The hidden world under London revealed thanks to the London Transport Museum

Written by Jonathan Gordon

A station entrance as it looked in 1965

BENEATH THE BRIGHT LIGHTS

PICCADILLY CIRCUS 1906 – PRESENT

As the station for one of the most visited landmarks in London, Piccadilly Circus is a major hub for the Underground network. It averaged around 40 million passengers annually in the years prior to the COVID pandemic. During WWII its disused tunnels acted as a shelter not only to the public, but to art from the London Museum and Tate Gallery. Modernised in the 1920s, the station has been opened up in unique ways to visitors who can see some of the Grade II listed building’s secret doors, passages and original features. The entire story of London’s Underground and how it has developed over the years can be found here.

Planning committee leader Shelagh Roberts of the Greater London Council opens Charing Cross Underground station in 1979

All images: © TfL, © Getty Images

UNDER TRAFALGAR SQUARE

CHARING CROSS STATION 1864 – PRESENT

Charing Cross station started its life serving London commuters in 1864 as a railway station before becoming an early stop for the District Line as it emerged from 1870. However, the station as we know it today has gone through a lot of changes, not least of which is its name. The London Underground portions of the station were originally Trafalgar Square, named after the famous public space above, which opened in 1906 and Strand, which opened in 1907. These merged as Charing Cross, but also broke off as Embankment. However, the historically interesting bit is at Charing Cross where you could once have boarded the Jubilee Line.