Euston is a

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. It directly connects with Euston main line station above it. The station is in

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Zone 1. Euston was constructed as two separate underground stations. Three of the four Northern line platforms date from the station's opening in 1907. The fourth Northern line platform and the two Victoria line platforms were constructed in the 1960s when the station was significantly altered to accommodate the Victoria line. Plans for

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

and

Crossrail 2 Crossrail 2 is a proposed hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit route in South East England, running from nine stations in Surrey to three in Hertfordshire, providing a new North–South rail link across Greater London. It would connect the S ...

both include proposals to modify the station to provide interchanges with the new services. The station serves two branches 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 ...

and the

Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in south London and in the north-east, via the West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run completely undergr ...

. On the Northern line's

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 ...

branch, the station is between

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

and King's Cross St Pancras stations. On the

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

branch, it is between

Mornington Crescent Mornington Crescent is a terraced street in Camden Town, Camden, London, England. It was built in the 1820s, on a greenfield site just to the north of central London. Many of the houses were subdivided into flats during the Victorian era, an ...

and

Warren Street Warren Street is a street in the London Borough of Camden that runs from Cleveland Street in the west to Tottenham Court Road in the east. Warren Street tube station is located at the eastern end of the street. History The street is crossed b ...

stations. On the Victoria line, it is between Warren Street and King's Cross St. Pancras stations. The station is near Euston Square station allowing connections at street level to the

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, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

History

Northern line

Planning

An underground station to serve Euston station was first proposed by the Hampstead, St Pancras & Charing Cross Railway in 1891. The company planned a route to run from Heath Street in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

with a branch diverging from the main route to run under Drummond Street to serve Euston, St Pancras and King's Cross stations. Following parliamentary review of the proposals and a change in name to the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR), permission was granted for the route in 1893, although the branch line was only permitted as far as Euston. For the remainder of the 1890s, the CCE&HR struggled unsuccessfully to raise the necessary

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to fund construction of the new line. Whilst doing so it continued to develop its route proposals. In 1899, parliamentary permission was obtained to modify the route so that the Euston branch was extended northwards to connect to the main route at the south end of

Camden High Street The A400 road is an A road in London that runs from Charing Cross (near Trafalgar Square, in London's West End) to Archway in North London. It passes some of London's most famous landmarks. The Northern line ( Charing Cross and High Barne ...

. The section of the main route between the two ends of the loop was omitted. In 1900, the CCE&HR was taken over by a consortium led by American financier

Charles Yerkes Charles Tyson Yerkes Jr. ( ; June 25, 1837 – December 29, 1905) was an American financier. He played a part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London. Philadelphia Yerkes was born into a Quaker family in the Northern Liberties, ...

which raised the necessary finance. The same year, a proposal was presented to Parliament by the Islington and Euston Railway (I&ER) for an extension of 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 ...

(C&SLR) from

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 ...

to Euston. At the time, the C&SLR was in the process of constructing an extension to Angel from its recently opened terminus at Moorgate Street. The extension plan was initially permitted in 1901, but delays in the parliamentary process meant that it had to be re-submitted the following year. The second submission was opposed by the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

, which saw the extension as competition to its service between King's Cross and Moorgate, and the plan was rejected. A third attempt, presented to parliament in November 1902 by the C&SLR itself, was successful and approved in 1903.

Construction and opening

Euston Underground station building location on 1914 OS Map

With funding obtained, tunnelling for the CCE&HR was carried out between September 1903 and December 1905, after which the station buildings and fitting-out of the tunnels commenced. The C&SLR's Euston extension was constructed at the same time from the newly opened Angel station and opened on 12 May 1907, with the station building designed by Sidney Smith located on the east side of Eversholt Street. The CCE&HR opened on 22 June 1907; its building, designed by

Leslie Green Leslie William Green (6 February 1875 – 31 August 1908) was an English architect. He is best known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20t ...

, is located at the corner of Drummond Street and Melton Street. Derelict Underground station - geograph

Although built and initially operated as two separate stations by the two companies, the C&SLR and the CCE&HR platforms were sufficiently close together that a deep level interchange was constructed between the passages of the two stations with a small ticket office for passengers changing between the lines. Another passage led to lifts that surfaced within the main line station itself. With the entrance within the main line station able to serve both sets of platforms satisfactorily, the separate station buildings were considered unnecessary, and they both closed on 30 September 1914. The CCE&HR building remains (converted for use as an

electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station and ...

), but the C&SLR's building was demolished in 1934 to enable the construction of

Euston House Euston House was built on Seymour Street, now Eversholt Street, in London in 1934 as the headquarters of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. It was later the headquarters of the British Railways Board. History It was built between 1933 a ...

for the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

Reconstruction and extension

Most of the C&SLR's route had been constructed with tunnels or in diameter, smaller than the diameter that had been adopted as the standard for the CCE&HR and other deep level tube lines. The smaller tunnel size restricted the capacity of the C&SLR's trains and, in 1912, the C&SLR published a bill for their enlargement. A separate bill was published at the same time by the

London Electric Railway The London Electric Railway (LER) was an underground railway company operating three lines on the London Underground. It was formed in 1910 and existed until 1933, when it was merged into the London Passenger Transport Board. History The LER wa ...

