Embankment tube station

The station was opened on 30 May 1870 by the DR (now the District line) when the railway extended its line from Westminster to Blackfriars.[5] The construction of the new section of the DR was planned in conjunction with the building of the Victoria Embankment and was achieved by the cut and cover method of roofing over a trench. Due to its proximity to the South Eastern Railway's Charing Cross station, the station was originally called Charing Cross.[6]

Section through Victoria Embankment at Charing Cross showing sub-surface railway

The DR connected to the MR (now the Metropolitan line) at South Kensington and, although the two companies were rivals, each company operated its trains over the other's tracks in a joint service known as the Inner Circle. On 1 February 1872, the DR opened a northbound branch from its station at Earl's Court to connect to the West London Extension Joint Railway (WLEJR, now the West London Line) at Addison Road (now Kensington (Olympia)).[5] From that date the Outer Circle service began running over the DR's tracks. The service was run by the North London Railway (NLR) from its terminus at Broad Street (now demolished) in the City of London via the North London Line to Willesden Junction, then the West London Line to Addison Road and the DR to Mansion House – at that time the eastern terminus of the DR.[7]

From 1 August 1872, the Middle Circle service also began operations through South Kensington, running from Moorgate along the MR's tracks on the north side of the Inner Circle to Paddington, then over the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR) track to Latimer Road, then, via a now demolished link, on the WLEJR to Addison Road and the DR to Mansion House. The service was operated jointly by the H&CR and the DR.[7]

On 30 June 1900, the Middle Circle service was shortened to terminate at Earl's Court,[8] and, on 31 December 1908, the Outer Circle service was withdrawn from the DR tracks.[9] In 1949, the Metropolitan line-operated Inner Circle route was given its own identity on the tube map as the Circle line.[5]

In 1897 the DR obtained parliamentary permission to construct a deep-level tube railway running between Gloucester Road and Mansion House beneath the sub-surface line. The new line was to be an express route using electric trains to relieve congestion on the sub-surface tracks. Only one intermediate station was planned, at Charing Cross, 63 feet (19 m) below the sub-surface platforms.[10] No immediate work was carried out on the deep-level line, and the subsequent take over of the DR by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) and the resignalling and electrification of the DR's routes between 1903 and 1905 meant that congestion was relieved without needing to construct the deep-level line. The plan was dropped in 1908.[11]

On 10 March 1906, the BS&WR (now the Bakerloo line) opened with its deep-level platforms beneath and at ninety degrees to the platforms of the DR.[5] Although an interchange was provided between the two separate railways, the BS&WR named its station differently as Embankment.[6]

Section through station showing the layout in 1914

On 6 April 1914, the CCE&HR (now a part of the Northern line) opened a one stop extension south from its terminus at Charing Cross.[5] The extension was constructed to facilitate a better interchange between the BS&WR and CCE&HR.[12] Both lines were owned by the UERL which operated two separate and unconnected stations at the northern end of main line station – Trafalgar Square on the BS&WR and Charing Cross on the CCE&HR (both now part of a combined Charing Cross station). The CCE&HR extension was constructed as a single track tunnel running south from Charing Cross as a loop under the River Thames and back. A single platform was constructed on the northbound return section of the loop,[12] and escalators were installed between both sets of deep-level platforms and the sub-surface station. The interchange time was reduced from three minutes fifteen seconds to one minute and forty-five seconds.[13]

A new station building was constructed that Sir John Betjeman described as "the most charming of all the Edwardian and neo-Georgian Renaissance stations."[14] For the opening of the CCE&HR extension, the deep-level parts of the station were named Charing Cross (Embankment) although the sub-surface platforms remained as Charing Cross. In 1915, this was rectified by changing the name of the whole station to Charing Cross.[6] The CCE&HR station to the north was renamed Strand at the same time[15] (causing a nearby station of the GNP&BR to change its name from Strand to Aldwych).

In the 1920s, as part of the construction of what is now the Northern line, the CCE&HR was extended south to Waterloo and Kennington where it was connected to the City & South London Railway. The loop tunnel under the river was abandoned (although the present northbound Northern line platform follows its course) and two new tunnels were bored south.[16] To this day the southbound Northern line platform is the only one of the four deep level platforms that is not connected to any of the others by deep level walkways. The new extension was opened on 13 September 1926.[5]

The loop itself still exists, although it was penetrated by a bomb and flooded during the Blitz in the Second World War. The loop had been sealed off years before.[17] In September 1938, during the Sudeten Crisis, when war appeared imminent, the Bakerloo and Northern line tunnels at Embankment were temporarily sealed with concrete to protect against flooding through bombing. The blockage was removed after little more than a week once the crisis had passed.[18] At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the tunnels were blocked again until electrically powered emergency doors could be installed in the tunnel mouths. The tunnels reopened in December 1939.[19]

On 4 August 1974, the station was once again renamed Charing Cross Embankment.[6] Then, on 12 September 1976, it became Embankment,[6] so that the merged Strand and Trafalgar Square stations could be named Charing Cross.[15]

In 1984–5 the station was upgraded, and public art in the form of coloured lines, by the artist Robyn Denny, were installed on the platforms and passageways of the station.[20][21]

Embankment's northbound Northern line platform remains the only place on the network where one of the earliest 'Mind the gap' announcements can be heard, recorded by actor Oswald Laurence.[22]

At about 09:55 on 17 May 1938, an eastbound Inner Circle train collided with an eastbound Ealing Broadway–Barking District line train to the east of the station. The Barking train had been stopped at an automatic signal on its way to Temple station. Six passengers were killed and 43 injured. The cause of the accident was a faulty signal, which showed a green "proceed" aspect to the second train even though the line ahead was not clear. This was a result of a wrong connection made during the previous night when some minor alterations to wiring were made.[23]