84-660: The Irish Mail was a named train in the United Kingdom that operated from London Euston via the West Coast and North Wales Coast lines to Holyhead from 1848 until 2002, connecting with ferry services to Dublin . The first Irish Mail was operated by the London & North Western Railway on 1 August 1848. It was subsequently operated by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway , British Rail , InterCity and Virgin Trains . As
168-421: A stagecoach shuttle service linking the two parts to allow through journeys to London. The line was officially fully opened on 17 September 1838, with the first passenger train from London to Birmingham arriving that day. The first London-to-Birmingham trains took 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours to complete the 112 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (181.1 km) journey. It has often been claimed that initially, owing to
252-480: A connection for London dock traffic. An alternative site at Marble Arch , proposed by Robert Stephenson, was rejected by a provisional committee, and a proposal to end the line at Maiden Lane was rejected by the House of Lords in 1832. A terminus at Camden Town , announced by Stephenson the following year, received royal assent on 6 May, before an extension was approved in 1834, allowing the line to reach Euston Grove where
336-450: A fixed engine and endless rope are used, for they can and have done so, but because the Company are restricted, by their Act of Parliament, from running locomotive engines nearer London than Camden Town." The railway opened from Euston on 20 July 1837; the stationary engines and rope haulage did not commence until 27 September, and handled all trains from 14 October 1837. Until then, and whenever
420-573: A large concourse separate from the train shed. Originally, no seats were installed there to deter vagrants and crime, but were added after complaints from passengers. Few remnants of the older station remain: two Portland stone entrance lodges, the London and North Western Railway War Memorial and a statue of Robert Stephenson by Carlo Marochetti , from the old ticket hall, stands in the forecourt. A large statue by Eduardo Paolozzi named Piscator dedicated to German theatre director Erwin Piscator
504-630: A more direct line from London to Liverpool and Manchester by avoiding the original route through Birmingham. The Rugby and Stamford Railway , a further branch into the Eastern Counties was approved in 1846. In July 1846 the L&;BR merged with the Grand Junction Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway to form the London and North Western Railway , which in turn was later absorbed into
588-563: A signal and communications building and various staff offices. The parcel deck was reinforced using 5,500 tons of structural steelwork. Signalling on the routes leading out of the station was reworked along with the electrification of the lines, including the British Rail Automatic Warning System . Fifteen platforms had been completed by 1966, and the electric service began on 3 January. An automated parcel depot above platforms 3 to 18 opened on 7 August 1966. The station
672-476: A vampiric loathing of sunlight". Michael Palin , explorer and travel writer, in his contribution to Great Railway Journeys titled "Confessions of a Trainspotter" in 1980, likened it to "a great bath, full of smooth, slippery surfaces where people can be sloshed about efficiently". Journalist Barney Ronay described the station as "easily, easily the worst main station in Western Europe" and that using it
756-400: Is "like being taken away to be machine gunned in the woods by various mobile phone and soft drinks companies". Access to parts of the station is difficult for people with physical disability . The introduction of lifts in 2010 made the taxi rank and underground station accessible from the concourse, though some customers found them unreliable and frequently broken down. Wayfindr technology
840-457: Is located one mile (1.6 km) outside the town centre, at Boxmoor . Peter Lecount, an assistant engineer of the London and Birmingham railway, produced a number of – possibly hyperbolic – comparisons in an effort to demonstrate that the London and Birmingham Railway was "the greatest public work ever executed either in ancient or modern times". In particular, he suggested that the effort to build
924-467: Is nearby. King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations are about 1 ⁄ 2 mile (800 metres) east along Euston Road . Euston, the first inter-city railway terminal in London, was planned by George and Robert Stephenson . It was designed by Philip Hardwick and built by William Cubitt , with a distinctive arch over the station entrance. The station opened as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) on 20 July 1837. Euston
