Marylebone station
Template:Good article Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox London station
Marylebone station (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network, it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern terminus of the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham. The London Underground station is on the Bakerloo line between Edgware Road and Template:Lus stations, in Transport for London's fare zone 1.
The station opened on 15 March 1899 as the London terminus of the Great Central Main Line (GCML), the last major railway to open in Britain for 100 years, linking the capital to the cities of Leicester, Sheffield and Manchester. Marylebone was the last of London's main line termini to be built and is one of the smallest, opening with half of the platforms originally planned. There has been an interchange with the Bakerloo line since 1907, but not with any other lines.
Traffic declined at Marylebone station from the mid-20th century, particularly after the GCML closed. By the 1980s, it was threatened with closure, but was reprieved (press announcement on 30 April 1986) because of commuter traffic on the London to Aylesbury Line (a remaining part of the GCML) and from Template:Rws. In 1993, the station found a new role as the terminus of the Chiltern Main Line. Following the privatisation of British Rail, the station was expanded with two additional platforms in 2006 and improved services to Template:Rws. In 2015, services began between Marylebone and Template:Rws, via a new chord connecting the main line to the Oxford to Bicester Line and an extension to Template:Rws following in 2016. As of 2020, it is the only main London terminus to host only diesel trains, as none of the National Rail lines into it are electrified.
Marylebone is one of the squares on the British Monopoly board and is popular for filming because of its relative quietness compared to other London termini.
LocationEdit
Template:Maplink The station stands on Melcombe Place just north of Marylebone Road, a straight west-to-east thoroughfare through Marylebone in Central London; Baker Street is close by to the east and south-east. It is in the northern, Lisson Grove, neighbourhood of the district, in a northern projection of the Bryanston and Dorset Square ward immediately south of St John's Wood. North-east is Regent's Park, north in a network of mostly residential streets is Lord's Cricket Ground and south, south-west and south-east are a mixed-use network of streets. Other nearby London termini are Template:Rws and Template:Rws.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A number of TfL bus routes serve the station.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
National RailEdit
The main line National Rail station has six platforms: two built in 1899, two inserted into the former carriage road in the 1980s and two added in September 2006. It is the only non-electrified railway terminus in London. Marylebone is operated by Chiltern Railways, making it one of the few London terminus stations not to be managed by Network Rail.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chiltern Railways operates all services at the station, accessing the Chiltern Main Line and London to Aylesbury Line routes; these serve Template:Stnlnk, Template:Stnlnk, Bicester, Template:Stnlnk, Template:Stnlnk, Template:Stnlnk, Template:Rws, Birmingham Moor Street, Birmingham Snow Hill, and (at peak hours) Template:Rws.<ref name=renamed_from_1612_on_20161230193941>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There are services to Template:Rws, via the Oxford to Bicester Line,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and some services to Template:Stnlnk, via the Leamington to Stratford branch line.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
GCR and LNEREdit
The early history of Marylebone is tied into the Great Central Railway (GCR)'s Great Central Main Line (GCML) extension into London. When Sir Edward Watkin became chairman of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) in 1864, the line was not particularly lucrative as it had no direct connection to London. Watkin was unhappy about transferring traffic to the Great Northern Railway and, when he became chairman of the Metropolitan Railway in 1872, he decided to build a dedicated line between the MS&LR and Central London.Template:Sfn
The approach to Marylebone was the last section of the Great Central Main Line to be built. Progress was delayed in the 1890s because of objections, particularly as the line would pass through Lord's, the principal cricket ground in London and home of Marylebone Cricket Club. Watkin promised that Lord's would not be disrupted by the railway construction and an act of Parliament to complete the line was passed on 28 March 1893.Template:Sfn The station was built on a Template:Convert site around Blandford and Harewood Squares, west of Regent's Park. More than 4,000 working-class people were evicted from their homes to turn Harewood Avenue and Rossmore Road into approach roads; around 2,600 of them were rehomed in new apartments near St. John's Wood Road. Watkin resigned the chairmanship in 1894, following ill-health, and was replaced by Lord Wharncliffe.Template:Sfn The approach to the station through Lord's was achieved by a cut-and-cover tunnel constructed between September 1896 and May 1897, avoiding the cancellation of any cricket.Template:Sfn
The station opened to coal traffic on 27 July 1898Template:Sfn and to passengers on 15 March 1899.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It was the terminus of the GCR's London extension main line – the last major railway line to be built into London until High Speed 1.Template:Sfn The Great Central Railway linked London to stations in Template:Rws, Template:Rws, Rugby, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester. Local services from north-west Middlesex, High Wycombe and Aylesbury also terminated at Marylebone.Template:Sfn The GCR moved its headquarters to Marylebone from Manchester in 1905.Template:Sfn
The station was designed by Henry William Braddock, a civil engineer for the GCR.Template:Sfn It has a modest design owing to the GCR's lack of money.Template:Sfn The main booking hall is Template:Convert by Template:Convert.Template:Sfn It is a domestic version of the Wrenaissance revival style that fits in with the residential surroundings with Dutch gables, employing warm brick and cream-coloured stone.Template:Sfn The GCR crest was worked into the wrought iron railings in numerous places.Template:Sfn
