Aldwych
Location
Place	Aldwych
Local authority	City of Westminster
History
Opened by	Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway
Platforms	2
Key dates	Opened 1907 Closed 1940 Reopened 1946 Closed 1994
Replaced by	none
London Transport Portal

Aldwych tube station is a disused station formerly on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground. It is surrounded on either side by the buildings of King's College London. It was the terminus of a short branch from Holborn, and closed on 30 September 1994. Its well-preserved interior has made it a significant location for design work and filming. Former entrance to Aldwych Tube Station, on The Strand, London Image by ChrisO File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Aldwych is a place and road in the City of Westminster in London. ... The City of Westminster is a borough of London, England with city status. ... London Transport Portal The Piccadilly Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured blue on the Tube map. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... London Transport Portal The Piccadilly Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured blue on the Tube map. ... The London Underground is an underground railway system - also known as a rapid transit system - that serves a large part of Greater London, United Kingdom and some neighbouring areas. ... For other uses, see Kings College. ... Holborn tube station Decorated metal panels on Central Line platforms at Holborn, near the British Museum. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

Aldwych tube station should not be confused with the Aldwych tramway station, which was a stop on the Kingsway tramway subway. Aldwych tramway station (not to be confused with Aldwych tube station) was a tram stop underneath Kingsway (a road in central London), part of the Kingsway tramway subway route. ... Kingsway Subway entrance in Southampton Row The Kingsway Tramway Subway is a cut-and-cover tunnel in central London that was built by the London County Council. ...

History

The station was intended to be the southern terminus of the Great Northern and Strand Railway, running from Finsbury Park in the north, under King's Cross station, to a point near The Strand. In the event, the GN&SR was merged with two other proposed tubes to form the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (now known as the Piccadilly Line), and the section to Strand became a mere branch. Although two tunnels were constructed to Holborn they were connected to the northbound Piccadilly Line only. Finsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. ... Kings Cross station (often spelt Kings Cross on platform signs) is a railway station in the district of the same name in northeast central London. ... Strand, May 2001 St. ... London Transport Portal The Piccadilly Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured blue on the Tube map. ...

The station opened as Strand station on 30 November 1907, and was served only by a shuttle service to Holborn, except for a single late-night service that ran through to Finsbury Park for the benefit of theatre-goers. This was withdrawn in 1908, and by 1912 the two-train shuttle had been reduced to one train. The branch officially became single track in 1918. is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Holborn tube station Decorated metal panels on Central Line platforms at Holborn, near the British Museum. ... Finsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. ...

The layout of the Aldwych branch

The station was renamed "Aldwych" in 1917 so that the name Strand could be given to what later became the Northern Line part of Charing Cross tube station. A shuttle service continued to run to Aldwych until 1940, when the branch was closed and the operational platform at the station used as a public air-raid shelter. The second, already disused platform and running tunnel were used to store the Elgin Marbles and other artifacts from the British Museum and other institutions. Service was restored in 1946 and continued until 30 September 1994, when the cost of a lift replacement was considered uneconomic, and the branch was closed. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... For other uses, see Northern Line (disambiguation). ... Charing Cross London Underground station serves both the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at Charing Cross station. ... For the general article about fortified structures, see Bunker. ... Metope from the Elgin marbles depicting a Centaur and a Lapith fighting. ... London museum | name = British Museum | image = British Museum from NE 2. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

Over the years the station has been a popular location for film and television companies wanting to film on the Underground. As the branch was entirely self-contained and closed at weekends, its facilities could be put at the disposal of film crews much more easily than those of more active parts of the underground. The station's second platform, closed since 1917, was used for many years to test mock-ups of new designs for platforms at other stations. Both these uses of the station continued after its closure.

