Notting Hill Gate 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 near

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, located on the street called

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/Ke ...

. On the Central line, it is between

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

to the west and Queensway to the east. On the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited servic ...

and Circle line, it is between High Street Kensington and

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

stations. It is on the boundary of

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 ...

and Zone 2.

History

The sub-surface Circle and District line platforms were opened on 1 October 1868 by 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 ...

(MR) as part of its extension from

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 Paddi ...

to Gloucester Road. The Central line platforms were opened on 30 July 1900 by the

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 gr ...

(CLR). Entrances to the two sets of platforms were originally via separate station buildings on opposite sides of the road; access to the CLR platforms was originally via lifts. The station name Notting Hill Gate had potential for confusion with the MR station to the north in Ladbroke Grove which was known as "Notting Hill" when opened in 1864, and renamed "Notting Hill & Ladbroke Grove" in 1880. This latter station eventually, in 1919, dropped its reference to Notting Hill, becoming "Ladbroke Grove (North Kensington)" in 1919 and, simply, "Ladbroke Grove" in 1938 (see Ladbroke Grove Underground station). On the Circle and District lines Notting Hill Gate is a

cut and cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A Pipeline transport, pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used ...

station still covered with a glass roof, despite many other similar stations having lost theirs.

Redevelopment

The station was rebuilt in the late 1950s and reopened on 1 March 1959, now linking the two 'Notting Hill Gate stations' on the Circle and District and Central lines, which had previously been accessed on either side of the street, with a shared sub-surface ticket hall and

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 down to the deeper Central line, replacing the aged and now sealed-off lifts. The escalators were the first on the Underground to have metal side panels rather than wooden. The new entrance also acts as a pedestrian subway under the widened Notting Hill Gate. The mosaic columns at the southern entrance were created in 2006 by local public art organisation

Urban Eye Urban Eye (formerly Westway Project) is a London-based charity that has been regenerating run-down parts of inner city London through the use of design, architectural lighting and public art since 1998. Projects aim to reduce fear of crime and a ...

Refurbishment

The station was refurbished from 2010 to 2011, with new ceramic tiling throughout the subway entrances, deep-level passageways and Central line tube platforms as well as a modified ticket hall layout. During the refurbishment works an abandoned lift passageway from the original 1900 CLR station, closed to the public after Notting Hill Gate was last upgraded in 1959, was rediscovered and found to contain a series of original posters dating from the late 1950s. Images have been posted online. A scheme was developed by the architects

Weston Williamson Weston Williamson is a British architectural firm formed in 1985 and based in London, Melbourne, Sydney and Toronto. History Weston Williamson was established in 1985 by Andrew Weston and Chris Williamson, who met whilst studying architectu ...

to provide canopies over the entrances from the street, but this has not been implemented. Notting Hill Gate Tube Station, West London (2021)

Nearby places

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

, famous for

Portobello Market Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

Kensington Palace Gardens Kensington Palace Gardens is an exclusive street in Kensington, west of central London, near Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace. Entered through gates at either end and guarded by sentry boxes, it was the location of the London Cage, th ...

Media appearances

In the 1968 film ''

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

'', one of the Central line platforms at Notting Hill Gate (or a station pretending to be it) is where the assassin and coach driver Johnston, played by

Leonard Rossiter Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series ''Rising Damp'' from ...

, blows himself up opening a

booby-trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

ped suitcase full of money. The station and its staff featured prominently in the third episode of BBC Two documentary series '' The Tube'', which first aired on 5 March 2012.

Layout

The westbound Central line platform is located above the eastbound platform because when the CLR was built it did not want to tunnel under buildings, and the street above was not wide enough for the two platforms to be side by side.

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 se ...

routes 27, 28, 31, 52, 70, 94,

148 148 may refer to: *148 (number), a natural number *AD 148, a year in the 2nd century AD *148 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *148 (album), an album by C418 *148 (Meiktila) Battery Royal Artillery *148 (New Jersey bus) 148 may refer to: *148 (numb ...

, 328 and 452 and night routes N28, N31 and N207 serve the station *

Oxford Tube The Oxford to London coach route is an express coach route between Oxford and London along the M40 motorway. Operated by Stagecoach West under the brand name ''Oxford Tube'', there are up to five coaches an hour via Lewknor, Hillingdon, and S ...

coaches.

Gallery

Image:NottingHillGate2.jpg, District & Circle line platforms ''(September 2006)'' Image:Notting_Hill_Gate_tube_station,_Sep_2014_01.jpg, Roof over District & Circle line platforms Image:Notting Hill Gate stn eastbound Central look west.JPG, Eastbound Central line platform looking west before refurbishment Image:1902 Notting-Hill-Gate-Tube-Station.jpg, Historical picture of Central line platform (1902)

References

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** ** {{District line navbox Circle line (London Underground) stations District line stations Central line (London Underground) stations London Underground Night Tube stations London Underground stations located underground Tube stations in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Former Metropolitan Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1868 Former Central London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1900 Buildings and structures in Notting Hill