Euston railway station
Euston railway station
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Euston railway station

Euston railway station (/ˈjstən/ YOO-stən; or London Euston) is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railway. Euston is the tenth-busiest station in Britain and the country's busiest inter-city passenger terminal, being the gateway from London to the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland.

Intercity express passenger services to the major cities of Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and through services to Holyhead for connecting ferries to Dublin are operated by Avanti West Coast. Overnight sleeper services to Scotland are provided by the Caledonian Sleeper. London Northwestern Railway provide commuter and regional services to the West Midlands, whilst the Lioness line of the London Overground provides local suburban services in the London area via the Watford DC Line which runs parallel to the West Coast Main Line as far as Watford Junction. Euston tube station is connected to the main concourse and Euston Square tube station is nearby. King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations are about 12 mile (800 metres) east along Euston Road.

Euston, the first inter-city railway terminal in London, was planned by George and Robert Stephenson. It was designed by Philip Hardwick and built by William Cubitt, with a distinctive arch over the station entrance. The station opened as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) on 20 July 1837. Euston was expanded after the L&BR was amalgamated with other companies to form the London and North Western Railway, and the original sheds were replaced by the Great Hall in 1849. Capacity was increased throughout the 19th century from two platforms to fifteen. The station was controversially rebuilt in the mid-1960s when the Arch and the Great Hall were demolished to accommodate the electrified West Coast Main Line, and the revamped station still attracts criticism over its architecture. Euston is to be the London terminus for the planned High Speed 2 railway and the station is being redeveloped to accommodate it.

The station is named after Euston Hall in Suffolk, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Grafton, the main landowners in the area during the mid-19th century. It is set back from Euston Square and Euston Road on the London Inner Ring Road, between Cardington Street and Eversholt Street in the London Borough of Camden. It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail. As of 2023–2024, it is the tenth-busiest station in Britain Euston bus station is in front of the main entrance.

Euston was the first inter-city railway station in London. It opened on 20 July 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR). It was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with the present building in the international modern style.

The site was chosen in 1831 by George and Robert Stephenson, engineers of the L&BR. The area was mostly farmland at the edge of the expanding city, and adjacent to the New Road (now Euston Road), which had caused urban development. The name Euston came from Euston Hall, the seat of the duke of Grafton, who owned the locality.

The station and railway have been owned by the L&BR (1837–1846), the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) (1846–1923), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) (1923–1948), British Railways (1948–1994), Railtrack (1994–2002) and Network Rail (2002–present).

The plan was to construct a station near the Regent's Canal in Islington to provide a connection for London dock traffic. An alternative site at Marble Arch, proposed by Robert Stephenson, was rejected by a provisional committee, and a proposal to end the line at Maiden Lane was rejected by the House of Lords in 1832. A terminus at Camden Town, announced by Stephenson the following year, received royal assent on 6 May, before an extension was approved in 1834, allowing the line to reach Euston Grove where the original station was built by William Cubitt.

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