This lonely station, that stands at the place of the former Royal Strand Theatre, was part of a one-station branch of the Piccadilly line that connected to Holborn station. At Southampton Row, just north of Holborn, trams would drop into a tunnel under Kingsway, serving two underground stops at Holborn and Aldwych, before emerging on the Embankment under Waterloo Bridge. The Aldwych underground station on the junction between the Strand and Surrey Street has been closed for nearly thirty years. Here is a history of the subway and a set of photos I took on two. Thursday's matinee performances at the Novello and Aldwych theatres were also cancelled. The link from Holborn to Aldwych opened in 1906, and the extension to Waterloo Bridge opened in 1908. The Kingsway tram subway in London had two underground stations, Holborn and Aldwych. The headroom is only 12.5 feet (3.8 m) due to the tunnel having to pass beneath the bridge abutment by a 1:12 gradient. There was an intermediate station at Aldwych.
It is only 17 feet (5.2 m) wide and, as a result, it is normally one-way northbound because of the side clearances required.
It was eventually closed in 1994 when the original 1907 lifts needed urgent replacement and the cost could not be justified.Īldwych station and the trains have been used for many films, TV productions, music videos ( some listed below) and emergency services training.Ī modified and expanded version of the station appears as a level in the video game Tomb Raider III There was, however, a single line which ran from one side of London to the other, using which trams could travel from north London to south. The new underpass was built by John Mowlem & Co and opened on 21 January 1964. The platforms and tunnels at Aldwych station are 92 feet and 6 inches below street level.įrom June 1958 the line began only in rush hours. The Aldwych service was suspended on 22 September 1940 and used as a shelter for the public during air raids. The original tunnel was built to carry the single deck cars then in use, but in 1930 the tunnel was closed. Not long afterwards, these were changed to Piccadilly RLY as the UERL disliked the word tube. Opened in 1906, this tram underpass originally connected a subterranean station at Holborn, and ran the length of Kingsway via a station at Aldwych before rising to the surface under Waterloo Bridge.
Not been south for a while, so got a nice early train down and had a good walk round for the day.Ĭonstruction started on 21 October 1905 with demolition of the Royal Strand Theatre which occupied the site, it opened as Strand station on 30 November 1907.īoth entrances had Piccadilly tube on their facades when the station opened. decimated for the Waterloo Bridge to Kingsway light traffic underpass that utilises part of the Kingsway subway. Managed to bag some tickets for London's disused station, Aldwych.