A new London Underground tour is giving people the chance of looking at a busy station’s ‘secret’ platforms. Holborn station provides Piccadilly and Central line services.
Close by are lots of attractions and institutions. These include the British Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Red Lion Square, Bloomsbury Square, London School of Economics and Sir John Soane’s Museum.
Holborn station was opened in 1906. Before 1994, it was the northern terminus of a Piccadilly line branch to Aldwych.
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Two platforms originally used for this service are now disused. One of these has been used for filming during film and TV productions. It is perhaps most famous for being where Daniel Craig slid down an escalator in Skyfall.
It is also where scenes in Killing Eve, Spooks and Thor: The Dark World were shot.
Tour dates
The tour is taking place on the following dates:
- Sunday 4 August 2024, all day
- Wednesday 7 August 2024, all day
- Thursday 8 August 2024, all day
- Friday 9 August 2024, all day
- Saturday 10 August 2024, all day
- Sunday 11 August 2024, all day
It then repeats weekly on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all day until Sunday, September 29. You can book tickets here.
The London Transport Museum, which is run by TfL, says on its website: “Join us to uncover the secrets of Holborn station, a busy interchange at the heart of London with much more to explore than first meets the eye. Originally opened in 1906 as a complex of four platforms to serve the Piccadilly line, this station had a pivotal role in turning the surrounding area from a land of ill repute into a prime business district for London.
“Step behind concealed doors with one of our expert tour guides and into the expansive disused areas that lay behind, some not seen by the public in nearly 30 years. Enjoy an unexpected view of the Piccadilly line and explore the two closed platforms of the former Aldwych branch, complete with vintage posters, original Leslie Green Edwardian design, and an original early 20th century signalling cabin.
“Along the way you’ll relive the twists and turns of the 20th century as you hear how these spaces came to be used in surprising ways over the years, including as scientific laboratories, providing shelter for London Transport staff in wartime, and even housing a model rail club.
“You’ll learn how staff members may have felt working there during the height of the Blitz, how the big modernisation project of the 1930s led to the closure of nearby British Museum station, and how the station is still playing a key role in the future of the London Underground today as part of a massive upgrading project of the signalling system.”
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