Closed London Underground stations
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There are several dozen permanently closed London Underground stations across the London Underground ("tube") network. Some were simply built too near to other stations to be useful; others experienced too little use to make their retention worthwhile, or became redundant after lines were rerouted. Some of the closed stations retain their original station façades, while others have been demolished to make way for shops. At least one is now used for filming and exhibition purposes. A number of other stations, while still open, have closed platforms or sections.
[edit] Permanently closed stations
These stations of the London Underground and its predecessor companies (such as the Metropolitan Railway, the City and South London Railway and Underground Electric Railways of London) are now closed and, for the most part, abandoned:
- Aldwych (a branch of the Piccadilly Line that goes from Holborn)
- Blake Hall (Central Line beyond Epping)
- British Museum (Central Line, between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn)
- Brompton Road (Piccadilly Line between Knightsbridge and South Kensington)
- City Road (Northern Line (Bank Branch) between Angel and Old Street)
- Down Street (Piccadilly Line, between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner)
- Grove Road (Hammersmith) (on a closed loop connecting the Hammersmith & City Line south of Goldhawk Road to the District Line east of Ravenscourt Park)
- Hounslow Town (a now-closed branch of the District Railway, from what is now the Piccadilly Line near Hounslow Central)
- King William Street (the original terminus of the City & South London Railway, a predecessor of the Northern Line)
- Lord's (Metropolitan Line north of Baker Street)
- Mark Lane (District and Circle Lines near Tower Hill)
- Marlborough Road (Metropolitan Line between closed stations Lord's and Swiss Cottage)
- North Weald (Central Line beyond Epping)
- Ongar (Central Line beyond Epping)
- Park Royal & Twyford Abbey (Piccadilly Line north of Park Royal)
- St Mary's (Whitechapel Road) (District Line between Aldgate East and Whitechapel)
- Shoreditch (East London Line north-west of Whitechapel). To be replaced with a new station further west called Shoreditch High Street, due to open in 2010.
- South Acton (on a short branch of the District Line)
- South Kentish Town (Northern Line between Camden Town and Kentish Town)
- Swiss Cottage (Metropolitan Line) (south of Finchley Road)
- Tower of London (on the site of the present Tower Hill station)
- Wood Lane (Central Line between Shepherds Bush and White City, which replaced it)
- Wood Lane (aka White City); on what is now the Hammersmith & City Line between Latimer Road and Shepherd's Bush)
- Uxbridge Road (on a closed branch linking the Metropolitan Line to Olympia)
- York Road (Piccadilly Line north of King's Cross)
The following stations were all located at the far end of the Metropolitan Line:
- Waddesdon Manor
- Quainton Road
- Granborough Road
- Winslow Road
- Verney Junction
- Westcott
- Wotton
- Church Siding
- Wood Siding
- Brill
It is possible however that some of these stations may reopen eventually with the rebuilding of the Varsity Line on the National Rail network.
[edit] Open stations with closed sections
The following tube stations have closed platforms:
- Charing Cross (two Jubilee Line platforms)
- Euston (the northbound Northern Line City branch platform was moved when the Victoria Line was opened but part of the abandoned running tunnel remains)
- Gloucester Road (one unused platform originally used by the Metropolitan Railway)
- Holborn (two platforms that served the Aldwych branch of the Piccadilly Line)
- South Kensington (one unused platform originally used by the Metropolitan Railway and one removed platform originally used by the District Railway. There was also an unused westbound platform at deep level constructed for the District Line Deep Level route that became part of the Piccadilly Line)
- A number of stations on the eastern end of the District Line were formerly served by trains out of Fenchurch Street Station, the platforms of which remain.
[edit] Temporarily closed stations
- Regent's Park closed on July 10, 2006 for approximately 1 year for essential refurbishment work on the station and its lifts.
[edit] Mainline stations formerly served by Underground trains
- Stations beyond Amersham, formerly served by the Metropolitan Line now served by Chiltern Railways:
- Stations beyond Ealing Broadway, formerly served by the District Line between 1883 and 1885, now served by First Great Western:
- West Ealing - which has a decommissioned platform once used by the District Line.
- Hanwell
- Southall
- Hayes & Harlington
- West Drayton
- Langley
- Slough
- Windsor & Eton Central
- Some stations beyond Upminster, formerly served by the District Line when it had a through service to Southend, now served by c2c.
- The Northern City Line (Great Northern & City Railway), formerly served by the Metropolitan Railway, then the Northern Line - Highbury Branch, now served by First Capital Connect:
- Note: Moorgate, Old Street, Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park were also served by Underground trains on this line and are still served by other Underground Lines.
- Stations beyond Harrow & Wealdstone, formerly served by the Bakerloo Line, now served by Silverlink:
- Note: It is expected that these stations will transfer back to the Bakerloo line when management of the North London Railways franchise is transferred from the Department for Transport to Transport for London.
