Moorgate station
Encyclopedia
Moorgate station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground
station on Moorgate
in the City of London
; it provides National Rail
services by First Capital Connect
for Hertford
, Welwyn Garden City
and Letchworth
and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City
, Metropolitan Line
s and the Bank branch of the Northern Line
. It was the terminus for the Moorgate branch of the Thameslink
line until March 2009 and was the site of the Moorgate tube crash
of 1975 when 46 people were killed and 74 were injured.
services use platforms 9 and 10 (the Northern City Line
platforms) and are signed as "trains to Stevenage". Platforms 5 and 6 are now unused since the Thameslink Programme
cut off the Moorgate branch via the Widened Lines
.
Traction current on the Underground lines is supplied by the standard London Underground four rail system. The former Thameslink bays were equipped with 25 kV AC
overhead lines.
in December 1865 as the first extension from its original route between and . The track to King's Cross was widened to four tracks in 1868 as the 'City Widened Lines
'. These lines now form part of the Metropolitan line
, Hammersmith & City and Circle line
s and for a while formed the Moorgate branch of the Thameslink
line.
The Northern line platforms were opened by the City & South London Railway
(C&SLR) as "Moorgate Street" in February 1900 and formed the northern terminus of its services from south of the River Thames
. The line was extended to the following year with services to London Midland Region (LMR) destinations using the Midland Main Line
and Eastern Region (ER) destinations using the East Coast Main Line
(ECML) (accessed via the York Road Curve and Hotel Curve to King's Cross). British Rail
services to Moorgate were initially steam operated before being converted to Cravens-built diesel multiple units and British Rail Class 31
locomotives class hauling non-corridor stock which remained in operation until the mid 1970s.
The Northern City Line to Moorgate was opened by the Great Northern & City Railway (GN&CR) in February 1904 offering a service to . The tunnels were constructed at a diameter capable of accommodating main line trains given the companies intentions to run main line trains via Finsbury Park directly into the city. Unfortunately the two companies were not able to agree and main line trains didn't use the lines for another 70 years.
The Snow Hill tunnel
closed in 1916 after which Widened City Lines services terminated at Moorgate. From 1934 the Northern City Line was operated as the Highbury Branch of the Northern line.
Moorgate station was completely rebuilt and extended to six platforms in the 1960s.
46 people were killed and 74 seriously injured in the Moorgate tube crash
on 28 February 1975 when a southbound train crashed into buffers at the end of the line at the station inside a tunnel beyond the platform. It was the greatest loss of life on the Underground during peacetime.
British Rail took over control of the Northern City Line from London Underground in 1975. The Highbury Branch of the Northern line was terminated. Services from Finsbury Park to Moorgate were diverted to the Northern City Line from the Widened City Lines the following year. The City Widened Lines had overhead electrification installed by 1982 allowing Midland City Line service to run from Bedford via the Midland Main Line to Moorgate on what became known as Moorgate branch of the Thameslink
service. The Moorgate Thameslink branch closed permanently in March 2009 as part of the £6billion Thameslink programme
.
The Trains do not serve the Northern City Line during late evenings and at weekends, being diverted to instead.
plans, the western ticket hall of station will be situated just east of Moorgate station. An interchange will be built, which will also link Moorgate to the Central line
.
, 76, 100, 133
, 141
, 153, 205
, 214
, 271
and night routes N21, N76, N133.
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station on Moorgate
Moorgate
Moorgate was a postern in the London Wall originally built by the Romans. It was turned into a gate in the 15th century. Though the gate was demolished in 1762, the name survives as a major street in the City of London...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
; it provides National Rail
National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
services by First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
for Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
, Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City
-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...
and Letchworth
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...
and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City
Hammersmith & City Line
The Hammersmith & City line is a subsurface London Underground line. It connects Hammersmith in the west with Barking in the east, running through the northern part of central London. It is coloured salmon pink on the Tube map...
, Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
s and the Bank branch of the Northern Line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
. It was the terminus for the Moorgate branch of the Thameslink
Thameslink
Thameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
line until March 2009 and was the site of the Moorgate tube crash
Moorgate tube crash
The Moorgate tube crash was a railway disaster on the London Underground, which occurred on 28 February 1975 at 08.46 am.A southbound train on the Northern Line crashed into the tunnel end beyond the platform at Moorgate station...
of 1975 when 46 people were killed and 74 were injured.
Platforms
The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines all use platforms 1 and 2 (through platforms) and also 3 and 4 (bays). The Northern line uses 7 and 8. National RailNational Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
services use platforms 9 and 10 (the Northern City Line
Northern City Line
The Northern City Line is a railway line from Moorgate to Finsbury Park in London, once part of the Great Northern Electrics line. It should not be confused with the City branch of the Northern line, nor with the North London Line...
platforms) and are signed as "trains to Stevenage". Platforms 5 and 6 are now unused since the Thameslink Programme
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, is a £6 billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the south of London without requiring passengers to change...
cut off the Moorgate branch via the Widened Lines
Widened Lines
The Widened Lines is the name of a group of railway routes that currently form part of the Thameslink network leading from King's Cross/St...
