Down Street Tube Station - History

History

Down Street station lies between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly Line. Evidence of its presence can still be identified through the train windows between these stations by a change in the tunnel surface from black to a section of beige brickwork. The station was opened by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (precursor to the Piccadilly line) on 15 March 1907, a few months after the rest of the line. The surface building was on Down Street, just off Piccadilly in Mayfair. It was never a busy station, as the surrounding area was largely residential and its residents were too wealthy to be regular tube passengers. The neighbouring stations were also fairly close by.

Like Brompton Road, Down Street was often skipped by trains. In 1929 it was one of the stations mooted for closure in connection with the extension of the Piccadilly line: the elimination of less-busy stations in the central area would improve both reliability and journey times for long-distance commuters. Additionally, the neighbouring stations were being rebuilt with escalators in place of lifts, and their new entrances were nearer to Down Street, further squeezing its small catchment area. The station closed on 21 May 1932.

After the station was closed it was almost immediately modified. The western headwalls of both platform tunnels were modified to allow a step plate junction (a junction where tunnels of differing diameters join—the step is the vertical wall filling the gap between them) to be installed, providing access to a new siding located between Down Street and Hyde Park Corner stations. In 1939, the platform faces were bricked up and the resulting space used as an underground bunker. The main wartime occupants of the station were the Emergency Railway Committee, but it was also used by Churchill and the war cabinet until the Cabinet War Rooms were ready for use. Since the end of the war the station has only been used as an emergency access point to the tube. The surface building, designed by Leslie Green, is still standing.