The closed station still has many of its original 1907 features, including tiling and signage. The surface building is hired out for events, functions and art exhibitions. It is visible from the Strand opposite St Mary le Strand church. A restoration of the building's façade has revealed the original name of the station. St Mary-Le-Strand viewed from the West St Mary-le-Strand is a Church of England church on Strand, London, in the City of Westminster, London. ...

How Aldwych tube station might have appeared on the London Underground Map if it were still open to passengers today

Despite being closed since 1994 the station still appears on a number of station listings along the Piccadilly line. The trackwork and infrastructure remains in good condition, and a train of ex-Northern Line 1972 tube stock is permanently stabled on the branch - this train drives up and down the branch a few times each week to keep the trackwork in good repair. The physical connection with the Piccadilly line Eastbound remains, and has been used to bring in heritage trains of 1938 tube stock in connection with filming (the 1972 unit being temporarily outstabled to Cockfosters for the duration). Image File history File links Aldwych_Map_Mockup. ... Image File history File links Aldwych_Map_Mockup. ... Original Tube Map by Beck The Tube map is the commonly-used name for the schematic diagram used to represent the lines and stations of the London Underground. ... For other uses, see Northern Line (disambiguation). ... London Transport Portal The Piccadilly Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured blue on the Tube map. ... (Redirected from 1938 tube stock) The 1938 Tube Stock is the classic Tube stock design. ... Cockfosters tube station is a London Underground station in Travelcard Zone 5 and is the northern terminus of the Piccadilly line. ...

When the Fleet Line (later to become the Jubilee Line) was being planned in the 1970s, it was envisaged that it would run from Charing Cross via Aldwych and Ludgate Circus and on to East London. This plan was scrapped, but a few hundred yards of experimental tunnel was dug from Charing Cross to Aldwych, although it never connected with the latter station. The tunnel still exists but is unused. The Jubilee Line is a line on the London Underground, coloured grey on the Tube map. ... London Transport Portal The Jubilee Line is a line on the London Underground (the Tube), in England. ... Charing Cross London Underground station serves both the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at Charing Cross station. ... Ludgate Circus is the intersection of Farringdon Street/New Bridge Street (the A201, leading to Blackfriars Bridge) with Fleet Street/Ludgate Hill, historically the main connexion between the cities of London and Westminster. ...

Future

There are occasionaly proposal to re-activate the station. One of the more prominent suggestion is its potential use as part of an extension to the Docklands Light Railway from Bank tube station to Charing Cross tube station. The extension would be entirely underground, and would run along the route of the abandoned Fleet Line.^[1] The proposed Cross River Tram has a stop on the Aldwych, which would be located at street-level close to Aldwych station. London Transport Portal The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is a light rail system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of East London, England. ... Bank and Monument are interlinked zone 1 London Underground stations, spanning the length of King William Street in the City of London. ... Charing Cross London Underground station serves both the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at Charing Cross station. ... The Jubilee Line is a line on the London Underground, coloured grey on the Tube map. ... The Cross River Tram, or Cross River Transit, is a proposed tram system in London to connect Camden Town to Kings Cross, Peckham and Brixton. ... Aldwych is a place and road in the City of Westminster in London. ...

Preceding station		Docklands Light Railway		Following station
Charing Cross towards Bank or Tower Gateway		Docklands Light Railway		City Thameslink towards

London Transport Portal The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is a light rail system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of East London, England. ... For the station called Monument on the Tyne and Wear Metro, see Monument Metro station Bank and Monument are interlinked stations, spanning the length of King William Street in the City of London. ... Tower Gateway is a Docklands Light Railway station near the Tower of London on Tower Hill. ... London Transport Portal The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is a light rail system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of East London, England. ...

