Escorts in Euston, NW1: who is close, and how soon
Which of three stations should an evening at Euston be planned around? The terminus gives the place its name, but Euston Square along the road and King's Cross St Pancras to the east carry lines the terminus does not, and between them they reach a great deal of central London without a change. No one on the board calls NW1 home, so Euston escorts come from the central districts; the lines decide where the rest of the evening can go.
On the ground
Euston in practice
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by nameWC1H 0HT, NW1 2AJ, WC1H 8EG.
Nearest stations
Walking timeEuston, 1 minute. Euston Square, 4 minutes. King's Cross St Pancras, 8 minutes.
Getting there
NW1Travel is included across Zones 1 and 2, and counted from the moment the hour is set rather than from when she leaves.
On the board
Nearest prints to Euston
Who works here
On the board in Euston
The six prints above are a first shortlist for Euston tonight. Any of the twenty eight on the who is free page can be asked for by name instead.
Note 02
Three stations on one road
Euston, Euston Square and King's Cross St Pancras line up along a single stretch of the Euston Road. The terminus holds the Northern and Victoria lines beneath its concourse; Euston Square, a separate station a short walk west, has the Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan; and King's Cross St Pancras to the east adds the Piccadilly to all of them.
Which one to use depends on where the evening is going rather than on which is nearest the room, and deciding that before leaving saves a wrong turn underground.
Note 03
Both Northern branches, and the Victoria
Between Camden Town and Kennington, Euston is the only station where both central branches of the Northern line call, on separate platforms. The Charing Cross branch runs south through Tottenham Court Road and Leicester Square into theatreland; the Bank branch swings east through King's Cross and Angel to the City. The wrong platform sends an evening to the wrong half of London, so here the branch matters more than the line.
The Victoria line is the direct one west and south: two stops to Oxford Circus, three to Green Park for Mayfair and Piccadilly, and on to Victoria itself.
Note 04
The oldest line under the road
The trains at Euston Square run in the tunnel of the Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway in the world, opened in 1863 beneath what was then the New Road. Euston Square itself opened that year as Gower Street, one of the original stations.
That old line is still the useful one along the Marylebone Road. West, it runs to Great Portland Street and Baker Street, for Marylebone and Regent's Park; east, through King's Cross to Farringdon and the Barbican. An evening that starts with dinner in Marylebone or a concert in the City starts here rather than at the terminus.
Note 05
Off a train from the north
Euston is the London end of the West Coast Main Line, the terminus for trains from Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, so an evening with escorts in Euston may well begin on a platform with a bag. Go to the room first and let the lines below carry the rest of the plan.
Once the office has confirmed, she is normally with you in about an hour, longer in the evening rush along the Euston Road, and each length and its figure sit on the rates. South of the road, the squares of Bloomsbury begin almost at once.
From The Roundup
Two notes worth reading for Euston
Asked most often
Euston, asked and answered
Which line gets us from Euston to a West End table?
Is Euston Square just another entrance to the Euston terminus?
Where does the Bank branch of the Northern line take us from here?
One zone either way
Next along from Euston
Last strip
Say a name and an hour
Write in with a length, a time and the zone you are staying in, and a name from the board comes back with a window attached. That is the whole of the arrangement.