St Paul's 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 located in 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 fr ...

financial district. The station, which takes its name from the nearby

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a G ...

, is on the Central line, between

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Beca ...

and

Chancery Lane Chancery Lane is a one-way street situated in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. It has formed the western boundary of the City since 1994, having previously been divided between the City of Westminster and the London Boro ...

stations, and is in fare zone 1. It should not be confused with

City Thameslink railway station City Thameslink is a central London railway station within the City of London, with entrances on Ludgate Hill and Holborn Viaduct. The station is on the Thameslink route between to the south and to the north. The station opened in 1990 t ...

which opened in 1990 with the name St. Paul's Thameslink, but is some distance from the Underground station. That station was subsequently renamed City Thameslink to avoid confusion for the emergency services, but for some years afterwards many maps and guidebooks in circulation continued to carry the earlier name.

History

The station was opened by the Central London Railway (CLR) on 30 July 1900 with the name Post Office, after the headquarters of 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 166 ...

on nearby St. Martin's Le Grand. The name Post Office was possibly chosen instead of the more obvious St. Paul's to differentiate it from a South Eastern Railway (SER) station which already held that name (but which today is called Blackfriars). Post Office tube station map

The station entrance was originally located on the north side of Newgate Street, on the west side of the junction with King Edward Street, but was moved to the east when the station was modernised in the 1930s with an underground ticket hall and

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

s. A modern ventilation shaft in the centre of the traffic island at the junction indicates the location of the original lift shafts. When the SER station called St. Paul's was renamed as Blackfriars in 1937, the Underground station called Post Office took the name St. Paul's, which it has kept ever since. At the end of the 19th century, Newgate Street was a narrow road with some of its

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

character remaining. To reduce land purchase and compensation payments, the CLR routed its tunnels directly under public roads. At St. Paul's the narrowness of the road required the tunnels to be placed one above the other with the westbound tunnel uppermost. The

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

s originally operated to a level between the two platforms, with stairs up or down to the platforms as necessary. A high-level access passageway is visible at the lowest level leading to the disused lift lobby. During the

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 opposi ...

the electricity grid control room for London and Southeast England was housed below ground in the lift shaft.

The station today

The station entrances are located around the junction of Newgate Street, Cheapside and St. Martin's Le Grand.

is a short distance to the south. Visitors should note that the main entrance to the cathedral is at its western end, a few minutes' walk away. St Paul's is also the nearest Underground station to the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

and

One New Change One New Change is a major office and retail development in the City of London. It comprises of floor space, including of retail space and of office space and is the only large shopping centre in the City of London, the historic nucleus and mo ...

. Other notable sites in the vicinity include the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The ...

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum (foun ...

and the church of

St Mary-le-Bow The Church of St Mary-le-Bow is a Church of England parish church in the City of London. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest and most important thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080 by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebui ...

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 ...

routes 4, 8, 25, 56, 76,

100 100 or one hundred ( Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to ...

, 521 and night routes N8, N25 and N242 serve the station.

Future proposals

An underground passageway linking

to St Paul's tube station to provide an interchange between the Central line and

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

services on the Thameslink railway has been suggested by

London TravelWatch London TravelWatch is a statutory British consumer organisation that campaigns for improvements to transport in London. It deals with all complaints from passengers using any Transport for London modes including some cycling and pedestrian issu ...

in a report in 2014, which suggested it would benefit passengers travelling from the Central line to Gatwick and Luton Airports.

Gallery

image:St Paul's stn entrance.JPG, Western entrance with St Paul's Cathedral in the background (2003) image:St Paul's stn westbound look east.JPG, The westbound platform (2009) Image:St Pauls station roundel2.JPG, Platform roundel (2008)

Notes

External links

Abandoned stations
– Section on disused lift access passage
London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul's Tube Station Central line (London Underground) stations London Underground Night Tube stations Tube stations in the City of London Former Central London Railway stations London Underground stations located underground Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1900