City Thameslink is a railway station in the City of London, England. The platforms are underground with a southern entrance on Ludgate Hill just off Ludgate Circus, and a northern entrance on Holborn Viaduct. It is in Zone 1 on the Thameslink route between Blackfriars and Farringdon. Although a through station, for ticketing purposes it is considered a central London railway terminus for journeys to and from the south. City Thameslink is not open on Sundays.
Before its 1990 opening its site was intended for Ludgate Circus station on the cancelled Fleet Line Extension of the (now) Jubilee line.
The station opened on 29 May 1990 as St Paul's Thameslink. The name was changed in 1991, to avoid confusion with St. Paul's London Underground station (Central line), which is several hundred yards away on the other side of St Paul's Cathedral.
When the Thameslink line first opened, trains used the approach viaduct for Holborn Viaduct station to reach the Snow Hill tunnel. In preparation for that station's closure on 26 January 1990, a new line between Blackfriars station and the tunnel was constructed, this time on a different alignment slightly to the east and at a lower elevation, allowing buildings to be constructed on top. City Thameslink was built on the line as a replacement for Holborn Viaduct station.
Due to the planned routing of the Fleet Line under the site, part of the station was built to allow a future interchange. This can be seen in the wide spaces on the Ludgate end of the station, where large doors open on to a corridor intended to lead to escalators to an Underground concourse level.
When the Thameslink franchise was given to First Capital Connect on 1 April 2006, the Thameslink service was initially re-branded; however, City Thameslink station was not re-branded. By late 2010, FCC reverted to branding its services Thameslink.
As part of the Thameslink Programme, an upgrade of City Thameslink station was completed in October 2010. The platforms were made ready for future 12-car trains, and the passenger information system improved. New lighting and ticket gates were installed.
The station is served by trains on the Thameslink route. This provides two main service patterns: fast trains on the Brighton to Bedford service, and stopping trains between St Albans or Luton and Wimbledon or Sutton. Added to this is a service between Bedford and Sevenoaks and from City Thameslink to other Kent destinations Rochester on the Coast and Ashford International. All trains in both categories call at all stations on the central cross-London core of the Thameslink route, including City Thameslink except that the station is closed on Sundays.
After the bay platforms at London Blackfriars closed in March 2009 Southeastern services which previously terminated at Blackfriars were extended to Kentish Town, St Albans, Luton or Bedford and call at this station. On this route south of Blackfriars trains are operated by Southeastern, north of Blackfriars by First Capital Connect. Both Southeastern and FCC drivers work the route between Sevenoaks, Kent and the county town of Bedford. This station is now served by 10 trains per hour in each direction throughout the off-peak, instead of the previous eight.
London Buses Routes 4, 11, 15, 17, 23, 26, 76, 100, 172 and Heritage Route 15H and Night Routes N11, N15, N21, N26, N47 and N76 serve the Ludgate Hill entrance to the station.
Other routes 8, 25, 242, 521 and Night Route N8 serve the Holborn Viaduct entrance.