Goodge Street tube station

History

It was opened on 22 June 1907 as Tottenham Court Road by the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, but changed to the present name on 9 March 1908 before an interchange was built between the previously separate (and differently named) Northern line and Central line stations at the present Tottenham Court Road station.

Location

The station stands on the western side of Tottenham Court Road, some way north of the station of that name. Goodge Street itself runs west from Tottenham Court Road, a very short distance south of Goodge Street station.

Design

It is one of the few tube stations that still rely on lifts rather than escalators to transport passengers to and from street level. In addition, it is one of the few such tube stations that still use the original scheme of separate exit and entrance areas. Alternatively, passengers can use the 136-step staircase to get down to the platforms. The surface building was designed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's (UERL's) architect Leslie Green.

Although the station is extremely busy at peak times, the flow is very one-sided. Few people enter the station when the majority are exiting, and vice versa; and when the four lifts are full when travelling in one direction, they often return with few people in them.

Deep-level air-raid shelter

Goodge Street has a Second World War deep-level air-raid shelter underneath it, and is one of eight such stations. From late 1943 until the end of the Second World War the Goodge Street shelter was used by SHAEF /ˈʃeɪf/, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. The shelter has two entrances, one on Chenies Street (pictured below) and the other on Tottenham Court Road next to the American International Church.

In the invasion preparations, Goodge Street station was used only as a signals installation by the United States Army Signal Corps. It was one of a number of signals installations for communications in and around London. Among these installations were SHAEF headquarters at 20 Grosvenor Square and the basement of the Selfridges department store on Oxford Street; both buildings exist today.

After the war the shelters were used as a hostel that could accommodate up to 8000 troops.

Services and connections

Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–7 minutes in both directions between 05:54 and 00:43.

London Bus routes 10, 14, 24, 29, 73, 134 and 390, and night routes N5, N20, N29, N73, N253 and N279 serve the station. Furthermore, bus routes 10, 14, 24, 134 and 390 provide a 24-hour bus service.

In popular culture

The station appeared in the 1942 feature film Gert and Daisy's Weekend. The former shelter is the setting for much of the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Web of Fear. Dialogue in the story mentions the shelter's former use in the Second World War, and the exit in Chenies Street.

The station is the setting of the song "Sunny Goodge Street", from the 1965 album Fairytale by singer-songwriter Donovan. The station exterior also appeared in the 2005 music video for "Believe" by The Chemical Brothers.