King's Cross underground station, London: an overview

Abstract

King's Cross St Pancras underground station is one of the busiest underground stations in London. It has a current daily morning peak of 55 000 passengers, is served by five underground lines and two National Rail stations, and will receive passengers from the European continent when the Channel Tunnel Rail Link is complete. In addition it is sited at the junction of major roads, and its existing buildings date from the 1860s. This paper describes the history of the station, the constraints of building a new station round operating railways in the heart of the metropolis, the means of achieving increased passenger capacity and improved passenger flows, the extent of service diversions, and the consequent design solutions.