Embankment is a
London UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station in the
City of WestminsterThe City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, known by various names during its history. It is served by the Circle,
DistrictThe District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
,
NorthernThe Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
and
BakerlooThe Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
lines. On the Northern and Bakerloo lines, the station is between Waterloo and
Charing CrossCharing Cross tube station is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster with entrances located in Trafalgar Square and The Strand. The station is served by the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at station...
stations; on the Circle and District lines, it is between
WestminsterWestminster is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster. It is served by the Circle, District and Jubilee lines. On the Circle and District lines, the station is between St. James's Park and Embankment and, on the Jubilee line it is between Green Park and Waterloo. It is in...
and
TempleTemple is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster, between Victoria Embankment and Temple Place. It is on the Circle and District lines between Embankment and Blackfriars and is in Travelcard Zone 1. The station entrance is from Victoria Embankment...
and is in
Travelcard Zone 1Fare zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. For most tickets, travel through the zone is charged...
. The station has two entrances, one on
Victoria EmbankmentThe Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London.-Construction:...
and the other on
Villiers StreetVilliers Street is a street in London connecting The Strand with The Embankment. It was built by Nicholas Bourbon in the 1670s on the site of York House, the property of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham whose name the street commemorates...
. The station is adjacent to
Victoria Embankment GardensThe Victoria Embankment Gardens are a series of gardens on the north side of the River Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and Westminster Bridge in London.- History :...
and is close to
Charing Cross stationCharing Cross railway station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...
,
Embankment PierEmbankment Pier is a pier on the River Thames in London, UK. It is located on the North Bank of the river, immediately next to the Hungerford Bridge and directly outside the river entrance to Embankment tube station...
,
Hungerford BridgeThe Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. It is a steel truss railway bridge—sometimes known as the Charing Cross Bridge—flanked by two more recent, cable-stayed, pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's...
,
Cleopatra's NeedleCleopatra's Needle is the popular name for each of three Ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the nineteenth century. The London and New York ones are a pair, while the Paris one comes from a different original site where its twin remains...
, the
Royal Air Force MemorialThe Royal Air Force Memorial is a 1923 military memorial on the Victoria Embankment in central London, dedicated to the memory of the casualties of the Royal Air Force in World War I...
, the
Savoy ChapelThe Savoy Chapel or the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy is a chapel off the Strand, London, dedicated to St John the Baptist. It was originally built in the medieval era off the main church of the Savoy Palace...
and
Savoy HotelThe Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
and the
PlayhouseThe Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery...
and New Players Theatres.
The station is in two parts: sub-surface platforms opened in 1870 by the
Metropolitan District RailwayThe Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...
(MDR) as part of the company's extension of the
Inner Circle eastwards from Westminster to
BlackfriarsBlackfriars station, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. Its platforms will eventually span the River Thames a short distance downstream from Blackfriars Bridge. The current entrance is located on the...
and deep-level platforms opened in 1906 by the
Baker Street and Waterloo RailwayThe Baker Street and Waterloo Railway , also known as the Bakerloo tube, was a railway company established in 1893 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London...
(BS&WR) and 1914 by the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR). A variety of underground and mainline services have operated over the sub-surface tracks and the CCE&HR part of the station was reconstructed in the 1920s.
Sub-surface station
The station was opened on 30 May 1870 by the MDR (now the District line) when the railway extended its line from Westminster to Blackfriars. The construction of the new section of the MDR was planned in conjunction with the building of the Victoria Embankment and was achieved by the cut and cover method of roofing over a trench. Due to its proximity to the
South Eastern RailwayThe South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
's Charing Cross station, the station was originally called
Charing Cross.
The MDR connected to the MR (now the
Metropolitan lineThe Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
) at
South KensingtonSouth Kensington is a London Underground station in Kensington, west London. It is served by the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. On the District and Circle lines, the station is between Gloucester Road and Sloane Square, and on the Piccadilly Line, it is between Gloucester Road and...
and, although the two companies were rivals, each company operated its trains over the other's tracks in a joint service known as the
Inner Circle. On 1 February 1872, the MDR opened a northbound branch from its station at
Earl's CourtEarl's Court tube station is a London Underground station in Earls Court. The station is located between Earls Court Road and Warwick Road . It is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 and 2 and is in both zones....
to connect to the
West London Extension Joint RailwayThe West London Line is a short railway in inner West London which links lines at in the south to lines near Willesden Junction in the north. It has always been an important cross-London link especially for freight services...
