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![Aldwych tube station 1.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Aldwych_tube_station_1.jpg/109px-Aldwych_tube_station_1.jpg) Aldwych tube station 1.jpg
Aldwych is a closed
London Underground station in the
City of Westminster, originally opened as Strand in 1907. The station was the terminus of a short
Piccadilly line branch from
Holborn. The disused station building is situated close to the junction of
Strand and Surrey Street. During its life time, the branch was the subject of a number of unrealised extension proposals that would have seen the tunnels through the station extended southwards, usually to
Waterloo. Early plans for the second phase of the
Jubilee line included an interchange at Aldwych and in 2005 a review of possible extensions of the
Docklands Light Railway to Charing Cross also considered reuse of the station.
Originally built with two platforms and a capacity for up to six lifts, the station was never fully completed. Suffering from low passenger numbers, one platform was taken out of use before the First World War and the station and branch were considered for closure several times, but survived as a weekday
peak hours only service until closed in 1994, when the cost of replacing the lifts at Aldwych was considered too high compared to the income generated. The station has long been popular as a filming location and has appeared as itself and as other London Underground stations in a variety of films. (
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Selected biography
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Sir John Fowler (15 July 1817 – 20 November 1898) was a
British
civil engineer specialising in the construction of railways and railway infrastructure. Fowler's was a long and eminent career, spanning most of the 19th century's railway expansion, and he was engineer, adviser or consultant to many British and foreign railway companies and governments.
Fowler had a busy practice, working on many railway schemes across the country. In 1853, he became chief engineer of the
Metropolitan Railway in London, the world's first underground railway. Constructed in shallow
"cut-and-cover" trenches beneath city streets, the line opened between
Paddington and
Farringdon in 1863. Fowler was also engineer for the associated
District Railway and the
Hammersmith and City Railway.
Later in his career, he was also a consultant with his partner
Benjamin Baker and with
James Henry Greathead on two of London's first tube railways, the
City and South London Railway and the
Central London Railway. As part of his railway projects, Fowler designed numerous bridges, including the
Grosvenor Bridge, the first railway bridge over the
River Thames, the 13-arch
Dollis Brook Viaduct for the
Edgware, Highgate and London Railway and, most famously, the
Forth Railway Bridge for which he was made a
baronet. (
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Did you know...
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- ...that the "
Mind the gap" announcement is played when trains stop at stations with curved platforms to warn passengers of gaps between the platform edge and the doors?
- ...that the first version of the
Underground roundel was introduced in 1908, as a solid red disk and blue bar?
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Selected pictures
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Image 2Original stations on the
Metropolitan Railway from
The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 4Archer statue by
Eric Aumonier at
East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 5Tram 2548 calls at
Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the
Tramlink network centred on
Croydon in south London.
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Image 6Early style tube roundel in mosaic at
Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 8Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former
Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 9Escalators at
Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the
station box to reach the deep-level
Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 10Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir
Jacob Epstein on the
London Underground's headquarters at
55 Broadway.
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Image 11
Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 14
Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 15Southern approach to the
Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the
River Thames in east London between
Rotherhithe and
Limehouse.
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Image 16
Vauxhall Bridge across the
River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by
F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 18Helicopter landing at
London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the
River Thames in
Battersea.
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Image 19
55 Broadway, headquarters of the
UERL and its successors, is a Grade I
listed building in Westminster designed by
Charles Holden.
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Image 20The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the
Inner Circle,
Middle Circle,
Outer Circle and
Super Outer Circle.
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Image 21
Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 22The original
Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 25Sailing ships at
West India Docks on the
Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the
Canary Wharf development.
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Image 26The multi-level junction between the
M23 and
M25 motorways near
Merstham in
Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 27Preserved
AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport
Green Line livery.
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Image 28
Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the
River Thames in west London.
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Image 29
Qantas
Boeing 747-400 about to land at
Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue,
Hounslow.
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Image 30
London General Omnibus Company
B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by
AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during
World War I, this vehicle was operated on the
Western Front.
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Image 31Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the
London Eye.
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Image 33Planes waiting at
Heathrow Airport's
Terminal 4.
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Image 34View of
Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by
Claude de Jongh.
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Image 35A
tram of the
London United Tramways at Boston Road,
Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 36The western departures concourse of
King's Cross railway station.
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Image 37
Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the
Northern line.
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Image 38
TX4 London Taxi at
Heathrow Airport.
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Image 40
Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the
River Thames between
Chelsea and
Battersea.
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Image 41"Boris Bikes" from the
Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 42The south façade of
King's Cross railway station London terminus of the
East Coast Main Line.
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Image 43The
New Routemaster built by
Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the
Routemaster.
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Image 44
Hornsey Lane Bridge,
Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 45London Underground
A60 Stock (left) and
1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the
Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 46London Underground
Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the
traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 47The newly constructed junction of the
Westway (
A40) and the
West Cross Route (
A3220) at
White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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