The original plan was for eight platforms, but half were designated as a "possible future extension"Template:Sfn and the cost of building the GCML was greater than expected.Template:Sfn The line leading to the station cut through Template:Convert of middle-class housing, including the Eyre Estate in St John's Wood and the area around Lord's, drawing protests and requiring a relocation of the track and station facilities.Template:Sfn There was never enough money for the extra platforms and only four were built: three inside the train shed and one to its west (platform 4).Template:Sfn As a result, the concourse is unusually long and had three walls for most of the 20th century. The northern wall was missing, as the GCR anticipated that the other four platforms, under an extended train shed, would be built later on. An office block was later built on the vacant site. The cost of the London Extension meant that the adjoining Great Central Hotel, designed by Sir Robert William Ellis, was built by a different company.Template:Sfn The hotel operated for a relatively short time and was converted to offices in 1945, becoming the headquarters of British Rail from 1948 to 1986.Template:Sfn The offices were restored as a hotel in 1993.Template:Sfn
The GCR constructed an engine shed at the site in 1897, but it was short lived. A locomotive servicing area, consisting of a turntable and coaling stage remained in use until the end of steam traction at the station in 1966.Template:Sfn
Passenger traffic on the GCR was never heavy because it was the last main line to be built; it therefore had difficulty competing against longer-established rivals, especially the Midland Railway from its terminal at St Pancras, for the lucrative inter-city passenger business.Template:Sfn Low passenger traffic meant Marylebone was the quietest and most pleasant of London's termini.Template:Sfn The GCR was unhappy about having to use part of the Metropolitan Railway's route to reach Marylebone and opened a new line to High Wycombe on 2 April 1906. The additional suburban services generated traffic for the station, which had previously been so empty on occasion that the staff outnumbered passengers.Template:Sfn While passenger traffic remained relatively sparse, the line was heavily used for freight, especially coal; in 1914, 67% of traffic was goods-related. Trains ran from the north and East Midlands to the freight depot adjoining the station, which was marginally the largest in London.Template:Sfn
The heyday of the line was between 1923, when the GCR was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and 1948, when the LNER was nationalised to form the British Rail Eastern Region.Template:Sfn As a result, many prestigious locomotives were frequent visitors to the line; these included Flying Scotsman, Sir Nigel Gresley and Mallard which ran on the East Coast Main Line. Special trains ran on the line to destinations such as Scotland.Template:Sfn The station's busiest use came after the construction of Wembley Stadium in 1923, when it was used to contain large crowds wishing to see the FA Cup Final. Special services ran from Marylebone to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park the following year.Template:Sfn
Unlike other London termini, Marylebone saw little direct damage during the Blitz. It was closed between 5 October and 26 November 1940, after the approach tunnels were breached and the goods depot was bombed on 16 April 1941.Template:Sfn
British RailEdit
After the nationalisation of British Railways in 1948, Marylebone was initially kept open as a long-distance station. New services were introduced, including the Master Cutler service to Sheffield and the South Yorkshireman to Bradford, but they were not well-used.Template:Sfn From 1949, all local services towards High Wycombe and Princes Risborough were routed into Marylebone, although the frequency of trains was reduced two years later.Template:Sfn
The Great Central Main Line duplicated the route of the Midland Main Line and long-distance trains from Marylebone were scaled back from 1958, leading to the closure of the Great Central Main Line north of Aylesbury on 4 September 1966 in the Beeching Axe.Template:Sfn
The rundown of services began after the line was transferred from British Railways' Eastern Region to the London Midland Region, although the station and the first few miles of its route had been part of the Western Region from 1950.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 1958, the Master Cutler was diverted to Template:Stnlnk and the East Coast Main Line. In 1960, all express services were discontinued, followed by freight in 1965. From then until closure, only a few daily long-distance semi-fast services to Nottingham remained.Template:Sfn Marylebone's large goods yard was closed and sold to the Greater London Council for housing.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The last long-distance service ran on 4 September 1966, except for a brief reprieve the following year when Paddington was undergoing signal works.Template:Sfn
Marylebone was then the terminus for local services to Aylesbury and High Wycombe only, with some services extended to Template:Stnlink. They were switched to diesel multiple unit (DMU) operation following the phasing out of steam. British Rail Class 115 DMUs were introduced to local services in 1962.Template:Sfn The station was transferred from the Western Region to the London Midland Region in 1973.Template:Sfn
Closure proposalsEdit
After the 1960s, lack of investment led to local services and the station becoming increasingly run down. By the early 1980s, Marylebone was under serious threat of closure. In 1983, British Rail chairman Peter Parker commissioned a report into the possibility of converting Marylebone into a high-speed busway, whereby Marylebone would be converted into a coach station.Template:Sfn The tracks between Marylebone, Harrow-on-the-Hill and South Ruislip would have closed, and been converted into a road for the exclusive use of buses and coaches.Template:Sfn British Rail services via High Wycombe would have been diverted into Paddington and the Aylesbury services would have been taken over by London Underground on an extended Metropolitan line, and then routed to Baker Street.<ref name=Almostterminal>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
