Old Street is a

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

and

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station at the junction of

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...

and

City Road City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of Lo ...

in central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. The station is on the

Bank branch A branch, banking center or financial center is a retail location where a bank, credit union, or other financial institution (including a brokerage firm) offers a wide array of face-to-face and automated services to its customers. History and ...

of the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

between

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

and

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...

stations and on the

Northern City Line The Northern City Line is a commuter railway line in England, which runs from Moorgate station to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern branc ...

between Moorgate and

Essex Road Essex Road is a main road in Islington, London. It is part of the A104 and connects Islington High Street with Balls Pond Road via Essex Road railway station. Location The road is about long. It starts as continuation of Islington Green, whic ...

stations. The station is in the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

(straddling the Hackney border). It is in

Travelcard Zone 1 Fare zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used by the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail. For most tickets, travel through Zone 1 is more expensive than journeys ...

. The station was built by the

City and South London Railway The City and South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first successful deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction. The railway was originally intended for cable-hauled trains, but owing ...

and opened in 1901. It was rebuilt by

Stanley Heaps Stanley A. Heaps (1880–1962) was an English architect responsible for the design of a number of stations on the London Underground system as well as the design of train depots and bus and trolleybus garages for London Transport. Works ...

in 1925 with a more uniform frontage, and again in 1968, replacing all surface buildings with a subsurface complex. In 2014, it was redeveloped to provide more retail space. Old Street station has become busier, attracting over 20 million visitors in 2014; a trend expected to continue following redevelopment of the local area as a centre for the British

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

industry.

Location

Old Street station is in the London Borough of Islington, close to the boundary with the London Borough of Hackney to the north-east. It is in the centre of, and underneath the

Old Street Roundabout Old Street Roundabout is a road junction in Central London, England. Historically a square roundabout, it is now a three-way junction. It is among access points of the London Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road for the adjoining St Luke's, Islingt ...

, a major intersection on the

London Inner Ring Road The London Inner Ring Road, or Ring Road as signposted, is a route with an average diameter of formed from a number of major roads that encircle Central London. The ring road forms the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, although t ...

which is partly in Islington's Bunhill ward and partly in Hackney's Hoxton ward. There is no street-level station building. Access to the platform is provided by ramps and stairs to a modern entrance adjacent to a sub-surface shopping parade, known as St Agnes Well. Expanding its catchment, on the Northern line between Old Street and Angel is a disused station named . The station is on the National Rail network's Northern City Line, down-line from served by

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

trains. Although a through-station on this route, for ticketing purposes Old Street is considered a central London terminus. On the Underground, it is on the

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

(eastern) branch of the

, between Moorgate and , in

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

serving the station include the 43 from

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

and

205 Year 205 ( CCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 958 '' Ab urbe condita' ...

from .

History

City and South London Railway

The station was opened on 17 November 1901 as an extension of the

(C&SLR), the first deep-level tube railway in London that connected the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

with

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. It was part of an extension from

, along with the station at City Road. The area around the station was originally a mix of light industry, commerce and warehouses. The Northern City Line platforms were opened on 14 February 1904 by the Great Northern & City Railway, which built its tunnels to a diameter capable of accommodating main-line

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

s as it was intended to carry such services from its northern terminus at the Great Northern Railway's

Finsbury Park station Finsbury Park is an intermodal interchange station in north London. It serves a number of National Rail, London Underground and bus services. The station is the third busiest Underground station outside Zone 1, with over 33 million passengers u ...

to Moorgate. Before Moorgate was expanded in 1938 to include in-station escalators between platforms, Old Street was used as the main interchange between the C&SLR and the Northern City lines. The Finsbury Park connection eventually opened in November 1976, with the line becoming a

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

route, with through services to

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

and . The C&SLR was built with smaller tunnels than the later tube lines and needed to be enlarged to enable them to accommodate standard stock trains. The section between Euston and Moorgate closed on 8 August 1922 and reopened on 20 April 1924. The surface building was rebuilt in 1925 when escalators replaced the lift shaft to access the platform tunnels. The station frontage was redesigned by the

Underground Electric Railways Company of London The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an und ...

