Arnos Grove tube station

Arnos Grove is a London Underground station on the Piccadilly line between Bounds Green and Southgate. The station is in Travelcard Zone 4 and is located in Arnos Grove - near Arnos Park on Bowes Road, London. The station and the surrounding neighbourhood of Arnos Grove take their names from the Arnos Grove estate, which was north of the station. [http://www.hidden-london.com/arnosgrove.html Hidden London – Arnos Grove, Enfield] .] . The station is the first surface station north after the long tunnelled section from Barons Court via Central London.

History

The station was opened on September 19 1932 as the most northerly station on the first section of the Piccadilly Line extension from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. The station acted as the interim terminus of the line until services were further extended to Oakwood on March 13 1933. The station's name was chosen after public deliberation: alternatives were "Arnos Park" and "Southgate". [cite book |title=Southgate |last=Dumayne |first=Alan |year=1998 |publisher=Sutton Publishing Limited |isbn=0750920009 |pages=44 ]

Like the other stations Charles Holden designed for the extension, Arnos Grove was built in a modern European style using brick, glass and reinforced concrete and basic geometric shapes. A circular drum-like ticket hall of brick and glass panels rises from a low single storey structure and is capped by a flat concrete roof. A similar design was employed by Holden for the rebuilding of Chiswick Park on the District Line (also in 1932), although the drum there is supplemented with an adjacent brick tower. The centre of the ticket hall is occupied by a disused ticket office (a passimeter in London Underground parlance) which houses an exhibition on the station and the line. Like Holden's other stations on the extension, Arnos Grove is a Grade II listed building. The building features as one of the 12 "Great Modern Buildings" profiled in The Guardian during October 2007, [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/greatbuildings/ The Guardian's Great Modern Buildings Series] ] and was summarised by Jonathan Glancey, an architectural critic, as "...truly what German art historians would describe as a gesamtkunstwerk, a total and entire work of art." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2007/oct/16/architecture3 Going underground - Jonathan Glancey guardian.co.uk, Tuesday October 16 2007 23:33 BST] ]

Three parallel train tracks pass through the station, with two double-sided platforms positioned between the central track and the outer tracks. The edges of the platforms are labelled platform 1 and 2, and platform 3 and 4, respectively, in such a way that the two outer tracks are accessible by platforms 1 and 4, and the central track, usually used by trains that terminate and reverse at Arnos Grove station, is accessible via platforms 2 and 3. Platforms 1 and 2 are designated for trains to Cockfosters, platforms 3 and 4 for trains to Central London. When operational problems occur on the line, Arnos Grove station may act as a temporary terminus of a reduced service - either a shuttle service between Arnos Grove and Cockfosters or a truncated service from Central London. The station has a set of seven sidings to its south for stabling trains.

In 2005 the station underwent a refurbishment programme including improvements to signage, security and train information systems. Some of the original signs are in a 'petit-serif' adaptation of the London Underground typeface, Johnston Sans. This type-face was designed by Charles Holden and Percy Delf Smith.

The station is part of the Arnos Grove group of stations, comprising all seven stations from Cockfosters to Turnpike Lane, and the management office for the group is in Arnos Grove station. Linked to the station by a lineside passageway is Ash House, which is a drivers' depot. Arnos Grove is often noted for its station cat (a rarity on the London Underground network), called Spooky, who now occupies the station car park after being evicted due to the introduction of UTS gates. [http://thincities.tfl.gov.uk/projects/station-further-information.php?id=4 Platform for art - Thin Cities - Arnos Grove - Transport for London] ]

Nearby places

* Bounds Green
* Muswell Hill
* New Southgate
* Palmers Green
* Southgate

Gallery

Transport connections

Arnos Grove Bus Station

The following London Bus routes serve the bus station (the tube station forecourt) [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/information.asp?time=now&mode=buses&line=all&incident=1000797_Realtime Live Travel News (TfL) - Arnos Grove Bus Station (Bowes Road)] ] :
* 34
* 184
* 232
* 251 (Terminates at Arnos Grove)
* 298 (Terminates at Arnos Grove)
* 382
* N91 (Night bus)

New Southgate railway station

New Southgate railway station is a five minute walk from Arnos Grove or a two minute bus journey on the 232 and 382 bus routes. [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/arnosgroveandnewsouthgate-2400.pdf TfL - Bus services from Arnos Grove] .]

ee also

*List of London Underground stations

References

External links

* [http://photos.ltmcollection.org London Transport Museum Photographic Archive]
** ltmcollection|fh/i0000bfh.jpg|Architectural drawing showing elevation and cross-section of station
** ltmcollection|1v/i0000d1v.jpg|Station under construction, May 1932
** ltmcollection|77/998077.jpg|Station the day after opening, September 1932
** ltmcollection|c2/i00009c2.jpg|Trackside view of station, 1932
** ltmcollection|68/9920768.jpg|Passimeter ticket office, 1932
* [http://www.charlesholden.com/html/charlesholden_gallery_pages/ArnosGrove_1.htm Charles Holden.com - Early image of Arnos Grove tube station]
* [http://www.enfield.gov.uk/Leisure%20&%20Culture/local%20history/Southgate%20A%20History.htm History of Arnos Grove and Southgate]
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/greatbuildings/ The Guardian's Great Modern Buildings Series]
* [http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=3f11db16adb4efeb67ba32180c650172 Arnos Grove 3D model for Google Earth]

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