London station group

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For the VIA Rail station in London, Ontario, Canada, see London, Ontario railway station.

The National Rail network of the United Kingdom does not have one main London railway station in London. Rather, there are many stations in central London, belonging to a so-called London station group.

For reasons linked to the original construction of railways in London, the city is served by several main terminus stations, which form a ring around Central London (the majority of which are connected by the Circle Line of the London Underground) and are served by different lines connected to parts of the country. All the main stations are located in Travelcard Zone 1, and most are managed by Network Rail. Most stations are also a principal destination for routes which serve the London suburbs, and all have either direct or nearby connections to the London Underground network.

In the ticketing system of the British rail network, tickets are normally issued to and from individual stations. However, in some instances, such as London, where there is more than one station in a town or other locality - and especially in cases where these are on different lines or routes - it may be desirable for passengers to be able to travel to one station and back from another, or more generally to be able to choose which of the stations they wish to travel to. To accommodate this requirement, British Rail introduced a series of "station groups": notional "common locations" to which tickets from stations outside that group would be issued.

Contents

[edit] "London group" terminology

Whereas most station groups have had two renderings on tickets, the London group has had four - and two further variations have occasionally been seen.

Order Wording Seen from Seen until Notes
1st LONDON BR 1986 Early 1988 Was occasionally seen in 1990s; usually short-term errors
2nd LONDON BRIT RAIL Early 1989 Early 1998 Was occasionally seen as LONDON BRITRAIL
3rd LONDON Early 1998 April 1998 Persisted longer on some self-service machines
4th LONDON TERMINALS April 1998 Present

A "Stop Press" note in National Fares Manual 69 (valid from 24 May 1998 to 26 September 1998 inclusive) stated: "Ticket issuing machines have been downloaded with a new description for London which will now be shown as London Terminals. The new description, however, will not appear in Fare Manuals until they are reissued in September." In practice, the LONDON TERMINALS description gradually appeared on tickets over the course of several months from mid-April 1998 (the same time as the GLASGOW CEN/QST change) [1]. Very occasionally, LONDON STATIONS was seen instead of the expected "London Terminals" in late 1998, mainly from certain APTIS machines at London Paddington.

The reason for the early change from LONDON BR to LONDON BRIT RAIL was explained in National Fares Manual 42 (valid from 12 May 1989) as follows: "London BR is being replaced by London Brit Rail to avoid continuing customer confusion with London Bridge. The other "BR" stations [i.e. station group names] will be unchanged." (There was also the potential for confusion in the instance of CATFORD BR, as one of the stations in that group is Catford Bridge, but action was taken only in respect of the London group - perhaps because of its greater importance.)

[edit] London: a special case

London is a complex group, for various reasons:

  • It has historically included many termini and other stations, all the way round the central area
  • In practice, travel was, and still is, only permitted to termini that could be reached via reasonable routes from the origin station, without needing to cross central London by London Underground services or the Thameslink cross-London route
  • Two lines cross central London from north to South: the West London Line and, more problematically, the Thameslink route; the stations on these lines had to be considered as well when the group was created
  • Some stations' fares are set by, or subject to control from, London Underground
  • As mentioned already, the terminology of the "group" and the method of rendering it on tickets has changed several times

The following table lists the stations that have been considered part of the London group, with exceptions highlighted:

City Thameslink Kensington Olympia Kings Cross Thameslink London Blackfriars
London Bridge London Broad Street London Cannon Street London Charing Cross
London Euston London Fenchurch Street London Holborn Viaduct London Kings Cross
London Liverpool Street London Marylebone London Paddington London St Pancras
London Victoria London Waterloo London Waterloo East Moorgate
Old Street Vauxhall

Note that above, unlike in the main table, the official names with "London" are given. There are thirteen such stations (Broad Street and Holborn Viaduct are no more, London Bridge's "London" is intrinsic).

Programs such as Travel planners require the "London" inconsistently.

