Ever noticed the door? The boring white door at the entrance to the Northbound Piccadilly Line platform at Holborn?
You’ve probably walked past it a number of times not knowing what’s behind it.
A whole other world of Leslie Green tiles and long forgotten posters. Of rusty track and dusty walls. A world of abandoned platforms and the Aldwych branch is behind this door. Let me in.
Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk
Someone asked me not so long a go “What’s your favourite station?” That’s a very tough question, of which I’d struggle to answer without giving it some serious thought. “OK So what’s you’re least favourite station?”
Easy.
Leicester Square.
No doubt about it, didn’t even have to think.
Sorry tourists, I know you’re important to the economy of this city, but you are like a moth to a flame when it comes to Leicester Square. I know it’s supposedly the heart of the West End, but really, could you not think of anywhere more imaginative to go than Aberdeen Angus Steak House?…
The station always feels cramped and overcrowded and the streets above are no better. You’ll get knocked into, walked in front of and squeezed into claustrophobic spaces. I feel like there’s never any escape. Every bit of dislike and anxiety towards the Piccadilly Line is rooted in this station.
Leicester Square you are the worst.
Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk
Pimlico is the only station on the Victoria Line not to offer an interchange with another railway or tube line. This in some ways is an often neglected attribute of the Victoria Line, it’s a transport hub of hubs if you will. It’s an exceptionally clever piece of urban planning that to this day makes the Victoria Line one of the most efficient lines in the city. Naturally there has to be an exception to the rule, and that exception is Pimlico.
Different too are the backlit roundels, which used to be a feature of all the stations on the Victoria Line. For whatever reason they were replaced with basic enamel ones, except of course at Pimlico.
Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk
It is said that the Russian word for station – vokzal – is derived from Vauxhall. When an early parliamentary delegation of Russians visited the area, to view the brand new invention of the railway, they asked their British guides what it was that they saw in front of them. Misunderstanding the delegates, and rather than telling them what the actual type of building was, the British replied, “This is Vauxhall,” instead of “This is a station.”
Now, it’s more than likely that this is an old wives tale, as evidence to back this up is virtually non-existent. Still, it’s nice story to tell. Vauxhall now forms an important interchange between tube, bus, road and that very same mainline station the Russian delegates supposedly saw all those years ago.
Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk
Here we have the oldest tube station on the network. Not the oldest station… nor the oldest underground station… but the oldest tube station. And believe me we’ll get onto the differences at a later date.
We choose Kennington over all the other stations from Stockwell through to Borough, as this original City & South London Railway structure has remained relatively unaltered since it’s conception in 1890. This was the first deep level electric tube railway to be built anywhere in the world, and of all the original stations only Kennington retains it’s 1890 surface level ticket hall.
At one stage the other CSLR station would have all looked very similar, all sporting a distinctive lead-covered dome structure that housed lift equipment
Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk
Calling All Stations 