Euston station (original) (raw)
Euston station is a large railway station in central London. The station is the terminus of the West coast Mainline with trains to and from Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, as well as many local services.
Train services into Euston are run by Virgin Trains and Silverlink county, with Scotrail overnight sleeper train services to Scotland.
History
Although the present station building is relatively modern, Euston was the first inter-city railway station to be built in London.
The original station was opened on July 20th 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway. It was designed by Philip Hardwick and built in classical style, with a large Doric Arch at the entrance.
Innitially it had only two platforms, one for departures and one for arrivals. The station grew rapidly over following years as traffic increased, beng served in turn by the London and North Western Railway (1846-1922) and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (1923-1947).
In the early 1960s it was decided that the old building was no longer adequate and needed replacing. Amid much public outcry the old station building (including the famous Doric Arch) was demolished in 1962 and replaced by a new building, which opened in 1968. The modern station is very much a creation of 1960s architecture, and has twenty platforms.
Following privatisation of the railways in the 1990s, train services were taken over by private companies, on a franchise.
Underground Station
Euston has an associated London Underground station. On the Bank branch of the Northern Line, this is between Camden Town and Kings Cross St Pancras. On the Charing Cross branch it is between Mornington Crescent and Warren Street. Victoria line platforms opened on December 1, 1969. It is 200m away from Euston Square tube station.