[edit] Exceptions

[edit] The status of Farringdon

On the Thameslink route, Farringdon is considered the crossover station; for fare-setting purposes, it is considered a London Underground station, and tickets are always issued to Farringdon specifically. This situation also applies to Barbican, the next station on the peak-only First Capital Connect service to Moorgate. The status of Moorgate itself is more complicated, as referred to below.

[edit] Kensington Olympia

On the West London line, the intermediate station, Kensington Olympia, was included within the London group until the issue of National Fares Manual 57 on 29 May 1994, at which point it became a separately priced station (with tickets always issued to or from there specifically). Accordingly, since 1994, tickets to/from the "London group" have not been valid.

(Similarly, West Brompton station on the same line, which reopened in 1999, has never been part of the London group. Tickets to or from West Brompton always show the station name itself.)

[edit] St Pancras International

St Pancras International is north of the River Thames; it is considered to be within the London group only in respect of other stations north of the Thames. Unless the National Fares Manual and the ticket issuing system being used specifies otherwise, tickets between St Pancras International and stations south of the Thames have to be issued to/from there specifically (rather than to/from the London group), with the fare being (fare to London group) + (London Underground Zone 1 single or return fare, as appropriate).

[edit] London Bridge, London Blackfriars and City Thameslink

The same applies in reverse; these stations are considered to primarily serve passengers to London from south of the Thames, and journeys to or from stations north of the Thames have to be issued to/from the station itself, at the fare which includes the Zone 1 supplement.

[edit] Moorgate

Moorgate is served by two National Rail routes: the peak-only First Capital Connect route as described above, which diverges from the main Thameslink route at Farringdon, and the service on the Northern City Line from Finsbury Park, also operated by First Capital Connect. Tickets issued to/from the "London group" are valid at Moorgate when used on the Northern City Line route, but are not valid on the Thameslink route from Farringdon.

[edit] The closed stations

London Broad Street station closed in 1986, months before the APTIS system was introduced. London Holborn Viaduct station closed in 1990, being replaced by City Thameslink nearby. Kings Cross Thameslink station closed in 2007, being replaced by the low level platforms at St Pancras International nearby.

All of these stations were included in the London group prior to closure.

[edit] The "London Thameslink" group

To improve flexibility for people travelling from stations on the northern Thameslink route (West Hampstead Thameslink to Bedford inclusive), a new station group called London Thameslink (rendered on tickets as LONDON THAMESLNK) was created in 1998. Tickets could be issued from one of the stations on the above route to this destination, and these would be valid on Thameslink services to all of the following stations: King's Cross Thameslink (since replaced by St Pancras International), Farringdon, Barbican, Moorgate, City Thameslink, London Blackfriars, London Bridge and Elephant & Castle. However until 2008, Season Tickets could not be issued from these northern Thameslink stations to "London Thameslink" - they had to be issued to a specific station. London Thameslink are now no longer valid to Barbican and Moorgate.

[edit] List of mainline stations

There are around 350 further stations served by National Rail in the Greater London area, of which most can be reached from one of the main central stations. Nine of the ten busiest UK stations are in London (Clapham Junction being the busiest in Europe). Within Central London itself, most of the major stations are terminal stations; a handful of stations with terminal platforms also have through platforms. The main central London stations are:

