Down Street Underground Ghost Station
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- Опубликовано: 13 май 2015
- Down Street is an abandoned station on the Piccadilly line, which TfL is considering opening up to the public.
We got to explore it, one of the many 'ghost' stations on the network, discovering stairs that haven't been used for decades, a World War Two typing pool, and .. .hang on! Is that Winston Churchill's old bath?
Would be awesome if they had a bar down there, with the access to the lines featuring windows so you see the trains go past.
People would be so wasted that they can't get back up the steps :)
i dont think being wasted prevents you from being taken up with a lift or something
one of the few commercial operations you could cram in to that confined space I would have thought
Brilliant, drunk people getting creamed by trains
@@flipperbear9 I don't mean having a bar right on the platform with no barrier to the lines, something like a floor to ceiling window would be amazing though if the platform was used, and the rest of the platform access tunnels could be used.
So the only place they got the number of steps right was in a station that's not in use. Typical.
I wish a lot of these abandoned stations were given a bit of a clean, then opened to the public as museums or something. I'd love to go on a tour around loads of abandoned stations - but none of them are ever open...
***** Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Cheers for letting me know!
+Geofftech £75 a ticket seems a bit much.
@@1Cineworld more than most people would pay, less than it would take to make the idea cost neutral...
I nearly booked a tour till COVID shit everything down!
As a fellow ‘underground’ enthusiast, I get so much from your videos. I really appreciate the efforts you and your cameraman go to to deliver such informative and interesting videos. Please please please post more!
I went on this tour yesterday and WOW nothing can describe the feeling of being down there, the tour guides are excellent and even admit that they are still finding things out themselves and always seem excited to talk about the new finds
WHAT TOUR, THERE WAS NOTHING PUBLICISED TO EVERYONE OF US WHO OWN ALL EQUALLY OWN THIS THIS HERITAGE !!.
@@peterbuckley265 open your eyes, well you know of it now, stop living under a rock!!!
103 steps approx. 15 floors?
Yup 🤣
Exactly.
It is the equivalent of a 15 storey building. not approx...
It's an old TfL joke
I watched this video right after the '15 floors' one, and when I saw the sign with the 103 steps, scrolled down immediately to find this joke :D
I get so excited over underground tiles! Probably the strangest thing I will ever comment :/ love Regent's Park entrance
same im a big fan of the undeground
I use to work in this street between 1966 and 1968 and knew it was an 'Underground property from the tiling so very interesting to finally see inside. Thanks.
It's great they're re-opening it. I think they'd make for great museums for both London Transport and for London itself.
They should consider doing it for Aldwych too.
Larry, you are everywhere
finally some one on the same page as me
Not an amazing idea, Larry. It's not the safest station.
I keep bumping into you Larry in the comments. I believe they should use this in a Winston Churchill film about the war cabinet.
Yeah, it be nice for Aldwych to open with an other line there and to have Aldwych Branch Line but it would be extended since its way too small
I just came across this it would be great if yall could keep the tiles that was my great grandfather's brother that the tiles were made by & constructed. This just great. I went back to my madin name after my divorce. I love history just like you & to see this on 3*12*2023 is just amazing 😵😵😵💯💯💯💯
Very interesting! 103 steps, so that's how many steps there are in a 15 story building!
When I used to test the signal system at Down Street, I was scared going there by myself.
Hi just watched this video I worked in the station did some brickwork just at the bottom of the staircase later on we put the mesh grills and gates in and I can honestly say Down street was the spookiest place I’ve ever been in my life 🥴👍👍
Geoff NEVER fails to deliver.
This is amazing, europe has so much hidden literally under the streets. Me and my brother will go there to explore one day!
Think WC was for Winston Churchill rather than Water Closet...
As far as I'm aware only Churchill had the luxury of a bath in this bunker and the initials were probably put there by an Urban Explorer I suspect. May be wise to verify that info though as I'm just some bloke on RUclips with a little knowledge on a lot of subjects.lol. However I am very envious of your job...
He scratched his initials into the dirt he washed of himself in that bath.
