Which London railway station inspired the platform number in J. K. Rowling’s Hogwarts Express story?

King’s Cross Station inspired the platform number in J. K. Rowling’s Hogwarts Express story. In the Harry Potter books, students travel from the fictional Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross in London. The station was familiar to Rowling because it is associated with routes between London and Scotland.

Platform 9¾ is fictional rather than an ordinary platform passengers can use. In the real station, platforms 9 and 10 are separated by railway tracks, so the magical platform cannot literally sit between them as described. The books transform that inconvenient detail into a memorable hidden entrance to the wizarding world.

King’s Cross became a major Harry Potter visitor attraction. A luggage trolley installed at the station appears to pass through a sign marked “Platform 9¾,” and the site has been photographed by fans from around the world. The neighboring station St Pancras is sometimes confused with King’s Cross because it appears prominently in the films, but the story’s departure point is King’s Cross.