Westminster tube station

Westminster station stands where Bridge Street meets the Victoria Embankment, a short walk from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. It is served by three Underground lines: Circle, District and Jubilee. The sub-surface platforms opened in 1868 when the District Railway first reached this point. Deep-level Jubilee platforms were added in 1999 as part of the Jubilee line extension. Portcullis House, a parliamentary office building, was constructed above the station at the same time. The station’s rebuilding was a feat of engineering. Excavation for the Jubilee line reached 39 metres, the deepest in central London. Engineers installed 50-metre steel tubes beneath Big Ben to limit movement to 35 millimetres during construction. The work also lowered the older platforms so that Portcullis House could be entered at ground level. Charles Holden designed the Bridge Street entrance and Embankment elevation in the 1920s, leaving green, blue, black and white tiling still visible today. Visitors find a station divided into two parts. The sub-surface platforms serve Circle and District trains beneath Bridge Street. The deep Jubilee platforms lie far below, reached by escalators in a vast concrete box. Outside, the corner entrance faces the Treasury and the Foreign Office. Nearby are Parliament Square, the Cenotaph and Westminster Millennium Pier. The clock tower known as Big Ben stands just 34 metres from the edge of the deep excavation.