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#17328449822171008-554: Is not part of these plans. Two hotels on Cardington Street adjacent to the west of the station were also demolished. In August 2019, the Department for Transport (DfT) ordered an independent review of the project, chaired by the British civil engineer Douglas Oakervee . The Oakervee Review was published by the Department for Transport the following February, alongside a statement from
1092-471: Is one of the nastiest concrete boxes in London: devoid of any decorative merit; seemingly concocted to induce maximum angst among passengers; and a blight on surrounding streets. The design should never have left the drawing-board – if, indeed, it was ever on a drawing-board. It gives the impression of having been scribbled on the back of a soiled paper bag by a thuggish android with a grudge against humanity and
1176-410: Is sited at the front of the courtyard, which as of 2016 was reported to be deteriorating. Other pieces of public art, including low stone benches by Paul de Monchaux around the courtyard, were commissioned by Network Rail in 1990. The station has catering units and shops, a large ticket hall and an enclosed car park with over 200 spaces. The lack of daylight on the platforms compares unfavourably with
1260-561: The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway at Hampton-in-Arden between Coventry and Birmingham. In 1845, the Northampton and Peterborough Railway , a 47-mile (76 km) branch from the main line, was opened from Blisworth . Also in 1845 branch lines, from Bletchley to Bedford and from Leighton to Dunstable , were leased; they opened in 1846 and 1848. The ' London and Birmingham Railway Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. clvi) authorised
1344-534: The Britannia Bridge had yet to be completed, the first services terminated at Bangor and recommenced at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll . It operated twice daily in each direction, although this was reduced to daily during World War II . Although notionally an express service, with the electrification of the West Coast Main Line , from the 1960s, the service stopped for a locomotive change at Crewe . Although
1428-758: The Caledonian Sleeper . London Northwestern Railway provide commuter and regional services to the West Midlands, whilst the Lioness line of the London Overground provides local suburban services in the London area via the Watford DC Line which runs parallel to the West Coast Main Line as far as Watford Junction . Euston tube station is connected to the main concourse and Euston Square tube station
1512-399: The Grand Junction Railway (GJR), whose adjacent platforms gave an interchange with full connectivity (with through carriages) between Liverpool , Manchester and London. As early as 1823, a company was formed with the objective of building a railway between London and Birmingham, and in 1826, the engineer John Rennie surveyed a route through Oxford and Banbury , a route later taken by
1596-646: The Great Pyramid of Giza amounted to the lifting of 15,733,000,000 cu ft (445,500,000 m ) of stone by 1 foot (0.305 m). The railway, excluding a long string of tasks (drainage, ballasting, and so on) involved the lifting of 25,000,000,000 cu ft (710,000,000 m ) of material reduced to the weight of stone used in the pyramid. The pyramid involved, he says, the effort of 300,000 men (according to Diodorus Siculus ) or 100,000 (according to Herodotus ) for twenty years. The railway involved 20,000 men for five years. In passing, he also noted that
1680-498: The Great Western Railway . In 1829 a rival company was formed by Francis Giles who proposed building a line through Watford Gap and Coventry . Neither company obtained backing for its scheme, and in late 1830 the two companies decided to merge. The new company appointed Robert Stephenson chief engineer, and after preparing a detailed survey, he chose the route through Watford Gap, largely to avoid possible flooding from
1764-460: The House of Lords to "the forcing of the proposed railway through the land and property of so great a proportion of dissentient landowners." The L&BR company's first application for an act of Parliament to construct the line was rejected in 1832, due to pressure from landowners and road and canal interests. The railway route proposals through Hertfordshire were modified; a second parliamentary bill
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#17328449822171848-521: The Kilsby Tunnel in Northamptonshire delayed the opening. The first part of the line between Euston Station and Boxmoor ( Hemel Hempstead ) opened on 20 July 1837. Services were extended to Tring on 16 October 1837. On 9 April 1838 the company opened the north end of the line, between Birmingham and Rugby, and the south end from London to a temporary station at Denbigh Hall near Bletchley with
