City Thameslink railway station

City Thameslink
Looking south from the station
City Thameslink Location of City Thameslink in Central London
Location	Holborn Viaduct / Ludgate Hill
Local authority	City of London
Managed by	Thameslink
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	CTK
DfT category	C1
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	1
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	8.073 million[2]
– interchange	62[2]
2020–21	0.974 million[2]
– interchange	12[2]
2021–22	2.995 million[2]
– interchange	37[2]
2022–23	6.439 million[2]
– interchange	1,984[2]
2023–24	7.040 million[2]
– interchange	0.286 million[2]
Key dates
29 May 1990	Opened as St. Paul's Thameslink
30 September 1991	Renamed City Thameslink
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5163°N 0.1037°W / 51.5163; -0.1037
London transport portal

City Thameslink is a central London railway station within the City of London, with entrances on Ludgate Hill and Holborn Viaduct. The station is on the Thameslink route between Blackfriars to the south and Farringdon to the north.

The station opened in 1990 to replace Holborn Viaduct railway station. It was part of the Thameslink project that re-opened the Snow Hill Tunnel to provide a continuous north–south route across London. Originally named St. Paul's Thameslink, it was renamed City Thameslink the following year to avoid confusion with the nearby St Paul's tube station on the Central line (note that out-of-station interchange discount does not apply for changing between these two stations). The station was refurbished in 2010–11 to increase capacity, and the timetable was revised in 2018 with the introduction of automatic signalling.

Name and location

Northern entrance on Holborn Viaduct

The station is near the western edge of the City of London, close to its border with the City of Westminster. It has two entrances, one on Ludgate Hill and another on Holborn Viaduct, both of which access the two platforms.^[3] It is one of the few main line stations in central London that does not have an interchange with the London Underground; it is roughly equidistant from Chancery Lane and St Paul's on the Central line.^[4] A planned Tube station in the immediate area, to be named Ludgate Circus, was ultimately never built.^[5]

Although City Thameslink is a through station, for ticketing purposes it is classed as a London terminus for Thameslink services to and from the south; for services from the north it is a Thameslink Terminal station, which is a different fare.^[6] It is in Travelcard Zone 1 and one of the "core stations" on the Thameslink route, along with St Pancras, Farringdon and Blackfriars.^[7] The name has come in for criticism as being uninspiring.^[8]

London Buses routes 8, 15, 17, 25, 26, 40, 46, 59, 63, 76, 133, 341 and night routes N8, N15, N21, N25, N26, N63, N199, N242, N550 and N551 serve the station.^[9][10]

History

St Paul's Thameslink station shortly after opening, with the remains of Holborn Viaduct railway station in the background

Changes in 1990[11][12]
Snow Hill Tunnel Smithfield sidings Holborn Viaduct 1874–1990 Holborn Viaduct Low Level 1874–1916 City Thameslink Ludgate Hill 1865–1929 Blackfriars

Opening

The Thameslink line opened in 1988 after the Snow Hill tunnel, closed to passengers since 1916, was re-opened to provide a through route to Farringdon and King's Cross from South London. Initially, trains used the approach viaduct for the now-closed Holborn Viaduct station.^[13] The new service was an immediate financial success, and it was decided to redevelop the Holborn Viaduct site with a new station and business complex. The work was part-financed by the London property developer Rosehaugh Stanhope.^[13]

Before Holborn Viaduct station closed, a new line between Blackfriars and the tunnel was constructed on a different alignment slightly to the east and at a lower elevation, providing the opportunity to build 600,000 square feet (56,000 m²) of office space above the new station on a 4-acre (1.6 ha) site.^[14] City Thameslink was built to replace Holborn Viaduct station and is partly on the site of the old station. The total cost was estimated at £360–£450 million.^[15][14] Because of a proposed routing for the second phase of the Jubilee line through the area, part of the station was built to allow for a future interchange.^[16]

Holborn Viaduct closed on 26 January 1990.^[14] The following May, all Thameslink services were suspended for 17 days so that demolition work could be carried out.^[17]

The station was opened by British Rail on 29 May 1990 as St. Paul's Thameslink, and was renamed as City Thameslink on 30 September 1991^[18] to avoid confusion with the St Paul's station on the London Underground Central line (which is several hundred yards to the east, to the north of St Paul's Cathedral).^[19] It was the first mainline station built in central London in almost 100 years.^[15] The station was designed by SAS International, who designed the original walls and panelling.^[20]

In conjunction with construction of the new station, the area around the old Holborn Viaduct and Ludgate Hill stations was redeveloped, and an old bridge across Ludgate Hill was removed.^[21] In 1992, following the demolition, an additional service tunnel was constructed connecting City Thameslink to Farringdon.^[22]

When the Thameslink franchise was awarded to First Capital Connect (FCC) in 2006, the Thameslink service was re-branded but City Thameslink was not renamed. By late 2010, FCC had reverted to the Thameslink name.^[23]

Recent events

As part of the Thameslink Programme, an upgrade of City Thameslink station was completed in 2010. The upgrade was important because the closure of Blackfriars later in the year would lead to increased footfall. The platforms were made ready for future 12-carriage trains, and the passenger information system improved. New lighting, ticket gates and CCTV cameras were installed, and the service announcement system was upgraded to provide more accurate train times.^[24] SAS retrofitted the station interior, as they had done for the original 1990 construction, with enamel wall panels that fitted the original design specification.^[20]

In a 2014 report, London TravelWatch suggested an underground passageway linking City Thameslink to St Paul's tube station to provide an interchange with the Central line that would benefit passengers travelling from the Central line catchment to Gatwick and Luton Airports.^[25]

In 2018, Govia Thameslink Railway announced a major timetable change, which was implemented that May. The changes included a half-hour service across Central London, connecting City Thameslink with Gatwick Airport and Luton Airport Parkway.^[26] The signalling was upgraded to support automatic train operation through the station, along with the rest of the core Thameslink route,^[27] and British Rail Class 700 trains were introduced into the service.^[28] The following January, several evening services from City Thameslink to St Albans and Harpenden were reinstated, after a six-month absence.^[29]

Services

City Thameslink is served by trains operated by Thameslink on the Thameslink Route which run Monday-Saturday only, with the station being closed on Sundays. Train services are operated using Class 700 Desiro City EMUs.^[30]

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[31]

• 4 tph to Brighton via Gatwick Airport
• 2 tph to Horsham via Redhill and Gatwick Airport
• 2 tph to Three Bridges via Redhill
• 2 tph to Rainham via Greenwich, Woolwich Arsenal, Dartford and Gravesend
• 4 tph to Sutton (two of these run via Mitcham Junction and two run via Wimbledon)
• 4 tph to St Albans City (all stations)
• 2 tph to Luton (all stations except Kentish Town, Cricklewood and Hendon)
• 4 tph to Bedford (semi-fast)
• 2 tph to Cambridge via Stevenage
• 2 tph to Peterborough via Stevenage

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Farringdon		Thameslink Thameslink Monday-Saturday only		London Blackfriars

City Thameslink serves as the lost property office of the Thameslink line. A fee is charged for retrieving property.^[32]

References

Citations

1. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009.
2. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. "City Thameslink Station Plan". Transport for London. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
4. "Nearest station to City Thameslink Station". londontown.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
5. Fitzgerald, James (15 July 2014). "Unbuilt London: The River Line". Londonist. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
6. "Travelling to, from, and via London". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
7. NAO 2017, p. 11.
8. "Here are 31 better names for City Thameslink, the worst name for a railway station ever devised". CityMetric. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
9. "Buses from City Thameslink (and Barts Hospital)" (PDF). TfL. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
10. "Night buses from City Thameslink (and Barts Hospital)" (PDF). TfL. 29 April 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
11. Catford, Nick (10 February 2006). "Snow Hill/Holborn Viaduct Low Level". Retrieved 27 November 2009.
12. Holborn viaduct to Lewisham by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith (Middleton Press)
13. Haywood 2016, p. 225.
14. "Steaming ahead". The Times. London. 31 January 1990. p. 39. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
15. Dynes, Michael (7 November 1991). "Main-line station opening marks rail expansion". The Times. London. p. 5.
16. "Diving Into The Fleet: A Look At London's Lost Tube". London Reconnections. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
17. "Ludgate's first milestone". The Times. London. 1 April 1992. p. 8[S]. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
18. Butt 1995, pp. 62, 204.
19. Harvey, David J (14 November 1989). "All change". The Times. London. p. 17. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
20. "SAS International solutions specified for major refurbishment of City Thameslink". Architects Journal. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
21. Clayton 2000, p. 181.
22. Clayton 2000, p. 75.
23. "Train Times: 23 May to 11 September 2010" (PDF). First Capital Connect. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
24. "£4.5m upgrade of City Thameslink complete" (Press release). First Capital Connect. 15 October 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
25. "Potential future transport projects for London". London Travel Watch. 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
26. "Thameslink timetable changes hit Gatwick and Luton journeys". TTG. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
27. "Main line ATO becomes a reality". Rail Engineer. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
28. "115th and final new Class 700 train rolls off the production line as the government-sponsored Thameslink Programme nears completion". Thameslink Programme. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
29. "Extra night-time train services serving St Albans and Harpenden". Herts Advertiser. 8 January 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
30. "City Thameslink station information". Thameslink. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
31. Table 173, 175, 179, 185 National Rail timetable, May 2022
32. "How much Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink will charge you to get your lost property back". Kent Live. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Clayton, Antony (2000). Subterranean City: Beneath the Streets of London. Historical Publications. ISBN 978-0-948667-69-5.
• Haywood, Russell (2016). Railways, Urban Development and Town Planning in Britain: 1948–2008. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-07164-8.
• Update on the Thameslink programme. National Audit Office (Report). Department of Transport. 23 November 2017.

Further reading

• Sutton, Philip (8–21 February 1990). "Goodbye Holborn Viaduct – Hello St. Paul's Thameslink". RAIL. No. 115. EMAP National Publications. pp. 6–7. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

External links

• Train times and station information for City Thameslink railway station from National Rail