Secrets of the London Underground

Tim and Siddy explore Earl’s Court station – a busy interchange on the Piccadilly and District lines. It’s a station that has always embraced innovation. It was the very first station to install a passenger escalator and the first to install automatic lifts. Tim discovers how even today, the station is embracing the modern, with a re-design of the walkways created to fit in with its famous glass roof. Meanwhile, Siddy visits Alperton towards the western end of the Piccadilly Line. It’s a classic example of the famous London Underground architect, Charles Holden, and the design was regarded as futuristic when it was built in the 1930s. Back at our Museum depot in Acton, a dedicated volunteer shows Tim the restored inner workings of a 1930s platform indicator, which used a telegraph system to show passengers the destination of their next train.