Charing Cross

 

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.

 

For most of the history of the Underground the name Charing Cross was associated not with this station but with the station now known as Embankment. A 100 metre (330 ft) long mural along the Northern line platforms was designed by David Gentleman. It shows scenes from the construction of the original Charing Cross, memorial of Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I.

 

Connections: National Rail. Bakerloo 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. Green Line Coaches 748

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