Charing Cross

 

The Northern line and Bakerloo line parts of the station were originally opened as two separate stations and were combined when the now defunct Jubilee line platforms were opened. The constituent stations also underwent a number of name changes during their history. The first part of the complex, the Bakerloo line platforms, was opened as Trafalgar Square by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (BS&WR) on 10 March 1906. The Northern line platforms were opened a year later, as Charing Cross, by the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR, now the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line) on 22 June 1907. At its opening this station was the southern terminus of the CCE&HR which ran to two northern termini at Golders Green and Highgate (now Archway) tube stations. Although both lines were owned and operated by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), there was no direct connection below ground and passengers interchanging between the lines had to do so via two sets of lifts and the surface. In an effort to improve interchange capabilities, the CCE&HR was extended the short distance south under Charing Cross main line station to connect with the BS&WR and the District Railway (another UERL line), opening as such on 6 April 1914.

 

Charing Cross is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood on the site, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The original site of the cross has been occupied since 1675 by an equestrian statue of King Charles I. A loose Victorian replica of the medieval cross, the Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross, was later erected a short distance to the east outside the railway station. Folk etymology suggests the name derives from chère reine — "dear queen" in French — but the original name pre-dates Eleanor's death by at least a hundred years. Since the second half of the 18th century Charing Cross, has been used as a reference to the centre of the metropolitan London area as contrasted to the City of London to the east, although the terms 'west end' and 'east end' take as their central referents the City. From the early 19th century, legislation applicable only to the London metropolis used Charing Cross as a central point to define its geographical scope. The station has cash machines, Euro cash machines, payphones, wi-fi and escalators.

 

Connections: National Rail. Northern Line. London Buses routes 6, 9, 13, 15, 23, 87, 139, 176 and heritage routes 15H and night routes N9, N13, N15, N21, N26, N44, N87, N155 and N343 as well as Green Line Coaches 748 serve the station.

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