Euston railway station

Euston [ ju ː stən ] is one of the main railway stations of London. It is located in the London Borough of Camden, just north of the city center and in Travelcard Zone 1 The terminal station is the starting point of the trains on the West Coast Main Line to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Holyhead and Glasgow as well as numerous suburban trains. Railway companies, which run to Euston, London Midland are, Virgin Trains and London Overground; Moreover, depart from here the night trains by First ScotRail to Scotland. The station was used in 2005 by 26.526 million passengers.

Below the station is the metro station Euston, and an important hub of the London Underground. Another metro station is Euston Square, about 250 meters away.

Plant

The modern building is a typical representative of the architecture of the 1960s. It is a long, flat and sober concrete building with a 197 -meter-wide front. At the two corners of the front office towers rise into the air, where the management of Network Rail is housed. The station has a single huge hall with plenty of shops and catering facilities. Behind it is a bare -looking parking hall. A few vestiges of the old, demolished station 1962 have been preserved, but can not even begin to hint at the former splendor. Unlike the original building of today's train station is a little bit back and can be seen from the street hardly. At the entrance is a statue created by Eduardo Paolozzi, reminiscent of the German theater director Erwin Piscator.

Euston is widely regarded as the ugliest and most unpleasant main railway station in London. The dark ramps, which must happen from the concourse out down to the platforms, passengers seem restrictive. The fully zubetonierte front of the entrance is a meeting place for beggars and homeless people. The station has 18 tracks. The tracks 8-11 are used exclusively by Silverlink trains, for this reason, the corresponding platforms can only be achieved through automatic ticket barriers. A platform is longer than the others to accommodate the existing 16 coaches Caledonian Sleeper trains can travel night.

Platform during the night

Sign

Station and adjacent office building

History

Despite its drab appearance today Euston London's main railway station is the second oldest and the oldest, perverted from which high-speed trains to other major cities. The original station was opened on July 20, 1837 as the end point built by Robert Stephenson London and Birmingham Railway. It was designed by renowned architect Philip Hardwick, it was grown a 61 -meter-long parking hall for trains. At the beginning there were only two platforms, one for incoming and one for departing trains. Hardwick built before the porch a 22 -meter-high portico with Doric columns, who achieved great fame under the name Euston Arch.

Stephenson's original plans involved to build the track so that it ended at the point where today the King's Cross train station is. After strong protests of numerous land owners, he changed the route towards Euston. Until 1844, the trains had to be pulled with cables on the hill in Camden Town, as the steam engines could not generate enough power for the climb at the beginning.

In the following years, the station had to be constantly enhanced to deal with the ever increasing volume of traffic can. Thus, the Great Hall ( " Great Hall ") was opened in 1849, in the classical style by Philip Charles Hardwick, Hardwick's son, designed. The hall was 38.1 meters long, 18.6 meters wide and 18.9 meters high, with a coffered ceiling and a staircase that led to an office wing up. The old station was a few dozen meters from Euston Road than the present, at the former Drummond Street. A short road led from Euston Square to the portico, she was flanked by two hotels named Euston Hotel and Victoria Hotel.

The train station and the associated railway line were the passage of time in the possession of various companies; 1846 to 1922 the London and North Western Railway, from 1923 to 1947, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, 1947-1994 British Rail. Since the re-privatization of British Railways two different infrastructure companies were responsible, from 1994 to 2001 Railtrack, Network Rail since 2001.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the leaders came to the conclusion that the old station no longer satisfies the requirements and needs to be replaced. Despite fierce protests in public ( led by John Betjeman ) the old building in 1962 along with the Euston Arch demolished and replaced by a new, opened in 1968 building. The loss of the old building led by the British conservation organizations to change course: Previously they had, picturesque rural buildings and pristine landscapes occupied only with aristocratic palaces. The demolition of the old station is considered to be one of the worst urban planning sins of any, comparable to the demolition of the former Penn Station New York.

Euston Arch, 1851

War Memorial of the LNWR

Keeper's house the LNWR

Great property damage directed at an IRA bomb that was detonated on September 10, 1973 at 13:10 clock. Eight people were injured. Three minutes before the Metropolitan Police had received a telephone warning, but the building could not be cleared fast enough.

On 5 April 2007 gave British Land announced that it had won the tender for the construction of the station. The construction costs expected to total 250 million pounds. The number of tracks is increased from 18 to 21, in addition to a pedestrian tunnel to the subway station Euston Square to be built.