London’s King’s Cross station inspired J.K. Rowling’s fictional Platform 9¾.
In the Harry Potter novels, young witches and wizards board the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross. The platform is hidden between the station’s ordinary platforms and can be reached by passing through a barrier. Rowling chose King’s Cross partly because her parents met on a train traveling from King’s Cross to Scotland.
The real station’s tracks and platform arrangements do not exactly match the fictional description. In the original station layout, platforms 9 and 10 were separated by railway tracks, making the imagined barrier especially memorable. A Platform 9¾ plaque and luggage trolley were later installed for visitors, and the attraction became a major photo opportunity.
The station is in central London and serves major routes to northern and eastern England and Scotland. It should not be confused with nearby St Pancras station, whose distinctive exterior was used in film imagery associated with the Hogwarts Express.