Thameslink

A visit by tube and train to some of London's first cross-city mainline railways

Below - 1999 tube & train map showing the Thameslink system at the time towards the centre of the map.

Rail Map Online

The Thameslink scheme of the 1980s allowed suburban services that had previously terminated at St Pancras from the north and Blackfriars from the south to cross London without the need for passengers to change stations across London. The route across London used existing tunnels that were primarily built for transferring freight between the various railway companies as well as serving goods sheds around the Smithfield Markets. Through passenger services were operated from early days but were discontinued in 1916 by which time tube and tram links had improved and the train paths were needed for materials and troop movements for the war effort of the First World War. Proposals for reviving it as a cross city passenger route came after WW2 but post war there wasn't the money to do it. Through freight ceased in 1970 and track was removed from the Snow Hill tunnel between Farringdon and Blackfriars.

Suburban trains also ran under London between Kings Cross and Moorgate on the City Widened lines from 1866. This was a scheme by the Metropolitan Railway to connect with the Great Northern Railway at Kings Cross and the Midland Railway at St Pancras. The lines were widened to four tracks between Kings Cross / St Pancras and Moorgate with two tracks for Metropolitan trains and two for "mainline" trains (though the original Metropolitan system was more like a mainline in its own right than the modern tube line that still bears its name). In to the 1970s diesel trains (either multiple units or class 31 locos on suburban coaches) ran from the former GNR lines to Moorgate. The widened lines were electrified by 1983 for services between Bedford (on the former Midland line, the connections at Kings Cross then being severed) and Moorgate. The success of this service no doubt helped build the case for reopening the link from Farringdon to Blackfriars and Thameslink was opened in 1988. It soon proved far more popular than predicted and the Thameslink 2000 upgrade (renamed Thameslink Program as timescales came and went) saw capacity increased and new connections to the former GNR in the north and additional destinations in the south as well as 12 coach trains. Ironically these longer trains meant the abandonment of the Widened Lines from Farringdon to Moorgate, though both these stops would be on the new East - West Elizabeth Line that further expanded London's cross city mainline rail connections.

BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE

1936 Map

The original Blackfriars Bridge station was on the south bank of the Thames, opening in 1864. Blackfriars Bridge station closed in 1885 following expansion of the stations on the north bank of the river, the station site continued in use for goods. More information about the former station can be found on the Disused Stations site. One of the approach ramps for road traffic to the goods yard survives but is now in a building site.

ST PAUL'S / BLACKFRIARS

After delays in the bridge construction St Paul's station opened on the north bank later in 1864. St Paul's was renamed Blackfriars in 1937. The tracks were soon widened with a second bridge alongside but the original bridge was condemned and removed in 1985 leaving just the pillars of the original bridge. Today the station is on the second bridge itself with entrances on both sides of the river, that on the south bank being close to the site of the original Blackfriars Bridge station and on the north bank on the St Paul's station site. Disused Stations page

Below - The bridge now carrying the current Blackfriars station over the river. 

LUDGATE HILL

Ludgate Hill was initially two island platforms on a high level just north of Blackfriars, later just one wider island platform on the slow lines that headed to the Snow Hill tunnels and no platform on the lines heading in to Holborn Viaduct station. It closed in 1929 when it wasn't possible to extend the station to take longer trains (this becomes a recurring theme). Nothing remains of the station today. Shortly after the Thameslink route was opened in 1988 it was closed again for four months in 1990 while it was realigned close to the site of Ludgate Hill to dive underground, crossing under rather than over the Ludgate Hill road and then in to the new St Pauls Thameslink station, soon renamed City Thameslink. The south entrance to this station is close to the site of Ludgate Hill station. Disused Stations page 

HOLBORN VIADUCT /St Paul's Thameslink / City Thameslink

This was a high level terminus station for most trains from the south with two tracks diverging just south of the station and diving in to the Snow Hill tunnel. It remained open until 1990 when it was replaced by the new low level St Pauls Thameslink station on the through route across the city with the tracks now diving underground further south at the Ludgate Hill station site. This freed up the station site for redevelopment. A hotel above the station entrance was damaged in WW2 and replaced with an office block in 1963. The north entrance of what is now City Thameslink station is on the site of the entrance to Holborn Viaduct station through the same 1963 office building which has since been facelifted to look like a more modern development. Disused Stations page

SNOW HILL 

Holborn Viaduct did effectively have low level platforms on the adjacent Snow Hill station. The station opened in 1874 and closed in 1916 when through services were withdrawn. The platforms survive but are underground and can't be seen. Disused Stations page

Immediately north of Snow Hill station was the triangular junction with the City Widened lines. I took a tube to Moorgate on the former Metropolitan Railway lines that paralleled the City Widened lines.

MOORGATE

1916 Map (top left of map)

As I mentioned, the Metropolitan Railway was effectively a mainline railway with locomotive hauled trains and proper stations with all the facilities of a mainline terminus. Moorgate station can be seen on the map as an above ground station with terminus platforms, canopies and a roof over the concourse and a cab road. There were even plans for a grand hotel over the station, these days offices for Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions occupy the site above the station which was a more useful destination for city commuters than the termini at Kings Cross and St Pancras. Two Metropolitan tracks carried on east to Liverpool Street and Aldgate.

Two more two track lines were built at right angles to the Metropolitan / Widened Lines station with platforms beneath Finsbury Pavement; the City & South London Railway, later Northern Line, and the Great Northern & City Railway from Finsbury Park. The latter, known as the Northern City Line, was cut back to Drayton Park in 1964 for the construction of the Victoria Line, it reopened to BR's Finsbury Park station in 1968 and was taken over by BR in 1975, allowing the now electrified mainline trains to run from the former Great Northern lines in to Moorgate via the Northern City Line rather than the Widened Lines. National Rail services, under the Great Northern franchise, still operate this route with class 717 electric units, similar to the 700 units that operate Thameslink but with shorter trains and end doors for the eventuality of an evacuation in the narrower tunnels. There has been talk for some time of the services out of Moorgate being added to Transport For London's Overground networks.

Below - The station entrance on Short Street, now Moor Place, seen on the old map. This is above the City & South London Railway, now Northern Line, platforms. In the background the entrance on Finsbury Pavement can be seen.

Below - The entrance on Finsbury Pavement above the former Great Northern & City Railway platforms, now used by Great Northern's mainline suburban services to Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage.

Below - Underneath the modern offices built over the Widened Lines and Metropolitan Railway lines platforms. The fenced off platform on the left is the former platform 6, the last Thameslink service left here in 2009 and this platform as well as platform 5 next to it have been disused since with the track severed by the extension of the platforms over the former junction at Farringdon.

Below - The former platform 5 and 6 on the left. On the right the bay platforms 4 and 3 are still used by morning and evening tube trains that start and terminate here.

Below - Looking across the tube bay platforms to the disused Widened Lines bay platforms. One of the station signs has been given the Metropolitan Railway's predecessor to the underground logo.

From Moorgate I took the tube one stop to Barbican

1936 Map (top right of map)

ALDERSGATE / BARBICAN

Opened in 1865 as Aldersgate Street, it was renamed as Aldersgate & Barbican and finally Barbican in 1968. 

Below - The disused Widened Lines platforms on the left with the active tube station on the right. The widened lines closed to diesel trains from the former GNR lines in 1976 and opened to electric trains from Bedford on the Midland route in 1983, closing in 2009. In later years Thameslink services to Moorgate were cut back to Monday - Friday peak times as capacity was increased on the North - South routes.

Below - The track is severed around the tunnel entrance.

FARRINGDON

Opened as Farringdon Street in 1863, it was a terminus for a couple of years while the line to Moorgate was built.

Below - The tube lines on the left and the Thameslink route on the right looking towards Moorgate / Blackfriars respectively. Immediately beyond the road tunnel was the junction with the Blackfriars and Moorgate routes, now the platforms continue under the street. On the other side of the street a new entrance for the station stands face to face with the 1936 built Metropolitan Railway station building at the end of the station roof. The new building is above the Elizabeth Line platforms that cut across the site at 90 degrees on a lower level. It is now possible to change for the Elizabeth Line for Moorgate, the Elizabeth Line's Liverpool Street station has connections to Moorgate station as well as connecting with the mainline station at Liverpool Street. Farringdon has become the meeting point of North - South and East - West cross-city lines.

1877 Map (bottom centre of map)

The Widened Lines and Metropolitan lines crossed over just north of Farringdon station, continuing in parallel tunnels and cuttings to the Metropolitan's Kings Cross station.

KINGS CROSS METROPOLITAN / KINGS CROSS THAMESLINK

Seen in the top left of the above map, note the map shows the location of tunnels with dotted lines.

