Charing Cross railway station

Charing Cross National Rail
London Charing Cross
Approach tracks across the River Thames
Charing Cross is located in Central London
Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Location of Charing Cross in Central London
LocationCharing Cross
Local authorityCity of Westminster
Managed byNetwork Rail
Station code(s)CHX
DfT categoryA
Number of platforms6
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone1
OSICharing Cross Underground station London Underground
Embankment London Underground
Embankment Pier London River Services[2]
Cycle parkingNo
Toilet facilitiesYes
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19Increase 30.236 million[3]
– interchange Decrease 0.578 million[3]
2019–20Decrease 29.138 million[3]
– interchange Decrease 0.559 million[3]
2020–21Decrease 5.373 million[3]
– interchange Decrease 91,995[3]
2021–22Increase 15.733 million[3]
– interchange Increase 0.295 million[3]
2022–23Increase 16.191 million[3]
– interchange Increase 0.419 million[3]
Railway companies
Original companySouth Eastern Railway
Pre-groupingSouth Eastern & Chatham Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
11 January 1864 (11 January 1864)Opened
Other information
External links
Coordinates51°30′29″N 0°07′30″W / 51.508°N 0.125°W / 51.508; -0.125
London transport portal

Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross)[4] is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the Southeastern Main Lines to Dover via Ashford and Hastings via Tunbridge Wells. All trains are operated by Southeastern, which provides the majority of commuter and regional services to south-east London and Kent. It is connected to Charing Cross Underground station and is near to Embankment Underground station and Embankment Pier.

The station was originally opened by the South Eastern Railway in 1864. It takes its name from its proximity to the road junction Charing Cross, the notional "centre of London" from which distances from the city are measured. During the 19th century the station became the main London terminus for continental traffic via boat trains, and served several prestigious international services. It was badly damaged by a roof collapse in 1905 and extensively rebuilt, subsequently becoming an important meeting point for military and government traffic during World War I. By this time, Charing Cross station was seen as out of date by some politicians and proposals were made to replace Hungerford Bridge with a road bridge or road/rail combination, with the station moving to the south bank of the River Thames in the case of a road-only replacement. The station was bombed several times during World War II, and was rebuilt afterwards, re-opening in 1951. In the late 1980s, the station complex was redesigned by Terry Farrell and rebuilt to accommodate a modern office block, now known as Embankment Place.

  1. ^ "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009.
  2. ^ "Out of Station Interchanges" (XLSX). Transport for London. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  4. ^ "Station facilities for London Charing Cross". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 29 May 2013.