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 |
| Owners | |
| Station code | MOG |
| DfT category | E |
| Number of platforms | 10 (8 in use) |
| Fare zone | 1 |
| OSI | Liverpool Street  |
| London Underground annual entry and exit | |
| 2019 |  25.05 million[1] |
| 2020 |  5.84 million[2] |
| 2021 | 8.79 million[3] |
| 2022 | 20.01 million[4] |
| 2023 | 23.33 million[5] |
| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2019–20 | 9.994 million[6] |
| – interchange | 0.675 million[6] |
| 2020–21 | 1.935 million[6] |
| – interchange | 0.232 million[6] |
| 2021–22 | 3.346 million[6] |
| – interchange | 0.430 million[6] |
| 2022–23 | 5.588 million[6] |
| – interchange | 0.673 million[6] |
| 2023–24 | 8.229 million[6] |
| – interchange | 0.537 million[6] |
| Key dates | |
| 23 December 1865 | Opened (MR) |
| 25 February 1900 | Opened (C&SLR) |
| 14 February 1904 | Opened (GN&CR) |
| 24 October 1924 | Renamed Moorgate |
| 28 February 1975 | Moorgate tube crash |
| 20 March 2009 | Withdrawn (Thameslink) |
| 24 May 2022 | Opened access to Liverpool Street (EL) |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| Coordinates | 51°31′07″N0°05′19″W / 51.5186°N 0.0886°W /51.5186; -0.0886 |
 London transport portal | |
Moorgate (/ˈmʊərɡeɪt/) is acentral London railway terminus and connectedLondon Underground station onMoorgate in theCity of London. Main line railway services forHertford North,Welwyn Garden City andStevenage are operated byGreat Northern, while the London Underground station is served by theCircle,Hammersmith & City,Metropolitan andNorthern lines.
The station was opened asMoorgate Street in 1865 by theMetropolitan Railway. In 1900, theCity & South London Railway added the station to its network, and the Great Northern & City Railway began serving the station in 1904. In 1975, theNorthern City Line platforms were the site of theMoorgate tube crash – at the time, the worst peacetime accident in the history of the London Underground – in which 43 people were killed.Thameslink branch services were withdrawn in the early 21st century, and a new ticket hall was built connected to the newly openedElizabeth line atLiverpool Street in 2021, with through access to the rest of Liverpool Street Underground station.
The station has entrances on both Moorgate itself andMoorfields, which runs parallel. The public entrances from the street give access to all the train services at the station, there are three distinct levels.[citation needed]
TheCircle,Hammersmith & City andMetropolitan underground lines use platforms 1 and 2, which are through platforms.[citation needed] 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 formerThameslink service fromBedford via St Pancras. These are disused following the closure of the Moorgate branch from Farringdon junction as part of theThameslink Programme and are now used for storage.[7]
TheNorthern line of the Underground uses platforms 7 and 8, which are in a deep-level tube section of the station.[citation needed]National Rail services on theNorthern City Line use platforms 9 and 10, which are terminal platforms. Train services run via theEast Coast Main Line toWelwyn Garden City,Hertford North andStevenage.[8] Because of this, Moorgate is part of theLondon station group and accepts tickets marked "London Terminals".[9]
London Buses routes21,43,76,100,141 and153 serve the station.[10]
The station was opened as Moorgate Street by theMetropolitan Railway as the first eastwards extension from the original terminus atFarringdon. Parliamentary power had been obtained to build a station at Moorgate in 1861, two years before the initial section, and it was completed on 23 December 1865. Increased traffic from other companies, including goods traffic from theGreat Northern Railway, led to the line betweenKing's Cross and Moorgate being widened to four tracks; the route was called theCity Widened Lines and included a new tunnel atClerkenwell which was 16 feet (4.9 m) lower than the original. The Widened Lines were open from Moorgate to Farringdon on 1 July 1866, and to King's Cross on 17 February 1868.[11] Suburban services from the Midland Railway ran via Kentish Town and the Great Northern Railway ran via King's Cross.[12] In 1874, director of the Metropolitan,Edward Watkin, described Moorgate Street as "your great terminus" and recommended a 100-bedroom hotel should be built on top of the station.[13]
The now Northern line platforms were originally part of an extension of theCity & South London Railway (C&SLR) beyondBorough towardsAngel, forming the northern terminus of its services fromStockwell south of theRiver Thames. An act for the extension had been authorised in 1893 and included an eastern diversion of the original line underneath the Thames. The new station opened on 25 February 1900.[14] The line was extended to Angel on 17 November the following year.[15]
The Northern City Line to Moorgate was opened by the Great Northern & City Railway (GN&CR) on 14 February 1904 offering a service toFinsbury Park. It had an escalator connection to the other Moorgate platforms. 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).[16] The line was the first to use automatic signalling throughout its length without any moving parts. Though a popular route, it went into decline after the Metropolitan Railway purchased the route on 1 July 1913. Consequently, the planned through services to the Great Northern Railway's main line were never implemented.[17]
The CS&LR line (taken over by the Underground Group in 1913) closed services between Moorgate andEuston on 9 August 1922 in order to widen tunnels to 11 feet8+1⁄4 inches (3.56 m). The section from Moorgate to Clapham Common was worked on during the night while daytime services remained running, but closed completely on 28 November 1923 following a roof collapse at Newington Causeway the day before. Services to Euston opened on 20 April 1924, along with a connection toCamden Town and stations further north. Services to Clapham Common resumed on 1 December.[18] The station was renamed from Moorgate Street to Moorgate on 24 October that year.[19]