Opened as Kings Cross Metropolitan in 1863. The platforms on what are now the tube platforms were closed in 1940, replaced by platforms closer to St Pancras station. The location of the Metropolitan platforms can be seen from passing tube trains. The Widened Line platforms were closed in 1973 and reopened in 1983 for the Bedford - Moorgate Services as Kings Cross Midland City until it was renamed Kings Cross Thameslink with the introduction of North - South services in 1988. It closed a couple of years ahead of Barbican and Moorgate's Widened Lines platforms in 2007 having been replaced with a new station with longer and wider platforms beneath St Pancras station.

Below - The former Kings Cross Thameslink station today

Below - The station also had it's own an entrance to the Underground station via a corridor below street level to platforms beneath the front of Kings Cross station, this remained open until the Covid pandemic in 2020 and never reopened. A few years ago it was still possible to peer through the windows in to the former Thameslink station.

Below - The steps that once went down to the platforms just leading to locked doors. These platforms also survive and can be seen from passing train with "Do Not Alight Here" signs. Note the tile artwork on the left with the intertwined BR and Underground logos.

Below - The ticket office.

KINGS CROSS YORK ROAD / KINGS CROSS SUBURBAN

The tunnels emerged either side of the mainline Kings Cross station and platforms for suburban services were provided at either side of the mainline station. Moorgate and southbound services stopped at a separate York Road station alongside Kings Cross to the East while northbound services stopped at a through platform on the Suburban station on the west side of the mainline platforms.

Below - York Road station was beneath where I am standing on this view of Kings Cross today. The ramp access to it was reused for access to the signal box (I didn't poke my camera through the security fencing here). Until recently it was possible to see where the suburban station and tunnel entrance had been as the stub of the line was used to stable a standby diesel loco. Since the recent refurbishment of the station an extra platform, platform 0, has been provided beneath the offices along the east side of the station, the track for which can be seen on the bottom left. The small roof of the surviving bit of Kings Cross Suburban station can be seen on the right, the through platform from the tunnel was where the new building alongside the station now stands.

Railways around Leith - Caledonian Railway

Starting Point - Site of Leith Walk Goods Station. Finishing Point - Site of Edinburgh Princess Street station. Distance 6.3 Miles

I had a couple of days in Leith, staying in a hotel there. After a walk of the North British Railway lines around Leith I concentrated my attention on some of the Caledonian Railway lines.

Rail Map Online

Google Maps

Below - 1905 Railway Clearing House map of the area (taken from Wikipedia, Public Domain). The Caledonian Railway lines are shown in red (Click to Enlarge).

LEITH WALK (GOODS)

1914 Map

Before heading to the site of Leith North station to walk the former line to Edinburgh Princes Street I visited a remnant of the goods line that orbited Leith to the south to reach South Leith Docks and South Leith Goods. Just south of the North British Railway's Leith Central station the goods line crossed Leith Walk on a bridge. Either side of Leith Walk the former railway arches remain.

Below - Looking towards South Leith Dock, the lighter colour brick at the top of the abutment is where the bridge once was and the wall has been filled with more modern brick. Around this some remnants of the bridge girders can be seen where it has been cut away from the walls. The trackbed is wider than necessary for two tracks as if it was designed for a station to be provided here. Either side of the filled in trackbed there looks to be space for platforms. There were a number of alternative railway schemes considered so perhaps this was constructed to potentially provide passenger facilities on the line but in the end it was only used for passing goods trains.

Below - Looking towards Newhaven (where the goods line met the mainline from Leith North). On the west side of Leith Walk there was a goods yard so the railway formation becomes much wider behind the bridge. A series of former railway arches in various uses including a micro brewery can be seen to the right of the photo. Land at former track level has been redeveloped and a short way from here all trace of the railway has been built over up to the where it formally crossed the Water of Leith and the North British Railway on a viaduct. I saw the abutment of the north side of the viaduct on my visit to the NBR's lines around Leith.  The road on this side of the arches, Jane Street, veers away from the course of the railway so it is hidden at the back of premises along the road.

Across the road on the east side of Leith Walk, Manderston Street follows the railway viaduct.

Below - A Bingo club built in to the railway arches.

Below - Several businesses, mostly garages, continue to operate in the railway arches.

Below - Another girder bridge has been removed where the line crossed Halmyre Street. Between here and Easter Road the site of the railway has been redeveloped but from Easter Road the trackbed is a footpath most of the way to South Leith Goods, this is one for another time though as on this occasion I went to the site of Leith North station along Great Junction Street.

LEITH NORTH

1933 Map (left side of map)

Leith North station opened in 1879, originally just referred to as Leith. It was renamed North Leith in 1903 after the NBR opened their Leith Central station, though hardly a move to avoid confusion as the NBR had a North Leith too. The station was renamed Leith North in 1952 around the time that Leith Central closed and (though it had been closed to passengers for five years) the other North Leith was renamed Leith Citadel. Leith North was the last surviving station in Leith, closing in 1962.

The station stood on the corner of Lindsey Road and what is now Ocean Drive, not far from the Ocean Terminal tram stop.

Below - Leith North station stood where the modern apartment block now stands towards the centre of the photo. In the foreground the line curving around the end of West Old Dock (a North British line) can be seen.

Below - On the corner of Ocean Drive and Melrose Drive an old building that was on the edge of the goods yard can be seen. This can be seen at the angle in the road on the old map. The building fronted on to the road here but the road has since moved to the right of the photo.

Melrose Drive follows the course of the Caledonian Railway lines in to the docks so Lindsay Road has been diverted to the north to remove the dog leg where it crossed the railway and build the junction of Melrose Drive and Lindsay Road. On the south side of the road before this junction the Hawthornevale Path meets the road and follows the course of the railway.

1933 Map

Below - Bridge taking the original course of Lindsey Road over the railway. The railway was six tracks under the bridge with the two on the left serving the passenger station and the four on the right heading in to the goods yards and docks.

Below - Bridge taking Newhaven Road over the railway. 

NEWHAVEN

Below - The Edinburgh bound platform of Newhaven station on the left with the station building on the bridge ahead.

Below - The station building at Newhaven. Note the gates where there were once steps down to the platforms.

Either side of Newhaven station was the triangular junction with the freight line around Leith mentioned above. The side of the junction that allowed goods to move between North and South Leith was disconnected between the 1908 and 1914 maps and removed by the 1933 map and the Trinity Academy has been built over that side of the junction. The side of the junction to take freight towards Edinburgh by the Caledonian Railway system survives as the Victoria Path up to where the goods line crossed the NBR and Water of Leith.

Below - Bridge taking Craighall Road over the goods line around Leith, the railway cutting has been filled in.

Below - The former Newhaven station building on Craighall Road, now offices.

Below - The site of Trinity Junction. The Caledonian Railway crossed over the top of the North British lines between Scotland Street / Canal Street, Abbeyhill and Granton. Looking left to right the paths along the North British routes can be seen, now crossing the path along the Caledonian route at the same level. The path can be seen climbing back to the higher level of the Caledonian route after the junction.

Below -  Looking south to the paths along the NBR routes to Abbeyhil on the left and Scotland Street / Canal Street on the right.

Below - Remnants of the Trinity Junction signal box.

Below - Looking North along the former North British line towards Granton. The tunnel under East Trinity Road can be seen.

Below - Back to the Caledonian Railway, the bridge under Clark Road.

1933 Map (top of map)

Below - Bridge under South Trinity Road.

Below - Bridge under Wardie Road.

GRANTON ROAD

Below - The path runs along the Edinburgh bound platform of Granton Road station.

Below - Looking back towards Leith. The Edinburgh bound platform can be seen on the right with the fence on the platform edge. The trackbed was quite muddy and it looks like the Leith bound platform is under the ivy on the left.

Below - Bridge taking Granton Road over the railway. On the old maps it looks as if Granton Road station had a building at street level similar to Newhaven. It I missed it on my picture but at either end of the bridge were filled in sections of the wall at street level where access to the station would have been.

Below - Bridge under Boswall Drive.

1933 Map

EAST PILTON HALT

Below - Bridge under Pilton Drive. East Pilton Halt is shown on Rail Map Online just beyond the bridge, this was presumably a short lived wooden platform and no trace of it could be seen. The halt is not shown on any of the old maps. This was also Pilton Junction East with routes to Edinburgh to the left and Granton to the right. The Pilton Fork that allowed traffic between Leith and Granton was removed between the 1914 and 1933 maps.

Below - The same bridge looking back towards Leith showing how the bridge has been widened.

