Marylebone station is one of London’s most modest-looking mainline termini, but it has a lot going on under the surface. Opened in 1899 as the London end of the Great Central Railway, it was the youngest of the main line stations and originally much grander plans were cut back by money troubles and local opposition.
 
Unlike the great cathedral-like terminals elsewhere in London, Marylebone has a compact, almost village-scale feel. It was designed with a more restrained character, and that understated look is part of its charm.
 
Marylebone had a rough patch in the late 20th century. By the 1980s it was in poor condition and even faced serious demolition or conversion ideas, but it was rescued, modernised, and revived rather than erased. 
 
Interesting fact...
Marylebone had been through it all and you can still see evidence of its past. On the northbound Bakerloo line platform, the words “Great Central” can still be spotted in the tiling, a ghostly reminder of the railway company that built the station. There are also heritage panels tucked away by a side entrance that tell the story of its construction, early operations, freight links, and the station’s survival through later decline.