Piccadilly Circus tube station

Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus Location of Piccadilly Circus in Central London
Location	Piccadilly Circus
Local authority	City of Westminster
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2012	42.36 million[1]
2013	41.70 million[1]
2014	42.93 million[1]
2015	42.80 million[1]
Key dates
1906	Opened
Listed status
Listing grade	II
Entry number	1226877[2]
Added to list	07 March 1984
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
WGS84	51°30′36″N 0°08′02″W / 51.5101°N 0.1340°WCoordinates: 51°30′36″N 0°08′02″W / 51.5101°N 0.1340°W
London Transport portal

Piccadilly Circus is a London Underground station located directly beneath Piccadilly Circus itself, with entrances at every corner. Located in Travelcard Zone 1, the station is on the Piccadilly line between Green Park and Leicester Square and on the Bakerloo line between Charing Cross and Oxford Circus.

History

The station was opened on 10 March 1906 by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (now the Bakerloo line) with the platforms of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (now the Piccadilly line) being opened on 15 December 1906.^[3] As originally built it had, like other stations, a surface booking hall (designed, like many in central London built at that time, by Leslie Green). The development of traffic before and after World War I meant that the need for improved station facilities was acute – in 1907 1.5 million passengers used the station, by 1922 it had grown to 18 million passengers.^[4] It was decided to construct a sub-surface booking hall and circulating area, which would also provide public pedestrian subways. Work began in February 1925 and was completed in 1928. The architect was Charles Holden and the builder was John Mowlem & Co: the whole complex cost more than half-a-million pounds. Eleven escalators were provided in two flights, leading to the two lines serving the station. Above these escalators was once a mural by artist Stephen Bone, showing the world with London at its centre.^[5] This mural was later replaced by advertising.

The circular station concourse below the Circus

The old station building designed by Leslie Green finally closed for traffic on 21 July 1929,^[6] it was demolished in the 1980s when the large building on the corner of Jermyn Street, Piccadilly and Haymarket was constructed.

The Bakerloo line platforms at Piccadilly Circus offer a unique view on the network: the back to back layout is itself unusual, but the single tunnel containing a crossover at the north end of the station allows passengers to see both platforms at once. This station can act as an intermediate terminus for southbound Bakerloo line trains. Piccadilly Circus is one of the few London Underground stations which have no associated buildings above ground.

Future

Piccadilly Circus is a proposed stop on the Chelsea-Hackney Line, also known as the Crossrail 2.^[7] It would be between Victoria and Tottenham Court Road stations. Effectively a new station would have to be built under the existing levels, possibly as part of a major overhaul of the existing buildings. However, there will only be a stop at Piccadilly Circus if the Chelsea-Hackney Line is part of the London Underground network and not part of the National Rail network. This is the same situation with many stations on the proposed route in Central London.

Connections

London Buses routes 3, 6, 12, 13, 14, 19, 22, 23, 38, 88, 94, 139, 159 and 453 and night routes N3, N13, N18, N19, N22, N29, N38, N97, N109 and N136 serves the station.

References

1. "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures" (XLS). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
2. Historic England. "Piccadilly Circus Underground Station Booking Hall Concourse and Bronzework to Pavement Subway Entrances (1226877)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
3. Railway Gazette International. Reed Business Pub. July 1940. p. 320.
4. "Underground Journeys: Piccadilly new station". Royal Institute of British Architects. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011.
5. "Underground Journeys: Piccadilly Circus cutaway". Royal Institute of British Architects. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
6. Lee, Charles Edward (1966). Sixty years of the Piccadilly. London Transport Board. p. 23.
7. "Chelsea-Hackney Line: Safeguarding directions" (PDF). Crossrail Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 January 2011.

External links

• "Photographic Archive". London Transport Museum. Archived from the original on 18 March 2008.
  • Original station building shortly after opening
  • Sub-surface ticket hall in 1929
  • 1936 poster showing cut away of underground station arrangement
• "Underground Journeys: The Heart of London". Illustrated history of Piccadilly Circus station. Royal Institute of British Architects. Archived from the original on 4 May 2011.