(LER), that included plans to construct tunnels to connect the C&SLR at Euston to the CCE&HR's station at

. Together, the works proposed in these bills would enable trains of each company to run over the route of the other, effectively combining the two separate railways. The reconstruction and extension works were postponed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and did not begin until 1922. The C&SLR platforms and the tunnels between Euston and Moorgate were closed for the reconstruction on 8 August 1922. They reopened on 20 April 1924 along with the new link to Camden Town.

London & North Western Railway

LNWR Underground Loop Line at Euston station, 1907

In 1906, the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

(LNWR), operator of the main line station, announced proposals to construct an underground station of its own. The company planned to construct new tracks parallel with its line to Watford, the first section of which would have been constructed as a single-track loop long and deep beneath the surface station. The single platform underground station would have been close to the CCE&HR's platforms. The proposal was presented to Parliament in November 1906 and received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 26 July 1907. The LNWR did not proceed with the loop plan and the underground station, which were dropped in 1911.

Victoria line

Planning

Plans for the route that eventually became the Victoria line date from the 1940s. A proposal for a new underground railway line linking north-east London with the centre was included in the ''

County of London Plan The County of London Plan was prepared for the London County Council in 1943 by John Henry Forshaw (1895–1973) and Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1957) Its main purpose was to point out the main directions of development and ...

'' in 1943. Between 1946 and 1954, a series of routes were proposed by different transport authorities to connect various places in south and north or north-east London. Each of these connected the three main line termini at King's Cross, Euston and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. A route was approved in 1955 with future extensions to be decided later, though funding for the construction was not approved by the government until 1962.

Construction and opening

At Euston, major reconstruction works were undertaken to incorporate the new Victoria line platforms so that

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly so named. In the Uni ...

s could be provided with the Northern line's Bank branch—the former C&SLR route to King's Cross and

. Unlike the Charing Cross branch tracks, which were in separate tunnels with side platforms, the Bank branch tracks served an island platform in a single large tunnel. These platforms suffered from dangerous overcrowding at peak times. To provide cross-platform interchange, a new section of tunnel was constructed for northbound Bank branch trains, which were diverted to a new platform south of the original alignment. The redundant northbound track bed in the station tunnel was filled in to form a wider southbound platform. The new Victoria line platforms were excavated between and parallel to the original and the new Bank branch tunnels. Each pair of platforms was linked via a concourse served by escalators. Euston tube station Northern line Bank branch southbound look south

Euston tube station Northern line Bank branch southbound look south

In conjunction with the reconstruction of the main line station above, a new ticket hall was excavated below the concourse with two sets of escalators replacing the lifts. The escalators provide access to and from an intermediate passenger circulation level, which, in turn, gives access to the Northern line Charing Cross branch platforms and two further sets of escalators; one set each serving the northbound and southbound Victoria and Northern line Bank branch platforms. Interchanges between the northbound and southbound Victoria and Northern Bank Line platforms are made via a passageway at the lower level so as to avoid the need to use the escalators. An emergency stair to the intermediate interchange level is located midway along the passageway. The Victoria line platforms opened on 1 December 1968 when the second section of the line was opened between Highbury & Islington and Warren Street. Disused passages remain with tiling and posters from the 1960s.

Future proposals

Unlike the neighbouring main line termini, St Pancras and King's Cross, Euston is not served by the

, Hammersmith & City and

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...

s. Euston Square station, which is served by these lines, is approximately to the south-west. Plans for the redevelopment of the main line station for

(HS2) include the construction of a direct connection to Euston Square. The CCE&HR station building on Melton Street sits within the HS2 development site area and will be demolished to make way for the station. Proposals for

include an

underground station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...

serving Euston and St Pancras that will be integrated with the existing London Underground station. A new underground line between Euston and

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lo ...

has been suggested and is being considered by the government.

Services

The station 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 ...

. On the Northern line's Bank branch the station is between Camden Town and King's Cross St Pancras. On the Charing Cross branch it is between Mornington Crescent and Warren Street. On the Victoria line it is between Warren Street and King's Cross St. Pancras. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally, Northern line trains operate every 2–6 minutes from approximately 05:49 to 00:45 northbound and 05:49 to 00:28 southbound. Victoria line trains operate every 1–6 minutes from approximately 05:41 to 00:42 northbound and 05:31 to 00:26 southbound.

Connections

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London b ...

routes 18, 30, 59, 68, 73, 91, 168,

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' ...

, 253,

390 __NOTOC__ Year 390 (Roman numerals, CCCXC) 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 Augustus and Neoterius (or, less frequen ...

and 476 and night routes N5, N20, N91 and N253 serve

Euston bus station Euston Bus Station serves the Euston area of Camden, London, England. The station is owned and maintained by Transport for London. It is situated next to Euston main line railway station and above Euston Underground station and near Eust ...

outside the main line station.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Clive's Underground Lines Guide – Northern Line, section on King's cross Loop

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** ** {{Chelsea–Hackney line navbox Northern line stations Victoria line stations London Underground Night Tube stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Camden Former City and South London Railway stations London Underground stations located underground Former Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1907 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1968