Platform Zero

King's Cross is famous for being the setting of Platform 9 3/4, the magic portal that sees Harry Potter from the eponymous book series Harry Potter enter the magic world. In fact, there's even an artwork at the station in recognition of Harry's magical exploits - a trolley that is split in two, heading into the wall if you're unimaginative or acting as the first step to Hogwarts if you're obsessed. 

I only mention this because the artwork isn't actually between platforms 9 and 10, partially due to there being a platform 0 at King's Cross. It used to be in the right location, at least before 0 came along and ruined it. This is quite the curiosity, and before I headed off to Leeds in the early hours of the morning, I went to see platform 0. There were no trains resting at the time, though when I got back to London I can confirm one was confined in the space.

A platform 0 seems to mostly stem from the construction of a new platform next to an existing platform 1, and somone decided it would be more economical to just name the new one 0 instead of adjusting every other platform by an increment. Other factors seem to include safety and wanting to keep data accurate without it suffering from issues should platform numbers have suddenly changed.

Platform 0s are more common than you might think. There's one at Cardiff Central, Doncaster, Edinburgh Haymarket, and Stockport, amongst other notable stations. According to the list on Wikipedia, there are currently nine in the UK, and a new one at Bradford Forster Square is to open later this year. King's Cross, however, is the only example of a null platform in London. 

The coincidental thing is that Leeds also has a platform 0. There wasn't enough time to actually visit it, but I did take a photo of a sign which confirms its existence. 

The UK isn't the only country with platform 0s, however. Switzerland, Denmark, Japan, Australia and Indonesia are other countries with them. But the UK has more than those five countries combined, so this is certainly a British quirk that is here to stay...or to be renumbered.

This video by Tom Scott inspired me to write this blogpost.