Can somebody explain the sequence in which Kings Cross platforms 9-16 were brought into use, renumbered and taken out of use?
When Kings Cross was first constructed it had 2 train sheds, arrivals and departures, each with one platform.
The arrivals side expanded first with a new platform in 1862 which was platform 2 on the east side edge and a broken edge on the western side with platform 3 at the country end and platform 4 at the buffer stops end.
When the hotel curve opened there was no platform, the trains ran into Gasworks tunnel then propelled back into what was still the single departure platform.
The suburban trainshed where platforms 9 and 10 now are was opened in 1875 with 3 platforms. The Hotel Curve platform came in 1878, with a platform on the other western side in 1895.
Just prior to that, in 1893, the platform either side of the central wall between the two main train sheds was added.
A 1905 map shows the arrivals platforms numbered 1-5, the departure platforms 1 and 2 (in order of construction, and with 3 sidings in between), and the suburban platforms A-E going from west to east.
Two new suburban platforms, between the A and B island and the C-E shed, were opened in 1924. These were already in planning when the platforms were renumbered in 1921. The arrival platforms continued as 1-5, number 2 departure became platform 6 and number 1 departure became platform 10 (the three sidings in between were 7-9). The 7 suburban platforms became platforms 11-17, 11-13 in the 1875 shed, 14-15 new, 16 Hotel Curve and 17 most westerly.
In 1926 two new platforms were added in the main departure train shed and these became platforms 7 and 8 with no platform 9.
On the arrivals side platform 3 was abolished in 1934 with platform 4 being extended to the same length as platform 2.
So by 1934 there were 8 platforms in the 2 main train sheds numbered 1, 2, 4-8 and 10, plus suburban platforms 11-17 of which 16 was the Hotel Curve.
Most of the above comes from
London's Termini by Alan A Jackson. This was published in 1969 so does not include the 1971 renumbering.
Prior to electrification in 1978 all of platforms 11-17 were closed. The 1875 suburban train shed survived but with only 2 platforms. Platform 11 was reinstated about 10 years later, but in the most recent change the old platform 10 was abolished and platform 11 renumbered to the current platform 10.
It is nice to know that there are some things where a book published more than 50 years ago still does better than search engines or artificial (not very) intelligence.
