Bethnal Green
Location
Place	Bethnal Green
Local authority	Tower Hamlets
Operations
Managed by	London Underground
Platforms in use	2
Transport for London
Zone	2
Annual entry/exit	10.08 million †
History
Key dates	Opened 1946
Transport for London List of London stations: Underground | National Rail
† Data from Transport for London [1]
London Transport Portal

Bethnal Green tube station is a station on the Central Line of the London Underground in Bethnal Green, east London. It lies between Liverpool Street and Mile End stations, and in Travelcard Zone 2. The station was opened as part of the long planned Central Line eastern extension on 4 December 1946; before that it was used as an air-raid shelter. On 3 March 1943, 173 people were killed in a crush while attempting to enter the shelter. Bethnal Green is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. ... The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames in East London. ... The London Underground is an all-electric railway system that covers much of the conurbation of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. ... Travelcard Zone 2 is the second most inward zone of Transport for Londons zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within London. ... Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for the transport system throughout the City of London and Greater London in England. ... The southbound platform at Angel. ... This is a list of mainline railway stations in London, excluding London Underground and Docklands Light Railway. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... Tube Portal The Central Line is a line of the London Underground and coloured red on the tube map. ... The London Underground is an all-electric railway system that covers much of the conurbation of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. ... Bethnal Green is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. ... Liverpool Street station, also called London Liverpool Street, is a mainline railway station and connected London Underground station in the north eastern corner of the City of London, the main financial district, with entrances on Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street itself. ... Mile End is a London Underground station in Tower Hamlets, East London. ... Travelcard Zone 2 is the second most inward zone of Transport for Londons zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within London. ... December 4 is the 338th day of the year (339th on leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Air Raid Precautions (ARP) was an organization in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ...

The station is a fine example of the typical "New Works Programme 1935 - 1940" style adopted by London Transport for its new tube stations. Extensive use is made of pale yellow tiling, manufactured by Poole Pottery. This is still in place on the platform walls and includes relief tiles, showing symbols of London and the area served by the London Passenger Transport Board, designed by Harold Stabler. The station entrances, all in the form of subway access staircases to the subterranean ticket hall, all show the design influences of Charles Holden, the consulting architect for London Transport at this time. The New Works Programme, 1935 - 1940 of London Transport was the major investment programme delivered by the London Passenger Transport Board, commonly known as London Transport. ... The transport of London has, since 1933, been under a single control with various names. ... Poole Pottery is a fashionable pottery manufacturer based in Poole, England. ... The transport of London has, since 1933, been under a single control with various names. ... Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the Royal Society of Arts (or RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. ... Charles Henry Holden (12 May 1875 - 1 May 1960) was an English architect known for his designs of stations on the London Underground railway system. ...

The Bethnal Green disaster

Construction of the Central Line's eastern extension was started in the 1930s, and the tunnels were largely complete at the outbreak of the Second World War. While some stretches were used as underground factories, with the advent of the Blitz, Bethnal Green station was used as an air-raid shelter, unofficially at first, and then with official blessing. The 1930s (years from 1930-1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33... Heinkel He 111 German bomber over the Surrey Docks, Southwark, London (German propaganda photomontage) The Blitz was the sustained bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941. ...

By 1943 the numbers using the station as a shelter had dwindled, only rising when retalliatory bombing in response to British raids was expected. This was the case on 3 March 1943, as the British press had reported a heavy raid on Berlin on the night of 1 March. The air-raid warning sounded at 8:17 pm, causing an orderly flow of people down the short flight of steps into the underground booking office. At 8:27 an anti-aircraft battery a few hundred yards away in Victoria Park launched a salvo of a new type of anti-aircraft rockets. The weapon was secret, and the unexpected, unfamiliar type of explosion caused a panic. As the crowd surged forward towards the shelter, a woman, possibly carrying a baby, tripped on the stairs, causing many others to fall. Within a few seconds 300 people were crushed into the tiny stairwell. 172 people were dead at the scene, with one more dying in hospital later; 69 of the dead were children. Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... The Bathing Pond in Victoria Park. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program The traditional definition of a rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving fluid from within a rocket engine. ...

The disaster was reported but the demands of wartime censorship required omitting the precise location. An Inquiry was ordered into the causes but when it concluded, Home Secretary Herbert Morrison only made a brief statement in Parliament. The government was accused of "hushing up" the disaster by a local campaign and two of the victims' families sued the Council for damages. Eventually Morrison decided to publish the report which had concluded that the poor lighting, lack of a crash barrier (which the local council couldn't afford to erect), and lack of supervision by police or ARP wardens had contributed to the disaster. However, the principal blame was down to the irrational behaviour of the crowd, and there would have been a loss of life even if precautions had been taken. Morrison had suppressed the report because he feared it would not be believed. It was not until 50 years after the disaster that a discreet commemorative plaque was erected at the site. Censorship is the removal of information from the public, or the prevention of circulation of information, where it is desired or felt best by some controlling group or body, that others are not allowed to access the information which is being censored. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth (January 3, 1888 - March 6, 1965) was a British Labour Party politician and cabinet minister. ... The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ... A crash barrier is a barrier on a road designed to prevent vehicles from leaving the carriageway to improve road safety. ...

The crush at Bethnal Green is the largest loss of life in a single incident on the London Underground network. The largest number killed by a wartime bomb was 68 at Balham. Balham tube station is a station on London Undergrounds Northern Line located between Clapham South and Tooting Bec stations. ...

Other large losses of life on the Underground include the 43 killed in the Moorgate tube crash in 1975, the 31 people killed in the King's Cross fire in 1987, and the 52 civilians and 4 bombers who died in the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The Moorgate tube crash was a railway accident on the London Underground which occurred at 8. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Kings Cross fire was a devastating underground fire in London which broke out at approximately 19:30 on November 18, 1987, and which killed 31 people. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of coordinated bomb blasts that hit Londons public transport system during the morning rush hour. ...

The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster is the subject of a song by Frank Tovey and the Pyros on their 1991 album Grand Union. Fad Gadget was the pseudonym used by musician, synthesizer pioneer, and performance artist Frank Tovey (September 8, 1956 - April 3, 2002), an influential electronic music/New Wave artist, in his early and very late career. ... Grand Union was released in 1991. ...

External links

• The Underground at war
• The Guardian: The hush-hush catastrophe
• http://www.stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org/ Site relating to proposed new memorial.

Coordinates: 51°31′38″N, 0°03′20″W The London Underground is an all-electric railway system that covers much of the conurbation of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. ... Liverpool Street station, also called London Liverpool Street, is a mainline railway station and connected London Underground station in the north eastern corner of the City of London, the main financial district, with entrances on Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street itself. ... Tube Portal The Central Line is a line of the London Underground and coloured red on the tube map. ... Mile End is a London Underground station in Tower Hamlets, East London. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...