Holborn tramway station

Last updated

Holborn tramway station
Holborn tram station1.jpg
The disused station during a rare public visit (2009)
Location Holborn, London, UK, Camden
United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°31′00″N0°07′11″W / 51.516583°N 0.119861°W / 51.516583; -0.119861 Coordinates: 51°31′00″N0°07′11″W / 51.516583°N 0.119861°W / 51.516583; -0.119861
Grid reference TQ304814
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company London County Council Tramways
Key dates
24 February 1906 (1906-02-24)Opened
6 April 1952 (1952-04-06)Closed

Holborn tramway station was a tram stop underneath Kingsway in central London, England. It was built in 1906 by the London County Council Tramways as part of the Kingsway tramway subway, joining the separate networks of tramways in North and South London. When opened it was named Great Queen Street.

Contents

Services

Tram services commenced on 24 February 1906, running from Angel to Aldwych, the next station in the subway. Through services across London began on 10 April 1908, running from Highbury station through Holborn and then east to Tower Bridge or south to Kennington Gate.

The routes that used the Kingsway Subway were numbered 31, 33, and 35.

LCC Tramways in Holborn
BSicon PORTALf.svg
BSicon uexCONTg@G.svg
BSicon uextHST.svg
Holborn
Piccadilly line roundel (no text).svg
BSicon uextSTR.svg
BSicon uextHST.svg
Aldwych
Piccadilly line roundel (no text).svg
BSicon uexCONTgq.svg
BSicon PORTALg.svg
BSicon uexABZlr.svg
BSicon uexCONTfq.svg
west
to Kennington Gate
east
to Tower Bridge
BSicon WASSERq.svg
BSicon WASSERq.svg
BSicon WASSERq.svg
Entrance stairs to the station (April 2004) Kingsway interior 2.jpg
Entrance stairs to the station (April 2004)

Following the decision to withdraw tram services in London and replace them with buses, the station closed just after 12.30am on 6 April 1952. Much of the station remains in the disused subway but there is no public access. In 2004 it was expected that redevelopment work in the remaining subway would probably obliterate what remains exist.[ citation needed ]

Alternative uses

The fictional tube station sign Union street tube roundel.jpg
The fictional tube station sign

The station was used as a location in the 2008 film The Escapist , as a fictional London Underground station called "Union Street", which was said to be on the Northern line between Elephant & Castle and Borough. Remains of the film props, such as a fake tube map and a Union Street tube roundel, can still be seen pasted to the walls of the station. [1] The props date from 2008, and are not part of the original station.

In 2009 the subway and station was the venue for an art installation, Chord, by Conrad Shawcross. [2]

Related Research Articles

Subterranean London refers to a number of subterranean structures that lie beneath London. The city has been occupied by humans for two millennia. Over time, the capital has acquired a vast number of these structures and spaces, often as a result of war and conflict.

Kingsway tramway subway

The Kingsway tramway subway is a cut-and-cover Grade II Listed tunnel in central London, built by the London County Council, and the only one of its kind in Britain. The decision in 1898 to clear slum districts in the Holborn area provided an opportunity to use the new streets for a tramway connecting the lines in the north and south. Following the pattern of tramways in New York and Boston, it was decided to build this as an underground connection.

Aldwych tube station Closed London Underground station

Aldwych is a closed station on the London Underground, located in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was opened in 1907 with the name Strand, after the street on which it is located, and was the terminus of the short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn that was a relic of the merger of two railway schemes. The station building is close to the Strand's junction with Surrey Street, near Aldwych. During its lifetime, the branch was the subject of a number of unrealised extension proposals that would have seen the tunnels through the station extended southwards, usually to Waterloo.

Holborn tube station London Underground station

Holborn is a London Underground station in Holborn, Central London, located at the junction of High Holborn and Kingsway. It is served by the Central and Piccadilly lines. On the Central line the station is between Tottenham Court Road and Chancery Lane stations; on the Piccadilly line it is between Covent Garden and Russell Square and is in Travelcard Zone 1. Close by are the British Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Red Lion Square, Bloomsbury Square, London School of Economics and Sir John Soane's Museum.

British Museum tube station

British Museum was a station on the London Underground, located in Holborn, central London. It was latterly served by the Central line and took its name from the nearby British Museum in Great Russell Street.

Chancery Lane tube station London Underground station

Chancery Lane is a London Underground station in between Holborn and the City in central London, England and is in the London Borough of Camden and the City of London. It opened in 1900 and takes its name from the nearby Chancery Lane.

Kingsway or King's Way may refer to:

Aldwych tramway station was a tram stop underneath Kingsway, a road in central London, England. It was built in 1906 by the London County Council Tramways as part of the Kingsway tramway subway, joining the separate networks of tramways in North and South London.

Strand underpass

The Strand underpass is a one-way road tunnel in central London connecting Waterloo Bridge to Kingsway near Holborn. Opened in 1964, it was built within the former Kingsway tramway subway, which closed in the 1950s.

Manor House tube station London Underground station

Manor House is a station on the Piccadilly line of the London Underground, on the boundary between Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3. It straddles the border between the London Boroughs of Hackney and Haringey, the postal address and three of the entrances being in the former, and one entrance in the latter.

City and South London Railway Underground railway company in London

The City and South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction. The railway was originally intended for cable-hauled trains, but owing to the bankruptcy of the cable contractor during construction, a system of electric traction using electric locomotives—an experimental technology at the time—was chosen instead.

There have been two separate generations of trams in London, from 1860 to 1952 and from 2000 to the present. There were no trams at all in London between 1952 and 2000.

Balloon loop Rail loop for turning vehicles

A balloon loop, turning loop or reversing loop allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or even stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains such as coal trains.

Kingsway, London Street in central London, England

Kingsway is a major road in central London, designated as part of the A4200. It runs from High Holborn, at its north end in the London Borough of Camden, and meets Aldwych in the south in the City of Westminster at Bush House. It was opened by King Edward VII in 1905. Together Kingsway and Aldwych form one of the major north–south routes through central London linking the ancient east–west routes of High Holborn and Strand.

Cross River Tram

Cross River Tram was a Transport for London (TfL) proposal for a 10-mile (16 km) tram system in London. It was planned to run on a north–south route from Camden Town in the north, via King's Cross, to Peckham and Brixton in the south.

Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway Underground railway company in London

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. The GNP&BR was formed through a merger of two older companies, the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR) and the Great Northern and Strand Railway (GN&SR). It also incorporated part of a tube route planned by a third company, the District Railway (DR). The combined company was a subsidiary of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL).

Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Underground railway company in London

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 did not begin until 1898. In 1900, work was hit by the financial collapse of its parent company, the London & Globe Finance Corporation, through the fraud of Whitaker Wright, its main shareholder. In 1902, the BS&WR became a subsidiary of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) controlled by American financier Charles Yerkes. The UERL quickly raised the funds, mainly from foreign investors.

Royal Commission on London Traffic Former royal commission of the United Kingdom

The Royal Commission on London Traffic was a Royal commission established in 1903 with a remit to review and report on how transport systems should be developed for London and the surrounding area. It produced a report in eight volumes published in 1905 and made recommendations on the character, administration and routing of traffic in London.

References

  1. "Union Street Underground sign in Kingsway Tram Subway". Flickr. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  2. "In Pictures: "Chord" At Kingsway Tram Tunnel". The Londonist. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2009.