The London Underground is a bastion of British transport.
Over the years the network has developed and changed by introducing new stations but equally scrapping others.
These old stations were left abandoned for a variety of reasons.
For example British Museum Station was closed for Holborn’s expansion while St Mary’s between Whitechapel and Aldgate East was irrevocably bombed during WW2.
There’s one station that was only opened for 21 years, one of the shortest subterranean life spans of any Tube station.
READ MORE: Waterloo Station’s ‘creepy’ abandoned labyrinth with bars, baths and a firing range
City Road in Islington was opened in 1901 as part of the City & South London Railway.
The railway was in fact the first deep-level underground railway in the world.
Since it used electric trains, it made it the first electric railway in the world as well – a good bit of trivia there.
Unfortunately for City Road, it was unpopular from the start.
In Islington’s poor district between Angel and Old Street, it was rarely used and it was already facing the chop as early as 1908 – only seven years after opening.
A map of the area around City Road Tube station
(Image: Wiki Commons)
Nevertheless, it stood strong until August 1922 when the railway was amended between Euston and Moorgate for larger tunnels so that larger and longer trains could run.
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City Road was thus abandoned due to infrequent use and no one willing to upgrade it.
All that was left after its platforms were removed in 1924 was a structure around its lift shaft which went up to the street.
During World War Two the station was put to good use as an air raid shelter as bombs dropped overhead destroying other stations around it.
Until the 1960s you could still see the station building but even that was demolished aside from a structure around the original lift shaft you could see at street level.
Sadly, that got swept into history too in 2017 for the Bunhill 2 Energy Centre, which captures heat from the Northern Line tunnels for the King Square council estate and a nearby school.
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https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/abandoned-london-underground-station-barely-21281581
