Everything about Tottenham Court Road Tube Station totally explained
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's between
Oxford Circus and
Holborn, and on the Northern Line it's 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. 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 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 1908 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 by
Eduardo Paolozzi (whose signature appears at several places within the station), and is a distinct and noticeable feature of the station. The mural'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're briefly closed to prevent over crowding 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.
In addition, as part of the
Crossrail project, the interchange facilities here will add a new entrance ta a ticket hall under Dean Street 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'll 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. Redevelopment of the station will include space for platforms on the line.
In popular culture
Future Development
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tottenham Court Road Tube Station'.
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