1932-633: The LNWR in 1846. The Warwick and Leamington Union Railway , a branch of almost nine miles (14 km) between Coventry and Leamington, was purchased by the L&BR in 1843 and opened in 1844. From 1840, when the Midland Counties Railway made a junction to its line at Rugby, the L&BR also provided through connections from London to the East Midlands and the North East. It also made connections to
2016-839: The London Borough of Camden . It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line , the UK's busiest inter-city railway. Euston is the tenth-busiest station in Britain and the country's busiest inter-city passenger terminal, being the gateway from London to the West Midlands , North West England , North Wales and Scotland . Intercity express passenger services to the major cities of Birmingham , Manchester , Liverpool , Glasgow and Edinburgh , and through services to Holyhead for connecting ferries to Dublin are operated by Avanti West Coast . Overnight sleeper services to Scotland are provided by
2100-589: The London Inner Ring Road , between Cardington Street and Eversholt Street in the London Borough of Camden . It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail . As of the 2022-23 estimates of station usage, it is the tenth-busiest station in Britain It is the eighth-busiest terminus in London by entries and exits. Euston bus station is in front of the main entrance. Euston was the first inter-city railway station in London. It opened on 20 July 1837 as
2184-689: The London Midland and Scottish Railway , before finally passing into the hands of the nationalised British Railways in 1948 to become part of the West Coast Main Line as it is known today. The major change to the line during this period was electrification, which was carried out during the mid-1960s as part of BR's Modernisation Plan. Neither of the L&BR's original termini, both designed by Philip Hardwick , has survived in its original form. Curzon Street station in Birmingham closed to passenger traffic in 1854 (the original entrance building remains) when it
2268-595: The Manchester & Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway in 1846 to form the LNWR. The company headquarters were established at Euston requiring a block of offices to be built between the Arch and the platforms. The station's facilities were expanded with the opening of the Great Hall on 27 May 1849 replacing the original sheds. The Great Hall was designed by Hardwick's son Philip Charles Hardwick in classical style. It
2352-671: The Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirming that HS2 would go ahead in full, with reservations. The review said the rebuild was "not satisfactory" and called the management "muddled" and recommended a change of governance. In Summer 2020, the government asked Network Rail's chairman, Sir Peter Hendy , to lead an oversight board; in October 2020, the Architects' Journal reported that more than £100m had already been spent on engineering and architectural design fees. In October 2023,
2436-475: The River Thames at Oxford. The prospectus for the London and Birmingham Railway offered the following inducements to potential investors: First, the opening of new and distant sources of supply of provisions to the metropolis; Second, Easy, cheap and expeditious travelling; Third; The rapid and economical interchange of the great articles of consumption and of commerce, both internal and external; and Lastly,
2520-492: The electrification of the West Coast Main Line in 1959. Because of the restricted layout of track and tunnels at the northern end, enlargement only could be accomplished by expanding southwards over the area occupied by the Great Hall and the Arch. Permission to demolish the Arch and Great Hall was sought from London County Council and it was granted on condition that that the Arch would be restored and re-sited. BR estimated it would cost at least £190,000 (now £6,700,000) and
2604-565: The 1930s Euston was again congested and the LMS considered rebuilding it. In 1931 it was reported that a site for a new station was being sought, the most likely option was behind the existing station in the direction of Camden Town. The LMS announced in 1935 that the station (including the hotel and offices) would be rebuilt using a government loan guarantee. In 1937 it appointed the architect Percy Thomas to produce designs. He proposed an American-inspired station that would involve removing or resiting
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2688-586: The Blitz in 1940. Part of the Great Hall's roof was destroyed, and a bomb landed between platforms 2 and 3, destroying offices and part of the hotel. Passengers considered Euston to be squalid and covered in soot and it was restored and redecorated in 1953, when an enquiry kiosk in the middle of the Great Hall was removed. Ticket machines were modernised. By this time the Arch was surrounded by property development and kiosks and in need of restoration. British Railways announced that Euston would be rebuilt to accommodate