(WLEJR, now the
West London LineThe West London Line is a short railway in inner West London which links lines at in the south to lines near Willesden Junction in the north. It has always been an important cross-London link especially for freight services...
) at
Addison RoadKensington station is a station in West London managed and served by London Overground and also served by Southern and London Underground. It is in Travelcard Zone 2...
(now Kensington (Olympia)). From that date the
Outer CircleThe Outer Circle was a railway route in London operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries over tracks which are now mainly owned by Network Rail but include parts of the London Underground...
service began running over the MDR's tracks. The service was run by the
North London RailwayThe North London Railway was a railway company that opened lines connecting the north of London to the East and West India Docks. The main east to west route is now part the North London Line. Other lines operated by the company fell into disuse, but were later revived as part of the Docklands...
(NLR) from its terminus at Broad Street (now demolished) in the
City of LondonThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
via the
North London LineThe North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
to
Willesden JunctionWillesden Junction station is a Network Rail station in Harlesden, northwest London, UK. It is served by both London Overground and the Bakerloo line of the London Underground.-History:The station developed on three contiguous sites:...
, then the West London Line to Addison Road and the MDR to
Mansion HouseMansion House is a London Underground station in the City of London, near Mansion House . It is a sub-surface station served by trains on the Circle and District Lines. It is between Blackfriars and Cannon Street stations. The station is located at the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Cannon...
– at that time the eastern terminus of the MDR.
From 1 August 1872, the
Middle CircleThe Middle Circle was a railway route in London which operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries over tracks which are now mainly part of the London Underground...
service also began operations through South Kensington, running from
MoorgateMoorgate station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and...
along the MR's tracks on the north side of the Inner Circle to Paddington, then over the
Hammersmith & City RailwayThe Hammersmith & City line is a subsurface London Underground line. It connects Hammersmith in the west with Barking in the east, running through the northern part of central London. It is coloured salmon pink on the Tube map...
(H&CR) track to
Latimer RoadLatimer Road Station is a London Underground station in North Kensington on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines between Wood Lane and Ladbroke Grove stations...
, then, via a now demolished link, on the WLEJR to Addison Road and the MDR to Mansion House. The service was operated jointly by the H&CR and the MDR.
On 30 June 1900, the Middle Circle service was shortened to terminate at Earl's Court, and, on 31 December 1908, the Outer Circle service was withdrawn from the MDR tracks. In 1949, the Metropolitan line-operated Inner Circle route was given its own identity on the
tube mapThe Tube map is a schematic transit map representing the lines and stations of London's rapid transit railway systems, namely the London Underground , the Docklands Light Railway and London Overground....
as the Circle line.
Deep-level station
In 1897 the MDR obtained parliamentary permission to construct a deep-level tube railway running between
Gloucester Road-Deep-level station:By the beginning of the 20th century, the MDR had been extended to Richmond, Ealing Broadway, Hounslow West and Wimbledon in the west and to New Cross Gate in the east...
and
Mansion HouseMansion House is a London Underground station in the City of London, near Mansion House . It is a sub-surface station served by trains on the Circle and District Lines. It is between Blackfriars and Cannon Street stations. The station is located at the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Cannon...
beneath the sub-surface line. The new line was to be an express route using electric trains to relieve congestion on the sub-surface tracks. Only one intermediate station was planned, at Charing Cross, 63 feet (19.2 m) below the sub-surface platforms. No immediate work was carried out on the deep-level line, and the subsequent take over of the MDR by the
Underground Electric Railways Company of LondonThe Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited , known operationally as The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use...
(UERL) and the resignalling and electrification of the MDR's routes between 1903 and 1905 meant that congestion was relieved without needing to construct the deep-level line. The plan was dropped in 1908.
On 10 March 1906, the BS&WR (now the Bakerloo Line) opened with its deep-level platforms beneath and at ninety degrees to the platforms of the MDR. Although an interchange was provided between the two separate railways, the BS&WR named its station differently as
Embankment.
On 6 April 1914, the CCE&HR (now a part of the Northern line) opened a one stop extension south from its terminus at
Charing CrossCharing Cross tube station is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster with entrances located in Trafalgar Square and The Strand. The station is served by the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at station...
