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Charing Cross (sometimes informally abbreviated as Charing +, Charing X, CHX or CH+) is a
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...
station at
Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...
in the
City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
. The station is served by the
Bakerloo The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partl ...
and
Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
lines and provides an interchange with Charing Cross mainline station. On the Bakerloo line it is between
Embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railway ...
and Piccadilly Circus stations and on the Northern line it is between Embankment and
Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicest ...
stations. The station is in fare zone 1. Charing Cross was originally two separate stations, known for most of their existence as Trafalgar Square (on the Bakerloo line) and Strand (on the Northern line). The Bakerloo line platforms were opened by the
Baker Street and Waterloo Railway The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (BS&WR), also known as the Bakerloo tube, was a railway company established in 1893 that built a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. The company struggled to fund the work, and construction di ...
in 1906 and the Northern line platforms by the
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway The Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR), also known as the Hampstead Tube, was a railway company established in 1891 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. Construction of the CCE&HR was delayed for ...
in 1907. In the 1970s, in preparation for the opening of the
Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in east London and in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the Underground network, although some secti ...
, the two earlier stations were connected together with new below ground passageways. When the Jubilee line platforms opened in 1979, the combined station was given the current name. Jubilee line services ended in 1999 when the line was extended to Stratford. The station has entrances in
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
,
Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...
, Villiers Street, Adelaide Street, William IV Street and in the mainline station. It is close to the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, the National Portrait Gallery, Admiralty Arch,
St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
,
Canada House Canada House (french: Maison du Canada) is a Greek Revival building on Trafalgar Square in London. It has been a Grade II* Listed Building since 1970. It has served as the offices of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom since ...
,
South Africa House South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sun� ...
, the
Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August ...
, The Mall, Northumberland Avenue and
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...
.


History


Planning

From the 1860s to the 1900s numerous schemes for underground railways through central London were proposed, often using similar routes. Many of the schemes submitted to Parliament for approval as
private bill Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single ...
s included proposals for lines through the Charing Cross area with stations serving the South Eastern Railway's (SER's) Charing Cross mainline terminus and the area around Trafalgar Square.


1860s and 1870s

The first proposal came before Parliament in 1864, a year after the opening of the
Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...
, the world's first underground railway, and the year the mainline station opened. The
North Western and Charing Cross Railway The North Western and Charing Cross Railway (NW&CCR) was a railway company established in 1864 to construct an underground railway in London. The NW&CCR was one of many underground railway schemes proposed for London following the opening in 1863 ...
(NW&CCR) proposed a line in a cut-and-cover tunnel between the
London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
's terminus at Euston and Charing Cross. The was to have its own station on the north side of Strand before it came to the surface alongside the main line station and connected to the tracks on
Hungerford Bridge The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (who use its official name of Charing Cross Bridge) it is a steel truss railway brid ...
. The railway was approved in July 1864. The following year, the
Waterloo and Whitehall Railway The Waterloo and Whitehall Railway was a proposed and partly constructed 19th century Rammell pneumatic railway in central London intended to run under the River Thames just upstream from Hungerford Bridge, running from Waterloo station to th ...
(W&WR) received permission to construct a short railway between
Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...
and a station at the western end of
Great Scotland Yard Great Scotland Yard is a street in the St. James's district of Westminster, London, connecting Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall. By the 16th century, this 'yard', which was then an open space for the Palace of Whitehall, was fronted by buil ...
at the junction with Whitehall. The line was to be a
pneumatic railway An atmospheric railway uses differential air pressure to provide power for propulsion of a railway vehicle. A static power source can transmit motive power to the vehicle in this way, avoiding the necessity of carrying mobile power generating e ...
with the carriages sucked and pushed through the tunnels like a piston by fans at Waterloo. Construction works began for the ends of the cut and cover tunnels on each side of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
and part of the cast-iron cylinder that was to be sunk into a trench dredged into the bed of the river. Progress on both railways was halted in the
Panic of 1866 The Panic of 1866 was an international financial downturn that accompanied the failure of Overend, Gurney and Company in London, and the ''corso forzoso'' abandonment of the silver standard in Italy. In Britain, the economic impacts are hel ...
, a major crash in the London and international
stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, ...
s that led to the collapse of a number of banks and prevented funds being raised to continue the works. The was
liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are re ...
in 1868, and the plans were abandoned in 1869. The plans were revived with minor changes by the Euston, St Pancras and Charing Cross Railway in 1870. A station was planned at the same location as the . Parliamentary approval was granted in 1871 and the company changed its name to the London Central Railway, but the scheme was again unable to raise sufficient funds. It was abandoned in 1874.


1880s

In 1881, the Central Metropolitan Railway proposed a cut-and-cover line running from Parliament Square to St Pancras. At the southern end, the line was to run under Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and
St Martin's Lane St Martin's Lane is a street in the City of Westminster, which runs from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre. At its northern end, it becomes Monmouth Street. St Marti ...
, though the location of the station was not recorded. The section under Whitehall was opposed by the government and it was removed so that the line was to terminate at Charing Cross, but the whole scheme was rejected by Parliament in 1882. Another proposal in 1881 was the Charing Cross and Waterloo Electric Railway (CC&WER). The proposal was similar to the 17 years earlier; a short line running in iron pipes sunk into the river bed connecting Waterloo station to the north side of the river, this time to a station under Trafalgar Square. The scheme was the first in the UK to propose the use of electric traction for its trains and was supported by
Sir William Siemens Sir Carl Wilhelm Siemens (4 April 1823 – 19 November 1883), anglicised to Charles William Siemens, was a German-British electrical engineer and businessman. Biography Siemens was born in the village of Lenthe, today part of Gehrden, near Han ...
whose electrical engineering company Siemens Brothers was to provide the electrical equipment. The was approved in August 1882. A proposal to extend the route to the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
was submitted to Parliament later that year, but was withdrawn the following year as the company struggled to raise funds. In 1883, the London Central Electric Railway, proposed an extension of the ; this time from the Charing Cross end with the line running to the
General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
at
St Martin's Le Grand St. Martin's Le Grand is a former liberty within the City of London, and is the name of a street north of Newgate Street and Cheapside and south of Aldersgate Street. It forms the southernmost section of the A1 road. College of canons and col ...
. The plan was rejected. William Siemens died in 1883 and the plan was abandoned in 1885. In 1884, proposals were made for two cut-and-cover lines to link Charing Cross with one of the northern terminals. The first proposal, the Charing Cross and Euston Railway, proposed a line between those two stations. At Charing Cross a terminal station was to be provided under Villiers Street which was to be closed to allow a separate branch to rise to the surface to cross the river on a new bridge adjacent to Hungerford bridge before connecting to the tracks south of the river. The bill was withdrawn in February 1885. The second proposal, the London Central Subway), proposed connecting Charing Cross and King's Cross. The station at Charing Cross was to be beneath the south side of Trafalgar Square below ground. The government's
Office of Works The Office of Works was established in the English royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department forces within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Reven ...
objected to the proposed alignment on the north side of Trafalgar Square because it believed the tunnels would compromise the foundations of the National Gallery. The bill was withdrawn in April 1885. Also in 1884, the King's Cross, Charing Cross and Waterloo Subway submitted a proposal to construct a line linking the three mainline terminals in its name. Unlike the earlier schemes and those of the Charing Cross and Euston Railway and London Central Subway, the company planned to construct its line at a deeper level with the tunnels constructed using a tunnelling shield and lined with cast-iron segments. The stations were to be constructed using the cut-and-cover technique with one platform above the other. Two stations were to be constructed close to Charing Cross: one to the south at the junction of Northumberland Avenue and Northumberland Street and one to the north in St Martin's Place. The bill was withdrawn in May 1885. In 1889, the North and South London Subway was proposed. It was to connect
Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...
and
Elephant & Castle The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground stati ...
, and proposed a station north of the National Gallery at the junction of
Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction ...
and Green Street (now Irving Street). The bill was announced, but was not submitted to parliament.


