- St Mary's tube station
St Mary's (Whitechapel Road) was a station on
London Underground 'sDistrict line located between the present-day stations at Whitechapel and Aldgate East.History
Opened on
3 March 1884 as "St Mary's", the station was initially used by both District Line andEast London line trains. The station was always very small and cramped and was located very close to both Whitechapel and Aldgate East stations, on a tight curve just before the junction to the East London line.In
1938 , Aldgate East was moved further eastwards and given a new entrance only a few hundred yards from St Mary's (Whitechapel Road ), immediately rendering that station surplus to requirements. It closed on30 April 1938 .World War II
During World War II, the station was re-opened for use as an air raid shelter. The edges of the platforms were bricked up to separate the shelter areas from the still-used tracks. However, on
22 October 1940 the surface building was hit by a bomb and severely damaged. It was subsequently demolished and little evidence of the station's existence appears above ground today. The bricked-up platforms are still accessible to London Underground staff via an anonymous door off Whitechapel Road. Below ground, it is still possible to make out where the station was, as the barrel-vaulted roof and bricked-off platforms are still just about visible from passing trains.t Mary's Curve
The connecting line leading to the East London line is still called St Mary's Curve, although it is no longer used following the closure of the East London line in December 2007. For many years the line was used only to transfer stock between the East London and Metropolitan lines (i.e. not for passenger use). When lit, it could easily be seen from the left-hand side of East London line trains entering Whitechapel from the south and can still be seen from the right-hand side of District line trains entering the station from the west. The East London line is currently being extended and plans to open in 2010 as part of the London Overground (National Rail) network. As the line will no longer share train stock with the Metropolitan line St Mary's Curve will no longer be used, but the tunnel shall remain.
Gallery
External links
* [http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/St_Marys_station.html London's Abandoned Tube Stations - St.Mary's]
*ltmcollection|7e/i000087e.jpg|London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive — Bomb damage at St Mary's,22 April 1941 ###@@@KEYEND@@@###
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