2772-702: The Great Hall and a week later Sir Charles Wheeler led a deputation to speak with the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan . Macmillan replied that as well as the cost, there was nowhere large enough to relocate the Arch in keeping with its surroundings. Demolition began on 6 November and was completed within four months. The station was rebuilt by Taylor Woodrow Construction to a design by London Midland Region architects of British Railways, William Robert Headley and Ray Moorcroft , in consultation with Richard Seifert & Partners . Redevelopment began in summer 1962 and progressed from east to west,
2856-464: The Great Hall was demolished and an 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m ) temporary building housed ticket offices and essential facilities. Euston worked to 80% capacity during the works with at least 11 platforms in operation at any time. Services were diverted elsewhere where practical and the station remained operational throughout the works. The first phase of construction involved building 18 platforms with two track bays to handle parcels above them,
2940-589: The L&BR to lease the West London Railway , and this took effect from 1846 (jointly with the GWR ). The West London Railway has opened in 1844 between Willesden Junction and the canal basin at Kensington. The L&BR purchased the Trent Valley Railway in 1846 on behalf of the LNWR ; this fifty-mile (80 km) line connected Rugby on the L&BR with Stafford on the Grand Junction Railway thus creating
3024-626: The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that construction of the Euston terminus and approach tunnel would not be government funded and that it could only go ahead with private sector investment. Transport for London commissioner Andy Lord was sceptical that the private sector would pay for the link to Old Oak Common. The demolition of the original buildings in 1962 was described by the Royal Institute of British Architects as "one of
3108-469: The Regent's Canal on a gradient of more than 1 in 68. Because steam trains at the time could not climb such an ascent, they were cable-hauled on the down line towards Camden until 1844, after which bank engines were used. The L&BR's act of Parliament prohibited the use of locomotives in the Euston area, following concerns of residents about noise and smoke from locomotives toiling up the incline. The station
3192-717: The advertising board installed in January 2024 after removal of the main departure boards, and issued a five point improvement plan. On 26 April 1924, an electric multiple unit collided with the rear of an excursion train carrying passengers from the FA Cup Final in Coventry . Five passengers were killed. The crash was blamed on poor visibility owing to smoke and steam under the Park Street Bridge. London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway ( L&BR )
3276-399: The arch, and included office frontages along Euston Road and a helicopter pad on the roof. Redevelopment began on 12 July 1938, when 100,000 long tons (101,605 tonnes) of limestone was extracted for the building and new flats were constructed to rehouse people displaced by the works. The project was shelved indefinitely because of World War II . The station was damaged several times during
3360-439: The area. The number of platforms would increase from 18 to 21. In 2008, it was reported that the Arch could be rebuilt. In September 2011, the demolition plans were cancelled, and Aedas was appointed to give the station a makeover. In July 2014 a statue of navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders , who circumnavigated the globe and charted Australia, was unveiled at Euston; his grave was rumoured to lie under platform 15 at
3444-614: The classically trained architect Philip Hardwick , had a 200-foot-long (61 m) trainshed by structural engineer Charles Fox . It had two 420-foot-long (130 m) platforms, one each for departures and arrival. The main entrance portico, the Euston Arch , also by Hardwick, symbolised the arrival of a major new transport system and was "the gateway to the north". It was 72 feet (22 m) high, supported on four 44 ft 2 in (13.46 m) by 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) hollow Doric propylaeum columns of Bramley Fall stone ,
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3528-423: The collapse of Railtrack. In 2005 Network Rail was reported to have long-term aspirations to redevelop the station, removing the 1960s buildings and providing more commercial space by using the " air rights " above the platforms. In 2007, British Land announced that it had won the tender to demolish and rebuild the station, spending some £250 million of its overall redevelopment budget of £1 billion for
