• History of Canon Street station

  • Cannon Street is in the financial district of London. The station was opened by the original South Eastern Railway on 1st September 1866 after an act of Parliament passed in 1861. The station originally had eight platforms. A refurbishment of the station in the 1990s removed platform 1.

    Train services to the station run directly from suburban South East London, Kent and East Sussex. The station is normally closed on Sundays.

    Chronology

    • An Act of Parliament passed in 1861 granted permission for the construction of a railway station known as Cannon Street Station.
    • The Cannon Bridge and the Station which is less than a mile from London Bridge station was designed by Engineer Sir John Hawkshaw.
    • The construction works commenced in the year 1863.
    • The construction was completed in 1866 and the station was officially opened by South Eastern Railway on 1st September 1866.
    • The station has been rebuilt twice since its inception. The Bridge was strengthened for heavier locomotive movements before the First World War and the station structure was reconstructed by British Rail in 1981. A new redevelopment of Cannon Street station, the Cannon Place development, started in 2007.

    Station design

    • Cannon Street station is a terminus.
    • The original station glass roof was destroyed during World War II.
    • All that remains of the station’s original architecture are the twin 120-ft red-brick towers at the country end of the station.
    • Large office blocks were built over the station platforms in 1980.
    • It was the scene of major rail disaster on 8th January 1991 which resulted in two fatalities and 200 injuries
    • There were originally eight platforms at the station, refurbishment works in 1990 removed platform 1.