Secrets of the London Underground

Tim and Siddy explore Earl’s Court station – a busy interchange on the Piccadilly and District lines. It’s a station that has always embraced innovation. It was the very first station to install a passenger escalator and the first to install automatic lifts. Tim discovers how even today, the station is embracing the modern, with a re-design of the walkways created to fit in with its famous glass roof. Meanwhile, Siddy visits Alperton towards the western end of the Piccadilly Line. It’s a classic example of the famous London Underground architect, Charles Holden, and the design was regarded as futuristic when it was built in the 1930s. Back at our Museum depot in Acton, a dedicated volunteer shows Tim the restored inner workings of a 1930s platform indicator, which used a telegraph system to show passengers the destination of their next train.

Tim and Siddy go under the platforms of Paddington station. It has five different tube lines running through it, with its oldest and newest lines opening 150 years apart. Tim explores a tunnel still in use under the mainline station, but with intriguing clues as to its original purpose. Siddy discovers some former police cells underneath the platforms, and unearths what remains of the luggage carousels from when passengers on the Heathrow Express were allowed to check-in their luggage in the main station. At Tottenham Court Road, Siddy reveals the huge changes to the station to accommodate the Elizabeth line, and tells the story of how the station’s iconic mosaic artwork was preserved during the works. She also takes us behind a locked door to uncover a floodgate installed as part of Britain’s Cold War defences. Back at our Museum depot in Acton, Tim meets a young tube driver who’s built up a large following on social media for her posts showing behind the scenes of her job.

Tim and Siddy explore the forgotten underground passages and tunnels underneath one of Britain’s busiest railway stations, Waterloo. Tim gets a tour of a hidden world underneath the main concourse, which includes a former typing pool, a rifle range and a full-size snooker table gathering dust. As a member of our Hidden London team, Siddy has the key to unlock a door to a secret room at the end of a Bakerloo line platform. She discovers a floodgate which would have sealed the tunnel entrance during German bombing raids over London during the Second World War. Siddy visits Marble Arch on the Central line, and meets the artist who created an iconic series of enamel artwork on the platforms in the 1980s. Each depicts the Marble Arch in a different design, and they’re still in pristine condition after 40 years. Siddy hears how the designs came about, and how the artist had to learn the intricate craft of working with enamel to realise her vision.

Explore South Kentish Town a station once on the Northern line,but abandoned more than a century ago. Tube trains still run through it, creating an eerie atmosphere and the spookiest sound they’ve ever heard in a tube station. They explore the disused passageways, reveal the ventilation shafts still working to keep air circulating on the Northern Line today, and tell the story of the passenger once stranded at the station after getting off a train by mistake. At a secret location somewhere in zone 1, Siddy gets a behind the scenes tour of the London Underground Control Centre. It’s the hi-tech mothership of the entire network, sitting in an enormous control room, running operations, power, policing and track access from one central hub. It includes a huge multi-screen display, which can show simultaneous live feeds from any of the 12,000 CCTV cameras on the underground. Tim meets one of the underground’s buskers to hear the secrets to her craft

Tim and Siddy reveal the incredible story of the Thames Tunnel – the first successful tunnel built under a major body of water anywhere in the world. It was built by Brunel and his father – and not originally intended for trains - but today links Rotherhithe and Wapping stations. Tim hears about the incredible engineering that made the tunnel possible – as well as the many failed attempts to get it right, including a major flood. Siddy walks the tracks in search of evidence of the tunnel’s original construction, revealing a series of striking arches. In Lambeth North, Siddy explores this classic Leslie Green station, one of the least used in zone 1. But it has a significant history as a shelter during the Second World War, and as a training base for London Transport workers, especially women drafted in to work on the tube during the war.

Tim and Siddy get privileged access to the vast maintenance depot at Ruislip, at the end of the Central line. It’s the nerve-centre for all that takes place on the tube, from routine track repairs to emergency engineering. Tim gets a demonstration of how tracks are replaced, as a crane lifts huge pre-assembled sections of railway track into place. Siddy gets in the driving seat of a machine that moves ballast into place under sleepers to hold the track in position. At Warren Street, on the Northern and Victoria lines, Siddy explores the station’s constant reinvention. It first opened in the early 1900s, was remodelled in the 1930s and then had a massive make-over in the 60s when the Victoria line arrived. At the Museum depot in Acton, Tim meets a poet who has had her work chosen to appear as part of the ‘Poems on the Underground’ series.

Tim and Siddy get access to the maintenance depot at Northumberland Park, responsible for looking after the entire fleet of Victoria Line trains. Tim meets the team checking all the carriages, and sees the incredible precision needed to finely shave the metal wheels to keep them running smoothly on the tracks. Siddy checks the vintage control panel on the tower and finds it is still in working order. They ride on the private service that links the depot with Seven Sisters station alighting at its mysterious third platform. At Finsbury Park station on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines, Siddy does a night-time track walk to access the now-disused tunnel which was part of an early experiment to run large electric mainline trains on the tube. At our Museum Tim hears about the importance of design across the tube network, and looks at the bespoke designs for seating fabric across different underground lines.

Explores the rich history of Stockwell station on the Victoria line. It was originally the terminus station for the City and South London Railway – the first ever deep level electric tube railway in the world, and the birth of the tube as we know it. Tim finds evidence of a deep level shelter used by Londoners during the Second World War. On the platforms, he reveals something rather more contemporary – the tiles depicting a swan in homage to a local pub. As Siddy descends deep into the station, she finds metallic tiles on the walls and cast iron segments in a disused lift shaft, each crucial relics of their era. Siddy visits the main depot for the DLR. She hears how they’re developing new technology to alert them to any passengers on the tracks. And she gets a preview of their new fleet of trains currently on test runs along the network. At the Museum depot, Tim explores the items in their collection charting the history of the DLR, including models of the original 1986 trains.

Tim and Siddy meet at Gloucester Road in London’s museum quarter – a station serving the Circle, District and Piccadilly lines. It was built as two separate stations, with the earliest, grander section opening in the 1860s. Tim finds an original footbridge still overlooking the modern platforms, as well as a hidden space where you can still see the brickwork of the early tunnels. Siddy explores the later station – a Leslie Green design built in the early 1900s with original tiles and remains of the lifts still in evidence. Tim and Siddy also explore the now-disused platform that’s been turned into an art gallery. Siddy leaves London to visit Goole in Yorkshire where 70 new Piccadilly line trains are being assembled. She gets a tour of the factory and is allowed on board a new open-plan carriage, being fitted with air conditioning.