the centre, and because each railway was owned by a private company competing with the others. The creation of the London Underground provided a practical connection to the various terminals, which continues to be the case as of the 21st century. Many of the stations have been upgraded and modernised to provide a greater capacity and connections to the network; the first London terminal, London Bridge has been rebuilt and expanded on numerous occasions, and of the major 19th century terminals, only Broad Street and Holborn Viaduct have closed. The latter was replaced by the nearby City Thameslink.

The London terminals had a significant impact on the local area. Originally, the demolition of poor properties, particularly south of the River Thames, caused blight and deprived areas around the station. This has changed in the 21st century, where development around the main terminals has been well-received and attracted occupants and businesses.

Definition

File:Major railway stations of London map.svg
Map showing the thirteen major railway stations and termini of central London

Until 1970, railway tickets to London were issued to a specific named terminal. From April of that year, Southern Region terminals were grouped together as a "notional common station" called "LONDON S.R.";[1] tickets issued to this destination were valid to Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Holborn Viaduct, London Bridge, Vauxhall, Victoria, Waterloo and Waterloo East.[2] The concept was extended to the rest of London's terminals with effect from British Rail's fares update of May 1983, when the London station group was created: "as part of the progress towards simplification of routes and a reduction of [separate fares] ... a common origin/destination of LONDON BR has been adopted for most London fares".[3] Tickets to the London station group were issued to "LONDON BR" until January 1989, when the name "LONDON BRIT RAIL" was adopted.[4] After the privatisation of British Rail, the name "LONDON" on its own was used from the end of 1997[5] until April 1998, when the present designation "LONDON TERMINALS" was introduced.[6]

All stations in the London group are in London fare zone 1 and most are at the end of a railway line. This includes major national terminals such as Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Template:Rws and King's Cross, and local commuter terminals such as Template:Rws and Template:Rws. In addition, the group includes four stations (Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Template:Rws and Template:Rws) that are not technically terminals but are used enough as a destination by National Rail to be considered appropriate as a "London Terminal" for ticketing purposes.[7][8]Template:Efn The composition of the group has changed several times since 1983, when 18 stations were included: Blackfriars, Broad Street, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Euston, Fenchurch Street, Holborn Viaduct, Kings Cross, Kings Cross Midland City, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Marylebone, Moorgate, Paddington, St Pancras, Vauxhall, Victoria and Waterloo.[3] Waterloo East was included separately from January 1984.[2] Two years later, Moorgate was dropped from the group in favour of Old Street, and Kensington Olympia was included;[9] this was in connection with its upgrade in early 1986 to an InterCity station with regular British Rail services from northwest England to the south coast.[10][11] Moorgate was reinstated as a member of the group in May 1988,[12] and Kensington Olympia was removed from the list in May 1994 as British Rail decided to make fares to and from the station identical to those of neighbouring station Willesden Junction.[13]

Tickets issued to "LONDON TERMINALS" can be used to travel from the station of origin to any London terminal that can be reached via a permitted route as defined by the National Routeing Guide. For example, a journey from Template:Rws can use such a ticket to take a train to several different London terminals, including Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Victoria, Template:Rws, City Thameslink or Waterloo via Template:Rws.[7] The ticket cannot be used to travel to any station using any non-National Rail modes of transport, including the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway or London Buses. Therefore, a journey from Brighton cannot use a "London Terminals" ticket to travel to Euston or Paddington, as there is no permitted route to them using National Rail services alone.[7][14] The concept of permitted routes did not exist until the National Routeing Guide was introduced in 1996:[15] British Rail used the term "reasonable route", and in respect of the London station group merely stated that journeys between the origin station and London were "subject to normal route availabilities".[2]

Background

File:London bridge viaduct.JPG
The first London terminal station, Template:Rws, in 1836

