York Road

Piccadilly Line

YORK ROAD

(1906-1932)

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Portion of the underground map showing where York Road is located. It was closed because of the low volume of passengers using it, although there is a possibility that it could be reopened to serve the redevelopement of the area north of Kings Cross station. It is only a slight possibility; a feasibility study undertaken by the Falcrow Group for LUL concluded that it was financially unviable (ratio of capital expenditure per passenger), not to mention the additional journey time for Piccadilly Line passengers between Kings Cross and Finsbury Park.

For further details, see www.alwaystouchout.com and Kings Cross Local Environment.

1930s map showing the station on the corner of Bingfield Street and York Road (before it was renamed York Way). Bingfield Street has been truncated; only the section east of Havelock St and a tiny stump leading to the old station
building from York Way remain now.

The station building has recently been cleaned up, revealing the original station name lettering beneath (I bet it mystifies a few passers-by not 'in the know'). This photo pre-dates the clean-up. The Victor Printing Company had occupied the top half of the building from before the station had been closed.

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The entrance in 2007 showing the original station name lettering.

The rear of the station building.

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The lift shaft at surface level.

Original toilet cubicles still in situ in 2007.

The top of the emergency stairs.

The entrance to the lift shaft at platform level (right hand side of the photo). In design, the station is nearly identical to that of Caledonian Road (i.e. the lifts descended straight down to platform level).

The northbound platform looking south

Caledonian Road station (the next one northwards) showing its almost identical design to the York Road platform above.
As a station it is unremarkable, as one supposes York Road must have been in its open days. It is only its abandonment that causes York Road to be of interest.

Platform area in 2007.

Northbound platform area looking south. The steps show the level of where the platform used to be.

Hiding behind a door: some of the original tiling not painted over.

Bricked off part of the Northbound platform.

Southbound platform.

The disused cross-over tunnel just north of York Road station, decommissioned when a new cross-over tunnel was opened at Kings Cross in the 1930s.

The terrorist bomb that was detonated in 2005 near the cross-over junction just south of Kings Cross station, highlighted the vulnerability of the Piccadilly Line to major closure when that particular cross-over junction is compromised (the entire section of line between Arnos Grove and Hyde Park Corner was closed). Only a few weeks prior to the bomb, a suicide at Kings X caused the same length of the line to be closed for the best part of the late morning and early afternoon, and other similar instances are not infrequent.

Perhaps LUL should consider reconstituting the York Road cross-over as a means of providing some resilience to the line. The necessary tunnelling is already in place after all...

Miscellaneous tube pics

Photos taken between 1977 and 1981, except where stated.