Jump to content

Farringdon station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Zorin09 (talk | contribs) at 07:13, 8 October 2012 (Addition of popular culture reference). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Not to be confused with Faringdon railway station, Farringdon Platform railway station, or Farington railway station.
Farringdon London Underground National Rail
Looking across the station in 2009 from the footbridge over the London Underground lines.
LocationFarringdon
Local authorityLondon Borough of Islington
Managed byLondon Underground
Station code(s)ZFD
Number of platforms4
Fare zone1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2008Increase 18.840 million[1]
2009Decrease 15.675 million[1]
2019Increase 25.92 million[2]
2020Decrease 5.90 million[3]
2021Increase 8.50 million[4]
2022Increase 30.07 million[5]
2023Increase 40.07 million[6]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08Increase 1.706 million[7]
2008–09Decrease 1.173 million[7]
2009–10Increase 1.492 million[7]
2010–11Increase 4.632 million[7]
Key dates
10 January 1863Opened as Farringdon Street
23 December 1865Station relocated
26 January 1922Renamed as Farringdon and High Holborn
21 April 1936Renamed as Farringdon
1 July 1936Goods yard closed[8]
December 2009Moorgate branch severed
Other information
External links
London transport portal

Farringdon station is a London Underground and National Rail station in Clerkenwell, just north of the City of London in the London Borough of Islington. It is currently one of the less important main-line central London stations but this will change significantly when it becomes an important interchange station between the two largest transport infrastructure programmes currently underway in London, the Thameslink Programme and Crossrail, both of which are scheduled for completion in 2018.

History

The station was opened on 10 January 1863 as the terminus of the original Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground metro line. The station, initially named Farringdon Street, was originally a short distance from today's building. The line ran from Farringdon to Template:LUL stations, a distance of 4 miles (6 km). The station was relocated on 23 December 1865 when the Metropolitan Railway opened an extension to Moorgate. It was renamed Farringdon and High Holborn on 26 January 1922, and its present name on 21 April 1936.[9]

The Metropolitan Railway's second Farringdon station, 1866
The station frontage carrying the name 'Farringdon and High Holborn'

The lines from Farringdon to London King's Cross station run alongside the now culverted Fleet River, which was above ground here until 1812. The station building is an unusually well-preserved piece of early 20th-century London Underground architecture; it still has its original signage (with the name "Farringdon and High Holborn" on the facade) and other indications of the Metropolitan Railway's original main-line style operation, with a sign for a "Parcel Office" surviving on the exterior wall.

After the bay platforms at London Template:LUL stations closed in March 2009, Southeastern services that previously terminated at Blackfriars were extended to Template:LUL stations, St Albans, Luton or Bedford, calling at this station.[10] First Capital Connect trains to Moorgate ceased at the same time. Trains south of Blackfriars are operated by Southeastern, north of Blackfriars by First Capital Connect.

Current developments

There are currently two major rail development projects in progress that involve Farringdon. Crossrail is an entirely new east-west railway, scheduled to open in 2018; the Thameslink programme is a major upgrade to the existing north-south Thameslink route, enabling longer and more frequent trains, scheduled to be completed in 2018.

After the completion of Crossrail, Farringdon will be one of the country's busiest stations by number of trains passing through.[11] It will be the only station where passengers can change between Crossrail and Thameslink. A new building, housing a dedicated ticket hall, is being constructed to serve these extra passengers. The new building is to the immediate south of the current station, which itself is being upgraded as part of the programme.

An additional entrance is also being built at the north end of the current station, serving Turnmill Street.

See also: Thameslink programme
First Capital Connect unit 319447 heads south from Farringdon. On the left is the blocked-off branch to Moorgate, closed as part of the Thameslink upgrade.

Farringdon Station is being rebuilt[12] to accommodate longer Thameslink trains and to make other improvements to the station. The existing station building will be refurbished with a new roof canopy covering the north end of all four platforms and a permanent new entrance and concourse facing Turnmill Street. An additional ticket hall will be built on the south side of Cowcross Street providing access to the Thameslink platforms, which will be extended southwards underneath this building, allowing the station to handle 240m (12-car) trains. Platforms will be widened to accommodate increased passenger numbers. This process requires the bridge that forms Cowcross Street to be demolished and rebuilt once the abutments have been moved.[13] Cowcross Street will be pedestrianised.[14] Lifts will be provided throughout.