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British Rail services to Moorgate were initially steam-operated. A commemorative service ran on 6 June 1971 from Moorgate to the depot atNeasden, powered by a 0-6-0tank locomotive.[20] Steam was replaced by Cravens-built diesel multiple units andBritish Rail Class 31 locomotives class hauling non-corridor stock which remained in operation until 1976, when it was replaced withBritish Rail Class 313 electrics.[21]
The Northern City Line connection for Moorgate to Finsbury Park tube was closed beyond Drayton Park on 5 October 1964 to allow work on theVictoria line. The line never re-opened fully, but instead the line was connected to the Finsbury ParkBritish Rail station, in order to provide a connection for suburban services into Moorgate. The new service opened on 1 September 1968.[22]
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 theBarbican Estate.[23]
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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 theCity Widened Lines the following year.[24] The City Widened Lines were renamed the Moorgate line[25] when overhead electrification was installed in 1982, allowing the Midland City Line service to run from Bedford via the Midland Main Line to Moorgate.[26] This later formed a branch of theThameslink route.
The Moorgate Thameslink branch was reduced to peak hours services only in 2003, and closed permanently on 20 March 2009 as part of the Thameslink Programme upgrades.[7] The closure was required in order to lengthen the platforms at Farringdon to take the longer trains, which could only be done southward in the direction of Moorgate as there was too steep a gradient to the north.[27]
UnderCrossrail works, the western ticket hall of theElizabeth line station atLiverpool Street was constructed just east of Moorgate station. This linked the Northern line platforms at Moorgate to theCentral line at Liverpool Street via the Elizabeth line platforms spanning the two.[28]
The refurbished entrance on Moorfields opened on 5 July 2021. Upon opening, this provided step-free access to the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan line platforms,[29] and later to the Northern line and Elizabeth line when the new line opened on 24 May 2022.
On 13 September 1905, a train derailed at the station. There were two injuries.[30]
On 28 February 1975, 43 people were killed and 74 seriously injured in theMoorgate tube crash, when a southbound Northern City Line train crashed into the end of the dead-end tunnel beyond the platform. The accident caused the most fatalities on the Underground during peacetime and has been considered the worst ever on the system. The cause was the unexplained failure of the driver to stop or even slow down at the platform, causing the train to run at speed into the dead-end tunnel, colliding with the buffers and then with the wall.[31][32] Services were immediately suspended, resuming on 1 March from Drayton Park to Old Street only. The wreckage was not fully cleared until 6 March and the station fully re-opened four days later.[33]
Trains using thedeep level Northern City Line platforms (9 and 10) are supplied with 750 V DC current via thethird rail, overseen by York Electrical Control Room. The signalling istrack circuit block, overlaid withERTMS Level 2, controlled byYork Rail Operating Centre's Finsbury Park workstation.[34]
The former subsurface Thameslink bay platforms (5 and 6) were equipped with 25kilovoltalternating currentoverhead line equipment, overseen by York Electrical Control Room. Signalling was track circuit block, multiple aspect colour light signals, controlled byWest Hampstead PSB.[25]
South of the Northern City platform 10 is a Greatheadtunnelling shield.[35] The shield was used to dig part of a very short planned extension south toLothbury, quickly abandoned.[36]
On the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, Moorgate station is betweenBarbican to the west andLiverpool Street to the east.
The typical service in trains per hour (tph) is:[37]
The typical service in trains per hour (tph) is:[37]
The Metropolitan line is the only line to operate express services from Moorgate, and then only at peak times. Fast services run non-stop betweenWembley Park,Harrow-on-the-Hill andMoor Park; semi-fast services run non-stop between Wembley Park and Harrow-on-the-Hill.[38]
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:[39]
Off-peak services to/from Watford terminate at Baker Street
The typical peak time service in trains per hour (tph) is:[39]
On the Northern line via the Bank branch, Moorgate station is betweenOld Street to the north andBank to the south.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) are:[40][41]
The typical peak time service in trains per hour (tph) are:[40][41]
Previously, typical off-peak services include terminating at Colindale to the north and Tooting Broadway to the south.[41]
TheNorthern City Line is part of theGreat Northern Route (itself part of the East Coast Main Line). It was formerly a stand-alone part of London Underground's Northern line between Moorgate and Finsbury Park. Typical services at Moorgate off-peak Monday-Friday (all operated by Great Northern):
During Peak Hours, there are 4 tph to Welwyn Garden City, as well as an additional 2 tph that terminate atGordon Hill and 2 tph that terminate at Hertford North.
Great Northern introduced a weekend service from 13 December 2015.[42]
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