Station Myth

[H.trains8]

I remember hearing somewhere that underneath a big company building there was a platform in which that company could use for the London Underground at any time which they needed. For some reason I believe this is the Metropolitan police but for the life of me I can't remember a thing about it. I can't remember where I read it or even if it's true. It's been puzzling me for days and I can't find a thing about a mythical London Underground station whatsoever. Any information is welcomed.

 

[Altfish]

It's could be Windsor Holdings Ltd. There used to be rumours of a private line to Buck Palace

 

[Tubeboy]

Rumours of a 'secret' Bakerloo line platform to serve BBC Broadcasting House. Rumours are false.

 

[H.trains8]

Thanks I think it might have been the BBC one that I heard about but I'm surprised there are more.

 

[Bald Rick]

The war time location of the Railway Executive Ctte was in the former Down Street station on the Piccadilly. The War Cabinet met here occasionally also.

A very short platform was left, and officials needing to be picked up would wait there, and turn an auto signal to red. A tube train would stop, and the official would ride up front with the driver.

 

[telstarbox]

TfL have St James's Park station integrated into the basement of their HQ.

 

[H.trains8]

It's could be Windsor Holdings Ltd. There used to be rumours of a private line to Buck Palace

Do you know where I can find any more information about this I have been researching the other replies I've had but I've struggled to find much for this one

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

Do you know where I can find any more information about this I have been researching the other replies I've had but I've struggled to find much for this one

If it were true and even if the line was not active anymore the line is still likely to be in situ so I doubt very much there will be much public information on a direct line underneath Buckingham Palace.

Guy Fawkes would be in his element if he found any public info

 

[table38]

Guy Fawkes could always look at Google Maps and see the route of the Victoria Line between Green Park and Victoria

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Nearest example I can think of isn't in London - the now closed Lewis's department store used to have its own entrance from the Liverpool Central underground station. The Lewis's building is being redeveloped so I suppose it's possible it may resurrected one day - if it still exists.

 

[route:oxford]

I remember hearing somewhere that underneath a big company building there was a platform in which that company could use for the London Underground at any time which they needed. For some reason I believe this is the Metropolitan police but for the life of me I can't remember a thing about it. I can't remember where I read it or even if it's true. It's been puzzling me for days and I can't find a thing about a mythical London Underground station whatsoever. Any information is welcomed.

Myths can get mixed up with facts...

There is an exit from the Westminster Subway into the public Westminster subway that permits quick exit from Parliament to the Westminster tube station.

Could this be it?

 

[CatfordCat]

The idea of a 'secret platform' - which would require an additional running line, and diverting any trains serving it off the main running line - does seem implausible. and any such platform, if regular passenger trains were occasionally diverted to serve it, would not remain secret for long.

The already mentioned use of the closed station at Down Street is fairly well known now - I can't immediately think of any other closed stations that had a similar second life, but it's possible. There are other disused bits of line / disused stations / entrances to stations that have been closed for a variety of reasons, and are still used either by the underground or other organisations - while they are not open to the public, they are not really anything 'secret'

Other things that may have happened leading to rumours -

There are a few connecting lines between one underground line and another (I think I'm right in saying that apart from the waterloo & city, it is possible to get a train from acton works to any line on the network) that are not used for passenger trains. As well as sidings (and a loop at Kennington) that are used for turning trains round, some more regularly than others.

There are a few bits of underground that were built and never used (e.g. the 'fleet line' as it was then known nearly reaching Aldwych from the - now closed - Charing Cross station.) I think I have read somewhere that there are a couple of tunnels somewhere under the Deptford / New Cross area that were partly a test exercise, but would also have formed part of the fleet line (which in the early 70s was intended to go to Thamesmead)

It is possible that there are buildings that had provision for underground extensions built in to the foundations, and that these extensions never happened. There are also the deep level shelters built during WW2 with a possible view to them becoming stations on a post-war northern line relief / express line which never happened.

The idea of there being a private doorway at below ground level from underground station to basement level of the houses of parliament is fairly plausible. It's not impossible that a similar arrangement might have been considered at some big office buildings in central London.

I can also find an online reference to Selfridges trying to get an exit from Bond Street underground directly in to the store, but this never happened.

http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/ - if you've not seen it - is probably the best resource on abandoned / disused / never completed bits of the underground.