Station Location Managed by London
services		 National
services		 Annual
entry/exit
(millions)
2002/3		 Annual
entry/exit
(millions)
2004/5		 Annual
entry/exit
(millions)
2005/6		 Open
date		 Terminal
platforms		 Through
platforms
Blackfriars City of London First Capital Connect NW, S, SE, SW Thameslink
Gatwick Airport
Luton Airport		 1.444 7.782 8.259 1886 3 2
Cannon
Street		 City of London Network Rail SE Kent
East Sussex		 1.93 17.460 17.614 1866 7 0
Charing
Cross		 Westminster Network Rail SE Kent
East Sussex		 4.825 28.822 28.562 1864 6 0
City
Thameslink		 City of London First Capital Connect NW, S, SW Bedford-Brighton
Gatwick Airport
Luton Airport		 12.951 4.010 4.645 1988 0 2
Euston Camden Network Rail NW West Coast Main Line
Watford DC Line		 26.256 26.256 27.162 1837 18 0
Farringdon Islington London Underground NW, S, SW Bedford-Brighton
Gatwick Airport
Luton Airport		 14.392 [2] 15.255[2] 16.805[2] 1863 0 4
(incl. 2 LU)
Fenchurch
Street		 City of London Network Rail E Thurrock
Southend-on-Sea		 17.019 16.086 15.746 1841 4 0
Kings Cross Camden Network Rail N East Coast Main Line
Cambridge		 49.137 20.805 20.302 1852 11 0
Liverpool
Street		 City of London Network Rail E, NE Great Eastern Main Line
East of England
Stansted Airport		 38.968 50.469 47.271 1874 18 0
London
Bridge		 Southwark Network Rail S, SE, NW Kent
East Sussex
Thameslink
Gatwick Airport
Luton Airport		 80.773 37.020 37.416 1836 9[3] 6
Marylebone Westminster Chiltern Railways NW Buckinghamshire
Birmingham		 6.354 6.949 6.819 1899 6 0
Moorgate City of London London Underground NW, N Bedford
Luton Airport
Hertfordshire		 0.000832 7.135 7.263 1865 6[4]
(incl. 2 LU)		 4
(all LU)
Paddington Westminster Network Rail W Great Western Main Line
Heathrow Airport		 25.262 25.788 26.501 1854 14 0
St Pancras Camden Network Rail None Bedford-Brighton
Gatwick Airport
Luton Airport
Midland Main Line		 4.429 5.471 4.893 1868 10[5] 2
Victoria Westminster Network Rail S, SE, SW Kent
Sussex
Gatwick Airport		 61.647 48.046 47.860 1862 19 0
Waterloo Lambeth Network Rail SW Surrey
Hampshire
South West England		 68.431 62.388 61.036 1848 19[6] 0
Waterloo
East		 Lambeth Southeastern S, SE Kent
East Sussex		 0.439 4.905 4.904 1869 0 4

[edit] Key

Notes on sources for National Rail figures: Station usage from the Office of Rail Regulation


Stations shown with London Underground connections
Stations shown with London Underground connections

[edit] Closed stations

Main article: List of closed railway stations in London

The large number of major railway stations has broadly escaped any rationalisation despite coming into common ownership in the 1940s. However, a number of stations have closed for one reason or another:

  • 19th Century closures
    • Bishopsgate - closed in 1874 and replaced by Liverpool Street
    • Minories - closed in 1854 and replaced by Fenchurch Street

Bishopsgate was converted into a major freight terminal and was in use until 1964 when it was damaged by fire. The majority of the buildings were demolished in 2004 to make way for the new Shoreditch High Street railway station. Minories was utilised as an alternative terminus until the re-siting of Fenchurch Street in 1854. The original site was reused for Tower Gateway DLR station.

  • 20th Century closures

Holborn Viaduct was a significant terminal station located close to Blackfriars until it was made redundant by the reopening of the Snow Hill tunnel through route and replaced by City Thameslink. Broad Street was the terminus of a network of commuter lines in east and west London linked using the North London Line. It suffered by the expansion of the bus, tram and tube networks and was finally closed in 1986.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "{{{title}}}" (June 1998). Journal of the Transport Ticket Society (413): 218. ISSN 0144-347X. 
  2. ^ a b c Figure includes London Underground passengers
  3. ^ As part of the Thameslink Programme the number of through platforms will be increased to 9 and the number of terminal platforms will be reduced to 6
  4. ^ Two terminal platforms are due to be withdrawn in 2008 as part of the Thameslink Programme
  5. ^ This will eventually have 13 terminal and 2 through platforms
  6. ^ There are plans to recommission the 5 former international platforms for domestic use subject to remodelling of the station approaches

[edit] External links

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