British Rail formally announced plans to close Marylebone on 15 March 1984, pending a statutory consultation process and closure notices were posted at the station. The proposals proved controversial and faced strong opposition from local authorities and the public, leading to a legal battle which lasted for two years.Template:Sfn Despite the pending closure, passenger numbers only dropped by about 400 per day from 1968 levels.Template:Sfn The conversion project proved impractical due to the headroom limitations on the line and the closure was quietly dropped.Template:Sfn
1986 onwards – revivalEdit
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The station was revived under the control of the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail. The introduction of the inter-modal and unlimited use Capitalcard (now known as the Travelcard) led to a sharp rise in commuters into London, absorbing the spare capacity at Paddington and Baker Street, eliminating the possibility of Marylebone's services being diverted.<ref name=stmarylebone>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Marylebone was reprieved from the threat of closure on 30 April 1986,<ref name=stmarylebone/> and an £85 million modernisation and refurbishment programme of the station and its services was granted. This was funded by selling part of the station to developers, including two of the original four platforms at the west of the station and the third span of the train shed. In order to replace these, the central cab road was removed, and two new platforms numbered 2 and 3 were created in its place. The run-down lines into Marylebone were modernised with new signalling and higher line speeds. In 1991, the fleet of Class 115 trains on local services was replaced by Class 165 Turbo trains and service frequencies were increased.<ref name=Almostterminal/> Services to Banbury were extended to the reopened Birmingham Snow Hill station in 1993,<ref name="NSE1993">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> creating the first long-distance service into Marylebone since 1966. Initially, this service ran at two-hourly intervals, but it proved popular and was increased to an hourly frequency in 1994.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn
PrivatisationEdit
After rail privatisation, Chiltern Railways took over the rail services in 1996 and developed the interurban service to Birmingham Snow Hill.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2002, a service to Template:Rws was opened.Template:Sfn The line was restored to double track the same year and Marylebone was expanded in 2006, with two extra platforms in Chiltern's Evergreen 2 project.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A new platform (platform 6) was inaugurated in May 2006<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> while Platform 5 and the shortened platform 4 opened in September.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Platforms 5 and 6 were built on the site of the goods sidings and a depot was opened near Wembley Stadium railway station.Template:Sfn
In September 2007, the Office of Rail Regulation granted the Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway (WSMR) Company permission to operate services from Wrexham in North Wales via Template:Stnlnk, Telford and the West Midlands to Marylebone; they started in early 2008, restoring direct London services to Shropshire (Wrexham already being served by a Virgin Trains service to Euston), with five return trips per day on weekdays. This was reduced to four trains a day in March 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> These services ceased in January 2011, after passenger numbers reduced; the closure was blamed on the Great Recession.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In December 2008, it was proposed to restart direct services between Template:Rws in mid-Wales and London, which last ran in 1991, with Marylebone as the London terminus. Arriva Trains Wales announced a consultation for two services a day, following the route of the WSMR connecting with the Cambrian line at Shrewsbury.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This idea was abandoned following objections by Wrexham & Shropshire.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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In 2011, Chiltern Railways took over the Template:Stnlnk to Template:Stnlnk route from First Great Western; this was in preparation for the opening of a link from the Chiltern Main Line to the Varsity Line, on which Bicester Town station is located, which would see twice-hourly services from Marylebone to Oxford. Construction was expected to start in 2011, but was delayed until the following year after bats were found roosting in one of the tunnels on the Varsity line. Services to Oxford Parkway started in October 2015 and services to Oxford began in December 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2018, a survey found that commuters from Oxford preferred the Chiltern route to Marylebone over the Great Western route to Paddington via Template:Rws.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2017, Network Rail proposed an upgrade of Marylebone with 1,000 extra seats on trains approaching the station. These improvements are planned to be complete by 2024. Beyond this, improvements to Old Oak Common station are planned to relieve congestion at Marylebone.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> In a study by Network Rail, it was said that any expansion of the station could cost up to £700 million, with Old Oak Common a more feasible alternative for capacity increase.<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive p.80</ref>
ServicesEdit
The typical off-peak weekday service pattern from Marylebone is:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 1 train per hour to Template:Stnlnk
- 1 train per hour to Template:Rws, with 1 train per 2 hours extending to Template:Rws
- 2 trains per hour to Template:Stnlnk
- 1 train per hour to Template:Stnlnk (stopping)
- 2 trains per hour to Template:Stnlnk via Template:Stnlnk, one of which continues to Template:Stnlnk (stopping)
Additional services run in the peak hours and some Birmingham trains extend to Template:Stnlnk.