3612-617: The company would provide locomotives to Bury's specification, while he would maintain them in good repair and convey each passenger and each ton of goods for a fixed sum at a speed not to exceed 22 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles per hour (36.2 km/h). Bury provided specifications and drawings for a passenger and a goods engine, and by mid-1841 the L&BR was equipped with sixty 2-2-0 passenger engines and thirty 0-4-0 goods engines. They all had inside cylinders and dome-topped fireboxes, and were mounted on inside bar-frames; they were manufactured by seven different firms, including Bury's own. Working
3696-440: The connexion by railways, of London with Liverpool, the rich pastures of the centre of England, and the greatest manufacturing districts; and, through the port of Liverpool, to afford a most expeditious communication with Ireland. The company was created with an initial capitalisation of £5,500,000. Much of the subscribed funds came from Lancashire, where great profits were being made in the cotton industries. The construction of
3780-425: The cost of the railway in penny pieces, was enough to more than form a belt of pennies around the equator; and the amount of material moved would be enough to build a wall 1 foot (305 mm) high by one foot wide, more than three times around the equator. The line had been planned to open at the same time as the Grand Junction Railway which entered Birmingham from the north. However great difficulty in constructing
3864-523: The diversion of some services to Old Oak Common (for Crossrail ). This would include eight commuter trains per hour originating/terminating between Tring and Milton Keynes Central inclusive. In 2016, the Mayor Sadiq Khan endorsed the plans and suggested that all services should terminate at Old Oak Common while a more appropriate solution is found for Euston. The current scheme does not provide any direct access between High Speed 2 at Euston and
3948-518: The existing High Speed 1 at St Pancras. In 2015, plans were announced to link the two stations via a travelator service. Platforms 17 and 18 closed in May and June 2019 for High Speed 2 preparation work. The Euston Downside Carriage Maintenance Depot was demolished in 2018 in preparation for the start of tunnelling. The two office towers in front of the station were demolished between January 2019 and December 2020. The third tower at 1 Eversholt Street
4032-553: The glazed trainshed roofs of traditional Victorian railway stations, but the use of the space above as a parcels depot released the maximum space at ground level for platforms and passenger facilities. Since 1996, proposals have been formulated to reconstruct the Arch as part of the redevelopment of the station, and its use as the terminus of the High Speed 2 line. Ownership of the station transferred from British Rail to Railtrack in 1994, passing to Network Rail in 2002 following
4116-513: The greatest acts of Post-War architectural vandalism in Britain" and was approved directly by Harold Macmillan . The attempts made to preserve the earlier building, championed by Sir John Betjeman , led to the formation of the Victorian Society and heralded the modern conservation movement. This movement saved the nearby high Gothic St Pancras station when threatened with demolition in 1966, ultimately leading to its renovation in 2007 as
4200-466: The lack of power available to early locomotives, trains from Euston were cable-hauled up the relatively steep incline to Camden by a stationary steam engine . However, this was denied by Peter Lecount , one of the L&BR engineers, who wrote in his 'History of the Railway connecting London and Birmingham' (1839), page 48: "It is not because locomotives cannot draw a train of carriages up this incline that
4284-456: The largest ever built. It was completed in May 1838 and cost £35,000 (now £3,981,000). The old station building was probably the first one in the world with all- wrought iron roof trusses . The first railway hotels in London were built at Euston. Two hotels designed by Hardwick opened in 1839 on either side of the Arch; the Victoria on the west had basic facilities while the Euston on the east
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#17328449822174368-603: The line by contract never worked in practice, because of the unforeseen ever-increasing traffic and the demand for higher speeds, so in July 1839 the contract was annulled, and thereafter Bury was engaged as manager of the Locomotive Department in the normal way, on a fixed salary with a profits bonus. By the end of the L&BR's separate existence in July 1846, the total stock was about 120 locomotives; some six-wheeled engines had been acquired, but some of these proved inferior to