. The extension was constructed to facilitate a better interchange between the BS&WR and CCE&HR. Both lines were owned by the UERL which operated two separate and unconnected stations at the northern end of main line station -
Trafalgar Square on the BS&WR and
Charing Cross on the CCE&HR (both now part of a combined Charing Cross station). The CCE&HR extension was constructed as a single track tunnel running south from Charing Cross as a loop under the
River ThamesThe River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and back. A single platform was constructed on the northbound return section of the loop, and escalators were installed between both sets of deep-level platforms and the sub-surface station. The interchange time was reduced from three minutes fifteen seconds to one minute and forty-five seconds.
A new station building was constructed that
Sir John BetjemanSir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
described as "the most charming of all the Edwardian and neo-Georgian Renaissance stations." For the opening of the CCE&HR extension, the deep-level parts of the station were named
Charing Cross (Embankment) although the sub-surface platforms remained as
Charing Cross. In 1915, this was rectified by changing the name of the whole station to
Charing Cross. The CCE&HR station to the north was renamed
Strand at the same time.
In the 1920s, as part of the construction of what is now the Northern line, the CCE&HR was extended south to
WaterlooWaterloo tube station is a London Underground station located at Waterloo station. It is the second busiest station on the network and is served by the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and the Waterloo & City lines...
and
KenningtonKennington tube station is a London Underground station in Newington/ Walworth on Kennington Park Road, on both the Charing Cross and Bank branches of the Northern Line. Its neighbours to the north are Waterloo on the Charing Cross branch and Elephant & Castle on the Bank branch; the next station...
where it was connected to the
City & South London RailwayThe City and South London Railway was the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction...
. The loop tunnel under the river was abandoned (although the present northbound Northern line platform follows its course) and two new tunnels were bored south. To this day the southbound Northern line platform is the only one of the four deep level platforms that is not connected to any of the others by deep level walkways. The new extension was opened on 13 September 1926.
The loop itself still exists, although it was penetrated by a bomb and flooded during
the BlitzThe Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
in the Second World War. Fortunately, the loop had been sealed off years before. In September 1938, during the Sudeten Crisis, when war appeared imminent, the Bakerloo and Northern Line tunnels at Embankment were temporarily sealed with concrete to protect against flooding through bombing. The blockage was removed after little more than a week once the crisis had passed. At the outbreak of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in September 1939, the tunnels were blocked again until electrically powered emergency doors could be installed in the tunnel mouths. The tunnels reopened in December 1939.
On 4 August 1974, the station was once again renamed
Charing Cross Embankment. Then, on 12 September 1976, it became
Embankment, so that the merged
Strand and
Trafalgar Square stations could be named
Charing CrossCharing Cross tube station is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster with entrances located in Trafalgar Square and The Strand. The station is served by the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at station...
.
Rail accident, 1938
At about 09:55 on 17 May 1938 an eastbound Inner Circle train collided with an eastbound
Ealing BroadwayEaling Broadway is an east-west National Rail and London Underground station in Ealing in west London. The station is located in Haven Green , at the termination of The Broadway, and is in Travelcard Zone 3.-Services:...
–
BarkingBarking station is a railway station served by National Rail and London Underground services. It is located in Barking in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London, England. The station is in Zone 4, has nine platforms, and is managed by c2c. It has been proposed that ownership of...
District line train to the east of the station. The Barking train had been stopped at an automatic signal on its way to Temple station. Six passengers were killed and 43 injured. The cause of the accident was a faulty signal, which showed a green "proceed" aspect to the second train even though the line ahead was not clear. This was a result of a wrong connection made during the previous night when some minor alterations to wiring were made.
Services
The station is in London fare zone 1. On the District and Circle lines, the station is between Westminster and Temple, and, on the Northern and Bakerloo lines, it is between Charing Cross and Waterloo. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally District line trains operate every 2–6 minutes from approximately 05:30 to 00:40 eastbound and 05:50 to 00:35 westbound; they are supplemented by Circle line trains every 8–12 minutes from approximately 05:35 to 00:20 clockwise and 05:50 to 00:25 anticlockwise. Northern line trains operate every 2–5 minutes from approximately 05:40 to 00:40 southbound and 05:40 to 00:40 northbound. Bakerloo line trains operate every 2–5 minutes from approximately 06:00 to 00:35 southbound and 05:40 to 00:30 northbound.
Transport links
London bus route
388 and night route N550 serve the station.
External links