The existing listed ticket hall and concourse will be remodelled, and will be used exclusively by London Underground passengers.[15] Interchange within the station will be improved by removing the interchange bridge and installing new stairs and lifts with access to all four platforms, allowing passengers with impaired mobility to use the station.[16]

It was necessary to build the platform extensions to the south, since there is a sharp gradient to the immediate north of the station. This has resulted in the two-station branch to Moorgate being permanently closed.[17] The platform extensions cross the former Moorgate line and reach within a few metres of the entrance of the Snow Hill Tunnel.[18] The alternative of realigning both the Thameslink and Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan LUL lines was impractical as the latter crosses over the former on a bridge almost immediately to the north of the station.[18]

Crossrail development

See also: Crossrail

Farringdon Crossrail station is being built between Farringdon and Template:LUL stations underground (tube) stations and it will have interchanges with both of them.[19] Access at the Farringdon end will be via the new Thameslink ticket hall. Work is anticipated to be complete in 2018.[20][21] Crossrail will link Farringdon to two more London airports (City and Heathrow), the Olympic Park in Stratford, Canary Wharf, Bond Street/Oxford Street and Maidenhead. The station will also be a hub for Cross London travel, being the only station to be both on the north to south Thameslink service and the east - west Crossrail service.[22]

Dual Traction Current supply

Farringdon station is notable because First Capital Connect trains switch between the 25 kV AC overhead supply used to the north of London and the 750 V DC third rail supply used to the south while standing at the platform. The trains that formerly ran to Moorgate used 25 kV AC throughout their journeys.

Until the start of the Thameslink Programme southbound trains that were unable to switch to DC were taken out of service at Farringdon and stabled at Moorgate to prevent them from blocking the core section of the Thameslink route. As this option is no longer possible the catenary has been extended to City Thameslink to enable these trains to continue to the southbound platform [23] at City Thameslink using AC and then return northwards using the new crossover in Snow Hill Tunnel.[24]

Underground trains serving Farringdon use the four-rail 630 V DC system.

Nearest places

Farringdon (LUL) station in 2000

Services

Farringdon is served by the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines of the London Underground.
Farringdon is in the core of the Thameslink network, and is served by First Capital Connect. These Class 377 Electrostar units operate over the Bedford to Brighton route, whilst Class 319 units operate the remaining services.

The London Underground part of the station is served by the Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, the stations on either side being Template:LUL stations and Template:LUL stations.

Farringdon is also served by First Capital Connect trains from Brighton to Bedford, calling at Gatwick Airport, or from Luton to Sutton or Wimbledon. The stations on either side are City Thameslink and St Pancras International.

Until 20 March 2009, some First Capital Connect weekday peak-hour trains ran into Moorgate and terminated there rather than continuing south to Blackfriars and beyond. These services were withdrawn to allow the junction at the south end of the station to be removed so that the platforms could be extended to take 12-coach trains. There is insufficient room for the platforms to only be extended on the north side because the tracks leave the station on an increasing downward gradient.

Passengers can still travel from Farringdon to Barbican and Moorgate using the parallel London Underground service.

Farringdon is in Transport for London's Travelcard Zone 1.

Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
Template:LUL lines
Template:LUL lines
Template:LUL lines
National Rail National Rail
St Pancras International   First Capital Connect
Thameslink 		  City Thameslink
First Capital Connect
Bedford-Sevenoaks
Disused railways
King's Cross Thameslink
(before December 2007) 		  First Capital Connect
Thameslink
(Moorgate Branch) 		  Template:LUL stations
King's Cross Thameslink   British Rail
Eastern Region
City Widened Lines 		  Template:LUL stations
  Future Development  
Preceding station   Crossrail   Following station
Template:LCR lines

London bus routes 63 and night route N63.

In stream of consciousness lyrics, the electronica group Underworld refer to the station as the "tubehole on Farringdon Street" (sic) in their 1993 track Dirty Epic.

References

  1. ^ a b {"Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures (2007–2017)". London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. January 2018. Archived from the original (XLSX) on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018. Cite error: The named reference "infobox_stats_ref_tube_2007" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  8. ^ Hardy, Brian, ed. (2011). "How it used to be - freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society: 175–183. ISSN 0306-8617. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground: A diagrammatic history. Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 1-85414-219-4.
  10. ^ "Train times 22 March - 16 May 2009 Thameslink route" (PDF). First Capital Connect. Retrieved 20 March 2009. [dead link‍]
  11. ^ Railway Herald PDF - see page 7
  12. ^ Network Rail. "Whats happening at Farringdon?". Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  13. ^ Network Rail (2004a) - pg.27, paragraph 2.6.5
  14. ^ Network Rail [see page 15, paragraph 2.2.1] (01 July 2005). "Thameslink 2000 Environmental Statement: Addendum" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Network Rail (2004a) - page 27, paragraph 2.6.3
  16. ^ Network Rail (2004a) - pg.27, paragraph 2.6.4
  17. ^ Network Rail (2005a) - pg.9, paragraph 2.1.1
  18. ^ a b Network Rail (2005a) - pg.9, paragraph 2.1.5
  19. ^ Crossrail - Farringdon (PDF). 28 October 2006
  20. ^ Crossrail website accessed 18 Jul 2010
  21. ^ "Capital's key services protected, says Johnson". The Press Association. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  22. ^ "Farringdon Station". Crossrail. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  23. ^ Network Rail - 'Kent & Sussex Sectional Appendix', LOR S0280, Seq 001, "Farringdon to City Thameslink" (last updated 31/12/2010)
  24. ^ Thameslink Programme FAQ - City Thameslink 'Powered Up' section accessed 31 July 2009
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Farringdon station.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Farringdon_station&oldid=516592031"