Warren Street tube station

{{good article}}

{{other uses|Warren Street station (disambiguation)}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}

{{short description|London Underground station}}

{{Infobox London station

| name = Warren Street

| symbol = underground

| manager = London Underground

| locale = Euston Road

| borough = London Borough of Camden

| platforms = 4

| fare_zone = 1

| image_name = Warren Street Station.jpg

| caption = Station building

| coordinates = {{coord|51.52472|-0.13833|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

| map_type = Central London

| years1 = 22 June 1907

| events1 = Opened

| years2 = 1 December 1968

| events2 = Victoria line opened

| interchange = {{stl|LUL|Euston Square}}

| interchange_note = {{cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/out-of-station-interchanges|publisher=Transport for London|title=Out-of-station interchanges|access-date=16 August 2017}}

}}

Warren Street ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɒr|ən|_|ˌ|s|t|r|iː|t}}) is a London Underground station, located at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road and Euston Road in the northernmost part of Fitzrovia, and named after adjoining Warren Street. It is served by the Northern and Victoria lines. Even though it is relatively used less than a number of neighbouring stations, it provides an interchange between the two lines as well as access to the University College Hospital.

The station opened in 1907 as Euston Road,{{Cite web |title=Warren Street |website=British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol21/pt3/pp64-65 |access-date=2024-06-01 }} and was designed by Leslie Green. It was refurbished in the 1930s by Charles Holden, when escalators were first installed. An extensive refurbishment took place in the late 1960s to accommodate the Victoria line, when it briefly acted as a temporary terminus. It was the first station on the underground to have a dedicated Wi-Fi surface in 2012.

Name and location

The premises adjoins Warren Street, Euston Road and Tottenham Court Road; Warren Street is named after the 18th-century naval officer Sir Peter Warren.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=984}} The station is on the {{stl|LUL|Charing Cross}} branch of the Northern line between Euston and Goodge Street stations, and on the Victoria line between Oxford Circus and Euston stations.{{cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/hub/stop/940GZZLUWRR/warren-street-underground-station/|title=Warren Street Underground Station|work=Transport for London|access-date=5 July 2019}} It is in Travelcard Zone 1 and is the nearest tube station to University College Hospital, being opposite the main building. It is also a {{convert|0.1|mile|m|adj=on}} walk to {{stl|LUL|Euston Square}} on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, which is at the other side of the hospital building.{{Cite map/Standard Tube Map}}{{cite map|url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Euston+Square+Underground+Station,+Euston+Road,+London/Warren+Street,+London+NW1+3AA/@51.5251271,-0.1376877,18z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b2602df3075:0x724a117f8c443a0e!2m2!1d-0.1350197!2d51.525635!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b287c57e88f:0xd8cdd6e9ba30ec59!2m2!1d-0.1381671!2d51.5246192!3e2|title=Euston Square Underground Station to Warren Street|publisher=Google Maps|accessdate=23 June 2022}}

London Buses routes 18, 24, 27, 29, 30, 73, 134, 205 and 390 and night routes N5, N20, N29, N73, N205, N253 and N279 serve the station.{{cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/490000252X/warren-street-station|title=Warren Street Station|publisher=Transport for London|accessdate=17 June 2022}}

The station has a relatively low footfall for Victoria line stations in the area. In 2020, the annualised total for Warren Street was around 7.7 million, lower than Euston (8.8 million), Green Park (9.4 million), Oxford Circus (14.6 million), Kings Cross St Pancras (18.8 million) and Victoria (23 million).

History

=Northern line=

The station was part of the original Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, running from Charing Cross to Camden Town. Work started on the station in 1902, designed by Leslie Green.{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|pp=76–77}}{{sfn|Wolmar|2005|p=175}} It was opened along with the rest of the line on 22 June 1907 by the President of the Board of Trade, David Lloyd George, under the name "Euston Road".{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|pp=76–77}}{{sfn|Smithers|2016|p=9}} This name can still be seen in the Northern line platform tiling.{{sfn|Badsey-Ellis|2005|p=294}} The station's name changed to "Warren Street" the following year, on 7 June 1908.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=241}}

In the early 1930s, Charles Holden designed a refurbishment for the station, including the surface building.{{Cite web|url=http://hidden-london.tripod.com/warrenstreet.html|title=Warren Street|website=Hidden London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427090520/http://hidden-london.tripod.com/warrenstreet.html|archive-date=27 April 2020|access-date=27 April 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/design-for-warren-street-london-underground-station-london-perspective-view/posterid/RIBA32869.html|title=Design for Warren Street London Underground Station, London: perspective view|website=RIBApix|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427091919/https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/design-for-warren-street-london-underground-station-london-perspective-view/posterid/RIBA32869.html|archive-date=27 April 2020|access-date=27 April 2020}} In September 1933, the station was rebuilt, with escalators installed in place of the original lifts.{{sfn|Lee|1968|p=25}} Tripod gates were fitted to the station entrance in July 1968.{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|p=168}}

