Charing Cross railway station

Charing Cross
London Charing Cross
	A Southeastern train stops at London Charing Cross station.
Location	Charing Cross
Local authority	City of Westminster
Managed by	Network Rail
Station code	CHX
Number of platforms	6
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	1
Toilet facilities	Yes
Key dates
1864	London Charing Cross station opened.
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR; Underground; National Rail; Tramlink;
External links	Departures; Layout; Facilities; Buses;
	;

Charing Cross station,^[1] is a central London rail terminus in the City of Westminster . The rail station is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern. It is the fifth busiest rail terminal in London.

The station takes its name from the central London road junction of Charing Cross. The front of the rail station faces The Strand. The other end is the northern end of Hungerford Bridge, which is crossed by all trains serving the station. Ticket barriers control access to all platforms, although the bridge entrance has no barriers.

The original station building was built on the site of Hungerford Market and opened on 11 January 1864. The station has a single span wrought iron roof arching over the six platforms on its relatively cramped site. A year later the Charing Cross Hotel opened on 15 May 1865, and gave the station an ornate front in the French Renaissance style. At the same time, a replica of the Eleanor Cross was erected in the station forecourt, based on the original 13th century Whitehall Cross that had been demolished in 1647. Distances in London are officially measured from the original site of the cross in Whitehall, now the statue of Charles I, and not from this replica cross.

Gallery

Charing Cross concourse
Platform 4, Charing Cross
The Cross in the station forecourt
Victorian replica of the Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross

Charing Cross Railway Station Media

Trains to and from Charing Cross go over Hungerford Bridge to cross the River Thames.
The front entrance of Charing Cross station in a 19th-century print. The reimagined Charing Cross is in front of the Charing Cross Hotel.
Charing Cross Station, London, 1971.
Charing Cross Hotel
Express train to Hastings in 1957, showing the station roof before its late 1980s reconstruction
Cross section through Embankment station from 1914 showing the various London Underground lines beneath Charing Cross