Elephant & Castle station

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Elephant & Castle station is the name of both a London Underground and a National Rail station located at Elephant and Castle in the London Borough of Southwark.

Both stations are on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 and 2.

1 London Underground
- 1.1 Station complex
- 1.2 History
2 National Rail
- 2.1 Services
3 Gallery
4 External links

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London Underground

Template:London stations The Underground station is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line, between Kennington and Borough and is the southern terminus for the Bakerloo Line, the next station being Lambeth North.

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Station complex

The station has two surface buildings, north and south of each other, widely separated by the northern of the two roundabouts. There are no escalators. To get from either ticket hall to the platforms, it is necessary to use lifts or very narrow and steep spiral stairs.

The northern building provides the most direct access to the Bakerloo Line, while the southern one is linked more directly to the Northern Line. From inside the station, the northern exit is labelled as the London South Bank University exit and it is located at the southernmost tip of the triangular campus. Visitors who turn right on leaving this exit will see signs to the university. (Some exit signs, but not all of them, also mention the Imperial War Museum.) The southern exit is labelled from within the station as the Shopping Centre exit as well as the exit for interchange to National Rail.

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History

The station was built in two stages. The Northern Line part of the station was opened on 18 December 1890 as part of the first deep-level tube the City & South London Railway (C&SLR). The Bakerloo Line part of the station was opened on 5 August 1906 (five months after the rest of the line) as part of the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (BS&WR). Although belonging to separate companies, the platforms were connected below ground from 10 August 1906.

The C&SLR station was similar in design to the existing station at Kennington. It was partially rebuilt in the 1920s when the CS&LR tunnels were modernised but was subsequently demolished during the construction of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre and road complex in the 1960s and again at the start of the 21st century, reopening on 12 December 2003. The BS&WR station building remains much as it was originally constructed and is a typical Leslie Green structure. The main modification is that a modern glass extension has been built on the side. Entrance is through the original entrance and exit is through the new part, adjoining Skipton House.

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National Rail

Template:London stations The national rail station has two entrances, one on Elephant Road and one connected to the upper level of the shopping centre. There is an electronic indicator in the shopping centre near the entrance which shows when trains depart, but no such indicator in the ticket hall.

There are four platforms, two being on the island between the rail tracks.

This station is not directly connected to the London Underground station. To change to National Rail, it is necessary to leave the Underground station (the Northern Line exit is nearer), pass through the ticket barrier and then to go either through or round the shopping centre.

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Services

Services from the National Rail station are operated by First Capital Connect (Thameslink route) and South Eastern Trains.

Off peak service from the station consists of:

2 tph (trains per hour) to Blackfriars (South Eastern)
2 tph to Sevenoaks (South Eastern)
2 tph to St Albans (First Capital Connect)
2 tph to Luton (First Capital Connect)
2 tph to Wimbledon (First Capital Connect)
2 tph to Sutton (First Capital Connect)

Oyster Card Prepay can be used from this station on Northbound Thameslink services as far as Kentish Town.

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Gallery

Bakerloo line entrance	Bakerloo line exit	Northern Line entrance	National Rail Elephant Road entrance
National Rail shopping centre entrance	National Rail platforms 1 & 2	National Rail platforms 3 & 4