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London
Underground Development:
Background
King’s Cross is one of London’s busiest
underground stations. It is served by the Victoria, Piccadilly,
Northern, Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith and City lines and
is linked to St Pancras and King’s Cross mainline and Thameslink
stations. According to London Underground Limited the station is
already heavily congested at peak times and in need of modernisation.
At present, over sixty thousand passengers currently use the station
in the morning peak.
By
2007, when St Pancras Station has been extended and refurbished
for
the CTRL, passenger numbers are
forecast to rise to eighty-two thousand during the morning
peak. In addition to providing the forecasted extra capacity,
the
work being undertaken will also implement the remaining outstanding
recommendations of the Fennell Report, which followed the King’s
Cross fire in 1987 (Image 1).
Construction
Details
LUL
started work on the redevelopment back in 2000. The work, organised
in two phases, initially involved the upgrading and expanding of
the existing main ticket hall, construction of a new western ticket
hall, and a new pedestrian subway under Euston Road (Images 2-7).
The western ticket hall is located under the forecourt of St Pancras
Station, extending under Euston Road.
The
second phase will see the development of a northern ticket hall,
designed to provide the additional capacity which will be required
once the CTRL is operating from St Pancras Station. As well as new
and improved ticket halls, subways, escalators, platforms, and station
facilities, the mobility impaired perons will be able to traverse
King’s Cross step-free.
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