Down Street tube station

Down Street
The station features a red glazed terracotta façade common to most built by the UERL
Down Street Location of Down Street in Central London
Location	Mayfair
Local authority	City of Westminster
Owner	Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway
Number of platforms	2
Key dates
1907 (1907)	Opened
1932 (1932)	Closed
Replaced by	None
Other information
Coordinates	51°30′17″N 0°08′52″W / 51.50465°N 0.14791°W / 51.50465; -0.14791
London transport portal

Down Street, also known as Down Street (Mayfair), is a disused station on the London Underground, located in Mayfair, west London. The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opened it in 1907. It was latterly served by the Piccadilly line and was situated between Dover Street (now named Green Park) and Hyde Park Corner stations.

The station was little used; many trains passed through without stopping. Lack of patronage and proximity to other stations led to its closure in 1932. During the Second World War it was used as a bunker by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the war cabinet. The station building survives and is close to Down Street's junction with Piccadilly. Part of it is now converted to a retail outlet.

London Transport Museum has been running guided tours of the station through its "Hidden London" programme since 2016. The tour covers the history of the site using archives from the museum's collection, with a focus on its Second World War connection.^[1]

History

Operation

The station is in Down Street in Mayfair, just off Piccadilly and a short distance from

Down Street was never a busy station, as the surrounding area was largely residential and its residents mostly wealthy enough to travel by other means. The neighbouring stations were also close by, with Dover Street station about 550 metres (600 yd) to the east and Hyde Park Corner 500 metres (550 yd) to the west.[7] From 1909, like Brompton Road, Down Street was often skipped by trains. From 1918 it was closed on Sundays.^[7]

In 1929, Down Street was one of the stations suggested for closure in connection with the extension of the Piccadilly line: the elimination of less-busy stations in the central area would improve both reliability and journey times for long-distance commuters.

Scar where wartime partition has been removed

Direction signage

The station was selected for use as an underground bunker in early 1939 as part of a programme of developing deep shelters to protect government operations from bombing in the event of war.

Since the end of the war, the station has been used only for engineering access and as an emergency exit point from the Underground.[9]

In April 2015, Transport for London announced that it was seeking proposals for the commercial use of parts of the surface building, disused lift shaft and underground passages.^[13] Suggested possible uses included a restaurant, a bar, a theatre, a gallery or retail space.^[14] Tours by the London Transport Museum through its "Hidden London" programme began in 2016.^[15]

Use in media

Down Street is the inspiration for a location in the television series and novel

Part of the 2004 British horror film

Catfight; according to its sleeve notes, it is set in the early 1930s and tells the story of two lovers who meet at the station. Steve Hackett also recorded a song titled "Down Street" on his 2006 album Wild Orchids, about the station.^[19]

The station features in

National Geographic Channel series Great Railway Adventures^[21] and the 2012 TV series The Tube.^[22]

In popular culture

Down Street is mentioned in The Man in the Brown Suit and The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie, and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.^{[citation needed]}

Notes and references

Notes

1. ^ The rest of the GNP&BR opened on 15 December 1906.^[2]
2. ^ Prior to opening, the intention to name the station "Mayfair" was reported in the Railway Gazette (February 1907), but the station opened with the original planned name. Later, roundel signage fixed to platform walls included "(Mayfair)" as a suffix.^[4]
3. ^ The report recommending closure recorded that the station had an annual usage of 1,236,250 passengers and takings of £5,005. The other stations considered for closure were York Road (closed 1932), Brompton Road (closed 1934), Regent's Park, Mornington Crescent, Hyde Park Corner, Gillespie Road (now Arsenal), Gloucester Road and Covent Garden.^[7]
4. ^ A step plate junction is constructed where tunnels of differing diameters join. The step is the vertical wall filling the gap between them.
5. ^ The role of the Railway Executive Committee was to coordinate the operations of the various railway companies including routing trains to maintain services after bomb damage to railway infrastructure. It was staffed by employees of the Southern, London, Midland & Scottish, London & North Eastern and Great Western railways, as well as from London Transport.

References

1. ^ "Down Street: Churchill's secret station". London Transport Museum. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Rose 1999.
3. ^ Connor 2006, p. 28.
4. ^ Connor 2006, pp. 31–32.
5. ^ Wolmar 2005, p. 175.
6. ^ Station plan.Connor 2006, pp. 28–29.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Connor 2006, p. 31.
8. ^ Connor 2006, p. 32.
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Connor 2006, p. 33.
10. ^ ^{a b} Emmerson & Beard 2004, p. 77.
11. ^ Original drawings."Site Records - Down Street Station". Subterranea Britannica. 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
12. ^ ^{a b} Emmerson & Beard 2004, p. 78.
13. ^ "TfL seeks partner to transform disused Down Street Station". Transport for London. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
14. ^ "Down Street: A Commercial Opportunity" (PDF). Transport for London. 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
15. ^ Smith, Oliver (14 April 2016). "Visit the disused Tube station where Churchill sheltered during the Blitz". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
16. ^ "Neverwhere, Down Street". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
17. ^ "Let's Play Shadow Man Part 47 - Down St Station". YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
18. ^ "London Underground Film Office". Transport for London. Archived from the original on 3 August 2010.
19. ^ Gerlach, Steffen. Klinkhardt, Martin (ed.). "Steve Hackett - Wild Orchids - Review - Street Date: 11 September 2006". Genesis-news.com. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
20. ^ "London". Billy Connolly's World Tour of England, Ireland and Wales. Episode 5. 8 April 2002. BBC.
21. National Geographic Channel
    .
22. ^ "Ghost Stations". The Tube. Episode 5. 5 April 2012. BBC. Retrieved 7 September 2014.

Bibliography

• Connor, J. E. (2006) [1999]. London's Disused Underground Stations (2nd (revised) ed.). Capital Transport.
  ISBN 1-85414-250-X
  .
• Emmerson, Andrew; Beard, Tony (2004). London's Secret Tubes. Capital Transport.
  ISBN 1-85414-283-6
  .
• Rose, Douglas (1999) [1980]. The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History (7th ed.). Douglas Rose/Capital Transport.
  ISBN 1-85414-219-4
  .
• ISBN 1-84354-023-1
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Down Street tube station.

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Down Street station shortly after opening.
• Underground History: Down Street.
• London's Abandoned Tube Stations: Down Street station.
• Photographs of the current condition of the station: in 2006 and in 2016

Former Route
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Hyde Park Corner towards Hammersmith		Piccadilly line		Dover Street towards Finsbury Park