=Victoria line=

Warren Street was not in the original proposals for the Victoria line, but was added by the time work began in 1962. This was done to break up a lengthy section of tube between Euston and Oxford Circus, and provide an additional public transport access point to the local area.{{sfn|Horne|1988|p=28}}

The Victoria line platforms opened on 1 December 1968 as a temporary southern terminus of the line.{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|p=168}} Trains ran into the southbound platform and reversed; the northbound platform was not originally used.{{sfn|Horne|1988|p=44}} The interchange with the Northern Line was cumbersome as it involved a staircase and two escalators.{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|p=168}} The extension southwards towards Victoria officially opened on 7 March 1969, though through trains had been running since 24 February.{{sfn|Horne|1988|p=45}} Along with other Victoria line stations, the new complex was originally decorated with tiles showing an illustration relating to the station's name – in this case, a maze (signifying a warren).{{sfn|Martin|2012|p=237}}

=Later history=

On 27 April 2012, Warren Street station became the first London Underground Wi-Fi enabled tube station.{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a385792/london-kings-cross-and-warren-street-tube-stations-get-free-wifi.html#~oNIDiAKsDpBqDr|title=London King's Cross and Warren Street Tube stations get free Wi-Fi|author=Andrew Laughlin|date=7 June 2012|work=Digital Spy|access-date=20 March 2016}}

Incidents

On 23 November 1984, a fire broke out in a maintenance compound near Oxford Circus. The Victoria line was part-suspended, with trains terminating at Warren Street. The line reopened on 17 December. The fire was believed to be caused by a discarded cigarette, which led to a smoking ban on all below-ground components of the Underground, including trains, platforms and stations.{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|p=187}}{{efn|Following the King's Cross fire in 1987, smoking was banned on the Underground completely.{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|p=191}}}}

On 23 July 2018, a woman died after being hit by a Victoria line train at the station. The police did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/commuters-face-rush-hour-disruption-after-victoria-line-suspended-a3893426.html|title=Woman dies after being hit by train at Warren Street station|newspaper=London Evening Standard|date=23 July 2018|accessdate=17 June 2022}}

Cultural references

The Northern line northbound platform of the station was used for location filming in the 1972 horror film Death Line, featuring a group of cannibals living underground.{{cite web|url=https://art.tfl.gov.uk/labyrinth/artwork/warren-street/|title=Warren Street|work=Transport for London Artwork|date=14 May 2013|access-date=5 July 2019}}

Gallery

File:Warren Street stn Northern northbound look north.JPG|Northern line northbound platform looking north, July 2008

File:Warren Street Tube Station.jpeg|Northern line northbound platform, looking south, February 2018

File:Warren Street stn Northern tiling.JPG|Tiling on Northern line southbound platform, revealing the former station name, Euston Road

File:Warren street stn Northern roundel.JPG|Station roundel

File:Warren Street stn Victoria northbound looking north.JPG|Victoria line northbound platform looking north, July 2008. After a few years, the station was renovated

File:Warren Street Station and BT Tower.jpg|Warren Street station viewed from the north-east across Euston Road

References

Notes

{{notelist}}

Citations

{{Reflist}}

Sources

{{refbegin}}

  • {{butt-stations}}
  • {{cite book|last=Badsey-Ellis|first=Antony|title=London's Lost Tube Schemes|publisher=Capital Transport|year=2005|isbn=185414-293-3}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Day|first1=John R|last2=Reed|first2=John|year=2010|orig-year=1963|title=The Story of London's Underground|publisher=Capital Transport|isbn=978-1-85414-341-9}}
  • {{cite book|last=Horne|first=M.A.C.|authorlink=Mike Horne|title=The Victoria Line – A Short History|publisher=Douglas Rose|year=1988|isbn=978-1-870-35402-8}}
  • {{cite book|last=Lee|first=Charles Edward|title=Sixty Years of the Northern|publisher=London Transport Board|year=1968}}
  • {{cite book|last=Martin|first=Andrew|title=Underground, Overground: A Passenger's History of the Tube|publisher=Profile Books|year=2012|isbn=978-1-847-65807-4}}
  • {{cite book|last=Smithers|first=Owen|title=Automating the Northern line|publisher=Amberley|year=2016|isbn=978-1-445-65483-6}}
  • {{london encyclopedia}}
  • {{cite book |last=Wolmar |first=Christian |author-link = Christian Wolmar |title = The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How It Changed the City Forever |publisher = Atlantic Books |isbn=1-84354-023-1 |orig-year=2004 |year=2005 }}

{{refend}}