Charing Cross tube station

This article is about the London Underground station. For the National Rail station, see Charing Cross railway station.

Charing Cross

Mural of the construction of Charing Cross on Northern line platforms
Charing Cross Location of Charing Cross in Central London#
Location	Charing Cross
Local authority	City of Westminster
Managed by	London Underground
Owner	London Underground
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	1
OSI	Charing Cross NR
London Underground annual entry and exit
2008	23.390 million
2009	22.842 million
2010	21.390 million
1906	Opened (BS&WR)
1907	Opened (CCE&HR)
1973	Closed (Northern Line)
1979	Opened (Jubilee Line)
1979	Reopened (Northern Line)
1999	Closed (Jubilee Line)
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
London Transport portal

Charing 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 Charing Cross station. On the Northern Line it is between Embankment and Leicester Square stations on the Charing Cross branch, and on the Bakerloo Line it is between Embankment and Piccadilly Circus stations. The station is in Travelcard Zone 1.

The station was served by the Jubilee Line between 1979 and 1999, acting as the southern terminus of the line during that period.

For most of the history of the Underground the name Charing Cross was associated not with this station but with the station now known as Embankment. See below for the complex history of the name.

History

The Northern line and Bakerloo line parts of the station were originally opened as two separate stations and were combined when the now defunct Jubilee Line platforms were opened. The constituent stations also underwent a number of name changes during their history.

The first part of the complex, the Bakerloo line platforms, was opened as Trafalgar Square by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (BS&WR) on 10 March 1906.

The Northern line platforms were opened as Charing Cross by the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR, now the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line) on 22 June 1907. At its opening this station was the southern terminus of the CCE&HR which ran to two northern termini at Golders Green and Highgate (now Archway) tube stations.

Although both lines were owned and operated by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), there was no direct connection below ground and passengers interchanging between the lines had to do so via two sets of lifts and the surface.

In an effort to improve interchange capabilities, the CCE&HR was extended the short distance south under Charing Cross main line station to connect with the BS&WR and the District Railway (another UERL line), opening as such on 6 April 1914. The interchange station between the BS&WR and District had been known hitherto as Charing Cross (District) and Embankment (BS&WR). The original CCE&HR terminus to the north of Charing Cross main line station was renamed Charing Cross (Strand) and the new station and the BS&WR station to the south of the main line station was named Charing Cross (Embankment). These names lasted only a short time: on 9 May 1915, Charing Cross (Strand) was renamed Strand and for Charing Cross (Embankment) the tube lines adopted the District Railway name of Charing Cross. At the same time, the separate Strand station on the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway was also renamed Aldwych to avoid confusion.

The Northern line Strand station was closed on 4 June 1973 to enable the construction of the new Jubilee line platforms. These platforms were constructed between the Bakerloo line and Northern line platforms together with the long-missing below-ground interchange between those two lines. In anticipation of the new interchange station, from 4 August 1974 Charing Cross was renamed Charing Cross Embankment. The Jubilee line platforms and the refurbished Northern Line platforms opened on 1 May 1979 from which date the combined station including Trafalgar Square was given its current name; simultaneously Charing Cross Embankment reverted to the original BS&WR name of Embankment, ending 109 years of association with the name Charing Cross.

How the Charing Cross area of the London Underground Map looked in 1972 and 1979 alongside the same area in 2006

Although Charing Cross was constructed as the southern terminus of the Jubilee line, plans already existed to continue the line to the east towards Lewisham in south-east London. The tunnels were therefore constructed beyond the station beneath Strand as far as 143 Strand, almost as far as Aldwych station which would have been the next stop on the line. The subsequent regeneration of the Docklands in London's East End during the 1980s and 1990s required additional transport infrastructure and the eventual route of the extension took the new tunnels south from Green Park to provide new interchanges at Westminster, Waterloo and London Bridge stations and then on to Greenwich and Stratford.

The new tunnels branch away from the original south of Green Park station and, on the opening of the final section of the line between Green Park and Waterloo stations on 20 November 1999, the Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross were closed to the travelling public. The escalators continuing down to the closed platforms can, however, still be seen through closed doors at the bottom of the escalators from the ticket hall.

Design

One of the entrances to Charing Cross tube station from Trafalgar Square.

A 100 metre (330 ft) long mural along the Northern line platforms was designed by David Gentleman. It shows scenes from the construction of the original Charing Cross, memorial of Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I.

Former Jubilee line platforms

Although now closed to the public, the Jubilee Line platforms of Charing Cross station are still maintained by TfL for use by film and television makers needing a modern Underground station location. While still open they were used in the 1987 film The Fourth Protocol, and after closure in numerous productions, including different episodes of the television series Spooks, the films Creep (2004), 28 Weeks Later (2007), The Deaths of Ian Stone (2007), Skyfall (2012) and the video for the Alex Parks's single "Cry".

In 2006, it was proposed that an extension to the Docklands Light Railway from Bank station would take over the platforms. Intermediate stations at Aldwych and City Thameslink would be opened, mirroring the planned route of the old Fleet Line.

In 2010, the concourse serving the platforms was used for London Underground's licensed busking auditions.

The Jubilee Line platforms are still used by Jubilee Line trains as a sidings to reverse trains from south to north; to do so southbound trains terminate and detrain at Green Park Station and are worked empty to Charing Cross platform. The tunnels also extend beyond the platforms into the "Overrun". Each overrun has the capacity to stable a further two trains each.

Nearby places of interest

• Trafalgar Square
• National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery
• South Africa House
• Canada House
• St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Nelson's Column
• Admiralty Arch
• Savoy Hotel
• The Mall
• Whitehall
• Covent Garden

References

• Demuth, Tim (2004). The Spread of London's Underground, 2nd ed. Published by Capital Transport, in co-operation with London Transport Museum. ISBN 1-85414-277-1. 
• Harris, Cyril M (2004). What's in a name?, 4th ed. (reprint). Published by Capital Transport, in co-operation with London Transport Museum. ISBN 1-85414-241-0. 

External links

• The Charing Cross-Embankment-Strand conundrum explains the various names of the tube stations in this area.
• London's Abandoned Tube Stations - Charing Cross
• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Subway entrance to Trafalgar Square station, 1906
  • Stairway entrance to Charing Cross station from Craven Street, 1909
  • Trafalgar Square station booking hall, 1922
  • Strand station booking hall, 1927
  • Craven Street entrance to Strand station, 1937. Note sign pointing way to Bakerloo Line.
  • Strand station booking hall, 1973, two weeks after closure for reconstruction
  • New Charing Cross station booking hall, 1979
  • Platform Murals
    • Northern Line - Construction of Charing Cross
    • Bakerloo Line - Pictures from the National Gallery
    • Jubilee Line - Images of Nelson's Column

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Piccadilly Circus towards Harrow & Wealdstone		Bakerloo line		Embankment towards Elephant & Castle
Leicester Square towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet		Northern line Charing Cross branch		Embankment towards Morden or Kennington
		Former services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Green Park towards Stanmore		Jubilee line		Terminus
Green Park towards Stanmore		Jubilee line Phase 2 (never constructed)		Aldwych towards Fenchurch Street