Notting Hill Gate tube station

Notting Hill Gate is an Underground station in west London, where three lines meet on a single street. It sits on Notting Hill Gate itself, halfway between Holland Park and Queensway on the Central line, and between High Street Kensington and Bayswater on the Circle and District lines. The station straddles the boundary between two fare zones, making it a small but important interchange. Its platforms were opened in two stages: the Circle and District lines in 1868, and the Central line in 1900. Originally the two sets of platforms had separate entrances on opposite sides of the road, linked only by the street above. The station is worth visiting for its layers of transport history. The Circle and District line platforms still carry their original glass roof, a feature many similar stations have lost. In 1984 the same platforms were recognised as a Grade II listed building, preserving their Victorian character. The Central line platforms sit one above the other because the builders in 1900 could not widen the tunnel under the narrow street. The 1959 rebuild introduced London’s first Underground escalators with metal side panels, replacing the old lifts. A visitor finds tiled passageways and platforms that tell stories of change. The 2010–11 refurbishment uncovered a sealed lift shaft from 1900 containing late-1950s posters, images of which have been shared online. Mosaic columns by the southern entrance were added in 2006 by Urban Eye. Above ground, the widened street acts as a pedestrian subway, while nearby Portobello Road and Kensington Palace Gardens offer further exploration.