Could have been aliens saying "we're coming".
@@thomasmann9216 I think it is the aliens.
Very good. As a teenager me and a couple of friends climbed up from the canal and along into the old Lords station. There was nothing at all historical feeling about it left. Anyway, would love to go to Down Street. I always enjoy your videos. Keep up the good stuff.
Cheers.
Down St used to have a special platform entrance for War Cabinet Members, inside the tunnel. So members couldn't be followed by spies, they would knock on the driver`s door with a code and the driver would let the WCM into the drivers compartment. The driver would stop at Down St and push the head of the train into the tunnel at the end of the platform, in line with a special door and the WCM member would get out.
Very cool. Your enthusiasm is infectious. I kind of want it opened up but I kind of want it there as a time capsule undisturbed and seldom accessed. I remember a Billy Connolly documentary where he got off the train at Down Street and explored it. Great video Geoff as always.
Warren Saunders better still, someone should buy it and keep it as it is but make it a history-preservated bar
As an Electrician that loves history this would be a perfect contract for me!
These videos of abandoned tunnels and other underground facilities always provide a scary thrill for me. I have done lots of exciting things in my long life including mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, backpacking, winter camping, desert travel, skiing, and caving. I was never that comfortable with caving and still have bad dreams about some of situations I experienced when underground, so I think I must be claustrophobic. Trouble is these videos are addictive so keep them coming.
I've said it before but I'll say it again. You sir have the best job in London...
ffr1Ai
Fascinating stuff!
I Remember using Aldwych daily back in the ‘70’s when I was about 16. I work as a post room boy for a solicitor in the Aldwych called Amery Parks.
Your Videos are Fantastic, Well done Geoff.
Your whole series of videos is both fascinating and excellent. I am looking forward to visiting Down Street next month
Just had a tour of Down Street. Fantastic place. Go there you won’t be disappointed.
The W.C. on the bath is no just because Winston Churchill was using the station during the war, it was actually the bath tub he used frequently.
Been there too! It's by far the most interesting disused station ever!
You have a nice presenting style, coherent!
Thank you so much' a step back in time.. i hope they find a way to open this treasure chest of history..
Delightful. Thanks for sharing that.
I thought you were going to wear your Piccadilly line shirt, Geoff!
Great video. Fascinating place.
Is anyone else impressed that Geoff's step count matches the sign? (Other videos seem to indicate that this is often not the case.)
Gary, we later found out the the 103 is down to the lift level only! It doesn't include the 19 steps (which Geoff is sat on talking about the dust) down to platform level. In total at Down Street now, there are 122 steps from street to platform level!
+Londonist Ltd I'm an absolute train nerd I know the most in my town!!!
Londonist Ltd are you a fan of trains
cause I'm a huge fan of trains
are you the same as me with your love of trains
like if your a fan
I did a tour of Glasgow Central Station when I was in college and there was one point where you could actually see the in use part of the lower level line (platforms 16 and 17 respectively), lines that take you East toward Motherwell and Coatbridge and West toward Partick and onto Clydebank.
great show ,you should def do guided tours,thanks
I'm from 2057 it's still not open beep bloop
TFL finally found a tenant in 2525. A believe a Mr Zager and Ms Evans signed the lease.
Ooooh, please tell me what happens to Donald trump and boris Johnson.
Visited 3019. Aldwych is open, the Circle Line goes somewhere on its own and this station is open. Phone has a broken camera so couldn’t get any pictures or videos sorry
@@Taffy064 people stoped being snowflakes wiped the slate clean and started again. Both sides are a mockery.
It is the year 123456 and London is the world. There are 41325 stations and the most popular one is Gudhxbduhbxeduhbxuhdebxuhdebxuhedbxuhedbxuhedbxuhdebxuhedbxuhedbxuden Street with 100 billion people each day.
If I remember correctly, this was the first video I had ever seen of you. There are some really good film work and editing in this video!
Most entertaining. Enjoyed it.
The disused Tube Stations are fascinating like "Strand" etc!
