Aldgate East Underground Station

Aldgate East is a London Underground station on Whitechapel High Street in Aldgate area of Whitechapel in London, England; and takes is namesake from the nearby City of London ward of Aldgate which is due east of the station. It is on the Hammersmith & City line between Liverpool Street and Whitechapel, and on the District line between Tower Hill and Whitechapel, in Travelcard Zone 1.

History

Original station

The name "Commercial Road" had been proposed for the original Aldgate East station, which opened on 6 October 1884 as part of an eastern extension to the District Railway (now the District line), some 500 feet (150 m) to the west of the current station, close to the Metropolitan Railway's Aldgate station. However, when the curve to join the Metropolitan Railway from Liverpool Street was built, the curve had to be particularly sharp owing to the location of Aldgate East station, at which the track needed to be straight.

Resited station

As part of the London Passenger Transport Board's 1935–1940 New Works Programme the triangular junction at Aldgate was enlarged, to allow for a much gentler curve and to ensure trains that were held on any leg of the triangle did not foul any signals or points elsewhere. The new Aldgate East platforms were sited almost immediately to the east of their predecessors, with one exit facing west toward the original location, and another at the east end of the new platforms.

The new eastern exit was now close enough to the next station along the line, St Mary's (Whitechapel Road), that this station could also be closed, reducing operational overhead and journey times, because the new Aldgate East had effectively replaced two earlier stations.

The new station, which opened on 31 October 1938 (the earlier station closing permanently the previous night), was designed to be completely subterranean, providing a much-needed pedestrian underpass for the road above.

The reconstruction of Aldgate East station in progress. To lower the track level, the trackbed has been excavated with an interim support of timber trestles. Then, with the tracks attached to chains from the ceiling, the trestle was dismantled and the tracks lowered down to the new lower track level.

However, in order to accommodate the space needed for this, and the platforms below, the existing track required lowering by more than seven feet (2 m). To achieve this task whilst still keeping the track open during the day, the bed underneath the track was excavated, and the track held up by a timber trestle work. Then, once excavation was complete and the new station constructed around the site, an army of over 900 workmen lowered the whole track simultaneously in one night, using overhead hooks to suspend the track when necessary. The hooks still remain.

The station today

The station has no surface buildings. Ticket barriers control access to all platforms.

District and Hammersmith & City line trains running into Aldgate East along two sides of the triangle (from Liverpool Street and from Tower Hill) pass through the site of the earlier station, most of which has been obliterated by the current junction alignment, although the extensive width and height and irregular shape of the tunnel can be observed.

Since the station was built completely under a widened road, and was built after concrete had started to be used as a construction material, the platforms have a particularly high headroom. This—combined with the late-1930s style of tiling, typical of the stations of the then London Passenger Transport Board—gives the platform area of the station a particularly airy and welcoming appearance, unusual on the Underground at the time of construction. The tiling contains relief tiles, showing devices pertinent to London Transport and the area it served; these were designed by Harold Stabler and made by the Poole Pottery.

Station improvements

The station was Metronet's first refurbished (and show-piece) station, refurbished in ‘heritage’ style. Work actually began at platform level earlier in 2007. On 9 March 2007 it was noted that every other platform bullseye and ist associated blue enamel “Way Out” plate below had been removed on both platforms, marking the end of the only sub-surface ‘New Works’ station. By 14 March all the roundels had been removed and temporary signs substituted. The north-east entrance was also closed from 10 March 2007 until 2009. As of 23 May 2007, the tiling was removed on the eastbound platform and the walls were rough cemented but the tiles remained on the westbound one, although it only took a few days. The new framework for lighting and cabling had been installed.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Aldgate East tube station" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.