Location Moorgate Station code MOG Fare zone 1 Address London, United Kingdom | Managed by London Underground DfT category E 2012 20.59 million Opened 1865 Number of platforms 8 | |
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Owners Transport for London, Network Rail Similar Farringdon station, Fenchurch Street railway st, Charing Cross railway st, Blackfriars station, Euston railway station | ||
Moorgate station railway contrasts part 1
Moorgate is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London. Weekday main line railway services for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth are operated by Great Northern, while the Underground station is served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern lines.
Contents
- Moorgate station railway contrasts part 1
- Moorgate station railway contrasts part 2
- Location and layout
- Sub surface platforms
- Deep level tube platforms
- Deep level main line platforms
- History
- Infrastructure
- Crossrail
- Circle line
- Hammersmith City line
- Metropolitan line
- Northern line
- Northern City Line
- Connections
- References
The station was opened as Moorgate Street in 1865 by the Metropolitan Railway. In 1900 the City & South London Railway added the station to its network and the Great Northern & City Railway began serving the station in 1904. In 1975 the Northern City Line platforms were the site of the Moorgate tube crash in which 43 people were killed—the worst accident in the history of the London Underground.
Moorgate station railway contrasts part 2
Location and layout
The station has entrances on both Moorgate itself and Moorfields, which runs parallel.
While the public entrances from the street give access to all the train services at the station, there are three distinct levels.
Sub-surface platforms
The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines of the Underground system all use platforms 1 and 2, which are through platforms. For terminating trains at busy times, there are platforms 3 and 4 which are west-facing bays. Adjacent to these are platforms 5 and 6 of the former Thameslink trains service from Bedford and Luton. These are disused following the closure of the Moorgate branch from Farringdon junction as part of the Thameslink programme and are now used for the storage of permanent way material.
Deep level tube platforms
The Northern line of the Underground uses platforms 7 and 8, which are in a deep-level tube section of the station.
Deep level main line platforms
National Rail services on the Northern City Line use platforms 9 and 10, which are terminal platforms. Train services run via the East Coast Main Line to Welwyn Garden City, and to Hertford North, Stevenage, Hitchin or Letchworth.
History
The station was opened by the Metropolitan Railway in December 1865 when it extended its original route between Paddington and Farringdon.
Increasing traffic by other companies, including goods traffic, led to the line between King's Cross and Moorgate being widened to four tracks in 1868; the route was called the 'City Widened Lines'. Suburban services from the Midland Railway ran via Kentish Town and the Great Northern Railway ran via 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 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 Stockwell south of the River Thames. The line was extended to Angel the following year.
The Northern City Line to Moorgate was opened by the Great Northern & City Railway (GN&CR) in February 1904 offering a service to Finsbury Park. The route was constructed in tube tunnels, but they were constructed at a diameter capable of accommodating main-line trains (in contrast to the majority of London tube tunnels which are much smaller). However, the planned through services to the Great Northern Railway's main line were never implemented, and the route remained a simple short route between Moorgate and Finsbury Park, later cut back to run between Moorgate and Drayton Park only, due to the construction of the Victoria line in the 1960s.
Moorgate station was completely modernised at platform level and street level in the 1960s, and the Widened Lines part of the station was extended to six platforms. The realignment of the platforms enabled about 500 yd (460 m) of the line to Barbican to be straightened and moved south to facilitate development of the Barbican Estate.
43 people were killed and 74 seriously injured in the Moorgate tube crash on 28 February 1975 when a southbound Northern City Line 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 and the worst ever train accident on the system. The cause was the driver's failure to stop, leading the train to run into the dead end tunnel before colliding with the buffers and then the wall.
British Rail (Eastern Region) took over control of the Northern City Line from London Underground in 1975, as part of the Great Northern lines suburban electrification. The Highbury Branch of the Northern line was terminated. Services from Finsbury Park to Moorgate were diverted to the Northern City Line from the City Widened Lines the following year. The City Widened Lines were renamed the Moorgate line when overhead electrification was installed in 1982, allowing the Midland City Line service to run from Bedford via the Midland Main Line to Moorgate on the Thameslink service. The Moorgate Thameslink branch closed permanently in December 2009 as part of the £6billion Thameslink programme (the platforms at Farringdon were extended across the tracks leading to the Moorgate branch); however, as of late October 2013, there is still a sign over Platform 2 with 'Trains to Bedford' and an arrow pointing to the now disused platforms.
Infrastructure
Traction current on the Underground lines is supplied by the standard London Underground four rail system. Trains using the deep level Northern City Line platforms (9 and 10) are supplied with 750 V DC traction current via the third rail, overseen by York Electrical Control Room. Signalling is Track Circuit Block, Colour light signals with tripcock mechanisms, controlled by Kings Cross PSB.
The former sub surface Thameslink bay platforms (5 and 6) were equipped with 25 kV AC overhead line equipment, overseen by York Electrical Control Room. Signalling was Track Circuit Block, Multiple aspect colour light signals, controlled by West Hampstead PSB.
Crossrail
Crossrail is being built as a new west-east route under central London.
Under the Crossrail plans, the western ticket hall of Crossrail's Liverpool Street station will be situated just east of Moorgate station. An interchange will be built, linking Moorgate to the Central line at Liverpool Street.
Circle line
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:
Hammersmith & City line
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:
Metropolitan line
The typical off-peak services in trains per hour (tph) are:
Northern line
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) are:
Northern City Line
The following is the typical National Rail services off-peak Monday-Friday (all operated by Great Northern):
Great Northern introduced a weekend service from 13 December 2015.
Connections
London Buses routes 21, 43, 76, 100, 141, 153, 214, 271 and night routes N21, N76, N133 serve the station.