King's Cross St Pancras tube station

The first underground station at King's Cross was planned in 1851, during construction of the mainline station. The intention was to connect the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Paddington with the Great Northern Railway (GNR) at King's Cross. The line was opened as part of the original section of the Metropolitan Railway (MR) on 10 January 1863. It was reorganised in August 1868 to accommodate the City Widened Lines which allowed GNR and Metropolitan traffic to run along the line simultaneously. The same year, the Metropolitan built a link to the newly opened station. The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now part of the Piccadilly line) platforms opened with the rest of the line on 15 December 1906, while the City & South London Railway (C&SLR, now part of the Northern line) opened on 11 May 1907. In 1927, this part of the station was renamed as King's Cross for St Pancras. In 1933, the station was formally renamed King's Cross St Pancras, except for the Metropolitan line station, which continued to use the old name until 16 October 1940, when it was also renamed. During this time, major rebuilding work took place, including a direct connection to St Pancras and a circular ticket hall. The main concourse opened on 18 June 1939, and the subway link to St Pancras opened two years later. The total cost of the work was £260,000. The Metropolitan line platforms were closed between 16 October and 9 December 1940 due to bomb damage during the Blitz. Further bomb damage to the Metropolitan line platforms occurred on 9 March 1941 when a train, the station roof, the signal box and the platforms were damaged and two railway staff were killed. New sub-surface platforms had been under construction as part of the station improvements begun in the 1930s and these were opened in an unfinished condition on 14 March 1941 to the west. These were decorated with cream tiles featuring pale green edges. A subway was built between the sub-surface lines, running below Euston Road and joining with the tube lines, making interchanging between the various lines easier. The 1868 platforms later became station. The Victoria line platforms were opened on 1 December 1968 as part of the line's second phase from Highbury & Islington to Warren Street. Unlike some other interchange stations on the line, it was not possible to put the platforms on the same level with other lines. Two new escalators were constructed, connecting the Northern / Piccadilly ticket hall with an expanded concourse. A further subway and staircase connected the new platforms to this. The station was refurbished in 1986, in conjunction with several others on the tube network. The Northern and Piccadilly platforms were decorated with multi-coloured tiles featuring the letters "K" and "X" by the artist Paul Huxley. These tiles were removed during the substantial upgrade and expansion of the station in the mid 2000s. As a result, fire safety procedures on the Underground were tightened, staff training was improved and wooden steps on escalators were replaced with metal ones. Smoking had already been banned on subsurface areas of the Underground in February 1985; following the King's Cross fire, it was banned throughout the entire network. The fire caused extensive damage, particularly to the old wooden escalators where it had started. Repairs and rebuilding took over a year; the Northern line platforms and the escalators from the ticket hall to the Piccadilly line remained closed until 5 March 1989. Upgrade and expansion In the aftermath of the fire, the Fennell Report recommended that London Underground should investigate "passenger flow and congestion in stations and take remedial action". In August 2000, work began to upgrade and expand the station in conjunction with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project, in which St Pancras would be the new terminal for Eurostar services to continental Europe. The upgrade took almost 10 years to complete at a cost of £810m, doubling the capacity of the station to more than 100,000 people daily. Two new ticket halls were built – the Western Ticket Hall under the forecourt of St Pancras station, and the Northern Ticket Hall under the new King's Cross station concourse. King's Cross Thameslink station closed on 9 December 2007 after the service moved to St Pancras. == Ticket halls ==

Following completion of the station upgrade in 2010, King's Cross St Pancras has eleven entrances and four ticket halls. • The "Tube Ticket Hall" in front of King's Cross station is signposted as the 'Euston Road' way out from the Tube lines. It was expanded as part of the station upgrade project. • The "Western Ticket Hall" is under the forecourt of St Pancras station adjacent to Euston Road. It opened in 2009. == Artwork ==

The stations along the central part of the Piccadilly line, the Bakerloo line and some sections of the Northern line, were financed by the American entrepreneur Charles Tyson Yerkes, and known for the Leslie Green-designed red station buildings and distinctive platform tiling. Each station was designed with a unique tile pattern and colours. Like other stations on the line, the Victoria line platforms at the station have a tiled motif in the seat recesses. The design by artist Tom Eckersley features a cross of crowns. In the 2000s upgrade, Art on the Underground commissioned the first permanent artwork to be installed on the Underground since the 1980s. The stainless steel sculptures, Full Circle by artist Knut Henrik Henriksen, are located at the end of two new concourses on the Northern and Piccadilly lines. == Future proposals ==

Crossrail 2 In 1991, a route for a potential Chelsea-Hackney line was safeguarded through the area. This evolved into a proposed rail route based on Crossrail called Crossrail 2, which would link both Euston and King's Cross St Pancras, into the station Euston St Pancras. The scheme was shelved in 2020. Docklands Light Railway extension from Bank In 2011, strategy documents by Transport for London (TfL) and supported by the London Borough of Camden proposed an extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) Bank branch to Euston and St Pancras to help relieve the Northern line between Euston and Bank, which would offer direct connections to and London City Airport. TfL have considered a line from via and to the two transport hubs but may not be developed until the full separation of the Northern line happens. Piccadilly line In 2005, a business case was prepared to re-open the disused York Road Underground station on the Piccadilly line, to serve the King's Cross Central development and help relieve congestion at King's Cross St Pancras. York Road station closed in September 1932 and was around north of King's Cross St Pancras. == Services and layout ==

King's Cross St Pancras station is in London fare zone 1 and has eight platforms. In addition to the two mainline stations, the London Underground station is served by six lines. They are the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines. On the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, the station is between Euston Square and Farringdon. On the Bank branch of the Northern line the station is between Euston and Angel, on the Piccadilly line it is between Russell Square and Caledonian Road, and on the Victoria line it is between Euston and Highbury & Islington. The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines share the same pair of tracks at King's Cross, but the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines each have their own platforms. In , King's Cross St Pancras was the station on the system, with million passengers entering and exiting the station. == Connections ==

Several London bus routes serve the station. == Incidents ==

On 2 January 1885, an Irish Nationalist terrorist planted a bomb on the Metropolitan line just west of the station. There were no injuries and little damage as the bomb exploded in the tunnel rather than on any train. James Cunningham was arrested later that month and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour for causing the attack. On 28 May 1959, the leading car on a Northern line train derailed just after leaving King's Cross St Pancras, heading for Euston. There were no injuries. The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated bomb attacks, including an explosion in a Piccadilly line train travelling between King's Cross St Pancras and Russell Square which killed 26 people. The death toll was the highest of all the incidents, as the Piccadilly line is in a deep tube south of King's Cross and there was nowhere for the blast to escape. == References ==