's architect

with consultant architect

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. Holden had been recommended by managing director

Frank Pick Frank Pick Hon. RIBA (23 November 1878 – 7 November 1941) was a British transport administrator. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1902, he worked at the North Eastern Railway, before moving to the Underground Electric Railways Company ...

to make uniform facades for several station entrances. He designed the stations for the C&SLR's extension to

Morden Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester Pa ...

which was being built. Old Street was used as a bomb shelter during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; the nearby City Road station (which had closed in 1922) was temporarily re-opened to use as a shelter.

Reconstruction

In 1968, the station was again modified; the surface building was replaced with a sub-surface structure in the centre of the roundabout and another escalator shaft was added. During the 1990s corrosion caused by excessive soil acidity required a section of the

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

running tunnel lining in the Northern line, south of Old Street, to be relined with

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

tunnel segments. In the early 1970s, Old Street was planned to be a stop on a new tube line from Wimbledon in the southwest to Leytonstone in the northeast, via Waterloo and Holborn. The route incorporated parts of existing lines at each end but was not built because of a lack of funding. In 2014 the station was redeveloped in a collaboration between Transport for London and letting agency Appear Here.

Pop-up retail Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to catch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

spaces were constructed around the station entrance in a drive to increase revenue. Old Street station has had increased footfall in the 21st century. In 2014, around 23 million people passed through the station annually. The station is considered strategically important, as the area around Old Street is being developed as a centre for

. In 2017, the London Borough of Islington announced plans to redevelop the area around the station with a new entrance and better facilities for cyclists.

Incidents

On 16 August 1921, a man fell onto the track and was killed. He was identified by a card containing personal details in his pocket. On 25 March 1970, an escalator at the station broke down during the morning rush hour. Six people were taken to hospital for minor injuries after they fell. In March 2015, a man was struck and killed by a train. An inquiry returned a verdict of accidental death. Two significant incidents occurred in 2017. In May, the station was closed after a body was found in the station complex. On 30 September, the station was evacuated after passengers heard a loud "bang". Around 20 ambulances and numerous police officers attended the scene, believing it to be a potential terrorist incident. A search around the station found nothing suspicious.

Services

The station has four platforms. Platforms 1–2 serve the

on the

network, while platforms 3–4 serve the

on the

network. Both are deep-level tube lines. The station is part of the

London station group The London station group is a group of 18 railway stations served by the National Rail network in central London. The group contains all 14 terminal stations in central London, either serving major national services or local commuter routes, ...

and acts as a final destination for people travelling with National Rail tickets marked "London Terminals". Late evening and weekend services were introduced at the National Rail station, as part of the Great Northern Thameslink franchise in 2015. Services at the station are as follows.

National Rail

All

services at Old Street are operated by

using

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 4 tph to * 2 tph to via * 2 tph to During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly service between Moorgate and Hertford North and the service between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City is increased to 4 tph.

London Underground

The typical off-peak

service on the

in trains per hour is: * 20 tph to

via

* 10 tph to

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

* 8 tph to

High Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing Cr ...

* 2 tph to

Mill Hill East Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18, ...

During the peak hours, the service is increased up to 22 tph in each direction.

Bus routes Serving the Station

London Bus routes 21, 43 (24-hour), 55, 76 (24-hour),

135 135 may refer to: * 135 (number) * AD 135 * 135 BC * 135 film, better known as 35 mm film, is a format of photographic film used for still photography *135 (New Jersey bus) 135 may refer to: * 135 (number) * AD 135 * 135 BC * 135 film, better know ...

, 141,

, 214 (24-hour), 243 (24-hour), 271 (24-hour) and by Night Bus Routes N55 and N205.

Cultural references

The graffiti artist

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...

painted a Pulp Fiction mural near Old Street station in 2002. It was based on Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield from the film of the same name, except the characters held bananas in place of guns. It was accidentally painted over in 2007. A Transport for London representative said "Our graffiti removal teams are staffed by professional cleaners, not professional art critics".

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * *

External links

* for Old Street station from

* London Transport Museum Photographic Archive ** ** * {{UK railway stations Northern line stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Islington Railway stations in the London Borough of Islington Former City and South London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1901 Former Great Northern and City Railway stations London Underground stations located underground Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1904 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1975 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1976 Unopened Northern Heights extension stations Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom London station group Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway