King’s Cross St Pancras

History of Kings Cross St Pancras

The station was built as part of the Metropolitan Railway and opened in 1863. It later served the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. The City Widened Lines opened in 1868, and in the early 20th century, the Northern and Piccadilly platforms were added. The station had structural changes and a partial reconstruction in the 1930s and 1940s to accommodate increased traffic.

In 1968, the Victoria line connection was inaugurated. One of the deadliest catastrophes to happen on the Underground was the 1987 King's Cross fire, which left 31 people dead and led to several safety upgrades and improvements across the whole network. To accommodate Eurostar services that relocated from Waterloo to St. Pancras, the station underwent significant reconstruction in the early 21st century. It reopened in 2007. 

During the mainline station's construction in 1851, the first King's Cross subterranean station was planned. The Great Northern Railway (GNR) at King's Cross and the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Paddington was intended to be connected. On January 10, 1863, the route was inaugurated as a part of the Metropolitan Railway's (MR) first phase. In August 1868, it underwent a reorganisation to make room for the City Widened Lines, which allowed GNR and Metropolitan traffic to use the route at the same time. The Metropolitan constructed a link to the recently inaugurated St. Pancras station that same year. 

Platforms for the Great Northern, Piccadilly, and Brompton Railway (GNP & BR, now a part of the Piccadilly line) and the City & South London Railway (C&SLR, now a part of the Northern line) debuted on December 15, 1906, together with the rest of the line. This area of the station was given the new name King's Cross for St. Pancras in 1927. 

Except for the Metropolitan line station, which continued to use the previous name until 16 October 1940, when it was also altered, the station was officially renamed King's Cross St. Pancras in 1933. Major reconstruction work was done during this time, including the construction of a circular ticket hall and a direct connection to St. Pancras. The subway connection to St. Pancras opened two years after the main concourse opened on June 18, 1939. The work came to a total of £260,000. 

Due to bomb damage sustained during the Blitz, the Metropolitan line platforms were closed from 16 October to 9 December 1940. Additional bomb damage to the platforms of the Metropolitan line occurred on March 9, 1941, when two railroad employees died and a train, the station roof, the signal box, and the platforms were all damaged. As part of the station upgrades started in the 1930s, new sub-surface platforms were being built, and on March 14, 1941, they were inaugurated 250 meters (270 yards) to the west. Cream tiles with light green margins were used to embellish them. To make switching between the various lines easier, a tunnel was constructed between the sub-surface lines, running beneath Euston Road and connecting with the tube lines. In the future, King's Cross Thameslink station was built on the 1868 platforms.

As part of the line's second phase, from Highbury & Islington to Warren Street, the Victoria line platforms were inaugurated on December 1st, 1968. It was not possible to erect the platforms at the same level as other lines, in contrast to other interchange stations on the same line. A larger concourse is connected to the Northern / Piccadilly ticket hall by two brand-new escalators. The new platforms were connected to this by a second subway and a staircase. 

The station underwent renovations in 1986, along with several others on the network. Paul Huxley, an artist, covered the Northern and Piccadilly platforms with multicoloured tiles that featured the letters "K" and "X." In the middle of the 2000s, the station underwent a significant upgrade and extension, during which these tiles were removed.

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