4452-571: The line was the subject of much opposition by landowners, who organised a campaign in the early 1830s to prevent the L&BR from driving a line across their estates. Turbulent public meetings were held in towns in west Hertfordshire to protest against the project, including one held at the King's Arms public house in Berkhamsted . Another was held in Watford which was attended by wealthy and influential peers of
4536-400: The modern complex; Drummond Street now terminates at the side of the station but then ran across its front. A short road, Euston Grove, ran from Euston Square towards the arch. A bay platform (later platform 7) for local services to Kensington (Addison Road) opened in 1863. Two new platforms (1 and 2) were added in 1873 along with an entrance for cabs from Seymour Street. At the same time,
4620-468: The notice and implemented measures to better manage passenger traffic flows and overcrowding. In October 2024, London TravelWatch warned that passengers at Euston are being put in danger when the station becomes severely overcrowded during periods of disruption to services. Transport Secretary Louise Haigh subsequently asked Network Rail to declutter the station concourse and improve how it handles train announcements. Network Rail reacted by switching off
4704-541: The original four-wheelers. The locomotive workshops were established in 1838 at Wolverton , roughly halfway between the two termini at London and Birmingham. These workshops remained in use for locomotive repairs until 1877, but had been gradually taken over by the Carriage Dept from 1864, and remained as a manufacturing facility up until the 1980s; today just a few parts of the original Wolverton railway works are used solely for rolling stock maintenance and repair. When
4788-511: The original station was built by William Cubitt . Initial services were three trains to and from Boxmoor with journeys taking just over an hour. On 9 April 1838, they were extended to a temporary halt at Denbigh Hall near Bletchley where a coach service was provided to Rugby . The line to Curzon Street station in Birmingham opened on 17 September 1838, the journey of 112 miles (180 km) took around 5 + 1 ⁄ 4 hours. The incline from Camden Town to Euston involved crossing
4872-451: The railway was fully opened, it had sixteen intermediate stations between London and Birmingham. The "first-class" stations (served by all trains) were at Watford , Tring , Leighton , Wolverton , Blisworth , Weedon , Rugby and Coventry . Additionally, "second-class" intermediate stations (served by slower second-class trains only) were at Harrow , Boxmoor , Berkhamsted , Bletchley , Roade , Crick , Brandon and Hampton . Roade
4956-490: The realm who had property interests on the planned route of the line: the Earl of Essex was keen to protect his Cassiobury Estate from invasion by the " iron horse ", as was the Earl of Clarendon , who owned The Grove Estate . The anatomist Sir Astley Cooper was also in attendance, intent on preventing the new railway from cutting across his Gadebridge Estate. On 22 June 1832, Lord Brownlow of Ashridge voiced his opposition in
5040-696: The rebuilding was scrapped after a government White Paper was released in 1963 that restricted the rate of commercial office development in London. In 1966, a " Whites only " recruitment policy for guards at the station was dropped after the case of Asquith Xavier , a migrant from Dominica , who had been refused promotion on those grounds, was raised in Parliament and taken up by the Secretary of State for Transport, Barbara Castle . A second development phase by Richard Seifert & Partners began in 1979, adding 405,000 square feet (37,600 m ) of office space along
5124-484: The remains were reinterred at St Pancras Cemetery . Two more platforms (4 and 5) opened in 1891. Four departure platforms (now platforms 12–15), bringing the total to 15, and a booking office on Drummond Street opened on 1 July 1892. The line between Euston and Camden was doubled between 1901 and 1906. A new booking hall opened in 1914 on part of the cab yard. The Great Hall was redecorated and refurbished between 1915 and 1916 and again in 1927. The station's ownership
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#17328449822175208-516: The revamped station still attracts criticism over its architecture. Euston is to be the London terminus for the planned High Speed 2 railway and the station is being redeveloped to accommodate it. The station is named after Euston Hall in Suffolk, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Grafton , the main landowners in the area during the mid-19th century. It is set back from Euston Square and Euston Road on