Not to forget that a scene in Neil Gaiman's TV series Neverwhere was filmed on Down Street platform, with live Tube trains whizzing past. (At the time there was a news article about passengers being surprised to see a ghostly tea-party through the windows, but I can no longer find the scan!)
I'd love to visit this place. How atmospheric! 😀
Brilliant!
I've got a great suggestion for a commercial use for it - as a tube station again!
It's fascinating seeing this video after I've been on the station tour. The changes done have not taken away from the character of the station and I'd say it is worth going on the tour it if you can afford it.
Peter Sheil have the opened the station up?
Thankyou for sharing.
The bunker was built for the Railway Executive Committee, who were responsible for running, well I'm sure you can guess. The Cabinet used it secretly during the night until the Cabinet War Rooms were ready. They needed somewhere in Central London when it became clear that the Paddock bunker at Dollis Hill was unsuitable for every day use.
I would love to explore an abandoned tube station...not alone...With others...but I think it would be amazing!
U can, London Transport Museum do tours called "Hidden London" at Down Street I went yesterday it was amazing!
Tickets are sold out now but u might be lucky next time. Be warned thou tickets sell out very fast! They where sold out within a day of release for Down Street!
Indeed. There are a few stations you can go to, including Aldwych as someone else has spoken about in these comments. In Down street you get to see a bit more than Geoff did and they have posters on the walls explaining the history and so on. It's all guided too. Worth every penny.
Fantastic explore. Paul in Lower Boddington
I have been here on the hidden London tour it was amazing
Fantastic. London could do this with so many more of these awesome underground historic sites.
"Winnie woz 'ere" xD
A long time ago I used to work down the tubes. I was lucky enough to be able to wander around this but sadly being too young to appreciate it. Still had the lettering on the walls and metal lampshades.
Thanks for the tour. It makes me wonder why it was built so close to another station? Cheers!
It's January 2022. Wondering if what has become of this project? Did Covid force TfL to shelf this project? Anyone? Thanks for the brilliant video. Cheers.
Great video!!!
They should reopen these stations for regular Underground use, especially Down Street as it is a neighbourhood badly in need of a Tube station.
It's in Mayfair... there's nothing in Mayfair but expensive houses and flats. And their inhabitants mostly don't use the Tube. Tourists rarely go there (except the ones who wander down from Oxford St., presumably lost), so why on Earth would it need a Tube Station?
It's really too close to Green Park and Hyde Park Corner to get much usage justifying another stop and all the costs - and I say that as someone who sometimes goes to stuff near Down Street's surface building. (Originally Green Park was called Dover Street with the lifts coming up there, but the switch to escalators moved the entrances closer to Down Street, dooming the latter.)
@@lethe56 To make the residents cheaper
Watching this 4 years on, really interesting. Might pay a visit if open.
Can we get an update of this video? Wanna know if any of these stations are open now for ???? uses,,,,
Thank You for this Film, And Like They put signs For the workmen to find out which way was which
this is an amazing video
It was used to film Neverwhere and I accidently saw them doing it, ie. a flash of a purple cloak.
Also I was on a train once when someone camera flash picked out an old poster on its walls, as they took a photograph of their friends, which later got published in a magazine, which I saw.
Fascinating!
Amazing.
I believe they should use this in a film about Winston Churchill and the war cabinet. It will make an authentic piece of historical drama. Hopefully the new Winston Churchill film(Winston Churchill's finest hour) uses locations in the abandoned London Underground stations.
I think you're referring to Darkest Hour and I believe that used the Cabinet War Rooms for location scenes.
Nice video, thanks. Down Street was used by the Railway Executive Committee as a bunker during WW2, not by the War Cabinet. Churchill was here only very rarely, I think probably on just one occasion.
4:37 I believe that WC means Winston Churchill. lol.
***** I think that could be
Or it could mean water closet
What a great torch .....
Fantastic
Going down tomorrow with London Transport museum tour
Here in 2020 and in lock down. .......oh to travel and see places again
So interesting!