The first London terminal stations were built in the late 1830s (starting with London Bridge in 1836) and the early to mid 1840s. Those north of the Thames came up to the edge of richly-developed property that was too expensive to demolish, while property south of the river contained slums and cheap property, making it easier to have terminal stations close to the City and West End, both the main desired areas.Template:Sfn The solicitor and railway planner Charles Pearson proposed a main central station at Template:Stn, which would connect out to all branch lines.Template:Sfn In 1846, the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Railway Termini was established to see if it was appropriate to bring the terminal stations any further and possibly connect with each other, as per Pearson's plans. The report concluded this was unnecessary, a single terminal was undesirable as it would create too much congestion and it was too expensive to demolish remaining property in the way.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The Royal Commission recommended that no new stations should be built in the West End of London or the city, and that the New Road should be the northern boundary of railway development.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This created competition between the individual railway companies, who could promote new terminals with individual financial backers.Template:Sfn Exemptions were made for the Great Eastern Railway and North London Railway with Template:Stn and Template:Rws respectively.Template:Sfn The only main railway line built across Central London was the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) line connecting Blackfriars to Farringdon via Snow Hill Tunnel in 1866.Template:Sfn

File:20110602 London 11.JPG
The distinctive Gothic architecture of St Pancras railway station survived demolition, unlike neighbouring Template:Rws.

Railway construction in London reached a peak between the mid-1850s and 1870s, where an estimated £40 million (£Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". million as of Template:Inflation-year) was spent constructing routes around the capital. The competition between terminals led to increased costs and financial overruns. Around £2 million (£Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". million as of Template:Inflation-year) was spent constructing the final approach of the GER main line from the original terminal at Template:Rws to Liverpool Street, while the extension from London Bridge to Cannon Street and Template:Rws cost £4 million (£Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". million as of Template:Inflation-year). The construction of the LCDR's line via Blackfriars and Farringdon almost bankrupted the company and left it in financial ruin for the rest of its existence.Template:Sfn The 1864 Joint Committee on Railway Schemes (Metropolis) decided that, following the success of the underground Metropolitan Railway, that a circular railway should be built to connect the terminals, which eventually became the Circle line, though it was not completed until 1884.Template:Sfn

By 1870, the boom in building London terminals had finished.Template:Sfn The final one to open was the Great Central Railway's Template:Rws, in 1899.Template:Sfn By this time, around Script error: No such module "convert"., or 5.4% of land in the central zone of London was owned by railway companies, more than the Corporation of London.Template:Sfn[16]

File:Broad Street station exterior geograph-3270123-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
Broad Street station was one of the few in the London station group to be closed and demolished.

The problem of connecting the various London terminals was ultimately resolved by the development of the Underground. The Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863, was designed to connect Paddington with King's Cross.Template:Sfn The Circle Line was designed specifically to connect the London terminals together.Template:Sfn All terminal stations had at least one underground connection by 1913, except Template:Rws, Template:Rws and Template:Rws.Template:Sfn As an alternative to the tube, buses have connected the various terminals. In 1928, the Southern Railway, London and North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway began to provide dedicated buses between their terminals for Pullman and Continental trains. These were taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) upon its formation in 1933, and replaced with regular bus services. From 1936, the LPTB supplied purpose-build 20-seater coaches for this services, with large luggage boots and a flat fare of 1/- (£Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". as of Template:Inflation-year). These were suspended during World War II. All stations except Fenchurch Street and Blackfriars provided integrated taxi services on opening. These originally had dedicated access roads to the station platforms when cabs were horse-drawn, while later purpose-built roads were built for road traffic.Template:Sfn

In the early 20th century, stations were expanded and upgraded to fit demand.Template:Sfn Six terminal stations (Victoria, Waterloo, Euston, Cannon Street, Blackfriars and London Bridge) have been completely rebuilt and London Bridge has seen multiple rebuilds.Template:Sfn Although the modern concept of listed buildings had been introduced with the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act 1947, stations were not high priority to be listed.Template:Sfn While some had impressive facades and entrances, Victorian stations were not looked upon favourably in the 1960s and had become gradually neglected.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn One of the most significant examples was the demolition of the Euston Arch in 1962 as part of modernisation works to the station, while the area around Kings Cross became run-down. An important exception was the Victorian Gothic structure of Template:Rws, which became a Grade I listed building in 1967 after being threatened with demolition.Template:Sfn[17] Similarly, King's Cross and Paddington became Grade I listed in 1954 and 1961 respectively.[18][19]