1890s

Following the successful opening in 1890 of the City and South London Railway (C&SLR), the first deep-level tube railway and the first underground railway using electric traction, a number of railways were proposed in London to be constructed and operated by similar means. In 1891, two bills were submitted for tube railways that were to serve Charing Cross: the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (BS&WR) and the Hampstead, St Pancras & Charing Cross Railway (HStP&CCR). The was to connect
Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...
and Waterloo station and the was to connect
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...
with Charing Cross with a branch to Euston, St Pancras and King's Cross. The former company's station was to be under Trafalgar Square and the latter's was to be at the junction of King William Street (now William IV Street) and Agar Street with a pedestrian subway under Strand to the forecourt of the mainline station. After a committee sat to consider these and the various other railways being proposed, the BS&WR was approved in March 1893 and the , renamed to the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR), was approved in August 1893. The and the would become the first two lines through Charing Cross to be completed, though it was several years before construction began on either line. In 1896, the City and West End Railway proposed a route running between
Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the south of the City. It is the site of the ancient London ...
in the City of London and
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...
via the West End and
Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Toponymy Knightsbridge is an ancien ...
. A station for Charing Cross was to be provided at King William Street. The company's east–west route would have been competition for a number of other lines that had been permitted but which had not yet opened: the under construction
Central London Railway The Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railwayA "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a cylindrical tunnel by the use of a tunnelling shield, usually deep below g ...
(CLR), the Metropolitan District Railway's (MDR's) proposed deep level line and the
Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway Brompton or The Brompton may refer to: * Brompton, London * Brompton, Hambleton, north of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England * Brompton, Kent * Brompton, Quebec, a borough of Sherbrooke, in Canada * Brompton, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Engla ...
's (B&PCR's) line. Lobbying from these companies led to the City and West End Railway bill being rejected in April 1897. The final new scheme of the 1890s was the Paddington and Charing Cross Railway's proposal in 1897 to link these two mainline stations. Its station at Charing Cross was to be under and parallel with Craven Street on the south side of the main line station. When the bill was first considered in January 1898, the promoters failed to attend Parliament to support it and the bill was declared "dead". Also in 1897, the submitted a bill to change the route of the final section of its line. Instead of turning east at the end of Charing Cross Road to Agar Street and Strand, the route was revised to run south past Trafalgar Square to end at a station under Craven Street. The change was approved in July 1898 and the previous routing was abandoned.


1900s

Like the opening of the ten years earlier, the successful opening of the in 1900 spurred another set of proposals for new lines with routes criss-crossing London.


=1901

= Proposals for the 1901 parliamentary session that planned to serve Charing Cross included three new lines and the extension of one already approved. The Charing Cross, Hammersmith and District Railway (CCH&DR) proposed a line from just north of Charing Cross to Hammersmith via Knightsbridge and
Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...
. Two stations were planned around Trafalgar Square: one to the north-east at Bedfordbury with its entrance probably to be located at the junction of Agar Street and Strand; the other on the south side of the Square. The Piccadilly and City Railway (P&CR) proposed a line from Piccadilly Circus to Cannon Street. It planned to connect to other companies' lines at each end. The P&CR's station at Charing Cross was to be on the east side of Adelaide Street at the junction with Strand. The Victoria, City and Southern Electric Railway proposed a line from
Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...
to Peckham Rye connecting Victoria with the City, Southwark and south-east London. Its tunnels would have run between Whitehall and Strand with a station to the south-west of the mainline station. The promoters failed to appear before the parliamentary committee and the bill was declared "dead" in January 1901. The submitted a bill for an extension of its approved route south from Charing Cross to Westminster and Victoria. To review all these bills and the others submitted for underground lines in London, Parliament established a joint committee under
Lord Windsor Earl of Plymouth is a title that has been created three times: twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, one of the dozens of illegitima ...
. By the time the committee had produced its report, the 1901 parliamentary session was almost over so the promoters of the bills were asked to resubmit them for the 1902 session.


=1902

= The 1902 session saw an increase in the number of bills submitted for tube railways in London. The , and bills from 1901 were resubmitted along with new bills from the , the and the and from a newcomer, the London United Electric Railway (LUER). To manage the workload of reviewing all of the bills, two joint committees were established, one under Lord Windsor and the other under Lord Ribblesdale. The Ribblesdale Committee considered the bills and rejected the extension to Victoria as being not in compliance with Commons standing orders. The new bill proposed a short extension of the line southwards beneath the station to the Charing Cross station (now
Embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railway ...
) to provide an interchange with that line and the . It was approved in November 1892. The other bills affecting Charing Cross were considered by the Windsor Committee. Several of these involved tunnels between Charing Cross and Piccadilly Circus and, either independently or in conjunction with other companies' proposals, formed parts of routes connection Charing Cross to Hammersmith. Although it did not plan a station in the vicinity of Strand or Trafalgar Square, the proposal for a short line to connect its planned station at Piccadilly Circus and the planned deep-level platforms at its Charing Cross station would have required tunnels to run one above the other, south under Adelaide Street and Craven Street on the south-west side of the mainline station before turning east into Northumberland Avenue and north under
Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfar ...
to connect to the planned tunnels. The link was rejected on engineering grounds. The proposal was for a second line to connect its two existing termini at Shepherds' Bush and Bank via a more southerly route to form a deep-level loop. At Charing Cross, the new line would have run under Strand, then north-west passed Trafalgar Square towards Piccadilly Circus. The bill reintroduced its Charing Cross to Hammersmith scheme from the previous year and proposed an additional connection to the at Agar Street. The entirety of the scheme and the majority of the scheme, including all of the southern loop line, were rejected by parliament. The proposal was amended from the previous year to run beyond Piccadilly Circus to Hammersmith. This required its platforms at Charing Cross to be deeper than in its previous scheme. The was promoted by the
London United Tramways London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board. Origins The company was formed in 18 ...
(LUT) and also planned to run between Hammersmith and Charing Cross. Approaching from the west beneath The Mall, at Charing Cross the line was to form a loop running from the Duke of York Column at the south end of Waterloo Place, under Trafalgar Square to the corner of Duncannon Street and Strand before turning south to run under the mainline station to the junction of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place before running west to complete the loop. Its station would have been located on the loop. Mergers and amalgamations led to the and the routes being joined into a combined scheme, the London Suburban Railway (LSR). The proposals were modified in a number of ways before bills were ready at the end of July 1902 for a third and final reading. At Charing Cross, a station building to be shared with the was to be located on the north side of Strand at the junction with Adelaide Street with a pedestrian subway under Strand connecting to the mainline station. While the bills were awaiting their final readings, the was taken over by Speyer Brothers, the financiers of the rival
Underground Electric Railways Company of London The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL), 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 und ...
(UERL). The planned route was similar to that of the -owned . Under Speyer Brothers' control, the withdrew the bill and the remainder of the proposals failed.


=1903–1906

= Fewer tube railway bills were proposed for the 1903 parliamentary session. Three bills included Charing Cross in their plans and were submitted by the , the and the
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London.A "tube" railway is an underground rail ...
(GNP&BR). The bill provided for the purchase of additional land for its station. The resubmitted its previous loop line bill unaltered expecting that the collapse of the plans would improve its chance of success. The proposed a modification of the previous year's for a branch southwards from Piccadilly Circus. This time the branch would run under Leicester Square with platforms under King William Street and a station building at the junction of Agar Street and Strand. The tunnels would then turn eastwards under Strand to continue to Mansion House in the City of London where it would connect to the deep-level line. Between Piccadilly Circus and Ludgate Circus, the route was similar to the loop line proposal. Neither of the bills proceeded as the Royal Commission on London Traffic was established on 10 February 1903 to consider future development of transport in London. During its deliberations consideration of any new proposals was suspended. After the Commission issued its report on 17 July 1905, an attempt was made to revive a bill that had been submitted too late for the 1903 session and had been waiting parliament's consideration since February 1903. The Hammersmith, City & North East London Railway (HC&NELR) was a re-presentation of the and schemes running from Hammersmith to Palmers Green. A station was planned between Agar Street and Bedford Street. The bill was rejected for not complying with standing orders in 1905, and resubmitted for the 1906 session with the station moved to the junction of Agar Street and Strand. Again the bill was rejected for procedural reasons and it was not presented again.


Construction and opening

Construction of the began in August 1898, with the boring of the tunnels under the River Thames beginning in February 1899. At the end of 1900, the collapse of the parent company, London & Globe Finance Corporation, put the railway company in financial difficulties. Tunnelling stopped in May 1901 with most of the running tunnels complete between Waterloo and the south end of Regent Street. At Trafalgar Square, the station tunnels had been excavated. In March 1902, the was taken over by a consortium of investors led by
Charles Yerkes Charles Tyson Yerkes Jr. ( ; June 25, 1837 – December 29, 1905) was an American financier. He played a part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London. Philadelphia Yerkes was born into a Quaker family in the Northern Liberti ...
. Works restarted under the new owners and 80 per cent of the tunnels were complete by March 1903. Construction of the began in September 1903. Tunnelling under the mainline station was done in compressed air to prevent any damage from ground movements. The railway had permission to construct the underground station's ticket hall under part of the station's forecourt, but it was to be done from below to avoid disrupting the station. In December 1905, the roof of the mainline station collapsed and the station closed for three months for rebuilding. During this period, the was given permission to excavate the forecourt for six weeks. Works to construct a lift shaft and form the walls around the ticket hall were carried out with a grid of steel beams placed across the site onto which the forecourt surface was reconstructed. Excavation of the ticket hall and a second lift shaft were carried out from the roofed-over space. Trafalgar Square station was provided with two long platforms. There was nowhere to place a surface building, so the station had a sub-surface ticket hall under the square. The ticket hall had three entrances: one at the south-east corner of the central area of the square, one on the corner of Strand and one on the east side of the square. Lifts manufactured by the
Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation ( branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. Based in Farmington, Connec ...
and a spiral stair connected the platforms and ticket hall. Platform tiling at Trafalgar Square station was started in early 1904. The station had two long platforms with the lifts again provided by Otis. Trafalgar Square station opened when the opened between Baker Street and
Kennington Road Kennington Road is a long straight road, approximately a mile in length, in the London Borough of Lambeth in London, England, running south from Westminster Bridge Road (at the junction with Baylis Road to the north-east) to Kennington Park R ...
on 10 March 1906. Charing Cross station opened as the southern terminus of the on 22 June 1907.


Extension and modifications

The and stations were not connected below ground. To make interchanging between the lines easier, on 6 April 1914, the was extended south under the mainline station to provide an interchange with the and the . For the opening of the extension, the station was renamed ''Charing Cross (Strand)'' with the new station to the south being named ''Charing Cross (Embankment)''. On 9 May 1915, these were changed again with the former Charing Cross station becoming ''Strand'' (causing a nearby station of the to change its name from ''Strand'' to ''
Aldwych Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the area immediately surrounding it in central London, England, within the City of Westminster. The street starts east-northeast of Charing Cross, the conventional map centre-point of the city ...
'') and the other becoming ''Charing Cross''. Beginning in 1924, a number of central London stations were modernised with escalators being provided to replace lifts. At Trafalgar Square, two Otis escalators came into use on 13 April 1926, doubling the capacity of the station. The ticket hall was modernised and extended to use the space previously occupied by the lifts and a passage was constructed to a new entrance in Cockspur Street on the south side of the square. The improvements to the ticket hall included the installation of automatic ticket machines. Strand station retained its lifts.


War and new plans

In September 1938 during the Sudeten Crisis, when it appeared that war with Germany was imminent, the tunnels of the Bakerloo and Northern lines under the River Thames were closed and sealed with concrete to protect the system from flooding that might be caused by a bomb falling in the river and breaching the tunnels. As a consequence, between 27 September 1938 and 8 October 1938 both Trafalgar Square and Strand stations were closed. After the crisis was resolved and the concrete seals were removed, works began on installing flood gates to protect the lines each side of the river. Following Germany's ultimatum to Poland on the Polish Corridor, the Northern line tunnels were again plugged on 1 September 1939 and were not reopened until 17 December 1939, once the flood gates had been installed. On 12 October 1940, a German bomb fell on Trafalgar Square station killing seven people sheltering from
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
. In 1944, The ''
County of London Plan The County of London Plan was prepared for the London County Council in 1943 by John Henry Forshaw (1895–1973) and Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1957) Its main purpose was to point out the main directions of development and ...
'' recommended replacing the mainline station with one below ground served by two routes: Route A, running between
Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...
and
New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwic ...
via Victoria station, Blackfriars, Cannon Street and
Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...
and Route B, a loop line linking Waterloo, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Cannon Street and
London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It re ...
. The location of the station was not specified. A post-war report in 1946 rejected the idea of moving the mainline station entirely underground, but did propose several new lines running in tunnels within the central area including two serving Charing Cross. Route 5 (running between Hither Green and
Old Oak Common Old Oak Common is an area of Hammersmith, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London. Together with neighbouring Park Royal, the area is intended to become the UK's largest regeneration scheme, the scale of which has led to ...
) and Route 9 (running between
Raynes Park Raynes Park is a residential suburb, railway station and local centre near Wimbledon, London, and is within the London Borough of Merton. It is situated southwest of Wimbledon Common, to the northwest of Wimbledon Chase and to the east of ...
and Clapton) were mainline routes proposed to connect to existing surface lines to allow main line trains to cross London without using the terminals. A third route, Route 12A, was a London Underground route running between Golders Green and Waterloo. It was to run beneath the existing Northern line tunnels to relieve congestion on the line. None of these proposals were developed by the mainline railway companies, the
London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...
or their successor organisations. In 1956, the
London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...
planned to construct pedestrian subways from the ticket hall of Strand station under Strand to Duncannon Street and Adelaide Street with a travelator in the main passage from the station and escalators from the subways to street level. A separate subway from the north side of Strand to the ticket hall and another to connect to the subways from Trafalgar Square station were also proposed. The works were not carried-out.


Reconstruction and integration for the Jubilee line

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s consideration was given to various routes connecting north-west and south-east London via the West End and the City of London including proposals to extend the Bakerloo line south-east from Elephant & Castle to Camberwell and beyond. Planning of the Victoria line had the greater priority and it was not until after construction of that line started that detailed planning began for the new line, first called the Fleet line in 1965 as it was planned to run in an east–west direction along
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...
to the City of London and then south of the River Thames to
Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one ...
. Lack of funding meant that only the first stage of the proposed line, from
Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...
to Charing Cross, received royal assent in July 1969; funding was agreed in August 1971. Tunnelling began in February 1972 and was completed by the end of 1974. In 1977, during construction of the stations, the name of the line was changed to the Jubilee line, to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee that year. At Charing Cross, the tunnels for the Jubilee line were aligned east–west beneath Strand with the running tunnels passing under the Bakerloo line and Northern line tunnels and the new Jubilee line platforms between the two. A cross-over junction to the west of the platforms enabled trains to terminate and start from both platforms. In preparation for the second stage of the line continuing to Aldwych and beyond, the running tunnels were continued east of the new platforms at Charing Cross, running beneath Strand to end at Wellington Street. The original Strand station ticket hall beneath the forecourt of the mainline station was enlarged under the forecourt and under Strand itself. To enable this,
piles Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''he ...
were installed in the forecourt in January 1973 to support a steel umbrella structure erected over the area during the Easter weekend in 1973. The foundations of the
Eleanor cross The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments topped with crosses erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his beloved wi ...
in the station forecourt also needed to be underpinned to avoid it being damaged during the excavations. With the enlargement of the ticket hall, linking subways were constructed to new entrances in Villiers Street, on the north side of Strand, in Adelaide Street and in William IV Street. The new platforms were connected to both of the original stations, forming one new station. Strand station closed on 16 June 1973 so that an escalator shaft could be constructed diagonally through the original lift shafts down to an intermediate concourse. From here passages to and from the Northern line platforms branch off and a second set of three escalators descend to the eastern end of the Jubilee line platforms, which are below street level. At Trafalgar Square station, the existing concourse at the bottom of the 1926 escalator shaft was enlarged to connect to a new passage which ran eastwards towards another concourse at the top of a second set of two escalators and a fixed stair down to the western end of the Jubilee line platforms. To carry out the work on the station and the running tunnels, a site on the north-western corner of Trafalgar Square at Whitcomb Street was used to construct a pair of access shafts deep from which long passages were excavated beneath Trafalgar Square to the existing below ground concourses. Although not originally intended for passenger use, part of one of these became the interchange passage between the Bakerloo and Northern lines. A new electrical sub-station to supply the line was installed at the bottom of one of Strand station's redundant escalator shafts. Once the structural work to enlarge the ticket hall was completed, the umbrella structure was removed in October 1975. Work on fitting out the tunnels and stations began at the end of 1975, but serious delays in the progress of the work prevented the line from opening in 1978 as intended. Tracks and signals were commissioned and trial running of trains on the line began on 14 August 1978, but work on the station was delayed by
industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increa ...
at the escalator contractor. The official opening of the line by
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
took place on 30 April 1979, starting with a train journey from Green Park to Charing Cross. The Jubilee line opened to the public on 1 May 1979. On the same day the Northern line service was reinstated and the combined station was named Charing Cross. The new Northern line and Jubilee line ticket hall was decorated in lime green and blue moulded plastic panels with black tiles. Lime green was also used for the wall tiling of the Jubilee line platforms which was combined with decorative panels featuring images of
Lord Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought a ...
and Trafalgar Square by
David Gentleman David William Gentleman (born 11 March 1930) is an English artist. He studied art and painting at the Royal College of Art under Edward Bawden and John Nash. He has worked in watercolour, lithography and wood engraving, at scales ranging fr ...
. Gentleman also designed the decorative scheme for the Northern line platforms. These have panels featuring a continuous mural illustrating, in the style of black and white
woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...
s, the construction of the
Eleanor Cross The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments topped with crosses erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his beloved wi ...
. The Bakerloo line platforms and ticket hall were not redecorated at the same time as those of the other two lines. This was carried out in 1983 when decorative panels for the platforms featuring artwork from the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery were installed.


Closure of Jubilee line platforms

Although permission had been granted in 1971 and 1972, work on the Fleet line's stages 2 and 3 did not proceed and it was not until 1992 that an alternative route was approved. The Jubilee line extension took the line south of the River Thames via Waterloo. Due to the tightness of the curves required and speed restrictions that would have been needed it was impractical to reach Waterloo from Charing Cross. New tunnels branching from the original route south of Green Park would be constructed, and the line to Charing Cross would be closed. Tunnelling began in May 1994 and the new extension opened in stages starting at Stratford in the east, with services to Charing Cross ending on 19 November 1999 and the final section between Green Park and Waterloo opening the following day. The Jubilee line platforms were closed and walls constructed across the intermediate concourses at the top of the two banks of escalators. The Jubilee line platforms are still used by Jubilee line trains as sidings to reverse trains from southbound to northbound. To do so southbound trains terminate and disembark passengers at Green Park station and run empty to one of the Charing Cross platforms.


Proposal for connection to Docklands Light Railway

In July 2005, a report, ''DLR Horizon 2020 Study'', for the
Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...
(DLR) examined "pragmatic development schemes" to expand and improve the DLR network between 2012 and 2020. One of the proposals was an extension of the DLR from Bank to Charing Cross. The unused tunnels under Strand would be enlarged to accommodate the larger DLR trains. In 2011, the DLR published a proposal to continue the extension to Victoria via Green Park. No further work has been done on these proposals.


