The final approach to King’s Cross station was originally through three tunnels, three double-track tunnels were built, but in 1977, the station was redesigned with a new layout between the tunnels and the platforms and the introduction of bi-directional working in the tunnels, so they closed one of the three tunnels as surplus to requirements.
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| The first two trains arrive through the reopened tunnel on 26th April |
However, with passenger numbers rising — in pre-pandemic times — and likely to eventually return to their pre-pandemic numbers, the station needs more capacity.
Not so much in the station itself, but in the approach tunnels, which are a capacity bottleneck.
A major project to reopen the closed tunnel has been carried out, along with a simplification of the track layout to improve reliability.
A major project to reopen the closed tunnel has been carried out, along with a simplification of the track layout to improve reliability.
That work has been going on now for over a year, with new track layouts, signalling and preparing the tunnel for reopening. At the weekend, the signalling upgrade was completed with the handover from the old signal box to the York-based rail operating centre.
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| The third tunnel has been out of use for many years but has now been reopened |
On 26th April the old tunnel reopened, and trains from LNER and Great Northern made a synchronised arrival at King’s Cross.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFLNjMulR7Y