.
Traction current on the Underground lines is supplied by the standard London Underground four rail system. The former Thameslink bays were equipped with 25 kV AC
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
overhead lines.
History
The station was opened by the Metropolitan RailwayMetropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
in December 1865 as the first extension from its original route between and . The track to King's Cross was widened to four tracks in 1868 as the 'City Widened Lines
Widened Lines
The Widened Lines is the name of a group of railway routes that currently form part of the Thameslink network leading from King's Cross/St...
'. These lines now form part of the Metropolitan line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
, Hammersmith & City and Circle line
Circle Line
The Circle line, coloured yellow on the tube map, is the eighth busiest line on the London Underground. It forms a loop line around the centre of London on the north side of the River Thames with, since 13 December 2009, an extension to Hammersmith on its north-western side.-History:The route now...
s and for a while formed the Moorgate branch of the Thameslink
Thameslink
Thameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
line.
The Northern line platforms were opened by the City & South London Railway
City & South London Railway
The City and South London Railway was the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction...
(C&SLR) as "Moorgate Street" in February 1900 and formed the northern terminus of its services from south of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. The line was extended to the following year with services to London Midland Region (LMR) destinations using the Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
and Eastern Region (ER) destinations using the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
(ECML) (accessed via the York Road Curve and Hotel Curve to King's Cross). British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
services to Moorgate were initially steam operated before being converted to Cravens-built diesel multiple units and British Rail Class 31
British Rail Class 31
The British Rail Class 31 diesel locomotives, also known as the Brush Type 2 and originally as Class 30, were built by Brush Traction from 1957-62.- Description :...
locomotives class hauling non-corridor stock which remained in operation until the mid 1970s.
The Northern City Line to Moorgate was opened by the Great Northern & City Railway (GN&CR) in February 1904 offering a service to . The tunnels were constructed at a diameter capable of accommodating main line trains given the companies intentions to run main line trains via Finsbury Park directly into the city. Unfortunately the two companies were not able to agree and main line trains didn't use the lines for another 70 years.
The Snow Hill tunnel
Snow Hill tunnel
Snow Hill Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the northern edge of the City of London between City Thameslink and Farringdon stations. The tunnel runs beneath the Smithfield meat market and was constructed using the cut and cover method immediately prior to the building of the market...
closed in 1916 after which Widened City Lines services terminated at Moorgate. From 1934 the Northern City Line was operated as the Highbury Branch of the Northern line.
Moorgate station was completely rebuilt and extended to six platforms in the 1960s.
46 people were killed and 74 seriously injured in the Moorgate tube crash
Moorgate tube crash
The Moorgate tube crash was a railway disaster on the London Underground, which occurred on 28 February 1975 at 08.46 am.A southbound train on the Northern Line crashed into the tunnel end beyond the platform at Moorgate station...
on 28 February 1975 when a southbound train crashed into buffers at the end of the line at the station inside a tunnel beyond the platform. It was the greatest loss of life on the Underground during peacetime.
British Rail took over control of the Northern City Line from London Underground in 1975. The Highbury Branch of the Northern line was terminated. Services from Finsbury Park to Moorgate were diverted to the Northern City Line from the Widened City Lines the following year. The City Widened Lines had overhead electrification installed by 1982 allowing Midland City Line service to run from Bedford via the Midland Main Line to Moorgate on what became known as Moorgate branch of the Thameslink
Thameslink
Thameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
service. The Moorgate Thameslink branch closed permanently in March 2009 as part of the £6billion Thameslink programme
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, is a £6 billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the south of London without requiring passengers to change...
.
The Trains do not serve the Northern City Line during late evenings and at weekends, being diverted to instead.
Crossrail
Under the CrossrailCrossrail
Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
plans, the western ticket hall of station will be situated just east of Moorgate station. An interchange will be built, which will also link Moorgate to the Central line
Central Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
.
Services
London bus routes 21, 43London Buses route 43
London Buses route 43 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Metroline.-History:...
, 76, 100, 133
London Buses route 133
London Buses route 133 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:...
, 141
London Buses route 141
London Buses route 141 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. The service is contracted to Arriva London.-History:...
, 153, 205
London Buses route 205
London Buses route 205 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Stagecoach London.-History:...
, 214
London Buses route 214
London Buses route 214 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Metroline.-History:...
, 271
London Buses route 271
London Buses route 271 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Metroline.-History:...
and night routes N21, N76, N133.