[edit] Stations that never opened
Some tube stations were only partially constructed, and never opened:
- North End (also known as "Bull and Bush") on the Northern Line between Golders Green and Hampstead) was abandoned midway through construction.
- Brockley Hill, Elstree South and Bushey Heath (on the abandoned extension to Bushey of the Edgware branch of the Northern Line) were planned, and preparatory work undertaken, but were not built due to the Second World War and the establishment of the Green Belt.
- Harefield Road (on the abandoned extension to Denham of the West Ruislip branch of the Central Line) was similarly planned but not built.
[edit] Stations that were planned to become part of the Underground
The above Northern Line extension to Bushey was part of the Northern Heights plan of the 1930s. Part of this plan was for the Northern Line to take over existing LNER lines in north London. This was completed from East Finchley to High Barnet and Mill Hill East but the project was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War and financial cutbacks after the war meant that the project was not restarted and a number of stations were never incorporated:
- Stations beyond Mill Hill East closed in 1939 in anticipation of incorporation into the Northern Line, but never re-opened to passengers:
- Mill Hill (The Hale)
- Edgware (would have been replaced by Edgware Underground station had the project been completed).
- Stations between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace via Highgate continued to be part of the LNER (and later British Railways) until the line closed in 1954:
- Note: The original surface part of Highgate station between Crouch End and Cranley Gardens also closed although the newer Underground section remains open.
Denham station was to have been the original terminus of the western extension of the Central Line but the introduction of Green Belt legislation caused the extension to be cut back to West Ruislip.
[edit] Fictitious stations
The following stations are fictitious:
- The James Bond movie Die Another Day featured a disused tube station called Vauxhall Cross. This is supposed to be on a disused branch of the Piccadilly Line (similar to Aldwych) that runs south of the river to Vauxhall Cross, in the vicinity of the MI6 building. In fact, the Piccadilly Line does not cross the river at all; the closest that it comes is Hyde Park Corner tube station, about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) to the north-west. However, Vauxhall tube station on the Victoria Line is within about 110 yards.
- The film and BBC TV serial Quatermass and the Pit featured a tube station called Hobbs End. The station is located at the end of the non-existent 'Hobbs Lane'. A shot in the TV serial showed a new street nameplate reading "Hobbs End", with next to it a much older nameplate reading "Hob's End". Hobbs is the name of a well-known English cricketer; Hob is an old name for the Devil.
- The BBC soap opera EastEnders created Walford East tube station [1], which replaces Bromley-by-Bow on the EastEnders tube map, to allow the locals to escape "up West" for a night out. Neither Walford nor the tube station exists - except on the EastEnders' set.
- The second episode of the 1979 LWT comedy series End of Part One includes the main characters watching a film called "The Life of Christopher Columbus". In the film, Columbus goes to a tube station and asks for a train to America, but is told he can only go as far as Catford. Part of a modified tube map is shown which shows the fictitious tube stations Lewisham, Ladywell, Edge of the World and Catford on the East London Section of the Metropolitan Line south from New Cross tube station. There is an actual part of the mainline Mid-Kent Railway that interchanges with New Cross tube station, and the stations are, southwards in order: St. John's, Lewisham, Ladywell and Catford Bridge (Catford on a different line interchanges with the latter).
- A deleted scene from the film Shaun of the Dead, included on its DVD release, sees the title character (played by Simon Pegg) attempting to catch a tube to work from the fictitious Crouch End tube station, only to find it closed. A special 'Crouch End' tube station sign was made for this scene and, according to Pegg's DVD commentary, is now mounted in his bedroom. In reality, the nearest stations for Crouch End are Highgate and Finsbury Park. Crouch End is a district well known for the number of actors living there.
- An episode of the BBC series Spooks (broadcast 23 October 2006) featured a fictional disused Underground station called Wells Lane.
[edit] Other underground non-tube stations
The following tramway stations were not part of the tube network but were underground:
both stations were part of the Kingsway tramway subway
[edit] See also
- List of London Underground stations - includes previous names for stations
- Ghost stations of Berlin
[edit] External links
- TfL infrastructure map (including closed stations)
- Underground-history.co.uk (originally located at http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/)
- Abandonedstations.org.uk (redirects to http://www.pendar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Tube/)
- Clive's Underground Line Guides
[edit] Further reading
- J. E. Connor, London's Disused Underground Stations, Capital Transport, 2001 (2nd edition)
- J. E. Connor, Abandoned Stations on London's Underground (A photographic record), Colchester, Connor and Butler Ltd., 2000. ISBN 0-947-69930-9
- Douglas Rose, The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (Capital Transport, 2005): ISBN 1-85414-219-4