Below - Information board alongside the path (click to enlarge)

Below - Bridge over Crewe Road North

Below - The site of Crewe Junction with the other side of the triangular junction from Granton coming in on the left. West Granton Access Road has been built along the former railway but a path has been provided alongside.

Below  - Another Information board at the site of Crewe Junction (click to enlarge).

Below - A modern footbridge crosses Ferry Road on the abutments of the original railway bridges. There would have been two spans, one for the Granton line and one for the Leith line.

The path now becomes the Telford Path and the former railway formation is evidently wider where the yards around Crewe Junction where.

Below - Former Telford Drive footpath bridge over the railway.

Below - Bridge taking Telford Road over the railway.

1933 Map

Below - Queensferry Road bridge.

CRAIGLEITH

Below - The Edinburgh bound platform of Craigleith station on the left. The station was accessed from Queensferry Road above, the footbridge over the station site was a later addition.

Below - Both platforms of the former station survive.

Below - Map of the North Edinburgh Path Network, many of the key paths were old railways. This route runs from top right to bottom centre. My previous trip along the former NBR lines is the route towards the right edge of the map.

Below - Craiglieth station looking back towards Leith.

Below - From Craigleith the path becomes the Roseburn Path. There were signs about saving the path, looking at the website the threat is that it could become an extension to the tram system.

Below - Bridge taking Ravenstone Dykes over the railway.

Below - Bridge taking Chapelhill Road over the railway.

Below -  Coltbridge Viaduct taking the railway over the Water of Leith.

MURRAYFIELD

Below - The former platforms of Murrayfield station.

Below - Space under the platform for point rodding from the signal box which stood behind the tracks in to the goods yard on the other side of the platform.

Below - Bridge over Roseburn Terrace.

After crossing Roseburn Terrace the path descends to street level at Russel Road and Balbirnie Place just before the site of the demolished bridge that took the line over the North British lines in to Haymarket station from the west. The course of the Caledonian railway in to the former Edinburgh Princes Street has been redeveloped so it was a walk along roads to the Caledonian Railway's former Edinburgh terminus.

1933 Map

 

The abutments of the bridge that took the line over the Caledonian Railway's Haymarket Branch survive but are in the middle of a fenced off site where a small woodland is being crated in the triangle of land between former and current railways. The Haymarket Branch was a goods connection to the North British network. After the railways were nationalised  BR decided to concentrate services on Edinburgh Waverley station and close Princes Street, the junction with the CR and NBR was rebuilt to allow passenger services from former Caledonian Railway routes in to Haymarket and Waverley stations.

DALRY ROAD

West Approach Road has been built on the former railway line in to Princes Street. The former railway bridge over Dalry Road has been reused by the road but the trackbed wasn't wide enough for a pavement as well so a new footpath bridge has been built alongside. Apart from a short stretch where it does a dogleg around the site of Dalry Road station and the engine sheds to the south of the station, West Approach Road occupies the former trackbed all the way to Princess Street. The site of Dalry Road station is now occupied by Dalry Community Park and nothing remains of the railway.

EDINBURGH PRINCES STREEET

1933 Map

Edinburgh Princes Street station's origins go back to the first Caldeonian Railway terminus nearby which was named Lothian Road and opened in 1848. This was not the grand terminus that had been planned due to a shortage of funds. With increased traffic and revenue coming in the first Princes Street station was built alongside Lothian Road station to the north and opened in 1870. The site of Lothian Road station became a goods shed and is now occupied by the Sheraton Grand Hotel. The 1870 station still wasn't a grand terminus but a wooden building which burned down in 1890 and a grand station befitting of the railway's Edinburgh terminus was finally built between 1890 and 1893. In 1899 a hotel was built above the station buildings. This station closed in 1965 but the hotel survives, now as The Caldeonian, it has taken over the former station buildings at ground level and built an extension where the booking office and entrance to the platforms once was.

Below - The facade of Princes Street station on the corner of Princes Street and Lothian Road. The ground floor level was the 1890 - 1893 built station with the floors above being the 1899 hotel.

Below - Looking down the Rutland Street side of the station building.

Below - The former entrance to the cab road on the right. The hotel extension over the former entrance to the platforms can be seen at the back of the building. The platforms originally had a glass roof.

From the former Princes Street station it was a short walk to Haymarket (part of the reason BR chose to concentrate services on the former North British stations in Edinburgh) so I headed there for my train journey home.