In 1986, Broad Street, which had been a major London terminal for local and commuter services, closed.Template:Sfn It was feared that Marylebone and St Pancras would follow, but both have been revitalised; the former became an alternative terminal for services to Oxford and BirminghamTemplate:Sfn while the latter is now the main entry point for Eurostar services via the Channel Tunnel.[20]

Cultural impact

File:Great Suffolk Street, SE1 (3) - geograph.org.uk - 470890.jpg
The building of railway lines into London took up a substantial amount of land, particularly south of the Thames.

The various terminal stations began to affect their surrounding area once built. Those displaced by the railways crammed into whatever existing accommodation was available, creating slums, and the immediate area around the stations were filled with cheap souvenir shops and prostitutes. Conversely, the middle class moved out into suburbs which now had easy access to Central London via train, and railway traffic increased.Template:Sfn Around 76,000 people lost their homes between 1853 and 1901 as a direct result of rail expansion.[21] The area around Waterloo had already become notorious for prostitution by the time the station was built, which was eventually cleared away in 1867 when the London and South Western Railway made a compulsory purchase order for the properties and demolished them, to accommodate an expanded station.[22] A significant exception was the later-constructed Marylebone, while Charing Cross was less affected by slum building than neighbouring stations.Template:Sfn

Around Battersea and New Cross, railway lines and interchanges occupied about Script error: No such module "convert". of available space. The low-income property that was destroyed by building the stations was generally not replaced, and consequently the remaining accommodation became overcrowded.Template:Sfn The proliferation of railway lines south of the Thames is why the Underground has more lines north of the river, as it did not have alternative overground services.Template:Sfn

In contrast to the 19th century impact of stations, newer developments have seen gentrification of the areas around them. Both Kings Cross and St Pancras stations have been modernised in the 21st century, and are now better regarded. Many goods sheds have been removed, and the area surrounding the stations includes a natural swimming pool, and numerous new apartments.[23][24]

The four former London and North Eastern Railway terminals (King's Cross, Marylebone, Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street) are the stations on a standard British Monopoly board.Template:Sfn

