Gloucester Road tube station
Encyclopedia

Deep-level station

By the beginning of the 20th century, the MDR had been extended to Richmond
Richmond station (London)
Richmond station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London which is managed by South West Trains....

, Ealing Broadway
Ealing Broadway station
Ealing 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:...

, Hounslow West
Hounslow West tube station
Hounslow West is a London Underground station in Hounslow in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, between Hatton Cross and Hounslow Central stations. The station is located on Bath Road about 600m from the junction of Bath Road, Great West Road and Great...

 and Wimbledon
Wimbledon station
Wimbledon station is a National Rail, London Underground, and Tramlink station located in Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton, and is the only London station that provides an interchange between rail, Underground, and Tramlink services...

 in the west and to New Cross Gate
New Cross Gate station
New Cross Gate station is a railway station in New Cross, London, on the Brighton Main Line. It is about 600 metres west of station. It is in Travelcard Zone 2, on the East London Line. The station is operated by London Overground.-History:...

 in the east. The southern section of the Inner Circle was suffering considerable congestion between South Kensington and Mansion House, between which stations the MDR was running an average of 20 trains per hour with more in the peak periods.

To relieve the congestion, the MDR planned an express deep-level tube line starting from a connection to its sub-surface tracks west of Gloucester Road and running to Mansion House. The tunnels were planned to run about 60 to 70 ft (18.3 to 21.3 m) beneath the existing sub-surface route with only one intermediate stop at Charing Cross
Embankment tube station
Embankment is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster, known by various names during its history. It is served by the Circle, District, Northern and Bakerloo lines. On the Northern and Bakerloo lines, the station is between Waterloo and Charing Cross stations; on the Circle and...

 (now Embankment). Parliamentary approval was obtained in 1897 but no work was done. In 1898, the MDR took over the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR) which had a route planned from South Kensington to Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...

. The route was modified to join the MDR deep-level route at South Kensington.

Following the purchase of the MDR by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London
Underground Electric Railways Company of London
The 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...

 in 1902, the planned MDR and B&PCR lines were merged with a third proposed route from the Great Northern and Strand Railway. The MDR deep-level route was revised at its western end to continue to Earl's Court and surface to the east of Barons Court
Barons Court tube station
Barons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington, Greater London. This station services the District Line and the Piccadilly Line. The station is located on Gliddon Road, a short distance from Talgarth Road in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham...

. The deep-level platforms were opened on 15 December 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly line) which ran between Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park station
Finsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. The interchange consists of an interconnected National Rail station, London Underground station and two bus stations. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place...

 and Hammersmith. A new surface building for the lifts was designed by Leslie Green
Leslie Green
Leslie William Green was an English architect known especially for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20th century....

 with the GNP&BR's distinctive ox-blood red glazed terracotta
Glazed architectural terra-cotta
Glazed architectural terra-cotta is a ceramic masonry building material popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s, and still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments...

 façade.

As part of the development over the sub-surface platforms, the station buildings were remodelled internally to share a single entrance and ticket office. Space in the Piccadilly line building that was formerly used for operational purposes or as the exit to the street is now used for retail purposes. During the 2000s, the deep-level parts of the station underwent refurbishment with areas of damaged wall tiles being replaced. The dark green and cream tiled walls of the Piccadilly line's lower level passages and platforms were restored, with damaged tiles being replaced by reproductions to match the original designs.

On 24 May 1957 Teresa Lubienska, a Polish Countess who had survived Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...

, was stabbed five times on the eastbound Piccadilly line platform and died shortly afterwards. Her attacker was never caught.

Services

The station is in London fare zone 1. On the District and Piccadilly lines, the station is between Earl's Court and South Kensington, and on the Circle line, it is between High Street Kensington and South Kensington. Gloucester Road is the westernmost interchange between these three lines, although the tube map
Tube map
The 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....

 promotes the easier interchange at South Kensington. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally District line trains operate every 2–6 minutes from approximately 05:15 to 00:30 eastbound and 06:00 to 00:45 westbound; they are supplemented by Circle line trains every 8–12 minutes from approximately 05:20 to 00:30 clockwise and 05:15 to 00:15 anticlockwise. Piccadilly line trains operate every 2–6 minutes from approximately 05:40 to 00:25 eastbound and 05:55 to 00:40 westbound.

On the Piccadilly line 1973 Stock is used, on the Circle line C Stock is used and on the District line D78 Stock is used. Starting in 2011 S Stock will replace C Stock on the Circle line.

Transport links

London bus routes 49
London Buses route 49
London Buses route 49 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to London United.-History:Route 49 is a long standing route, once running as far as Crystal Palace...

, 74
London Buses route 74
London Buses route 74 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.-History:...

 and night routes N74 and N97 serve the station.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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