Tottenham Court Road tube station

Tottenham Court Road is a station on the London Underground, serving as an interchange between the Central Line and the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line.

On the Central line it is between Oxford Circus and Holborn, and on the Northern Line it is between Leicester Square and Goodge Street. It is located at St Giles' Circus, the junction of Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, New Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road and is in Travelcard Zone 1.

History

Central London Railway

The station opened as part of the Central London Railway (CLR) on 30 July 1900 [http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/central.html#dates Clive's Underground Line Guides - Central Line, Dates] ] . From that date until 24 September 1933, the next station eastbound on the Central line was the now defunct British Museum; the next stop in that direction is now Holborn. The platforms are under Oxford Street west of St Giles' Circus, and were originally connected to the ticket hall via lifts at the east end of the platforms. The original station building is in Oxford Street and was designed in common with other CLR stations by Harry Bell Measures. Much modified, it now forms part of the station entrance, and some elements of the original facade survive above the canopy.

Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway

The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR, now part of the Northern Line) arrived here on 22 June 1907 [http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/northern.html#dates Clive's Underground Line Guides - Northern Line, Dates] ] but used the name Oxford Street until an interchange (linking the eastbound Central Line with the southbound Northern Line via the ends of the platform) was opened on 3 September 1908cite book |last=Rose |first=Douglas |authorlink= |title=The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History |year=1999 |publisher=Douglas Rose |isbn=1-85414-219-4] from when the present name was used for both lines. The next station north on the Northern line was originally called Tottenham Court Road, but was renamed to Goodge Street at this time.

The original ticket office was on the south east corner of the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, and its original lift shafts and emergency stairs are still extant. The emergency stairs are often used as access down to the ends of the Northern line platform, as there are currently insufficient escalators for the volume of traffic using the station. The lift shafts are used for offices and station facilities. The original CCE&HR station buildings were destroyed when the Centre Point tower block was built.

Improvements

Like a number of other central area stations, Tottenham Court Road underwent improvements in the early 1930s to replace the original sets of lifts with escalators. A shaft for three escalators was driven from the ticket hall under the junction down to the east end of the central line platforms ending at an intermediate circulation space. A further pair of escalators descend from this level to the north end of the Northern Line platforms. The lifts were removed and the redundant shafts were used as ventilation ducts. In 1938, a chiller plant began operating at the station. It was decommissioned in 1949.

Passenger congestion entering and leaving the Northern Line platforms was partially eased by the addition of a short single escalator at the centre of the platform leading up to a passageway linking to the intermediate circulation area. However, this is in itself a cause of congestion, as traffic trying to leave the station from the Northern line finds itself in the path of traffic entering and travelling to the Central line.

In 1984 the entire station was redecorated, losing the distinctive Leslie Green designed platform tiling pattern of the Yerkes tube lines (which included the CCE&HR), and the plain white platform tiles of the CLR. The 1980s design includes panels of tessellated mural mosaic by Eduardo Paolozzi (whose signature appears at several places within the station), and is a distinct and noticeable feature of the station. The mosaic's frenetic design is intended to reflect the station's position adjacent to Tottenham Court Road's large concentration of hi-fi and electronics shops.

Future developments

The station has four entrances to the sub-surface ticket hall from the north-east, south-west and north-west corners of the junction and from a subway beneath the Centrepoint building which starts on Andrew Borde Street. The entrances are frequently congested leading to occasions during peak periods of the day when they are briefly closed to prevent overcrowding in the station.

Crossrail 1

To solve this congestion, Transport for London intend to drastically reconstruct large parts of the station. This will involve building a much larger ticket office under the forecourt of Centre Point, new sets of escalators to reach the centre of the northern line platforms from the ticket office and the addition of greater Mobility Impaired Accessibility to the platforms. The subway to Andrew Borde Street will be replaced as part of this development [http://www.crossrail.co.uk/80256B090053AF4C/Files/informationround2006/$FILE/tottenham+court+road_panel_01.pdf Crossrail - Proposal for eastern ticket hall] ] .

In addition, as part of the Crossrail project, the interchange facilities here will add a new entrance ta a ticket hall under Dean Street [http://www.crossrail.co.uk/80256B090053AF4C/Files/informationround2006/$FILE/tottenham+court+road_panel_02.pdf Crossrail - Proposal for western ticket hall] ] leading to both the Crossrail platforms, and the parallel Central line platform. The original Central line entrance and the Astoria theatre will be demolished in order to expand the western side of the original ticket office to include escalators down to Crossrail.

Chelsea-Hackney line (Crossrail 2)

If the proposed Chelsea-Hackney line is built (currently this is planned in a reduced way as Crossrail 2) it will have a station at Tottenham Court Road, and the development plans include facilities to take account of this. This would be the only planned interchange between Crossrail 1 and Crossrail 2. A massive boost in capacity to the existing station will be needed to host both lines. The station was safeguarded as part of the route in 1991 and 2007 [http://www.crossrail.co.uk/80256B090053AF4C/Files/chelsea-hackneyline/$FILE/chelsea+hackney+line+safeguarding+leaflet+february+2008.pdf] . Redevelopment of the station will include space for platforms on the line.

In popular culture

* The station was used for a sequence in the 1981 film "An American Werewolf in London". [http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/subterra/lu/lufilmtv/aawinlon.htm]
* A scene in the musical "We Will Rock You" is set in the station; the musical is currently playing across the street at the Dominion Theatre. [http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/155/we-will-rock-you]
* Scenes from the video clip for Darren Hayes' 2002 single Pop!ular were filmed at the station

ee also

*List of London Underground stations

References

External links

*ltmcollection|06/9875606.jpg|London Transport Museum Photographic Archive Central Line station building in 1914
* [http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/Tot_Ct_Rd_Station_East_Planning_Brief.pdf City of Westminster, Draft Planning Brief - Crossrail: Tottenham Court Road Station (Eastern Ticket Hall), May 2005] , Retrieved 31 January 2008
* [http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/london/tcr/index.shtml Photos of Paolozzi's mosaics in the station]
* [http://www.geocities.com/londondestruction/favemosaics.html Conservation of the TCR Station Mosaics]
* [http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/subterra/lu/lufilmtv/aawinlon.htm Images from "An American Werewolf in London" prior to installation of Paolozzi mosaics]

Gallery

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Future Development

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