Template:S-rail-start Template:S-rail Template:S-rail-national Template:S-rail-national Template:S-rail-national Template:S-rail-national Template:S-rail-national Template:S-rail-national Template:S-rail-national Template:Historical Rail Insert Template:Rail line one to three Template:S-end
Station facilitiesEdit
The station opened with a dining restaurant and a buffet. The restaurant was changed to a self-service operation when British Rail took over in 1948.Template:Sfn The Victoria and Albert bar opened on 14 December 1971.Template:Sfn In the 21st century, the concourse contains a small selection of shops.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
AccidentsEdit
On 28 March 1913, a train leaving for High Wycombe collided with another arriving from Leicester, killing one passenger and injuring 23 people on the incoming train. The cause was blamed on the intermediate starter signal being lowered before the main starter was ready; the view of the latter was obscured by the smoke.Template:Sfn
On 11 December 2015, a train pulling into the station caught fire, causing it to be evacuated. The cause was believed to be a fault in its air conditioning unit.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
London UndergroundEdit
Template:Infobox London station
On the London Underground, Marylebone station is on the Bakerloo line between Edgware Road and Baker Street stations, along with the main line station above. It is sited in Transport for London fare zone 1.<ref name=tubemap>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Access is via escalators from the main line station concourse, which houses the Underground station's ticket office. Until 2004, a wooden escalator led into the station, one of the last on the London Underground system that had not been replaced as a consequence of the King's Cross fire in 1987.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Marylebone has direct connections with just a single Tube line, unlike many other London termini such as Template:Rws and Template:Rws.<ref name=tubemap/> There is no direct interchange with the Circle line, which predates the station by more than 30 years and bypasses it to the south.Template:Sfn The nearest stations on the Circle line are Edgware Road and Baker Street Template:Convert away.<ref name=tubemap/>
HistoryEdit
Template:Maplink The underground station was opened on 27 March 1907 by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway under the name Great Central, following a change from its intended name Lisson Grove.Template:Sfn The railway terminated here until the extension to Edgware Road opened on 15 June.Template:Sfn The station was renamed Marylebone on 15 April 1917.<ref name=Rose1>Template:Cite book</ref> The original name still appears in places on the platform wall tiling, although the tiling scheme is a replacement designed to reflect the original scheme.<ref name=Rose2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The present entrance opened on 1 February 1943, following wartime damage to the original station building that stood to the west at the junction of Harewood Avenue and Harewood Row, and after the introduction of the escalators.Template:Sfn The old building, designed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's architect, Leslie Green, used lifts to access the platforms. It was demolished in 1971 and the site is occupied by a budget hotel.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In August 2020, work began to install a third escalator in place of the present staircase, followed by replacement of the 1943 built escalators. The work is expected to be completed in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
ServicesEdit
The London Underground service (Bakerloo line) consists of:
- 20 tph southbound to Elephant & Castle
- 11 tph northbound to Queen's Park
- 3 tph northbound to Stonebridge Park
- 6 tph northbound to Template:Stnlnk
Cultural referencesEdit
As one of the quietest London termini, Marylebone has been popular as a filming location.Template:Sfn In particular, several scenes in The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night were filmed there in April 1964,Template:Sfn as was the opening scene of the 1965 film of The IPCRESS File and the 1978 film of The Thirty-Nine Steps (standing in for Template:Rws).Template:Sfn The station continues to be so used according to Film London.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Marylebone is one of four London termini depicted on the British version of the Monopoly board game, along with King's Cross, Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street. During the time the board was designed in the mid-1930s, all the stations were being operated by the LNER.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
See alsoEdit
- The Landmark London – the present name of the former Great Central Hotel
ReferencesEdit
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External linksEdit
Template:Transport in London Template:Bakerloo line navbox Template:Railway Stations served by Chiltern Railways Template:Major railway stations in Britain