Dover Street - Alight here for Green Park

23rd January 2025

I’ve been down another hole in the ground thanks to the London Transport Museum’s Hidden London tours. This time it was to parts of Dover Street station, or as we no it now, Green Park. This is a new Hidden London tour for 2025 and follows a similar theme to many others. We were met outside Green Park station (by the Diana Fountain) and once our tickets and photo ID had been checked and safety and other formalities completed Eesa and Becky led us into the station and down towards the Piccadilly Line platforms. Just before reaching the platforms however we went through a private door into the “lost world” of Dover Street station’s passages from the platform over-bridges to the disused lift shafts.

These now redundant passages took passengers to and from the lifts to the platforms but the station became too busy to carry on using lifts. When the lifts were replaced by escalators there wasn’t room for them at the Dover Street site so in 1933 a new ticket hall was opened below ground, accessed from entrances on Piccadilly and in Green Park and the station took its new name from the park.

The passages retain much of the original tiling in a light blue and white colour scheme and some original sign-writing too.

No Hidden London station tour can escape the system’s role in the second small disagreement of the 20th century and in the case of Green Park it was initially used for storage by some of London’s museums but after London Transport’s headquarters at 55 Broadway received a wee present from the Luftwaffe the museums were turfed out and the redundant passages converted to an operational headquarters for the LT board. This included a suite for the Chairman, Lord Ashcroft, at the foot of one of the lift shafts. Considerations of class meant he got newly plastered and painted walls whereas lesser mortals working and living down there kept the station tiling.

The tour returned along the passage to the Piccadilly Line before heading back into the public part of the station.

Then along the long tunnel to the Victoria and Jubilee lines. The tunnel where the mosaic tiles on the walls gradually turn from white and blue (Piccadilly end) to white and grey (Jubilee end). Also the long tunnel which makes some people avoid changing lines at green Park.

The point of this trek through the station was to get to the huge ventilation tunnel that expels warm air from the station and draws cooler air from the surface. There are no fans in the ventilation tunnel for this, the movement of the trains through the station platform tunnels is used, the trains being effectively huge pistons.

A long staircase leads down from Victoria Line level to Jubilee Line level.

and from the Victoria line level the tunnel rises vertically to the world above. In January this space is noticeably colder than the rest of the station.

Of course one of the fun parts of a station tour is getting to peek down at the trains and platforms from the hidden spaces behind the vents. So here’s the Jubilee Line platform seen from above the track.

And apart from making our way all the way back up to the ticket hall and handing back our visitor’s badges that was another tour done. Almost 90 minutes had passed but it didn’t feel like it. Considering it’s a new tour it all went very smoothly, nobody got lost and nobody was gained on route despite it being a busy station. The guides were knowledgeable and enthusiastic as ever. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Tim Dunn/Siddy Holloway then Hidden London tours can be booked here.

There are more photos on my Flickr Album too.

Battersea Power Station station (and Nine Elms too).

24th September

Yes, they’ve been open nearly a week and I’d have liked to have visited Battersea Power Station station and Nine Elms station on the new Northern Line extension on opening day but some of us had to go to work instead :-( Not today though so i got a train up to Battersea Park station, with its unexpectedly impressive ticket hall...

 

 

 

…and then took the short walk up Battersea Park Road to the first of the two shiny new stations, Battersea Power Station station.

 

Battersea Power Station station.

 

 

 

The entrance almost in the shadow of the eponymous former power station is strikingly modern although rather smaller than I had expected. Maybe it just looks that way because there’s rather a lot of space around it currently waiting to be built on.

 

 

 

Mask on and in I went under the overhanging canopy which was providing pretty much the only shade from the bright sunshine.

 

 

 

There is little to see in the surface building, all the action is down the escalators.

 

 

 

To the first level concourse where the gate line is.

 

 

 

And the two sets of escalators down to platform level. It’s all very open and spacious, reminded me of Canary Wharf or Heathrow stations and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

 

 

 

At platform level it’s unlike any other Northern Line station I’ve been to - certainly in Zone 1, which for political reasons has been extended to include the new extension. Wouldn’t want the multi-millionaires who’ll be able to afford the Battersea Power Station flats to have to pay an extra few bob to get into town would we now? It was nice to see that some trains will run direct to Mill Hill East, the terminus of the other Northern Line “appendix” on the other side of the capital. One day I’ll come back and do that trip just because but not today as after 5 minutes a train appeared and it was time to go to Nine Elms.

 

 

 

 

 

Nine Elms station.

 

 

 

Alighting at Nine Elms again into a huge open space between the platforms but this felt more like an Underground station. Maybe because of the presence of advertisements on the walls facing the platforms, felt to be unnecessary at Battersea because passengers would normally get straight onto a waiting train.

 

 

 

From the platforms three escalators lead up to the surface level ticket hall with more than a hint of Charles Holden’s station designs about it but in 21st century materials. The giant advertising screen above the escalators, to be seen on entering the station rather than leaving it, was still showing Global, the operator’s, logo. Maybe still waiting for a client with deep pockets.

 

 

 

Out of the two new stations I must say that I liked Nine Elms better. For now I expect it’s the more useful of the two and certainly appeared to have more “real” passengers - as opposed to old white men taking pictures :-) It even has a nice roundel in the glass above the entrance which reminded me of Northfields or Morden.

 

 

 

Passing out through the gate line and wide entrance onto Wandsworth Road to look at the outside I’d say that Nine Elms looks more like you expect an Underground station to look than Battersea Power Station station, which without the branding could be a large bus stop, or even a coffee shop :-)

 

 

 

So two new stations which no doubt will be useful and popular, eventually, in an area hitherto ill-served by the Underground. Nine Elms gets my vote as the nicer and not just because when I crossed Wandsworth Road and turned to get a better shot of the exterior it was enhanced by the serendipitous appearance of an older London Transport icon :-)

 

 

 

(On its way to Chelsea Flower Show I think it said on the front.)