Charing Cross railway station

This article is about the main line station in London. For the London Underground station, see Charing Cross tube station. For the station in Glasgow, see Charing Cross railway station (Scotland).

Charing Cross
London Charing Cross
Approach tracks across the River Thames
Interactive map of Charing Cross
General information
Location	Charing Cross
Local authority	City of Westminster
Managed by	Network Rail
Station code	CHX
DfT category	A
Number of platforms	6
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	1
OSI	Charing Cross Embankment
Cycle parking	No
Toilet facilities	Yes
National Rail annual entry and exit
2020–21	5.373 million
Interchange	91,995
2021–22	15.733 million
Interchange	0.295 million
2022–23	16.191 million
Interchange	0.419 million
2023–24	17.701 million
Interchange	0.488 million
2024–25	19.768 million
Interchange	0.316 million
Railway companies
Original company	South Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	South Eastern & Chatham Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
11 January 1864	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.508°N 0.125°W / 51.508; -0.125

Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the Southeastern Main Lines to Dover via Ashford and Hastings via Tunbridge Wells. All trains are operated by Southeastern, which provides the majority of commuter and regional services to south-east London and Kent. It is connected to Charing Cross Underground station and is near to Embankment Underground station and Embankment Pier.

The station was originally opened by the South Eastern Railway in 1864. It takes its name from its proximity to the road junction Charing Cross, the notional "centre of London" from which distances from the city are measured. During the 19th century the station became the main London terminus for continental traffic via boat trains, and served several prestigious international services. It was badly damaged by a roof collapse in 1905 and extensively rebuilt, subsequently becoming an important meeting point for military and government traffic during World War I. By this time, Charing Cross station was seen as out of date by some politicians and proposals were made to replace Hungerford Bridge with a road bridge or road/rail combination, with the station moving to the south bank of the River Thames in the case of a road-only replacement. The station was bombed several times during World War II, and was rebuilt afterwards, re-opening in 1951. In the late 1980s, the station complex was redesigned by Terry Farrell and rebuilt to accommodate a modern office block, now known as Embankment Place.