Earl's Court tube station
Earl 's Court is a London Underground station in the district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is located in the Earls Court area on the border of Travelcard Zone 1 and 2, immediately adjacent to the exhibition hall Earls Court Exhibition Centre. In 2011, 20.97 million passengers used the station.
Plant
The two island platforms and four tracks on the District line lie just below the surface and are spanned by an impressive glass roof of the Victorian era. In this concourse intersect the east-west and north-south main line of the District Line, also the short branch line starts here to Kensington ( Olympia). Below the concourse, connected by stairs and elevators, are the platforms of the Piccadilly Line. Designed by John Wolfe - Barry Station is since 1984 listed building (Grade II).
While it would be theoretically possible that the traits of the District of all neighboring stations via Earl 's Court circulate to all other stations, but the operation with four compounds, as follows is simplified: Kensington ( Olympia) to High Street Kensington, West Brompton High Street Kensington, West Brompton to Gloucester Road and South Kensington to Gloucester Road.
History
Before 1900
The Metropolitan District Railway (MDR ), the predecessor company of the District Line, opened on 12 April 1869, the route from Gloucester Road to West Brompton, where connection to the West London Extension Joint Railway (now the West London Line ) existed. There were no intermediate stations, the area around Earl 's Court has been passed through without stopping. On 3 July 1871, the MDR took a link to the Inner Circle ( today's Circle Line ) to High Street Kensington in operation. Shortly after it opened on October 30, 1871, the Earl 's Court
The original station was located east of Earls Court Road ( west rather than, as now, the road). The MDR built a further branch line to Addison Road (now Kensington ( Olympia) ) and took this on February 1, 1872 in operation. About the now existing Outer Circle the North London Railway operating suburban trains on the North London Line to Broad Street station in the City of London.
As from 1 August 1872, the MDR ran the so-called Middle Circle along with the Hammersmith & City Railway (H & CR). The trains ran from Moorgate from across the tracks of the Metropolitan Railway ( MR) in the northern part of the Inner Circle to Paddington, then over the tracks of the H & CR after Latimer Road, via a now demolished link to Addison Road on the West London Line and finally MDR- tracks via Earl 's Court to Mansion House.
Another line was opened on 9 September 1874 operated on the MDR- trains from Earl 's Court in west to Hammersmith. Earl 's Court could now be approached from five different directions. However, the station was right next to a railway triangle, with the result that occurred frequently jams. A fire on November 30, 1875 damaged the station. This was then to build further west to its present site and opened on 1 February 1878. At the same time the eastern access routes received a larger radius, so this bottleneck could be eliminated.
On 5 May 1878, the Midland Railway led to a longer train movement called Super Outer Circle. The route led from St Pancras via Cricklewood and South Acton to Earl 's Court The trains ran through a now disused connection between the North London Railway and the Richmond branch of the London and South Western Railway ( now part of the District Line ). The offer was not a success and was concluded on September 30, 1880.
After 1900
At the beginning of the 20th century pressed the competition from buses and electric trams underground. In order to increase competitiveness, MDR spurred the electrification of its route network. In 1900, consisted of 21 May to 6 November, a test operation between Earl 's Court and High Street Kensington. After lengthy negotiations with the MR on the question of the power system of the first electrified section of the MDR in 1903 put into operation. The electric trains arrived Earl 's Court on 1 July 1905.
The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, the predecessor company of the Piccadilly Line, took on 15 December 1906 operating on the route Hammersmith - Finsbury Park. The platforms were to lie directly below that of the District Line, the access was by lifts and stairs.
On 4 October 1911, the first escalators were taken on the London Underground network in operation in Earl 's Court. The passengers were of the new technology compared to adjusted still very skeptical. For this reason the company to hire a man called Bumper Harris decided. He had a wooden leg and drove in the first week up and down continuously. Thus, the passengers could be convinced that escalators are completely harmless. As a result, the new technology continued through the entire network of the Underground. 1915 was built at the Earls Court Road, a new access building, as well as 1936/37, on Warwick Road.
21 November 1997 to 6 April 1998, the platforms of the Piccadilly Line were closed for remodeling. The listed glass roof of the station hall has been restored since the spring of 2007. The hall was completely scaffolded for this purpose inside.