Brompton Road tube station
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Brompton_road_map_1912.png
Brompton Road tube station is a disused station on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground. It is located between Knightsbridge and South Kensington.
It was opened on 15 December 1906. Although it was convenient for both the Brompton Oratory and the Victoria and Albert Museum it saw little traffic, and by October 1909 some services passed it without stopping.
The station closed from 4 May 1926 due to the General Strike, and did not reopen until 4 October of that year with services only calling there on weekdays initially. Sunday services were finally restored on 2 January 1927; however as before, it was little used. When a new entrance was built onto Knightsbridge nearby, it sounded the death-knell for Brompton Road which finally closed on 30 July 1934.
Just prior to the outbreak of World War II the street level building together with liftshafts and certain passageways was sold to the War Office for use by the 1st Anti-Aircraft Division. During the war, it was the Royal Artillery's Anti-Aircraft Operations Room for central London. This use was discontinued in the 1950s. Although the station has been partly demolished, it continues to be owned by the Ministry of Defence above ground and London Underground below the surface.
Although the platforms have long since been removed, their original location can be seen from passing trains by the brick walls that stand in their place. The original tiling remains on the tunnel walls, though soot and dirt now obscures the name panels.
Reference
- J. E. Connor, London's Disused Underground Stations (2nd edition), Capital Transport, 2001.
External links
- London's Abandoned Tube Stations - Brompton Road (http://www.pendar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Tube/BromptonRoad.html)
- Subterranea Britannica - Brompton Road (http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/b/brompton_road/) (includes rare photos of station as it is today)