Knightsbridge tube station
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Knightsbridge is a London Underground station in Knightsbridge. It is on the Piccadilly Line between South Kensington and Hyde Park Corner, and is in Travelcard Zone 1.
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Piccadilly, Brompton, and Hammersmith Railway
The station was opened as part of the original route of the Piccadilly, Brompton, and Hammersmith Railway. When opened, the platforms were accessed in the standard manner by a 4 lifts and an emergency staircase connecting to parallel passageways and bridges to midway along the platforms.
Southern Exit
However, patronage at the station was high from the beginning, particularly due to the presence locally of the Harrods emporium, and other shops aiming for the high end of the market. This contrasted with the next station on the line westward - Brompton Road, where use was so poor that trains frequently passed through the station without stopping. It was decided to close Brompton Road and replace it with an additional southerly exit from Knightsbridge (reached by escalator) at Harrods (in order to reduce crowds at the other exit).
Although the space between platforms is narrow, there was enough room past the southern platform ends to insert escalators there. Unfortunately the top of the escalators did not reach the intended destination, bringing the necessity for a long corridor to reach the exit. For cost reasons this was narrow, and additionally cramped by the presence of ticket office facilities, which, as Harrods increased in popularity, led to significant congestion as large crowds tried to pass each other in opposite directions.
Eventually, in 2004, this was solved by the expansion of this exit into a large circular area, under the road towards Harrods, with the way out of the station being by a stairway in the midst of the road. Such alterations to roads would not have been possible when the station was considered part of a private business, rather than as part of a public organisation bringing significant levels of custom to the area.
Northern Exit
At the same time as this southern exit was opened, a replacement for the original exit was made at the north, at the corner of Sloane Street, Brompton Road and Knightsbridge. This was built under the road junction, providing an underpass under an otherwise dangerously busy road. Connection was made to the platforms by escalator, easing clearance of the platforms. However, as the station was too busy to close, the original lift shafts could not be cut through, and so it was necessary to build two new parallel passages and bridges down to the platforms.
Once this new exit opened, the original closed, and its passageways became part of the air ventilation system, a grill placed at the platform entrance to one, and the other bricked up. The building on the surface reached by the original lift access no longer survives.
Miscellany
It is the only tube station on the London Underground network to have six consecutive consonants in its name.