User:Hammersfan/Railway Adjustment and Intervention Bureau/London Holborn Viaduct railway station

Holborn Viaduct
London Holborn Viaduct
Main entrance on Holborn Viaduct
Location	Holborn Viaduct
Local authority	City of London
Managed by	First Capital Connect
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	LHV
Number of platforms	8
Accessible	Yes
Key dates
1874 (1874)	Opened
1990 (1990)	Redeveloped
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London transport portal

London Holborn Viaduct is a railway terminus in London. It serves as a major terminus for trains from Kent operated by Southeastern, as well as for trains running through the Snow Hill Tunnel via the Thameslink route operated by First Capital Connect.

History

Opening

During the 1860s and 1870s, Ludgate Hill had begun to struggle with increasing numbers of trains. At the time, the LCDR was suffering financial problems, and so was unable to raise capital to expand the station. So, a seperate company was set up to construct a 330-yard (300 m) branch from the Ludgate-Farringdon line that would terminate at a new station located on Holborn Viaduct, which would have a new hotel forming its frontage.

Holborn Viaduct opened on 2 March 1874 with the intention that it be used as a terminus for main line and continental trains - these services were intended to operate to both the City and the West End. Trains would travel as far as Herne Hill where they would split, with one portion going to Holborn Viaduct and the other to Victoria. Local services carried on through the Snow Hill Tunnel to join the Metropolitan Railway at Farringdon, with a pair of low level platforms being constructed just north of Holborn Viaduct to allow interchange with the main line services. Opened on the 1st August 1874, these platforms were initially named as Snow Hill, before being renamed as Holborn Viaduct Low Level in 1912.

Passenger traffic through the Snow Hill tunnel ceased in 1916, which saw the low level platforms closed, and Holborn Viaduct become a terminus for passenger services from the south of London into the City. The short distance between Holborn Viaduct and Blackfriars (660 yards (600 m)) also led to the intermediate station at Ludgate Hill being closed in 1929. The route was electrified in 1925 for services from Shortlands and Orpington.

Rundown

Following the end of the Second World War, services to Holborn Viaduct began to be withdrawn; the electrification of the Kent Coast route led to two basic services operating all day from the station; to Sevenoaks and West Croydon, with peak time services to a number of other destinations. In 1963, the hotel, which had been heavily damaged during the Second World War, was demolished and redeveloped, with a new 10-storey office building replacing it.

In the mid 1980s, a plan was raised to reopen the Snow Hill tunnel to reintroduce a north-south link through Central London. As part of this, a decision was taken to have Holborn Viaduct as the main terminus for services via the Chatham Main Line in the City, which would then see the closure and demolition of Blackfriars. This would then allow the construction of a straighter and wider alignment towards Holborn Viaduct for the increased amount of traffic the station would see. To facilitate this without reducing the traffic, the platforms at Blackfriars were extended to the south side of Blackfriars Bridge and a new temporary station building constructed, allowing the station building to be demolished. At the same time, Holborn Viaduct was remodelled to remove the bottleneck and allow for the new straight alignment, which allowed the old route to te hen be utilised for the Snow Hill Tunnel. To add to this, a new underground station box was constructed to create a pair of through platforms for the Thameslink service. With the completition of the work in 1990, Blackfriars was closed and Holborn Viaduct became the new main terminus in the City.

Privatisation

With the privatisation of BR, Holborn Viaduct became the terminus for services operated by Connex South Eastern from mid-Kent, while Thameslink assumed control of services through the Snow Hill Tunnel. The increase in the number of terminal platforms available (six, as compared to three at Blackfriars) allowed Holborn Viaduct to be utilised to a greater degree. This saw some trains permanently transferred to Holborn Viaduct from Victoria; passengers that required Victoria were encouraged to use the District line, while the service on the Inner South London Line between Victoria and London Bridge was also diverted to Holborn Viaduct to provide a connection for some of the stations affected by transferring services.

In the mid 1990s, building rights were sold to develop the space over the platforms. This saw the creation of a new office building incorporated into the existing development that saw a new, low roofed train shed built, not unlike that of Broad Street.

Layout

A First Capital Connect train at the sub-surface platforms

The surface station at Holborn Viaduct retains six platforms, with a pair of side platforms either side of a pair of island platforms. The approaches to Holborn Viaduct have been straightened, with a total of four tracks over Blackfriars Bridge; these split to create the route through the tunnel (two track) and the roads that serve the terminal platforms. The platforms are now part contained within the new train shed built as part of the second station development in the late 1990s, while the station concourse is located in front of the terminal platforms. The station's main entrance is located on Holborn Viaduct, which is used to access the terminal platforms. The sub-surface through platforms can be accessed directly via another entrance on Ludgate Hill.

Services

A Southeastern train stands at Platform 4

Although the station is managed by First Capital Connect, the operator of the Thameslink service, the majority of services are operated by Southeastern; primarily these are to Orpington, Sevenoaks and Gillingham via the Chatham Main Line. In addition, Southern's service on the South London Line also runs between Holborn Viaduct and Victoria. First Capital Connect run services between Bedford and Brighton that stop at the sub-surface platforms. However, during engineering work in the tunnel, FCC trains terminate at Holborn Viaduct.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Farringdon		First Capital Connect Thameslink Bedford-Brighton		London Bridge
		First Capital Connect Thameslink Sutton Loop		Elephant & Castle
Terminus		Southeastern Chatham Main Line		Elephant & Castle
Terminus		Southern Inner South London Line		London Bridge