St. Paul's tube station

St. Paul's is a London Underground station located in the City of London financial district. The station, which takes its name from the nearby St Paul's Cathedral, is on the Central line, between Bank and Chancery Lane stations, and is in fare zone 1.

St. Paul's
Western entrance to St. Paul's (2009)
St. Paul's
Location of St. Paul's in Central London
LocationSmithfield
Local authorityCity of London
Managed byLondon Underground
Number of platforms2
Fare zone1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2014 17.54 million[1]
2015 17.37 million[1]
2016 18.42 million[1]
2017 17.20 million[1]
2018 15.10 million[2]
Railway companies
Original companyCentral London Railway
Key dates
30 July 1900Opened as Post Office
1 February 1937Renamed St. Paul's
Other information
External links
WGS8451.5148°N 0.0975°W / 51.5148; -0.0975
 London transport portal

It should not be confused with City Thameslink railway station 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 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 station on a 1908 Tube map, on the blue Central London Railway line.

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

The station today
Central line train on the westbound platform

The station entrances are located around the junction of Newgate Street, Cheapside and St. Martin's Le Grand. St Paul's Cathedral 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 and One New Change. Other notable sites in the vicinity include the Old Bailey, Museum of London and the church of St Mary-le-Bow.

Connections

London Buses routes 4, 8, 25, 56, 521 and night routes N8, N25 and N242 serve the station.

Future proposals

An underground passageway linking City Thameslink railway station to St Paul's tube station to provide an interchange between the Central line and National Rail services on the Thameslink railway has been suggested by London TravelWatch in a report in 2014, which suggested it would benefit passengers travelling from the Central line to Gatwick and Luton Airports.[3]

  • Western entrance with St Paul's Cathedral in the background (2003)
  • The westbound platform (2009)
  • Platform roundel (2008)

Notes
  1. "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures (2007-2017)" (XLSX). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. January 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  2. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  3. Potential future transport projects for London (Report). London TravelWatch. June 2014. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
gollark: My alt, like all new people.
gollark: Seriously? Um.
gollark: What does that mean? Don't buy black market children?
gollark: I haven't actually memorised relevant statistics because why would I and I can't really look them up as I'm on my phone.
gollark: I continue existence. Muahahahaha.
Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
Central line
towards Epping, Hainault
or Woodford (via Hainault)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.