Kings Cross Station Through Time

John Christopher brings together his stunning photography with archive images to tell the story of King's Cross, both above and below street level.

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King's Cross station was the terminus of the Great Northern Railway and was opened in 1852. Designed by Lewis Cubitt, it replaced a temporary station at Maiden Lane. It established itself as the London terminus of what is now known as the East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh. From 1862, at 10 a.m. every weekday, the Flying Scotsman left King's Cross for the north, initially taking over ten hours to complete the journey but now taking only four hours from Edinburgh to London. Some of Britain's most famous locomotives, from the Ivatt Atlantics to the A3 and A4 Pacifics, Deltics and HSTs, have sped north from King's Cross. The underground station below the main line station encompasses six lines and was the scene of the disastrous King's Cross fire in 1987, following which it was rebuilt. King's Cross itself has been redeveloped many times over the years, and a fictional platform (93⁄4) made famous in the Harry Potter novels. Its Grade 1 listed facade has been revamped and the station improved to increase capacity.