Use in films and television programmes

Many films and television productions have been shot at Aldwych, including:

• Battle of Britain (1969)
• Death Line (1972) – standing in for the interior of Russell Square tube station (exteriors used the real station).
• Ghost Story (1974)
• Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1986)
• The Krays (1990)
• Patriot Games (1992)
• The Line, the Cross and the Curve (1993)
• Honest (2000)
• Most Haunted (2003)
• Creep (2004)
• V for Vendetta (2006) – the name 'Strand' is clearly visible at several points in the film, although in non-original signage added by the film-makers.
• The Good Shepherd (2006)
• Primeval (TV series) (2007)
• Atonement (2007)

In Patriot Games, a 1992 film starring Harrison Ford, a bookseller leaves his shop in Piccadilly and – rather curiously, given their relative locations – enters Aldwych station, where an announcement is given that a train will call at Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus (the nearest station to where he started) and Oxford Circus. This would have been an impossible sequence from Aldwych and, indeed, from anywhere without changing lines (from the Piccadilly to the Bakerloo) at Piccadilly Circus. Battle of Britain is a 1969 film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S Benjamin Fisz. ... It has been suggested that Raw Meat be merged into this article or section. ... Russell Square is a London Underground station on Bernard Street, Bloomsbury, not far from the British Museum and Russell Square Gardens. ... A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or the belief of some character(s) in them. ... Superman IV: The Quest For Peace is a 1987 film, the last of the Superman theatrical movies. ... The Krays is a 1990 film based on the lives and crimes of the British gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray, twins who are often referred to as The Krays. ... Patriot Games is a film based on the novel of the same name by Tom Clancy. ... The Line, the Cross, and the Curve is a musical short film directed by and starring pop singer Kate Bush. ... Honest soundtrack Honest is a black comedy crime film released in 2000. ... Most Haunted is a British paranormal television programme based on investigating purported paranormal activity. ... Creep (2004) is a British slasher film directed by Christopher Smith, starring the German actress Franka Potente. ... V for Vendetta is a 2006 action-thriller film set in London, England in a near-future dystopian society. ... This article is about the 2006 film. ... Cast of Primeval: (left to right:) Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Douglas Henshall, Lucy Brown, James Murray and Mark Wakeling. ... Atonement is a 2007 British film directed by Joe Wright. ... Patriot Games is a film based on the novel of the same name by Tom Clancy. ... For the silent film actor, see Harrison Ford (silent film actor). ... Piccadilly is a major London street, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. ...

Aldwych tube station also features as a level in the video game Tomb Raider 3. Namcos Pac-Man is one of the most popular video games ever made. ... Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft is the third game in the Tomb Raider series, and the sequel to Tomb Raider II. It was developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. ...

The station facade was also used as the 'base location' in the BBC Three documentary series Spy. For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 3. ... Spy is a British television programme originally made by Wall to Wall for BBC Three in 2004. ...

The tunnels at Aldwych were also used in the music video for Firestarter by The Prodigy. Firestarter was the eleventh single released by the English band The Prodigy on March 18, 1996. ... This article is about the English band. ...

Fightstar's "Waste A Moment" video was also shot here. Fightstar is a four-piece Post-Hardcore band from London, England. ...

As a former dead-end on the system Aldwych is a key location in the thriller Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household. Rogue Male may refer to: Rogue Male (novel), a novel by Geoffrey Household published in 1939 Man Hunt (1941 film), a 1941 movie adaption of Households novel by Fritz Lang Rogue Male (film), a 1976 remake of Langs movie by Clive Donner Rogue Male (band), a British heavy... Geoffrey Edward West Household (November 30, 1900 — October 4, 1988) was a prolific British novelist who specialized in thrillers. ...

The photo booth in front of the closed entrance to the station appeared in Brainiac: Science Abuse during a 60 second experiment which proved that saying 'cheese' yields the most realistic smile on a photo. Brainiac: Science Abuse is a television programme showing in the UK on Sky One (and repeated on Sky Mix). ...

References

• J. E. Connor, London's Disused Underground Stations (2nd edition), Capital Transport, 2001.

