Secret/Disused Stations - London Underground

[Butts]

Don't know if there is a thread on this....

1. Are there any secret stations ...ie that were not supposed to know about

2. Are there any disused stations that are visible on a normal journey (not temp closures)

Thanks

 

[Greenback]

Try this site instead!

http://underground-history.co.uk/front.php

 

[AlterEgo]

Verney Junction is my favourite disused station. It represents the faded hopes of Metro-land. Thankfully urban sprawl did not reach that part of Buckinghamshire.

It's a fabulously surreal place to visit. Utterly silent.

 

[trentside]

1. Are there any secret stations ...ie that were not supposed to know about

There are some who believe there is a secret Underground station at Buckingham Palace, but there is no actual evidence of this.

On the Piccadilly, it was Down Street that was used as a bunker during WW2 but was subsequently returned to LU. This isn't the case at Brompton Road, where the surface building remains property of the MOD, with access only at track level for LU staff.

2. Are there any disused stations that are visible on a normal journey (not temp closures)

Yes. On the tube lines, it's possible to see some closed stations. If you look closely out the windows you can see the tunnels widen out, where the old platforms have been removed, e.g. British Museum or South Kentish Town. At some places, such as Down Street where the station was converted for other uses the platforms have been walled off, or turned into sidings (or both). In most places, some original tiling also remains on the tunnel wall, but is obscured by dirt - sometimes you can spot it if the train is going slow enough.

 

[Butts]

Thanks for all your responses it was supposed to be London Underground ....
but who cares it's all good stuff

 

[table38]

There is a secret station at ███ █████

 

[Flamingo]

Look at this as well http://www.systemed.net/atlas/

 

[Butts]

The Buckingham Palace one intrigues me.....

Do Liz and Phil pop out to meet the "great unwashed" every now and then

Have they got "ones oyster card"

 

[trentside]

The Buckingham Palace one intrigues me.....

Do Liz and Phil pop out to meet the "great unwashed" every now and then

Have they got "ones oyster card"

Not quite, I'm afraid

The speculation surrounding Buckingham Palace and it's phantom station was a suggestion that the platforms were either on the Victoria line (which passes close to the palace) or joined the Piccadilly somewhere near Green Park. There is no supporting evidence for either, as far as I'm aware.

 

[Butts]

Not quite, I'm afraid

The speculation surrounding Buckingham Palace and it's phantom station was a suggestion that the platforms were either on the Victoria line (which passes close to the palace) or joined the Piccadilly somewhere near Green Park. There is no supporting evidence for either, as far as I'm aware.

So it's an urban myth then

 

[Peter Mugridge]

That doesn't mean there isn't a secret tunnel from the Palace to Green Park station does it?

That would make far more sense than a secret stati.... excuse me a minute, there's a knocking at the door, I'd better go and see who... AAARRGGGHHHH!!!!!

 

[Butts]

That doesn't mean there isn't a secret tunnel from the Palace to Green Park station does it?

That would make far more sense than a secret stati.... excuse me a minute, there's a knocking at the door, I'd better go and see who... AAARRGGGHHHH!!!!!

Are you now being "waterboarded" in a secret underground station

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Yeah, the one under the Embassy...

 

[causton]

There's also the Bakerloo line rumours around a secret station under BBC Broadcasting House!

 

[trentside]

There's also the Bakerloo line rumours around a secret station under BBC Broadcasting House!

I'd forgotten about that one.

There's a page on it on Hywel Williams fantastic website about the disused LU stations;

http://underground-history.co.uk/bbcbh.php

 

[Metrailway]

Blake Hall on the former Epping - Ongar stretch of the Central has an interesting history. It is, like Verney Junction, in the middle of nowhere. It was rumoured that the station was built as part of an agreement to allow the railway through the landowners land. By the time it closed in 1981 only 6 passengers per day were using it!

 

[causton]

I'd forgotten about that one.

