Goodge Street tube station

Goodge Street

Entrance on Tottenham Court Road
Goodge Street Location of Goodge Street in Central London
Location	Tottenham Court Road
Local authority	Camden
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2008	8.490 million
2009	8.699 million
2010	9.030 million
1907	Opened (CCE&HR)
Lists of stations	DLR · Underground · National Rail · Tramlink

Goodge Street ( /ˈɡuːdʒ/) is a London Underground station on Tottenham Court Road. It is on the Northern Line between Tottenham Court Road and Warren Street, and is in Travelcard Zone 1.

History

It was opened on 22 June 1907 as Tottenham Court Road but changed to the present name on 3 September 1908 when an interchange was built between the previously separate (and differently named) Northern Line and Central Line stations at the present Tottenham Court Road. Goodge Street station changed its name on the same date.

It is one of the few tube stations that still rely on lifts rather than escalators to transport passengers to and from street level. There is a stairwell if one chooses not to use the lifts. This stairwell is for the fit, it is a spiral stair well and extremely steep consisting of 136 steps. In addition, it is one of the few tube stations with lifts to use the original scheme of separate exit and entrance areas.

Although the station is extremely busy at peak times, the flow is heavily one-sided. Very few people enter the station when the majority are exiting and vice versa, and four full lifts, travelling in one direction, often return in the opposite direction with only a few people between them.

Deep-level air-raid shelter

Goodge Street is one of eight London Underground stations which has a World War II deep-level air-raid shelter underneath it. From late 1943 until the end of World War II, the Goodge Street shelter was used by SHAEF (/ˈʃeɪf/) the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. It was from here on 6 June 1944 that General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, broadcast the announcement of the invasion of France. The shelter has two entrances - one on Chenies Street (pictured below) and the other on Tottenham Court Road next to the American Church.

In the invasion preparations, the Goodge Street Station was used only as a signals installation by the Signal Corps of the US Army. It was one of a number of signals installations for communications in and around London. Among the installations were SHAEF headquarters at 20 Grosvenor Square and the Basement of Selfridge's Department store on Oxford Street. Both buildings exist today. In addition, General Eisenhower did not make any D Day announcement broadcast from the Goodge Street Station or any commercial radio station. He first sent an encoded dispatch to President Roosevelt and then called Prime Minister Churchill. His decision to launch the invasion was made from his invasion headquarters at Southwick House, near Portsmouth. Check www.historyarticles.com.

After the war the shelters were used as a hostel that could accommodate up to 8000 troops.

In popular culture

The former shelter is the setting for much of the 1960s Doctor Who serial "The Web of Fear". Dialogue in the story mentions the shelter's former use in World War II, and the exit in Chenies Street.

The station is the setting of the song "Sunny Goodge Street" from the 1965 album Fairytale by singer-songwriter Donovan

Gallery

• 

  Northbound platform looking south

• 

  Southbound platform looking north

• 

  Platform roundel

• 

  One entrance to Goodge Street deep level shelter

External links

• London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Goodge Street station, 1925
• More photographs of Goodge Street station

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Tottenham Court Road towards Kennington or Morden (via Charing Cross)		Northern line Charing Cross Branch		Warren Street towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet