Goodge Street 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 ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station on

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tub ...

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...

, in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

. It is on the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

's Charing Cross branch between

Warren Street Warren Street is a street in the London Borough of Camden that runs from Cleveland Street in the west to Tottenham Court Road in the east. Warren Street tube station is located at the eastern end of the street. History The street is crossed b ...

and

stations, and is in

Travelcard Zone 1 Fare zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used by the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail. For most tickets, travel through Zone 1 is more expensive than journeys ...

History

It was opened on 22 June 1907 as Tottenham Court Road by the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, but changed to the present name on 9 March 1908 before an interchange was built between the previously separate (and differently named)

and Central line stations at the present

Tottenham Court Road station Tottenham Court Road is a London Underground and Elizabeth line station in St Giles in the West End of London. The station is served by the Central line, the Elizabeth line and the branch of the Northern line. The station is located at St Gil ...

. Goodge Street is named after John Goodge, who developed the land in the early 18th-century.

Location

The station is on the western side of

, a short distance north of the junction with Goodge Street.

Design

It is one of the few tube stations that still rely on lifts rather than

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...

s to transport passengers to and from street level. In addition, it is one of the few such tube stations that still use the original scheme of separate exit and entrance areas. Alternatively, passengers can use the 138-step staircase to get down to the platforms. The surface building was designed by the

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 ...

's (UERL's) architect

Leslie Green Leslie William Green (6 February 1875 – 31 August 1908) was an English architect. He is best known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20t ...

Deep-level air-raid shelter

Goodge Street has a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

deep-level air-raid shelter underneath it, and is one of eight such stations. From late 1943 until the end of the Second World War the Goodge Street shelter was used by the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF th ...

. The shelter has two entrances, one on

Chenies Street Chenies Street is a street in Bloomsbury, London, that runs between Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street. It is the location of a number of notable buildings such as Minerva House, the Drill Hall (now RADA Studios), and a memorial to The Range ...

(pictured below) and the other on Tottenham Court Road next to the

American International Church The American International Church, currently located at the Whitefield Memorial Church on Tottenham Court Road in London, was established to cater for American expatriates resident in London. Organised in the American denominational tradition, th ...

. In the invasion preparations, Goodge Street station was used only as a signals installation by the

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

. It was one of a number of signals installations for communications in and around London. Among these installations were SHAEF headquarters at 20

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable re ...

and the basement of the

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

department store on

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

; both buildings exist today. After the war the shelters were used as a hostel that could accommodate up to 8,000 troops. Goodge Street continued in use as an army transit centre until it was damaged by fire on the night of 21 May 1956. The fire coincided with Parliamentary consideration of a Government Bill seeking power to take over the shelters (The Underground Works ondonBill) and the Minister of Works assured the Commons they would not again be used for human occupation in peacetime (although no one was killed, the fire had caused some alarm and proved difficult to put out). Another fire, on 21 June 1981, caused by burning rubbish, killed a man and injured 16 people, and resulted in a recommendation of a smoking ban on the Underground. There was a tardy response with London Transport finally introducing a one-year trial smoking ban on 9 July 1984. Almost halfway through the trial a major fire occurred at

Oxford Circus Oxford Circus is a road junction connecting Oxford Street and Regent Street in the West End of London. It is also the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station. The junction opened in 1819 as part of the Regent Street development under John Nash, ...

, resulting in a full smoking ban on all subterranean stations and Underground trains.

Services and connections

Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–7 minutes in both directions.

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 se ...

routes 24, 29, 73,

390 __NOTOC__ Year 390 (Roman numerals, CCCXC) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Neoterius (or, less frequen ...

and night routes N5, N20, N29, N73, N253 and N279 serve the station, with routes 24 and 390 providing 24-hour service.

In popular culture

The station appeared in the 1942 feature film ''Gert and Daisy's Weekend''.The London Underground in Films and Televisions (Real Stations – Portrayals)
/ref> The former shelter is the setting for much of the 1968 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serial ''

The Web of Fear ''The Web of Fear'' is the Doctor Who missing episodes, partly missing fifth serial of the Doctor Who (season 5), fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 Fe ...

''. Dialogue in the story mentions the shelter's former use in the Second World War, and the exit in Chenies Street. The station is the setting of the song "Sunny Goodge Street", from the 1965 album ''

Fairytale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cul ...

'' by singer-songwriter

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

. The station exterior also appeared in the 2005 music video for "Believe" by

The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...

Gallery

image:Goodge Street stn northbound.JPG, Northbound platform looking south before refurbishment image:Goodge Street stn southbound.JPG, Southbound platform looking north before refurbishment image:Goodge Street Northbound platform.jpg, Northbound platform looking north after refurbishment image:Goodge Street stn roundel.JPG, Station platform roundel Image:GoodgeStreetDeepLevelShelter.jpg, One entrance to Goodge Street deep-level shelter Image:Goodge Street ticket area.jpg, Ticket hall

References

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
**

{{Northern line navbox Northern line stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Camden Former Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway stations London Underground stations located underground Buildings and structures on Tottenham Court Road Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1907 London Underground Night Tube stations