There's a page on it on Hywel Williams fantastic website about the disused LU stations;

http://underground-history.co.uk/bbcbh.php

Aha, so that's where I read it! I don't think there's a page on that site that I haven't looked at

 

[trentside]

Blake Hall on the former Epping - Ongar stretch of the Central has an interesting history. It is, like Verney Junction, in the middle of nowhere. It was rumoured that the station was built as part of an agreement to allow the railway through the landowners land. By the time it closed in 1981 only 6 passengers per day were using it!

Apparently it was so rural that the only way it could be fed electricity was directly from the traction current. You could tell when the train was approaching as the lights would dim.

 

[theblackwatch]

Please note that I've created another thread for the disused non-LU stations people have started discussing - this can be found at http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52168

 

[mickey]

There are some who believe there is a secret Underground station at Buckingham Palace, but there is no actual evidence of this.

Now you mention it, I'm sure I read in a children's history book once that the Queen had a private Underground line to take her somewhere safe in an emergency. I suppose it could be true?

(After all, we saw what Gaddafi had under his house...)

 

[trentside]

Now you mention it, I'm sure I read in a children's history book once that the Queen had a private Underground line to take her somewhere safe in an emergency. I suppose it could be true?

(After all, we saw what Gaddafi had under his house...)

It's a very common urban myth. I think it's so common because it does actually sound plausible. To be plausible though, it would have to be entirely separate from London Underground - a junction onto a running line is a difficult thing to hide.

I'm thinking maybe something along the line of the what the 5th Duke of Portland constructed for himself.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

One that very few people will see is Aldwych Jubilee Line.
(Not much of a 'station' granted but the standard tube tunnels are enlarged where the station would have been).

 

[A60K]

One that very few people will see is Aldwych Jubilee Line.
(Not much of a 'station' granted but the standard tube tunnels are enlarged where the station would have been).

The overrun tunnels, as far as I know, don't get as far as the planned Aldwych station site and end below Lancaster Place. What evidence have you got for this enlargement?

 

[Class172]

Wasn't there an unfinished station on the northern line somewhere - having referred to my historical underground map I see it was called Bull & Bush.

 

[trentside]

Wasn't there an unfinished station on the northern line somewhere - having referred to my historical underground map I see it was called Bull & Bush.

The intention was that the station would have been called North End. Somewhere along the way, the disused station acquired the nickname Bull & Bush from a nearby pub. In the end, it just stuck.

As the website you linked to says, the station never opened due to the opposition from local residents worried about the effects of the new tube line on the nearby Hampsted Heath (they thought it would act as a drain, killing plants and wildlife).

 

[Butts]

The overrun tunnels, as far as I know, don't get as far as the planned Aldwych station site and end below Lancaster Place. What evidence have you got for this enlargement?

Why was the proposed station "canned" ?

 

[trentside]

Why was the proposed station "canned" ?

Political will and money ran out. The proposal was to extend the original Jubilee from Charing Cross and into the Docklands, heading out via Ludgate Circus and Fenchurch Street. In the end, it was decided that the DLR would be a better solution - that is until the developments overwhelmed it and the Jubilee was extended anyway, but over a different route.

 

[Metrailway]

Another interesting closed station on the Ongar stretch is North Weald, which had the sole passing loop on the line. It was the last part of the Underground to be signalled using semaphores which were removed in 1976 when the loop was lifted.

 

[Oracle]

The last semaphores used by Underground trains were those on the Richmond branch that were removed I think in Easter 1981...I photographed the aftermath on the Saturday after their removal on the Friday. These were survived by the miniature semaphore shunting signals at Harrow & Wealdstons.


http://www.roscalen.com/signals/London/Camden-Watford/8212/0451.jpg

I used to go to school near the site of Osterley & Spring Grove station on the Picc...the station building is still there on the bridge.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

The overrun tunnels, as far as I know, don't get as far as the planned Aldwych station site and end below Lancaster Place. What evidence have you got for this enlargement?

It was a long time ago but am sure the end of the fairly lengthy over run tunnels opened out a bit towards the end of them. Only ever went down there twice, once on r/t and the other taking an 83 on a R/R.