Ticket hall refurbishment and closure of subways

In 2016 and 2017, the two ticket halls were separately closed for refurbishment. In each one, interior finishes and lighting were replaced and new ticket barriers were installed. The Northern line ticket hall closed in September 2016 and was scheduled to reopen in July 2017, but reopened a month earlier. Following its reopening, Northern line
Night Tube The Night Tube and London Overground Night Service, often referred to simply as Night Tube, is a service pattern on the London Underground ("Tube") and London Overground systems which provides through-the-night services on Friday and Saturday ...
services began stopping at the station on 30 June 2017. They had been introduced on the line in November 2016, but did not serve Charing Cross until the Northern line ticket hall reopened. In June 2020 a planning approval was granted to close the subways to Adelaide Street, William IV Street and the north side of Strand and convert the space to office and retail use linked to the building above.


Use in media

As the Jubilee line platforms and track are maintained by TfL for operational reasons, they can be used by film and television makers requiring a modern Underground station location. Films, television production and videos that have been shot at Charing Cross include: *''
The Fourth Protocol ''The Fourth Protocol'' is a thriller novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth, published in August 1984. Etymology The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which (at least in the world of the novel) contained four secr ...
'' (1987) *''
Creep Creep, Creeps or CREEP may refer to: People * Creep, a creepy person Politics * Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), mockingly abbreviated as CREEP, an fundraising organization for Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign Art ...
'' (2004) *'' Cry'' (2004),
Alex Parks Alexandra Rebecca Parks (born 26 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter. Parks was entered into the BBC Television programme, ''Fame Academy'' by her father. It was a show that she went on to win. Soon after winning ''Fame Academy'', she re ...
(music video) *''
28 Weeks Later ''28 Weeks Later'' is a 2007 post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who co-wrote it with Rowan Joffé, Enrique López Lavigne and Jesus Olmo. The sequel to the 2002 film ''28 Days Later'', it stars Robert Carlyle, ...
'' (2007) *''
The Bourne Ultimatum ''The Bourne Ultimatum'' is the third Jason Bourne novel written by Robert Ludlum and a sequel to ''The Bourne Supremacy'' (1986). First published in 1990, it was the last Bourne novel to be written by Ludlum himself. Eric Van Lustbader wrote ...
'' (2007) *''
Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
'' (2007) *'' The Escapist'' (2008) *'' Spooks'' (2009) *''
Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
'' (2012) *'' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) *''
Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
(2014) *'' Whisky Story (2015)'',
Example Example may refer to: * '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example The name example is reserved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level ...
(music video) *'' The Rook'' (2019) *'' Killing Eve'' (2019)


Services and connections


Services

Sometimes abbreviated as "Charing X" or "CX" on trains or timetables, the station is in
Travelcard The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Elizabeth line, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Tr ...
Zone 1, between Piccadilly Circus and Embankment on the Bakerloo line and Leicester Square and Embankment on the Northern line. On weekdays, Bakerloo line trains typically run every 2–2½ minutes between 05:43 and 00:29 northbound and 05:57 and 00:34 southbound; on the Northern line trains typically run every 2½–3½ minutes between 05:42 and 00:38 northbound and 05:56 00:34 southbound. As of , Charing Cross is the station on the London Underground with million passengers using it per year.


Connections

*
London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
routes 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 24, 29, 87, 88, 91,
139 139 may refer to: * 139 (number), an integer * AD 139, a year of the Julian calendar * 139 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 139 (New Jersey bus) See also * 139th (disambiguation) 139th may refer to: * 139th (Northumberland) Battal ...
, 159,
176 Year 176 ( CLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Proculus and Aper (or, less frequently, year 929 ''Ab urbe condita''). ...
and 453 and night routes N3, N5, N9, N11, N15, N20, N21, N26, N29, N41, N44, N87, N89, N91, N97, N109, N113, N136, N155, N199, N279, N343, N550 and N551 serve Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross station.


Notes and references


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


The Charing Cross-Embankment-Strand conundrum
explains the various names of the tube stations in this area.


London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** Note sign pointing way to Bakerloo line. ** ** ** ** Platform murals *** *** *** {{closed london underground stations Tube stations in the City of Westminster Former Baker Street and Waterloo Railway stations Former Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway stations London Underground stations located underground Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1906 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1907 Bakerloo line stations Northern line stations London Underground Night Tube stations