A short-lived small circular demonstration railway at the current Euston Square site had the Richard Trevithick designed 1808 Hazeldine and Rastrick single cylinder locomotive Catch Me Who Can pulling a converted road carriage vehicle round the track for a fare of two shillings. The station was opened as "Gower Street" on 10 January 1863 by the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway. In 1864, the North Western and Charing Cross Railway received parliamentary authorisation for a line between Euston and Charing Cross connecting to the mainline companies at each end. Following a renaming to the London Central Railway in 1870, the company was authorised in 1871 to build a station on the north side of the MR's tunnel. This would have provided an interchange between the two railways; however, the LCR was unable to raise funding for construction of its line and the scheme was abandoned in 1874. The station was given its present name on 1 November 1909. In late 2006 the new entrance on the south side of Euston Road opened in a corner of the new headquarters of the Wellcome Trust replacing the old entrance. There is also a subway entrance on the north side of Euston Road. In 2011, two new lifts linking the westbound platform to the street were opened. On top of these a new modern entrance was opened.
Future
In December 2005, Network Rail announced plans to create a subway link between the station and Euston station as part of the re-development of Euston station. This will create a direct link for users of main line rail services which depart from Euston. These plans would also be pursued during a rebuilding for High Speed 2.
Services
The station is served by the Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, between to the east and Great Portland Street to the west. All three lines share the same pair of tracks from Baker Street Junction to Aldgate Junction making this section of track one of the most intensely used on the London Underground network.
Circle line
The typical service in trains per hour is:
6 tph clockwise via Liverpool Street and Tower Hill
6 tph anti-clockwise to Hammersmith via Paddington
The Metropolitan Line is the only line to operate express services, though currently this is only during peak times. Fast services run non-stop between Wembley Park, Harrow-On-The-Hill and Moor Park, while semi-fast services run non-stop between Wembley Park and Harrow-On-The-Hill. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
12 tph Eastbound to Aldgate
2 tph Westbound to Amersham
2 tph Westbound to Chesham
8 tph Westbound to Uxbridge
Off-peak services to/from Watford terminate at Baker Street The typical peak time service in trains per hour is:
