London Charing Cross is a terminus of the South Eastern Main Line in London.
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| Southeastern 376 002 stands at London Charing Cross |
| Information |
| Type: |
National Rail
(South Eastern Main Line) |
| Station code: |
CHX |
| Opened: |
1864 |
| Platforms: |
6 |
The station was opened by the South Eastern Railway in 1864. The station was built on the site of the Hungerford market [1] next to the Strand. The station was built with a single span iron roof. Trains approach the station via the Hungerford Bridge over the Thames. The roof was replaced in 1906 after a collapse the previous year.
Charing Cross became one of the main departure stations for boat trains to the Continent, however after the First World War
London Victoria took much of this traffic and Charing Cross went into decline. There were plans in the 1920s and 1930s to close the station or relocate it on the South bank of the Thames though the plans were all eventually dropped.
The station was rebuilt in the 1980s with most of the roof removed over the platforms and replaced by a new development, a nine storey office block [2]. The station is adjacent to
Charing Cross and
Embankment underground stations. The station is served by Southeastern with trains to
Dover and other destinations in the South East.
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| View back at the 1980s development |
 |
| Two Southeastern 465s under the roof |
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| Station concourse |
 |
| View down platform 3 and 4 |
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| Platform clock with NSE branding |
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Charing Cross to Orpington (Middleton Press, 1991) Fig. 1[2] Ibid. Fig. 7