1. ^ http://www.campaignforcrossrail.com/maps/T2025_indicative_tfL_trnsprt.pdf

External links

• London's Abandoned Tube Stations - Aldwych
• Subterranea Britannica - Aldwych-Holborn Branch
• Clive's Underground Line Guide - Piccadilly Line
• The London Underground in Films & Television

• Aldwych tube station is at coordinates 51°30′44″N 0°06′58″W / 51.512211, -0.116000 (Aldwych tube station)Coordinates: 51°30′44″N 0°06′58″W / 51.512211, -0.116000 (Aldwych tube station)

Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

See also

• Closed London Underground stations

St Marys (Whitechapel Road) tube station shortly after its closure in 1938 There are several dozen permanently closed London Underground stations across the London Underground (tube) network. ... Class 180 multiple unit of First Great Western at speed near Yate, Bristol. ... Abbey Road DLR station, by 2010, will become a new Docklands Light Railway station in Newham, East London. ... Alloa railway station was a railway station in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. ... Apperley Bridge was a station on the (Leeds and Bradford, later Midland) line between Leeds and Shipley, West Yorkshire, England, between 1846 and 1965. ... Armadale railway station was a railway station serving Armadale, West Lothian, Scotland. ... Ascot Road tube station is a proposed tube station in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. ... Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is a station soon to be built to serve the Berryfields and Weedon Hill housing development in the north of Aylesbury. ... Caldercruix railway station was a railway station seving Caldercruix, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. ... Corby railway station served the town of Corby in Northamptonshire, England. ... Dagenham Dock station is located in Dagenham. ... Dalston Junction was originally a railway station in the London Borough of Hackney in London, England. ... Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station adjacent to the new station. ... Eskbank railway station is a future station serving the town of Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. ... Galashiels railway station is to serve the town of Galashiels, Scottish Borders, Scotland. ... Glasgow Airport Railway Station is a proposed railway station which will be opened in 2009 to serve Glasgow International Airport, Scotland. ... Gorebridge railway station is to serve the town of Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland. ... Haggerston railway station is a railway station currently under construction in the London Borough of Hackney in London, United Kingdom. ... Heathrow Terminal 5 station is a shared railway station currently under construction to serve Terminal 5, which is under construction at London Heathrow Airport. ... Hoxton railway station is a railway station currently under construction in the London Borough of Hackney in London, England. ... Imperial Wharf is a railway station, as of 2005 under construction in Chelsea, London, on the Silverlink operated West London Line from Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction. ... Isle of Dogs station will be a railway station on the Isle of Dogs in east London, proposed to be built as part of the Crossrail project. ... Llanhilleth railway station serves the village of Llanhilleth, South Wales. ... Low Moor railway station was a station situated between Bradford Interchange and Halifax on the Caldervale Line, located close to Low Moor, an area to the south of Bradford. ... Newtongrange railway station is a station to be reopened as part of the future Waverley Line, a line to be reopened between Edinburgh and eventually Carlisle. ... Pye Corner railway station (ST281872) serves a residential area in the west of Newport. ... Shawfair railway station is a newly planned station to be opened on the Waverley Line, a railway line to be reopened between Edinburgh and evetually Carlisle. ... Shepherds Bush station is a railway station under construction on the West London Line. ... Shoreditch High Street railway station is a railway station currently under construction in the London Borough of Hackney in London, United Kingdom. ... Simonside Metro station is the name of a Tyne and Wear Metro station currently under construction. ... Star Lane DLR station, by 2010, will become a new Docklands Light Railway station in Newham, East London. ... Stow railway station is to serve the village of Stow of Wedale in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. ... Stratford High Street DLR station, by 2010, will become a new Docklands Light Railway station in Newham, East London. ... Stratford International station is a railway station located in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham in East London. ... Tweedbank railway station is to serve the village of Tweedbank, Scottish Borders, Scotland. ... Watford West is a disused railway station station. ... Wood Lane is a future London Underground station currently under construction in west London on the Hammersmith & City Line. ...