The forgotten London Tube station that needed to shut after complaints from posh neighbours | UK | News | EUROtoday

There was as soon as a London Underground station constructed proper in the midst of Mayfair, considered one of London’s most prosperous areas. However, the residents who favoured various technique of transport weren’t too proud of it.

The proposal for Down Street station got here with robust opposition from Mayfair’s locals, who weren’t happy about having a Tube station within the space due to worries that it could convey “undesirables” into their neighbourhood.

However, the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway continued with their plans to construct a station with a line that was just like the present Piccadilly line.

In the constructing proposals, the doorway of the station was meant to be on the primary highway. However, due to the opposition, they needed to place it on a aspect highway.

The station opened March 15, 1907, and proper from the second it did, it noticed barely any passengers.

With extra handy stations like Hyde Park Corner shut by, it solely added to the low footfall the station noticed, and 25 years later, the station was formally closed.

Yet, after its closure, the station nonetheless occurred to be helpful. In 1939, it acted as an underground bunker for the Railway Executive Committee, which was answerable for sustaining railway operations all through the Second World War.

The tunnels of the station have been became places of work, loos, eating rooms and dormitories and in line with Atlas Obscura, the corridors have been large enough for a tea trolley to get by means of.

Not solely that, however to get into the bunker, there have been two routes. The first was to enter at road stage by means of the previous constructing. The different one was a small part of the previous platform which remained in use.

Trains on the previous line would cross by means of and if an government left a purple lamp, the following practice would cease. They would then board the practice with the driving force with no questions requested.

Winston Churchill himself together with different members of his authorities even used the Down Street bunker earlier than the Cabinet War rooms in Westminster have been accomplished.

Once the struggle was over, London Transport took over the bunker to make use of it for engineering entry and as an emergency exit. Now individuals can expertise excursions of the deserted London Underground station supplied by The London Transport Museum.