York Road tube station

Infobox Closed London station
name=York Road


owner=Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway
locale=King's Cross
platforms=2
start=1906
end=1932
replace=None
tubestation=yes

York Road tube station is a disused station on the London Underground. It opened on 15 December 1906 and was one of the original stations on the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway, now the Piccadilly Line.

It is located between King's Cross St Pancras and Caledonian Road, and had its entrance at the corner of York Road (now York Way) and Bingfield Street; the surface buildings are still clearly visible, on the left as you head south down York Way towards King's Cross. The former platform area below is also visible from passing trains in both direction, although part of the Eastbound platform is bricked off. Like with most other disused underground stations, the actual platform itself is removed. Up until recently, one of the passageways leading to the lift shafts were lit up by a series of lamps.

Unlike most other Yerkes stations, the lifts descended directly to platform level. The platforms layout is almost identical to Caledonian Road (the next station in the Finsbury Park direction), but in a very gentle convex curve.

Being so close to King's Cross it saw little use, and Sunday services were withdrawn from May 5 1918. The station remained open for weekday traffic until September 19 1932 when it closed permanently.

The platform tiling was carried out by G. Woolliscroft & Sons of Hanley in Staffordshire, and was made up of white with maroon and brick red patterning. Most of the tiling has since been painted over in grey, but a small section remains untouched and can be seen at the Finsbury Park end of the former eastbound platform.

A small signalling cabin stands near this section of tiling, and was used to operate a crossover immediately to the northeast of the station. This signal box remained operative until 25 April 1964, although by this time the crossover was little used, having been largely superseded by a new crossover built at King's Cross eight years previously. However the disused cabin still stands and can be seen by observant passengers on passing trains.

One of London's largest redevelopment projects, King's Cross Central, is due to begin construction in 2008 literally across the road from the station. Islington Council and Transport for London commissioned a study in 2005 to consider the possible reopening of the station. At the same time, however, it was recognised that other transport priorities reduced the likelihood of such a project moving forward in the near future. Local political groups have been keen to see the station reopened in order to reduce passenger congestion at King's Cross St Pancras and to encourage development in the surrounding community. The Islington Liberal Democrats advocated the reopening of the station in their 2006 local election manifesto, and at least one candidate for the Islington Conservative Party has similarly campaigned for the station to be reopened. [http://www.kxrlg.org.uk/news/LBIjan05KXCFORMALOBS.pdf] [http://www.bridgetfox.org.uk/transport] [http://www.islingtonconservatives.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=2]

External links

* [http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/York_Road_station.html London's Abandoned Tube Stations - York Road] Includes below ground photos.
*London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
**ltmcollection|5c/i000025c.jpg|Station building shortly after opening
**ltmcollection|77/9865877.jpg|Booking Hall in 1927
* [http://streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=530302&y=183852&z=1&sv=530250,183750&st=4&ar=Y Location of York Road tube station] (streetmap.co.uk)

Former Services