Moorgate station

Moorgate
London Moorgate
Entrance to Moorgate prior to Crossrail works
Moorgate Location of Moorgate in Central London
Location	Moorgate
Local authority	City of London
Managed by	London Underground
Station code	MOG
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	8
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011	21.23 million
2012	20.59 million
2013	21.38 million
2014	25.90 million
National Rail annual entry and exit
2009–10	6.737 million
— interchange	1.294 million
2010–11	7.187 million
— interchange	0.284 million
2011–12	7.617 million
— interchange	0.620 million
2012–13	7.997 million
— interchange	0.558 million
2013–14	9.052 million
— interchange	[x.yyy] million
2014–15	9.398 million
— interchange	0.580 million
Key dates
1865	Opened (MR)
1900	Opened (C&SLR)
1904	Opened (GN&CR)
2009	Withdrawn (Thameslink)
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Moorgate, also known as London Moorgate, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London. Weekday main line railway services for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth are operated by Great Northern, while the Underground station is served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern lines.

The station was opened in 1865 by the Metropolitan Railway. In 1900 the City & South London Railway added the station to its network, under the name Moorgate Street, and the Great Northern & City Railway began serving the station in 1904. In 1975 it was the site of the Moorgate tube crash in which 43 people were killed—the worst accident in the history of the London Underground.

Location and layout

The station has entrances on both Moorgate itself and Moorfields, which runs parallel.

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

Sub-surface platforms

Sub-surface Eastbound/Clockwise Platform 1 at Moorgate station prior to Crossrail works

The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines of the Underground system all use platforms 1 and 2, which are through platforms. For terminating trains at busy times, there are platforms 3 and 4 which are west-facing bays. Adjacent to these are platforms 5 and 6 of the former Thameslink trains service from Bedford and Luton. These are disused following the closure of the Moorgate branch from Farringdon junction as part of the Thameslink programme and are now used for the storage of permanent way material.

Deep level tube platforms

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

Deep level main line platforms

National Rail platform at Moorgate

National Rail services on the Northern City Line use platforms 9 and 10, which are terminal platforms. Train services run via the East Coast Main Line to Welwyn Garden City, and to Hertford North, Stevenage, Hitchin or Letchworth.

History

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

Increasing traffic by other companies, including goods traffic, led to the line 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 ran via Kentish Town and the Great Northern Railway ran via 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 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 tunnels 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 the construction of the Victoria line in the 1960s.

A Circle line train at Moorgate Station

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. The realignment of the platforms enabled about 500 yd (460 m) of the line to Barbican to be straightened and moved south to facilitate development of the Barbican Estate.

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 (Eastern Region) 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 (the platforms at Farringdon were extended across the tracks leading to the Moorgate branch); however, as of late October 2013, there is still a sign over Platform 2 with 'Trains to Bedford' and an arrow pointing to the now disused platforms.

Infrastructure

Traction current on the Underground lines is supplied by the standard London Underground four rail system. Trains using the deep level Northern City Line platforms (9 and 10) are supplied with 750 V DC traction current via the third rail, overseen by York Electrical Control Room. Signalling is Track Circuit Block, Colour light signals with tripcock mechanisms, controlled by Kings Cross PSB.

The former sub surface Thameslink bay platforms (5 and 6) were equipped with 25 kV AC overhead line equipment, overseen by York Electrical Control Room. Signalling was Track Circuit Block, Multiple aspect colour light signals, controlled by Westhampstead PSB.

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, linking Moorgate to the Central line at Liverpool Street.

Services

London Underground

Circle line

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 6tph clockwise to Edgware Road via Liverpool Street and Tower Hill
• 6tph anti-clockwise to Hammersmith via King's Cross St. Pancras and Baker Street

Hammersmith & City line

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 6tph eastbound to Barking
• 6tph westbound to Hammersmith.

Metropolitan line

The typical off-peak services in trains per hour (tph) are:

• 2tph northbound to Amersham
• 2tph northbound to Chesham
• 8tph northbound to Uxbridge
• 12tph southbound to Aldgate

National Rail

The following is the typical National Rail services off-peak Monday-Friday (all operated by Great Northern):

• 3 tph to Welwyn Garden City via Potters Bar
• 3 tph to Hertford North (1 tph extended to Letchworth Garden City)

Great Northern introduced a weekend service from 13 December 2015.

Connections

London Buses routes 21, 43, 76, 100, 141, 153, 214, 271 and night routes N21, N76, N133 serve the station.

External links

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

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		Great Northern Northern City Line		Terminus
	Disused railways
Barbican		First Capital Connect Thameslink		Terminus
	Former service
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Old Street towards Finsbury Park		Northern line Northern City branch		Terminus
	Abandoned Northern Heights proposal
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Old Street towards Bushey Heath, High Barnet or Alexandra Palace		Northern line		Terminus
	Abandoned Northern City Line extension
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Old Street		Metropolitan Railway Northern City Line		Lothbury Terminus