Group members

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Current stations

Station Image Location Coordinates Original owner Managed
by 		London
services 		National services Annual entry/exit (millions) (as of 2023/24)[25]Template:Efn Opening
date 		PlatformsTemplate:Efn CategoryTemplate:Efn
Terminal Through
Blackfriars File:Blackfriars station main entrance.JPG City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". London, Chatham and Dover RailwayTemplate:Sfn Thameslink NW, N, S, SE Thameslink, Gatwick Airport, Luton Airport 13.946 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[26] Template:Nts[26] A[27]
Cannon Street File:Cannon Street station.jpg City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". South Eastern RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] SE Kent, East Sussex 7.102 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[28] Template:Nts A[27]
Charing Cross File:Charing Cross stn building from platforms.JPG Westminster Script error: No such module "Coordinates". South Eastern RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] SE Kent, East Sussex 17.701 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[29] Template:Nts A[27]
City Thameslink File:City Thameslink stn Ludgate Hill entrance.JPG City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". British Rail (Network SouthEast) Thameslink NW, N, S, SE Thameslink, Gatwick Airport, Luton Airport 7.040 Increase Template:Dts[30] Template:Nts Template:Nts[31] D[32]
Euston File:Euston station facade.jpg Camden Script error: No such module "Coordinates". London and Birmingham RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] NW West Coast Main Line 36.185 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[33] Template:Nts A[27]
Fenchurch Street File:Fenchurch street station.jpg City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". London and Blackwall RailwayTemplate:Sfn c2c E Southend-on-Sea 10.447 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[34] Template:Nts A[27]
Kings Cross File:King's Cross stn building.JPG Camden Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Great Northern RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] N East Coast Main Line 24.484 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[35] Template:Nts A[27]
Liverpool Street File:Liverpool Street station entrance Bishopsgate.JPG City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Great Eastern RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] E, NE East of England, Elizabeth line, Stansted Airport, 94.500 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[36] Template:NtsTemplate:Efn A[27]
London Bridge File:London Bridge mainline stn Tooley Street entrance.JPG Southwark Script error: No such module "Coordinates". London and Greenwich RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] S, SE, N, NW Kent, East Sussex, Gatwick Airport 50.045 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[37] Template:Nts[37] A[27]
Marylebone File:Marylebone station entrance.JPG Westminster Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Great Central RailwayTemplate:Sfn Chiltern Railways NW Birmingham, Chiltern Main Line 10.966 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[38] Template:Nts A[27]
Moorgate File:Moorgate entrance Mfields.JPG City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Metropolitan RailwayTemplate:Sfn London Underground N Hertfordshire 8.229 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[39] Template:Nts E[40]
Old Street File:Old Street stn northwest entrance.JPG Islington Script error: No such module "Coordinates". City and South London RailwayTemplate:Sfn London Underground N Hertfordshire 6.381 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts Template:Nts[41] E[40]
Paddington File:Paddington Station 01.jpg Westminster Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Great Western RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] W Great Western Main Line, Elizabeth line, Heathrow Airport 66.859 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[42] Template:NtsTemplate:Efn A[27]
St Pancras File:St Pancras International stn east entrance.JPG Camden Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Midland RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail,[8] HS1 Ltd.,[43] Eurostar International Limited[44] N, NW, S, SE Midland Main Line, Thameslink, Gatwick Airport, Luton Airport, High Speed 1 (Kent), Eurostar (Belgium, France, Netherlands) 35.960 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[45] Template:Nts[45] A/CTemplate:Efn[27]
Vauxhall File:Vauxhall mainline stn north building.JPG Lambeth Script error: No such module "Coordinates". London and South Western RailwayTemplate:Sfn South Western Railway SW Surrey 13.932 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts Template:Nts[46] B[47]
Victoria File:London Victoria Station frontage.jpg Westminster Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Victoria Station and Pimlico RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] S, SE Kent, Sussex, Gatwick Airport, Surrey, Hampshire 50.830 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[48] Template:Nts A[27]
Waterloo File:Waterloo station.JPG Lambeth Script error: No such module "Coordinates". London and South Western RailwayTemplate:Sfn Network Rail[8] SW South West England, Surrey, Hampshire 62.525 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts[49] Template:Nts A[27]
Waterloo East File:Waterloo East stn entrance Waterloo concourse.JPG Lambeth Script error: No such module "Coordinates". South Eastern RailwayTemplate:Sfn Southeastern SE Kent, East Sussex 5.676 Increase Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Nts Template:Nts[50] B[47]

Former stations

Station Image Location Coordinates Original owner Opening
date 		Ending
date 		Fate
Broad Street File:Broad Street station 1983.jpg City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". North London Railway Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Closed
Holborn Viaduct File:Holborn Viaduct 8 77.jpg City of London Script error: No such module "Coordinates". London, Chatham and Dover Railway Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Closed[51]
Kensington (Olympia) File:Kensington Olympia stn Overground look south.JPG Hammersmith and FulhamTemplate:Efn Script error: No such module "Coordinates". West London Railway Template:Dts[52] Template:Dts[53] Still open
Kings Cross Thameslink File:20040910-005-kings-cross-thameslink.jpg Camden Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Metropolitan Railway Template:DtsTemplate:Sfn Template:Dts[54][55] Closed[56]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  56. ↑ replaced by Template:Stnlink

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Sources

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External links

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