Charing Cross tube station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Charing Cross | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Charing Cross |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | London Underground |
| Platforms in use | 4 |
| Transport for London | |
| Zone | 1 |
| Annual entry/exit | 18.797 million † |
| History | |
| 1906 1907 1973 1979 1979 1999 |
Opened (BS&WR) Opened (CCE&HR) Closed (Northern Line) Opened (Jubilee Line) Reopened (Northern Line) Closed (Jubilee Line) |
| Transport for London List of London stations: Underground | National Rail |
|
| † Data from Transport for London [1] | |
Charing Cross tube station is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster with entrances located in Trafalgar Square and Strand. The station is served by the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at Charing Cross station. On the Northern Line it is between Embankment and Leicester Square stations on the Charing Cross branch, and on the Bakerloo Line it is between Embankment and Piccadilly Circus stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1.
The station was formerly also served by the Jubilee Line between 1979 and 1999; acting as the southern terminus of the line during that period.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Northern Line and Bakerloo Line parts of the station were originally opened as two separate stations and were combined when the now defunct Jubilee Line platforms were opened. The constituent stations also underwent a number of name changes during their history
The first part of the complex, the Bakerloo Line platforms, were opened as "Trafalgar Square" by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (BS&WR) on 10 March 1906.
The Northern Line platforms were opened as "Charing Cross" by the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR, now the Northern Line) on 22 June 1907. At its opening this station was the southern terminus of the CCE&HR which ran to two northern termini at Golders Green and Highgate (now Archway tube station).
Although both lines were owned and operated by the Underground Electric Railways Company (UER), there was no direct connection below ground and passengers interchanging between the lines had to do so via two sets of lifts and the surface. In an effort to improve interchange capabilities, the CCE&HR was extended in 1914 the short distance south under Charing Cross main line station to connect with the BS&WR and the District Railway (another UER line) at Embankment station.
From 6 April 1914, the original CCE&HR terminus to the north of Charing Cross main line station was renamed "Charing Cross (Strand)" and the new station and the BS&WR station to the south of the main line station was named "Charing Cross (Embankment)".
These names lasted only a short time: on 9 May 1915, Charing Cross (Strand) was renamed "Strand" and Charing Cross (Embankment) reverted to its earlier BS&WR name of "Embankment". At the same time, the separate Strand station on the Piccadilly Line was also renamed "Aldwych" to avoid confusion.
The Northern Line Strand station was closed on 4 June 1973 to enable the construction of the new Jubilee Line platforms. These platforms were constructed between the Bakerloo Line and Northern Line platforms together with the long missing below ground interchange between those two lines. The Jubilee Line platforms and the refurbished Northern Line platforms opened on 1 May 1979. From this date, the combined station including Trafalgar Square was given its current name.
Although Charing Cross was constructed as the southern terminus of the Jubilee Line, plans already existed to continue the line to the east towards Lewisham in south-east London. The tunnels were, therefore constructed beyond the station beneath Strand almost as far as Aldwych station which would have been the next stop on the line. The subsequent regeneration of the Docklands in London's East End during the 1980s and 1990s required additional transport infrastructure and the eventual route of the extension took the new tunnels south from Green Park to provide new interchanges at Westminster, Waterloo and London Bridge stations and then on to Greenwich and Stratford.
The new tunnels branch away from the original south of Green Park station and, on the opening of the final section of the line between Green Park and Waterloo stations on 20 November 1999, the Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross were closed to the travelling public. The escalators continuing down to the closed platforms can, however, still be seen through closed doors at the bottom of the escalators from the ticket hall.
[edit] Trivia
The 100 metre-long mural along the Northern Line platforms was designed by David Gentleman. It shows scenes from the funeral journey of Eleanor of Castile (the wife of Edward I) from Nottinghamshire to her tomb in Westminster Abbey (see Eleanor cross).
While still open, the Jubilee line platforms were used in the 1987 film The Fourth Protocol, and after closure in numerous productions, including episodes of Spooks, the 2004 film Creep, and the video for the single "Cry" by Alex Parks (winner of the second series of the television show Fame Academy).
Although now closed to the public, the Jubilee Line platforms of Charing Cross station are still maintained by TfL for use as a film set, and they can still be occasionally seen in films, TV programmes, commercials and pop videos.
[edit] Nearby places of interest
- Trafalgar Square
- National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery
- South Africa House
- Canada House
- St Martin-in-the-Fields
- Nelson's Column
- Admiralty Arch
- Savoy Hotel
- The Mall
- Whitehall
- Covent Garden
[edit] References
- Cyril M Harris: What's in a name?, fourth edition reprint, 2004. Published by Capital Transport, in co-operation with London Transport Museum; ISBN 1-85414-241-0.
[edit] External links
- The Charing Cross-Embankment-Strand conundrum explains the various names of the tube stations in this area.
- London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
- Subway entrance to Trafalgar Square station, 1906
- Stairway entrance to Charing Cross station from Craven Street, 1909
- Trafalgar Square station booking hall, 1922
- Strand station booking hall, 1927
- Craven Street entrance to Strand station, 1937. Note sign pointing way to Bakerloo Line.
- Strand station booking hall, 1973, two weeks after closure for reconstruction
- New Charing Cross station booking hall, 1979
- Platform Murals
-
- Satellite image from WikiMapia or Google Map
- Street map from Multimap or GlobalGuide
- Aerial image from TerraServer
| Previous station | London Underground | Next station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
toward Harrow & Wealdstone
|
Bakerloo Line |
toward Elephant & Castle
|
||
| Northern Line |
toward Kennington
|
