Charing Cross railway station

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For the station in Glasgow, see Charing Cross (Glasgow) railway station.

Image:Charing Cross station.jpg
London Charing Cross
Location
Place	Charing Cross
Local authority	Westminster
Operations
Managed by	Network Rail
Platforms in use	6
Annual entry/exit	28.822 million
National Rail
Station code	CHX
Transport for London
Zone	1
History
Key dates	Opened 1864
Transport for London List of London stations: Underground \| National Rail

Charing Cross railway station is a central London railway terminus. It is unusual among London's railway termini in that its services connect it to two of the others, namely Waterloo and London Bridge. It is one of seventeen UK stations managed by Network Rail, while trains serving it are operated by Southeastern and Southern.

The station takes its name from the Charing Cross district of London where it is situated, which itself is named after the twelfth Eleanor cross. The front of the station faces onto The Strand, while at the other end is the northern end of Hungerford Bridge, which all trains serving the station must cross.

1 History
2 Services
3 Connections
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The original station building was built on the site of the Hungerford Market by the South Eastern Railway and opened on 11 January 1864. The station was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw, with a single span wrought iron roof arching over the six platforms on its relatively cramped site. The curve of the original roof design can still be seen on the interior brickwork. A year later the Charing Cross Hotel, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, opened on 15 May 1865 and gave the station an ornate frontage in the French Renaissance style. At the same time, the replica Eleanor Cross was erected, based on the original 13th Century Whitehall Cross which had been demolished in 1647.

The elegant original roof structure collapsed on 5 December 1905. By great fortune, only six lives were lost (two workmen on the roof, a bookstall vendor and three passers-by in the street where most of the girders fell) as the collapse happened outside the rush hour and was sufficiently gradual for the station platforms to be successfully evacuated. An enormous travelling timber gantry had to be constructed to safely take the remainder of the station roof down. The roof was replaced by a utilitarian post and girder stucture supporting a ridge and furrow roof.

Following bomb damage in World War II, the elaborate Mansard roof of the upper floors of the hotel was rebuilt in a plain neo-Georgian white brick.

More recently, in 1990, most of the area over the platforms was covered by Embankment Place, a post-modern office and shopping complex designed by Terry Farrell and Partners.

The front entrance of Charing Cross railway station in a 19th century print. The Charing Cross itself can be seen in front of the Charing Cross Hotel, which is now the Thistle Charing Cross.

[edit] Services

There are 35 trains per hour (tph) leaving London Charing Cross off peak during the week.

Operated by Southeastern:

7tph to Orpington
2tph to Gravesend
2tph to Gillingham
2tph to Dartford
2tph to Hayes
5tph to Sevenoaks
2tph to Ashford International
- 2tph splits at Ashford International, the trains then operate to:
  - 2tph to Ramsgate
  - 1tph to Dover Priory
  - 1tph to Margate
4tph to Tonbridge
2tph to Hastings

Operated by Southern:

2tph to Purley
2tph to Tattenham Corner

[edit] Connections

London Charing Cross is served by two London Underground stations, one at each end: these are Charing Cross and Embankment.

[edit] See also

There is a DVD of the driver's view of the Hastings line into Charring Cross.

[edit] External links

Image:Commons-logo.svg	Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charing Cross railway station

Station information on Charing Cross railway station from Network Rail
Train times for Charing Cross railway station from National Rail
Map and aerial photo of Charing Cross railway station from Multimap.com
Other map and aerial photo sources

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		Southern		London Waterloo East
Terminus		Southeastern		London Waterloo East

Railway stations of London Central area \| Greater London
Managed by Network Rail: Cannon Street • Charing Cross • Euston • Fenchurch Street • King's Cross • Liverpool Street • London Bridge • Paddington • Victoria • Waterloo
Managed by train operator: Blackfriars • Marylebone • Moorgate • St Pancras