 

[L&Y Robert]

Once, when the GW line to Birmingham Snow Hill was about to be re-opened, I joined a public walk-through of the Snow Hill tunnel - event for charity, that sort of thing. About half-way through we were shown a very short underground platform on the 'Down' side, and were told it had direct access to the Bank of England on the surface above. It had been used for trans-shipment of bullion, cash and what-have-you direct to the train and thence to London.

 

[TheKnightWho]

I think the best example has to be this, in Moscow: Metro-2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-2

"Metro-2 (Russian: Метро-2) is the informal name for a purported secret underground metro system which parallels the public Moscow Metro. The system was supposedly built, or at least started, during the time of Joseph Stalin and was codenamed D-6 (Д-6) by the KGB. It is supposedly still operated by the Main Directorate of Special Programmes and Ministry of Defence."

 

[DaveNewcastle]

There is an exit from the Westminster Subway into the public Westminster subway that permits quick exit from Parliament to the Westminster tube station.

The idea of there being a private doorway at below ground level from underground station to basement level of the houses of parliament is fairly plausible.

Not only plausible, but in regular use, but not at basement level of the HoP (the land it is on is much lower than the road and Parliament Square. I have used it to avoid crossing road when crossing between Portcullis House to the HoP.

 

[The Decapod]

Network Rail HQ, Euston?

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Once, when the GW line to Birmingham Snow Hill was about to be re-opened, I joined a public walk-through of the Snow Hill tunnel - event for charity, that sort of thing. About half-way through we were shown a very short underground platform on the 'Down' side, and were told it had direct access to the Bank of England on the surface above. It had been used for trans-shipment of bullion, cash and what-have-you direct to the train and thence to London.

I'd heard the same, only it was another route into the vaults of Midland Bank rather than the Bank of England. The Midland Bank (now known as HSBC and just this week announced it was relocating it's HQ back to Birmingham) was the biggest bank in the world for a while during the interwar period. The old HQ of Midland Bank was on Union Street which is parallel to where the tunnel under the city centre runs (roughly beneath Bull Street) so there is an element of plausibility in the tale.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

I remember hearing somewhere that underneath a big company building there was a platform in which that company could use for the London Underground at any time which they needed. For some reason I believe this is the Metropolitan police but for the life of me I can't remember a thing about it. I can't remember where I read it or even if it's true. It's been puzzling me for days and I can't find a thing about a mythical London Underground station whatsoever. Any information is welcomed.

Complete myth of course - not only would you need to keep your secret platform secret but also secret traincrew, secret p/way, secret signal control staff, secret power supply, secret squirrel etc etc etc etc - the odds of so many people involved in keeping something secret like that secret would be highly unlikely. It would also need to be totally separated from the rest of the system otherwise the regular staff would be wondering where that strange branch/spur/junction went to and why isn't it on any line diagrams.

 

[bramling]

Complete myth of course - not only would you need to keep your secret platform secret but also secret traincrew, secret p/way, secret signal control staff, secret power supply, secret squirrel etc etc etc etc - the odds of so many people involved in keeping something secret like that secret would be highly unlikely. It would also need to be totally separated from the rest of the system otherwise the regular staff would be wondering where that strange branch/spur/junction went to and why isn't it on any line diagrams.

There are plenty of places where it's possible to access tunnels, normally disused stations or vent shafts. Such locations don't have platforms, but you could climb in to a train via the driver's cab. Some are designated as evacuation points or emergency exits. It's not appropriate to post locations, however none comes up in anything other than London Transport property, normally vent shaft headhouse buildings or disused stations.

To give an idea, there are at least 4 such locations on the Northern Line, at lease 3 on the Vic Line, and loads on the Jubilee. There are also places where there is ladder access not suitable for general use.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

There are plenty of places where it's possible to access tunnels, normally disused stations or vent shafts. Such locations don't have platforms, but you could climb in to a train via the driver's cab. Some are designated as evacuation points or emergency exits. It's not appropriate to post locations, however none comes up in anything other than London Transport property, normally vent shaft headhouse buildings or disused stations.

To give an idea, there are at least 4 such locations on the Northern Line, at lease 3 on the Vic Line, and loads on the Jubilee. There are also places where there is ladder access not suitable for general use.

There are one or two sites that publish many (though not all) of the locations you mention http://www.subbrit.org.uk/

 

[LAX54]

another good site:

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

 

[Agent_c]

There is the real private station in New York that was for the then president (Franklin) Roosevelt, under the Waldorf Astoria hotel to help hide his polio from the public (amongst other things)

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efel...secret-subway-station-new-york-city-new-york/