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	8
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2008	22.220 million
2009	21.182 million
2010	21.040 million
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	10.109 million
- interchange	1.351 million
2008–09	9.374 million
- interchange	1.229 million
2009–10	6.737 million
- interchange	1.294 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

Moorgate station (formerly Moorgate Street) is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves 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 46 people were killed and 74 were injured.

Platforms

The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines all use platforms 1 and 2 (through platforms) and also 3 and 4 (bays). The Northern line uses 7 and 8. National Rail services use platforms 9 and 10 (the Northern City Line platforms) and are signed as "trains to Stevenage". Platforms 5 and 6 are now unused since the Thameslink Programme cut off the Moorgate branch via the Widened Lines.

Traction current on the Underground lines is supplied by the standard London Underground four rail system. The former Thameslink bays were equipped with 25 kV AC overhead lines.

History

The station was opened by the Metropolitan Railway in December 1865 as the first extension from its original route between Paddington and Farringdon. The track to King's Cross was widened to four tracks in 1868 as the 'City Widened Lines'. These lines now form part of the Metropolitan line, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines and for a while formed the Moorgate branch of the Thameslink line.

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 with services to London Midland Region (LMR) destinations using the Midland Main Line and Eastern Region (ER) destinations using the East Coast Main Line (ECML) (accessed via the York Road Curve and Hotel Curve to 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 City Line to Moorgate was opened by the Great Northern & City Railway (GN&CR) in February 1904 offering a service to Finsbury Park. The tunnels were constructed at a diameter capable of accommodating main line trains given the companies intentions to run main line trains via Finsbury Park directly into the city. Unfortunately the two companies were not able to agree and main line trains didn't use the lines for another 70 years.

The Snow Hill tunnel closed in 1916 after which Widened City Lines services terminated at Moorgate. From 1934 the Northern City Line was operated as the Highbury Branch of the Northern line.

Moorgate station was completely rebuilt and extended to six platforms in the 1960s.

46 people were killed and 74 seriously injured in the Moorgate tube crash on 28 February 1975 when a southbound 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.

British Rail took over control of the Northern City Line from London Underground in 1975. The Highbury Branch of the Northern line was terminated. Services from Finsbury Park to Moorgate were diverted to the Northern City Line from the Widened City 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 Trains do not serve the Northern City Line during late evenings and at weekends, being diverted to London Kings Cross instead.

Proposed developments

Crossrail

Under the Crossrail plans, the western ticket hall of Liverpool Street station will be situated just east of Moorgate station. An interchange will be built, which will also link Moorgate to the Central line .

Services

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

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

External links

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