Moorgate station (formerly Moorgate Street) is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and the Bank branch of the Northern Line. It was the terminus for the Moorgate branch of the Thameslink line until March 2009 and was the site of the Moorgate tube crash of 1975 when 46 people were killed and 74 were injured.
While the public entrances from the street give access to all the train services at the station, at platform level there are three distinct sections.
The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines of the Underground system all use platforms in the sub-surface station, which has platforms 1 and 2, which are through platforms. Platforms 3 and 4 are west-facing bays used for turning trains back at busy times. Platforms 5 and 6 also exist in this part of the station, but are disused following discontinuation of the former Thameslink trains from Bedford.
Moorgate was a postern in the London Wall originally built by the Romans. It was turned into a gate in the 15th century. Though the gate was demolished in 1762, the name survives as a major street in the City of London. The street connects the City to the London Boroughs of Islington and Hackney, and was constructed around 1846 as one of the new approaches to London Bridge.
The name "Moorgate" derives from the surrounding area of Moorfields, which was one of the last pieces of open land in the City. Today this region is a financial centre, and is home to several investment banks. The street also showcases historic and contemporary office buildings.
The Moorgate station on the London Underground is remembered for the Moorgate tube crash of 1975. In the incident, a train terminating at the station failed to stop and crashed into a brick wall, and 43 people were killed. This resulted in systems being installed on the Underground which automatically stop trains at dead-ends, which have become known as Moorgate control.