5292-407: The rope system was stopped for repairs, locomotives hauled the trains up the incline. From November 1843 some expresses were worked without recourse to the rope, and from 15 July 1844 the rope working ceased permanently. Initially, it was decided that it would be cheaper to work the railway by a contractor, and Edward Bury was chosen and awarded the contract in May 1836. The contract stipulated that
5376-532: The seat of the duke of Grafton , who owned the locality. The station and railway have been owned by the L&BR (1837–1846), the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) (1846–1923), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) (1923–1948), British Railways (1948–1994), Railtrack (1994–2002) and Network Rail (2002–present). The plan was to construct a station near the Regent's Canal in Islington to provide
5460-516: The service continued to operate, the name was dropped in June 2002 as part of a policy by Virgin Trains not to operate named trains. In 1998, Virgin Trains named Class 43 powercar 43101 The Irish Mail 1848 - 1998 to commemorate the services' 150th anniversary. Euston railway station Euston railway station ( / ˈ j uː s t ən / YOO -stən ; or London Euston ) is a major central London railway terminus managed by Network Rail in
5544-440: The south and west to create new sufficiently long platforms. These plans involved a complete reconstruction, involving the demolition of 220 Camden Council flats, with half the station providing conventional train services and the new half high-speed trains. The Command Paper suggested rebuilding the Arch, and included an artist's impression. The station is to have seven new platforms dropped from an original planned eight, taking
5628-432: The station frontage in the form of three low-rise towers overlooking Melton Street and Eversholt Street. The offices were occupied by British Rail , then by Railtrack, and by Network Rail which has now vacated all but a small portion of one of the towers. The offices are in a functional style; the main facing material is polished dark stone, complemented by white tiles, exposed concrete and plain glazing. The station has
5712-422: The station roof was raised by 6 feet (1.8 m) to accommodate smoke from the engines. The continued growth of long-distance railway traffic led to major expansion along the station's west side starting in 1887. It involved rerouting Cardington Street over part of the burial ground (later St James's Gardens) of St James's Church, Piccadilly , which was located some way from the church. To avoid public outcry,
5796-555: The station, but had been relocated during the original station construction and in 2019 was found behind the station during excavation work for the HS2 line. In March 2010 the Secretary of State for Transport , Andrew Adonis announced that Euston was the preferred southern terminus of the planned High Speed 2 line, which would connect to a newly built station near Curzon Street and Fazeley Street in Birmingham. This would require expansion to
5880-530: The terminus of HS1 to the Continent. Euston's 1960s style of architecture has been described as "a dingy, grey, horizontal nothingness" and a reflection of "the tawdry glamour of its time", entirely lacking in "the sense of occasion, of adventure, that the great Victorian termini gave to the traveller". Writing in The Times , Richard Morrison stated that "even by the bleak standards of Sixties architecture, Euston
5964-511: The terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR). It was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with the present building in the international modern style. The site was chosen in 1831 by George and Robert Stephenson , engineers of the L&BR. The area was mostly farmland at the edge of the expanding city, and adjacent to the New Road (now Euston Road ), which had caused urban development. The name Euston came from Euston Hall ,
6048-662: The total to 23, with 10 dedicated to HS2 services and 13 to conventional lines at a low level. The flats demolished for the extension would be replaced by significant building work above. The Underground station would be rebuilt and connected to adjacent Euston Square station. As part of the extension beyond Birmingham, the Mayor of London's office believed it will be necessary to build the proposed Crossrail 2 line via Euston to relieve 10,000 extra passengers forecast to arrive during an average day. To relieve pressure on Euston during and after rebuilding for High Speed 2, HS2 Ltd has proposed
6132-407: Was 125 ft (38 m) long, 61 ft (18.6 m) wide, and 62 ft (18.9 m) high with a coffered ceiling and a sweeping double flight of stairs leading to offices at its northern end. Architectural sculptor John Thomas contributed eight allegorical statues representing the cities served by the line. The station faced Drummond Street, further back from Euston Road than the front of
