Charing Cross tube station

Charing Cross is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster. It stands where the Strand meets Trafalgar Square, beside the mainline station. Two separate tube stations once operated here, one called Trafalgar Square on the Bakerloo line and the other Strand on the Northern line. In the 1970s they were joined by new tunnels and given the single name Charing Cross. The station now serves the Bakerloo and Northern lines and lies in fare zone one. The station opened in 1906 on the Bakerloo line and in 1907 on the Northern line. In 1979 it gained Jubilee line platforms, but these closed in 1999 when the line moved east. It remains one of London’s busier stations, handling millions of passengers each year. The original schemes for an underground railway through this area date back to the 1860s. Early plans included pneumatic tubes and electric traction, though most never left the drawing board. The Baker Street & Waterloo Railway finally brought the first working station in 1906. Visitors find wide passageways linking the two older stations beneath the streets. Above ground, the mainline station fronts the Strand and Trafalgar Square. Close by stand the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and St Martin-in-the-Fields. Nearby streets lead to Admiralty Arch, Canada House and the Savoy Hotel. The station’s entrances open onto Villiers Street, Adelaide Street and William IV Street, placing travellers at the heart of Westminster.