Opening as soon as 2017...2020 🥴
Back in the 1980's I used to use the wine bar on Down Street. If I remember correctly it was called Downes.
Time traveller from 2019 here. No idea why this was recommended.
Anyway: "I can't go down those stairs, they're damaged".
Yup, that's the spirit that helped win the constantly referenced WW2
I am sort of surprised they haven't talked to some cloud based infrastructure companies etc about using the stations as DataCentres Power Readily available. Big tunnels to run big fibre connections to all the key commercial parts of the city.. Nice secure underground Data Centres in the heart of the city.
As a former LUL employee I remember going down there. Is the switch board still there?
Can you imagine the ghosts in there!
Fascinating! I'm Jealous!
Can you do a similar episode of a disused station York Road on the Piccadilly line between Kings Cross and Caledonian Road station?
Creepy, but cool!
2018. Not Opened yet. But hopefully soon as I like this Station.
I love detailed tube systems - paris is my favourite yet - literally - northern paris, tunnel, tunnel, train, tunnel, tunnel, train, walk up, southern paris - abadoned stations are top level of this odd preference
Moscow underground is the best by far, chandeliers, clean deep underground
Could we please have a follow up on this station?
TheCoomer no changes as yet
@@SportyMabamba Thank you
Can you do some more for youtube. These are my favourite of the Underground videos
Dude, W.C. on the bath means Winston Churchill.
I think so too
PopeLando it doesn't, a water closet is a toilet
But it isn't on a toilet, it's on a bathtub.
@PopeLando, I think that was the joke he was making. Geoff has a really dry sense of humour, like my own.
well made video
Fascinating
Hi Geoff, I think that was Winston Churchill's bath -- hence 'WC'.
Can't believe you had a once in a lifetime opportunity to go into an unused station and you took only one stupid torch!!!
Thanks Geoff, very Interesting!
£75 is a bit steep...
Thats not a torch. Its a flashlight!
so, you're from the States too! I was going to post something like this but you beat me to it. To those folks across the pond, if you told someone to bring a torch here, they'd show up with a propane tank and a nozzle plus match to start a flame. Two nations separated by a common language and all that. We wear boots, they're not back of the car, that's called a trunk over here. And if you spell the former word with a "c" instead of an "n" you'd have truck, which you when you try passing it on a motorway, would call a lorry. And a comedian who is successful in London, "goes down a bomb" whereas, a bad comedian's performance over here would be said, "he bombed."
but before you say, "this guy is sure stroppy, naff, or just plain tiresome, I'd like to complement you on the video. Down Street, Brompton road, City Road, British Museum station, South Kentish Town, abandoned stations all seem like interesting and unusual places to explore, and for those of us who are a bit far from London, your video takes us there! A good idea for Tfl, would be to removed one of the tiled station names from each station, clean the tiles and then mount them on display in the London Transport museum. And displaying an original or replica of a pre Frank Hick Roundel for these stations wouldn't be so bad either.(although I wonder - was City Road closed before the roundel came into use?)- Anyway,Best Regards, or Cheers,"J" :-)
wonder if there will be a series for visiting the disused stations on the network...
It's so spooky inside.
Watching this five and a half years later, I can't find any information on the redevelopment. Did it get halted?
Good to see Frankie Boyle working for TFL
THANK YOU! I knew he sounded familiar.
Mind you, it's a shame he doesn't work for TFL. The press releases would be hilarious. And impossible to publish.
Nice clip, maybe bring a bigger brighter torch next time
It's 2019 now. What happened to this station?
At least I'm not the only one who counts steps.
At 0:46 and at other times you can clearly a thick black cable stood off the wall: this allows the emergency services and LU staff to use their radios: this location is one of several emergency intervention points at non station locations on the underground.
It looks pretty easy to reopen. All there's to do's install 3 elevators, 2 in the existing shaft, &1 more in a new shaft to platform to make it step free.
lifts are expensive, so it isn't that easy
@@unown293 TfL has money
Thanks for your video enjoyed it thanks to Martin zero. John Rooney