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The first railways in the world were in Britain,
centred around the industrial North and North West,
but almost immediately the potential profits to be
made from freight and (as an afterthought)
passengers, by linking London to the network was
to drive the rival companies to head South as quickly
as possible.
As the rival companies raced to the capital, It was
the power and wealth of the influential few that
prohibited the rails to come into the centre and thus,
on most occasions when we visit London, the need
to change onto the tube to cross the heart of the
capital. The most apparent of these boundaries being
to the north where King’s Cross, St Pancras, Euston,
Marylebone and Paddington sit along the Euston and
Marylebone roads. The South side boundary was the
Thames with extensions from Waterloo and London
Bridge eventually receiving permission to cross the
Thames (just) to give a toehold in the City and at
Charing Cross.
However, this inconvenience created by some of
our influential Victorian ancestors has left us with
a dozen railway terminals with an unrivalled legacy
of engineering wonders, appealing architecture, and
reminders that when it came to problem solving,
an insight into the good old British mentality of the
‘can do’ rather than the ‘can’t do’.
Moving forward in time, the end of World War 2 left
the country with a worn out rail network and bomb
damage to nearly all London rail terminals. From the
1950s - 80s, governments of all political colours had
envisaged a future of managed decline and reduction
for the rail network as a whole and serious plans were
laid to close St Pancras and Fenchurch Street.
Marylebone was earmarked for closure to rail traffic
and the station and tracks were to be turned into a
dedicated bus way.
However, decline in passenger numbers abated, turned
into growth and today there are more people using the
National Rail Network in peacetime since the 1920s,
and with approximately 1 million journeys made in and
out of the capital’s main line railway terminals during
the morning and evening peaks, the future for all of
London’s terminals has never been more assured.
Current projects such as Thameslink, Crossrail and the
soon to be HS2, mean that many of the major stations
are having complete refits and new innovative ways
of moving the huge increase in passengers that will
use the routes and stations have had to be found.
Blackfriars has been completely rebuilt onto the bridge
spanning the Thames with a roof of solar panels and
entrance/exits on both sides of the Thames. London
Bridge, is part way through a massive upgrade, where
the constructors have mirrored their Victorian
forefathers by threading a new bridge across the roofs
of the ancient Borough Market, squeezing it through
an impossibly narrow gap. Plans for Victoria and
Waterloo are imminent.
Blue Badge Guide Doug on
Changing Trains