Moorgate station

Moorgate

Entrance to Moorgate
Moorgate Location of Moorgate in Central London
Location	Moorgate
Local authority	City of London
Managed by	London Underground
Station code	MOG
Number of platforms	10 (8 in use)
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2009	21.182 million
2010	21.040 million
2011	21.23 million
National Rail annual entry and exit
2008–09	9.374 million
- interchange	1.229 million
2009–10	6.737 million
- interchange	1.294 million
2010–11	7.187 million
- interchange	0.284 million
1865	Opened (MR)
1900	Opened (C&SLR)
1904	Opened (GN&CR)
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Moorgate station (formerly Moorgate Street) is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London, providing National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serving the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and the Bank branch of the Northern Line. It was the terminus for the Moorgate branch of the Thameslink line until March 2009 and was the site of the Moorgate tube crash of 1975 when 43 people were killed and 74 were injured.

Platforms

While the public entrances from the street give access to all the train services at the station, at platform level there are three distinct sections.

The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines of the Underground system all use platforms in the sub-surface station, which has platforms 1 and 2, which are through platforms. Platforms 3 and 4 are west-facing bays used for turning trains back at busy times. Platforms 5 and 6 also exist in this part of the station, but are disused following discontinuation of the former Thameslink trains from Bedford.

The Northern line of the Underground uses platforms 7 and 8, which are in a deep-level tube section of the station.

National Rail services use platforms 9 and 10, which are terminal platforms, the former Northern City Line platforms. Weekday train services run to Welwyn Garden City and to Stevenage via Hertford North.

History

The station was opened by the Metropolitan Railway in December 1865 when they extended their original route between Paddington and Farringdon.

Increasing traffic by other companies, including goods traffic, led to the track 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 via Kentish Town and the Great Northern Railway via Kings 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 tunels 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 Victoria Line construction 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.

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.

British Rail 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, however as of late August 2012, there is still a sign over Platform 2 with 'Trains to Bedford' and an arrow pointing to the now disused platforms.

Trains do not serve the Northern City Line during late evenings and at weekends, being diverted to London Kings Cross instead.

Traction electricity system

Traction current on the Underground lines is supplied by the standard London Underground four rail system.^{[citation needed]}

Trains using the Northern City platforms use electrical supply at 660 V DC on a third rail system.^{[citation needed]} The former Thameslink bays were equipped with 25 kV AC overhead lines.^{[citation needed]}

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, which will thus link Moorgate to the Central line at Liverpool Street.

Services

Moorgate currently has the following National Rail services off-peak Monday - Friday (all operated by First Capital Connect):

• 3tph to Welwyn Garden City via Potters Bar
• 3tph to Hertford North

No National Rail trains operate to Moorgate on Saturdays and Sundays.

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Barbican towards Hammersmith		Circle line		Liverpool Street towards Edgware Road (via Aldgate)
		Hammersmith & City line		Liverpool Street towards Barking
Barbican towards Amersham, Chesham, Uxbridge or Watford		Metropolitan line		Liverpool Street towards Aldgate
Old Street towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet		Northern line		Bank towards Morden (via Bank)
	National Rail
Old Street		First Capital Connect Northern City Line Monday-Friday only		Terminus
	Disused railways
Barbican		First Capital Connect Thameslink		Terminus
		Abandoned Northern Heights proposal
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Old Street towards Bushey Heath		Northern line		Bank towards Morden
Old Street towards Alexandra Palace		Northern line		Terminus

London bus routes 21, 43, 76, 100, 133, 141, 153, 205, 214, 271 and night routes N21, N76, N133 pass the station.

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive Moorgate station building in 1915.