6216-674: Was a railway company in the United Kingdom , in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The 112-mile (180 km) railway line which the company opened in 1838, between London and Birmingham , was the first intercity line to be built into London. It is now the southern section of the West Coast Main Line . The line was engineered by Robert Stephenson . It started at Euston Station in London, went north-west to Rugby , where it turned west to Coventry and on to Birmingham. It terminated at Curzon Street Station , which it shared with
6300-607: Was approved in May 1833 as the London and Birmingham Railway Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4 . c. xxxvi), and the line received royal assent . Construction began in November of that year. The line would follow the River Bulbourne instead of the River Gade , skirting around the edge of Hemel Hempstead to protect Sir Astley Cooper's interests; for this reason, Hemel Hempstead railway station
6384-514: Was built with space left vacant for extra platforms, as it was originally planned for the Great Western Railway (GWR) to use Euston, as the terminus of the Great Western Main Line . In the event, the GWR chose to build their own terminus at Paddington . The spare land was instead used for more platforms for ever expanding services as the railway network grew. The station building, designed by
6468-423: Was designed for first-class passengers. Between 1838 and 1841, parcel handling grew from 2,700 parcels a month to 52,000. By 1845, 140 staff were employed but trains began to run late because of a lack of capacity. The following year, two platforms (later 9 and 10) were constructed on vacant land to the west of the station that had been reserved for Great Western Railway services. The L&BR amalgamated with
6552-472: Was expanded after the L&BR was amalgamated with other companies to form the London and North Western Railway , and the original sheds were replaced by the Great Hall in 1849. Capacity was increased throughout the 19th century from two platforms to fifteen. The station was controversially rebuilt in the mid-1960s when the Arch and the Great Hall were demolished to accommodate the electrified West Coast Main Line, and
6636-628: Was introduced to the station in 2015 to help people with visual impairment to navigate the station. In September 2023, the Office of Rail and Road issued Network Rail with an improvement notice in relation to its failure to put in place effective measures to tackle overcrowding. Network Rail admitted that the station was designed for a different era and that "the passenger experience at Euston remains uncomfortable at times". The Office of Rail and Road declared in December 2023 that Network Rail had complied with
6720-490: Was later redesignated as first-class due to its stagecoach connections. From about 1844 platforms were opened at Camden for tickets to be collected on southbound trains. This became a public station in 1851. The first branch from the main line was the Aylesbury Railway at Aylesbury Railway Junction , seven miles (11 km) of single track, which opened in 1839 and was leased to the L&BR until purchased outright by
6804-464: Was not viable. The Arch's demolition, announced by the Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples in July 1961, drew objections from the Earl of Euston , the Earl of Rosse and John Betjeman . Experts did not believe the work would cost £190,000 and speculated it could be done more cheaply by foreign labour. On 16 October 1961, 75 architects and students staged a demonstration against its demolition inside
6888-402: Was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 October 1968. The station is a long, low structure, 200 feet (61 m) wide and 150 feet (46 m) deep under a 36-foot (11 m) high roof. It opened with integrated automatic ticket facilities and a range of shops; the first of its kind for any British station. The plan to construct offices above the station whose rents would help fund the cost of
6972-445: Was replaced by New Street station and the original Euston station in London was demolished in 1962 to make way for the present structure which opened in 1968. On the closure of Curzon Street as a passenger station, the site became the London and North Western Railway goods depot (Birmingham) and became fully operational in 1865. The Curzon Street goods site continued railway operations as a parcel depot until 1966. The remaining parts of
7056-426: Was transferred to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in the 1923 grouping . Apart from the lodges on Euston Road and statues now on the forecourt, few relics of the old station survive. The National Railway Museum 's collection at York includes Edward Hodges Baily 's statue of George Stephenson from the Great Hall; the entrance gates; and a turntable from 1846 discovered during demolition. By
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