City Thameslink railway station

City Thameslink
Southern entrance on Ludgate Hill
City Thameslink Location of City Thameslink in Central London
Location	Holborn Viaduct / Ludgate Circus
Local authority	City of London
Managed by	Thameslink
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	CTK
DfT category	C1
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	1
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	5.370 million[2]
2008–09	5.294 million[2]
2009–10	4.881 million[2]
2010–11	5.346 million[2]
2011–12	5.572 million[2]
— interchange	70[2]
2012–13	5.541 million[2]
— interchange	475[2]
2013–14	6.020 million[2]
— interchange	409[2]
Key dates
1990	Opened as St Paul's Thameslink
1991	Renamed City Thameslink
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°30′59″N 0°06′13″W / 51.5163°N 0.1037°W

Changes in 1990[3][4]
Legend Snow Hill tunnel Smithfield Sidings Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct Low Level City Thameslink Ludgate Hill Blackfriars

Mainline railways around the South Bank
Legend
Charing Cross Hungerford Bridge over River Thames South Western Main Line to Weymouth Waterloo Waterloo East Blackfriars Road (1864-1868) Thameslink to Sutton, Sevenoaks and Brighton Elephant & Castle Blackfriars / City Thameslink Blackfriars Bridge (1864-1885) Cannon Street London Bridge River Thames Brighton and South Eastern Main Lines toward SE London, Kent, Sussex and Surrey

City Thameslink /ˈsɪti ˈtɛmzlɪŋk/ is a railway station in London, located in the City of London financial district. The platforms are underground with a southern entrance on Ludgate Hill just off Ludgate Circus, and a northern entrance on Holborn Viaduct. It is in Zone 1 on the Thameslink route between Blackfriars and Farringdon. Although a through station, for ticketing purposes it is considered a central London terminus for journeys to and from the south.^[5] City Thameslink is not open on Sundays.

Before its 1990 opening its site was intended for Ludgate Circus station on the cancelled Fleet Line Extension of the (now) Jubilee line, and provision was made for the future station as part of the building works.

History

Station ticket barrier, looking towards the Ludgate Hill exit

The station was opened by British Rail on 29 May 1990 as St. Paul's Thameslink. The name was changed in 1991, to avoid confusion with St. Paul's London Underground station (Central line), which is several hundred yards away on the other side of St Paul's Cathedral.

When the Thameslink line first opened, trains used the approach viaduct for Holborn Viaduct railway station to reach the Snow Hill tunnel. In preparation for that station's closure on 26 January 1990, a new line between Blackfriars station and the tunnel was constructed, this time on a different alignment slightly to the east and at a lower elevation, allowing buildings to be constructed on top. City Thameslink was built on the line as a replacement for Holborn Viaduct station.^[4]

Due to the planned routing of the Fleet Line under the site, part of the station was built to allow a future interchange. This can be seen in the wide spaces on the Ludgate end of the station, where large doors open on to a corridor intended to lead to escalators to an Underground concourse level.

When the Thameslink franchise was given to First Capital Connect on 1 April 2006, the Thameslink service was initially re-branded; however, City Thameslink station was not re-branded. By late 2010, FCC reverted to branding its services Thameslink.^[6]

As part of the Thameslink Programme, an upgrade of City Thameslink station was completed in October 2010. The platforms were made ready for future 12-car trains, and the passenger information system improved. New lighting and ticket gates were installed.^[7]

Services

The station is served by trains on the Thameslink route. This provides two main service patterns: fast trains on the Brighton to Bedford service, and stopping trains between St Albans or Luton and Wimbledon or Sutton. Added to this is a service between Bedford and Sevenoaks via Catford. There are also peak-hours-only services to Rochester and Ashford International. All trains in both categories call at all stations on the central cross-London core of the Thameslink route, including City Thameslink, except that the station is closed on Sundays.

History of Services

After the bay platforms at London Blackfriars closed in March 2009 Southeastern services which previously terminated at Blackfriars were extended to Kentish Town, St Albans, Luton or Bedford and call at this station.^[8] On this route south of Blackfriars trains are operated by Southeastern, north of Blackfriars by Thameslink. Both Southeastern and Thameslink drivers work the route between Sevenoaks, Kent and the county town of Bedford. This station is now served by 10 trains per hour in each direction throughout the off-peak, instead of the previous eight.

Connections

London Buses routes 4; 11; 15; 17; 23; 26; 76; 100; 172 and heritage route 15H and night routes N11, N15, N21, N26, N76 and N199 serve the Ludgate Hill entrance to the station and routes 8; 25; 242; 521 and night route N8 serve the Holborn Viaduct entrance.

Lines

The station is run by Thameslink.

References

1. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 March 2009.
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Catford, Nick (10 February 2006). "Snow Hill/Holborn Viaduct Low Level". Retrieved 27 November 2009.
4. Holborn viaduct to Lewisham by Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith (Middleton press)
5. "Section A" (PDF). National Fares Manual 98. Association of Train Operating Companies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
6. "Train Times: 23 May to 11 September 2010" (PDF). First Capital Connect. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
7. "£4.5m upgrade of City Thameslink complete" (Press release). First Capital Connect. 15 October 2010.
8. "Train times 22 March - 16 May 2009 Thameslink route" (PDF). First Capital Connect. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2009.

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

Gallery

• 

  Another view of the Ludgate Hill entrance

• 

  Looking southwards

• 

  Looking northwards

• 

  Signage on southbound platform, indicating proximity to St. Paul's Cathedral