Lines Served

This is not only a major hub within the London Underground network, but also an integral part of the King's Cross St Pancras complex which is said to be the largest rail complex in the UK. Please visit our guides to King's Cross and St Pancras Mainline Stations for more details.

King's Cross Underground Station

This station serves:

Naming conventions

For the purposes of this guide we try, where possible to use the terms currently employed by London Underground and those which are announced by lifts.

Concourses

There are three concourses, including ticket sales facilities within this station:

• the Western Concourse;
• the Tube Concourse and
• the Northern Concourse.

The Western Concourse

This is the area at Levels 0 and -1 adjacent to St Pancras Station which serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. Reference to the Metropolitan Line within this guide also includes the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines.

The Tube Concourse

This is on two levels. Level -1 includes the ticket sales area and the passage towards the Western and Northern concourses. Level -2 includes the gate line, Lift G to the Northern Line plus escalators towards the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria Line platforms.

The Northern Concourse

This will be regarded as the main concourse in this station, though the other concourses will remain available as at present.

This is the areaat Level -1 which provides lift and escalator access to the Piccadilly and Victoria lines plus escalator and stairs-access to the Northern Line.

Levels

This station is established on four identified levels:

• Level 0 = street level;
• Level -1 = the level below street level;
• Level -2 = two levels below street level;
• Level -3 = platform level, for Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines.

We make these apparently obvious statements to emphasise that, whilst the Metropolitan Line platforms are at Level -2, so also is the lower section of the Tube Concourse and the intermediate level between the Northern Concourse and the lower platforms.

We note further that, according to announcements in Lift D, outside the entrance to King's Cross Mainline Station, Level -1 is the Upper Ticket Hall, whilst Level -2 is the Lower Ticket Hall. Unfortunately, the ticket sales windows in the Tube Concourse are at Level -1.

Level 0

This level comprises the street level portion of the Western Concourse.

Level -1

This level comprises:

• the Western Concourse;
• the bridge to the Metropolitan Line platforms;
• the ticket sales section of the Tube concourse and
• the Northern Concourse and associated passages.

Level -2

This level comprises four separate sections:

• the Metropolitan Line platforms 1 - 2;
• the lower level of the Tube Concourse,
• the intermediate level between the Northern concourse and the lower platforms.
• the further level between the foot of the escalators to the Northern Line and the platforms themselves is also included in the -2 level for convenience.

Level -3

This level comprises the three lower island platforms, which serve the Northern, Picadilly and Victoria lines. Note, however, that these are physically at different levels, see below.

Platforms

There are four island platforms within this station:

• Platforms 1 and 2, running east/west, serving the Metropolitan line. Platform 1, westbound lies south of Pplatform 2, eastbound.
• Platforms 3 and 4, running approximately east/west, serving the Victoria Line. Platform 3, northbound lies south of platform 4, southbound. These actually run slightly north of east/south of west, but for convenience, we'll assume an east/west alignment for these platforms.
• Platforms 5 and 6, running north/south, serving the Piccadilly Line. Platform 5,westbound lies east of platform 6, eastbound.
• Platforms 7 and 8, running east/west, serving the Northern Line. Platform 7, northbound, lies south of platform 8, southbound.

Platforms 1 and 2 run beneath Euston Road at Level -2 and can be seen as defining the southern boundary of the station (except for the two entrances/exits on the south side of Euston Road).

The lower platforms radiate from a point below the Tube Concourse at different levels - in order of depth below ground, these are:

• the Victoria Line, Platforms 3 and 4, run north of east;
• the Piccadilly Line, Platforms 5 and 6 run north and
• the Northern Line, platforms 7 and 8 run west.

Layout of the -1 Level

The main route through the station is at the -1 Level which we'll consider as an L-shaped passage. The corner of this L is the foot of the steps from the entrance from the fourcourt outside King's Cross Mainline Station. The Western Concourse forms one leg of the L, whilst the other leg, which we'll call the Level -1 Passage, leads north, through the Tube Concourse to the Northern Concourse.

The Western Concourse

This is a broad passage leading west. The passage from the Euston Road South entrance joins from the south, a few metres west of the corner. The passage slopes up as you move west, the top of the slope is a few metres east of the gate line for platforms 1 and 2. The Euston Road North entrance joins from the south, just beyond the top of the slope. The ticket sales windows are west of the gate line, whilst the lift and steps from the Level 0 section of this concourse are at the west end of this passage. The section inside the gate line bridges the eastbound tracks to give access, via steps to east and west, towards either end of the platform. The lift to platform level is in the southwest corner of this space.

The Tube Concourse consists of the southern section of the Level -1 Passage, at Level -1, with the ticket sales windows on the west side. This section of the passage curves right as you move to the north, around the top of the steps to the Level -2 section of this concourse. The Level -2 section includes the gate line, the lift to the Northern Line and the top of escalators to the Piccadilly and Victoria Line platforms. Note that escalators to the Northern Line go from the Piccadilly Line level.

The former route, from the Level -1 section of the Tube Concourse into King's Cross Mainline Station is now closed.

The Northern Concourse

The Level -1 Passage continues north from the Tube Concourse into the Northern concourse. The new entrance from the main concourse of King's Cross Mainline Station joins this passage from the east, a few metres north of the Tube Concourse.

The concourse is an almost rectangular space, with the main passage and escalators to the platforms on the south, the ticket sales facilities on the north and a passage leading northwest from the northwest corner, towards St Pancras Station and the suburban section of King's Cross Mainline. The gate line forms an L-shape within this space with the gates leading south being mainly entrances whilst those leading west are exits.

The Level -2 Passage

This includes the area leading south from the foot of the escalators from the Northern Concourse to the top of the escalators towards the Northern Line. A passage leads east from a T-junction, across the Piccadilly and Victoria Line tracks, to the Pentonville Road entrance.

Interconnecting Passages

There are stairs routes between the near ends of the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria line platforms.

The passage from the Pentonville Road entrance is now encorporated into the Level -2 passage. The original route to the far end of the Piccadilly Line platforms is closed and a new passage now runs between the far end of the Victoria Line platforms and the escalators to the Piccadilly Line.

Accessibility

There is lift access throughout the station. We therefore believe that all areas of the station are accessible to Guide Dog and wheelchair users.

There is stairs access via the Pentonville Road entrance/exit to the far end of the Victoria Line platforms. Stairs access to the Northern and Piccadilly lines is now restricted to the interconnecting passages between the near ends of these platforms. There are now lift alternatives to the Metropolitan, Northern and Piccadilly Line platforms.

Note, however, that the Pentonville Road entrance is only open between 07:00 and 20:00 Monday to Friday. We therefore believe the station is fully accessible to Guide Dog users via this entrance between these times.

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KING'S CROSS UNDERGROUND STATION

© 2011, Terry Robinson

This guide is sponsored by
London Underground Ltd.
to whom we extend our sincere thanks.