Redundant stations on the London Underground
I'm not going to go into too much depth about this. The reason Being that there are literally dozens of sites on the Net about this topic.
Overview
On the 10th January 1863, The Metropolitain Railway started to run services between Bishops Rd, (Paddington) and Farringdon Street. Many other lines followed, such as the Bakerloo (Originally "The Baker St and Waterloo railway") and Piccadilly lines in 1906, The Northern Line (Built between 1890 and 1940) and The Central London Railway (1900) - now the Central Line. In recent times, the Victoria Line (1969-70) and the Jubilee Line (1978-99) have been constructed.
One way that the tube has changed over the years is the advent of the Escalator. Originally, the stations were served by Lifts. Only a certain amount of people can physically fit in a lift. Escalators made the task of getting people down to and up from the platforms a lot easier, but in many cases, it meant that either the Surface Building or the Platforms had to be moved.
Other Stations were simply badly sited and closed through lack of use. Many of these are still underground - they basically removed the Platforms (to allow trains to pass through at speed) and turned the lights off!
Next time you travel from Holborn towards Tottenham Court Road, look out the right hand window. Just after Holborn you will see the wall drop away, and the remains of "British Museum" station, closed in 1933. The most recent closure came with the opening of the JLE, making the Jubilee Line's Charing Cross terminus obsolete.
Here is a list of some of the closed stations to be found below ground in and around central London. Many more exist in the suburbs on overground sections of the network.
| Stations simply closed/Abandoned | Between | and | Date of Closure |
| South Kentish Town | Kentish Town | Camden Town | 05/06/1924 |
| North End (Bull and Bush) | Hampstead | Golders Green | Never Opened |
| City Road | Angel | Old St | 08/08/1922 |
| British Museum | Tottenham Court Rd | Holborn | 24/09/1933 |
| Wood Lane | Shephards Bush | White City | 22/11/1947 |
| Wood Lane (different Station - Honest) | Shephards Bush | Latimer Rd | 24/10/1959 |
| Lords | Baker St | Finchley Rd | 20/11/1939 |
| Marlborough Rd | Baker St | Finchley Rd | 20/11/1939 |
| Swiss Cottage | Baker St | Finchley Rd | 17/08/1940 |
| York Road | Kings + St Panc. | Caledonian Road | 17/09/1932 |
| Down St | Green Park | Hyde Park Corner | 21/05/1932 |
| Aldwych | Holborn | 30/09/1994 | |
| Brompton Rd | Knightsbridge | South Kensington | 29/07/1934 |
| Mark Lane | Tower Hill | Monument | 04/02/1967 |
| St Mary's (Destroyed by Direct Hit 22/10/1940) | Aldgate East | Whitechapel | 30/04/1938 |
| Tower of London (Site of current Tower Hill) | Aldgate East | Monument |
12/10/1884 |
| Charing Cross | Green Park |
19/11/1999 |
Two particular stations on the Piccadilly Line had a special wartime role, although both had the platforms bricked up so there isn't much to see. However, the Brick wall does indicate their location from a passing train.
Brompton Rd, between South Kensington and Knightsbridge closed in 1934. During the war, this was used as London's control centre for Anti Aircraft defence. Part of the station is owned by the MoD until the present day.
Down St, between Hyde Park Corner and Green Park, closed in 1933. This was the Wartime Headquarters of the Railway Exec Committee, and often used by Churchill himself, as it was used by the War Cabinet
Much redevelopment has gone on, new lines and Interchanges have been constructed, old lines have been extended, stations have changed names, lines and in the early days owners! As a consequence of this change, the tube has many redundant bits - some at ground level, most VERY much below it.
So, what for the future...
The next station likely to face closure is Shoreditch, currently the northern termuni of the East London Line. This line will be extended to Finsbury Park(GNE? Northern Heights? - will it happen!) to the north, and the station at Shoreditch will be demolished to facilitate this. At the same time, the line will be extended southbound from New Cross Gate to run alongside existing lines out of London Bridge, via West Croydon to Wimbledon. Incidentally - two other ELL stations are at risk from closure should this project proceed - Wapping and Rotherhithe. The reason for this is that when TFL applied for Planning permission, they didn't include these stations. They stand at either portal of the Thames Tunnel, Started by Marc Brunel, and finished by his son, who you may have heard of......
The building of the tunnel, through soft clay under the river, led to the invention of James Greathead's "Shield" - used to cut the "Deep Level" lines - Bakerloo, Piccadilly, Northern and later - the Vic and Jubilee. The tunnel was built by sinking two shafts - one on either side of the river. I know that the enterance of certainly Wapping is in this brick lined shaft - I presume that the other end is too. (I've been to the Bass Centre a few times!!!)
I think Rotherhithe also has another distinction!!! It is VERY close to "Canada Water" - there isn't much in it, but they MAY be the closest together on the network (you need to work out the averages - especially when more than one line is involved!). You can CLEARLY see one station from the other!!!! The other contenders are Covent Garden - Leicester Sq (Picc) and also Embankment - Charing Cross (Baker/North CX). In fact - Until the early 70's, Embankment was called "Charing Cross" - The modern Charing Cross station is formed by the amalgamation in the 70's of Trafalgar Sq (Bakerloo) and Strand (Northern) in preperation for the Jubilee Line (Called the "Fleet" line in those days).
For more information, Here are some fascinating sites.
